>>I don’t have as much animosity for the actual shooters. They were just doing their job, though admittedly they should have refused the orders they were given.
Police states can’t exist if the police refuse to “just follow orders”. Lon Horiuchi is a murderer who is no different than a concentration camp guard. The actual shooters are the actual killers.
A sniper ordered to take out a target seldom has the information needed to determine if it is right and proper to take out that target. That’s not his job.
His job is to hit the target. He is essentially a weapon, with the responsibility for its proper use rightly going to the guy who decides to authorize its use. A human drone, if you will.
Which is as it should be. In an emergency hostage situation, do we really want a sniper refusing to take a shot while he reviews evidence to decide whether it is justified or not? That’s not his job. Any more than it’s the job of a Marine squad to decide whether they ought to follow through on their orders to attack a building or not.
Admittedly, the longterm standoff at RR meant that the shooters had every opportunity to figure out what was going on and refuse to participate, which complicates the issue more than usual. Which is what they should have done. My understanding is that some of the guys at the standoff decided amongst themselves to revert to “normal” ROEs.
But to my mind the PRIMARY responsibility belongs to whoever decided to target the Weavers, not the shooters. Concentrating on the shooters I think lets him/her off the hook.
YMMV
The FBI ROE that were operative at Ruby Ridge were blatantly unconstitutional. Criminal, actually, and every man there should have known it.
Had a state or local agency implemented ROE like that the FBI would have prosecuted them criminally and would have been right to do so.
Again more US citizens MURDERED by an alphabet of tyranny.