ROANOKE TIMES 

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 16, 1995                   TAG: 9508160096
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                  LENGTH: Medium

GOVERNMENT TO PAY SURVIVORS SIEGE DAMAGES

Expressing a desire to heal wounds, the Justice Department agreed Tuesday to pay white separatist Randy Weaver and his children $3.1 million for the killing of Weaver's wife and son during a 1992 siege by federal agents at Ruby Ridge, Idaho.

Each of the three surviving children of Vicki Weaver - Sara, Rachel and Elisheba - will receive $1 million, and her husband, Randy, will receive $100,000.

The settlement resolves only a small part of the case that continues to roil the Justice Department and the FBI. A federal criminal investigation was opened Friday into whether five top FBI officials, including recently demoted Deputy FBI Director Larry Potts, covered up their approval of controversial ``shoot-on-sight'' orders given to bureau snipers at Ruby Ridge. All five have been suspended with pay.

Senate hearings on the case are to begin Sept. 6.

The Weaver family had sought $200 million in damages through civil claims against the government and a lawsuit against several federal officials. The settlement resolves all the family's claims against the government and its employees.

``By entering into a settlement, the United States hopes to take a substantial step toward healing the wounds the incident inflicted,'' the department said in a written statement. ``The settlement reflects the loss to the Weaver children of their mother and brother.''

The government did not admit any wrongdoing or legal liability in agreeing to the settlement, but Randy Weaver's attorney, Gerry Spence, said that was not how the Weavers felt.

``In the Weavers' eyes, the government acknowledges wrongdoing by the payment of these monies as damages,'' Spence said. ``This payment ... in no way lessens the family's determination to see that those guilty of killing their mother and brother be brought to trial and held responsible in the criminal courts.''

Randall Day, prosecutor in Boundary County, Idaho, is considering whether to bring state charges against the federal agents. The Justice Department last year decided that none of its employees would be charged with federal crimes for the shootings. 


 by CNB