Hi, I'm Susan Matthews, Slate's executive editor. Thanks for joining us for episode two of this season.

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Tony Brown liked Randy Weaver from the moment they first met.

When you meet somebody in a small community, either your friend or you're their enemy, so what would be your choice?

That's his wife, Jackie, laughing in the background.

The Weavers and the Browns were good friends and neighbors, before, during, and after the

standoff.

Tony and Jackie also wrote and self-published a book about Ruby Ridge and the Weavers.

It really wasn't anything particularly that stood out about them

other than they had really strong beliefs,

and they stood together as a family.

And they, of course, we're anti-government, which is common up here.

The Weaver's trouble began in the summer of 1990

when agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms pushed Randy to become an informant.

He refused, and they indicted him for selling illegal shotguns.

You heard about that in our last episode.

According to the Brown's book, this was already an anxious time for Randy and Vicki Weaver.

...