Ruby Ridge 1992- white supremacist uprising ?

Acting to arrest white supremacist Randy Weaver on illegal firearms charges, could the BATF's siege of his cabin at Ruby Ridge, Idaho in 1992, which resulted in the killing of his wife, son, and dog during the shootout, have at that time led to a largescale uprising by white supremacists in the Plains states against federal govt targets ? Would the BATF, FBI and other law enforcement agencies then have come under more political pressure than they'd ever experienced before, and what would be the effects on wider US society ?
 
Assuming that this could actually happen, the US government would probably ban all white supremacist groups, images and parties. The South would grumble about their beloved Confederate battle flag being targeted by the Federal government.

This could actually bode very horrible for the United States. Racism may become more common among whites who would see themselves as being oppressed by the government. There may be a mass exodus of white racists to Canada, which can be both good and bad. For one matter, it would be very difficult for some minorities to claim the white man is keeping them down when the government is actively arresting white supremacist militia leaders and banning many white supremacist symbols except for their presence in museum exhibits.

On the other hand, some unusual casualties may result in this purge. The band Slayer had been accused of being Nazis because of the lyrics of the song Angel of Death. That song may be excluded from all future US printings of the Reign in Blood album, or Slayer might actually be banned from playing in their home country.
 
there's an old saying about how you can talk about overthrowing the government but you can't do it. The government simply can't go all that far in cracking down on white supremacists if they don't break the law. The Supreme Court would likely delete any laws that violate free speech, no matter how repugnant that speech is to most of us.
Was BATF the one who did all the shooting at Ruby Ridge? I thought it was the FBI alone...
 
Melvin Loh said:
Acting to arrest white supremacist Randy Weaver on illegal firearms charges, could the BATF's siege of his cabin at Ruby Ridge, Idaho in 1992, which resulted in the killing of his wife, son, and dog during the shootout, have at that time led to a largescale uprising by white supremacists in the Plains states against federal govt targets ? Would the BATF, FBI and other law enforcement agencies then have come under more political pressure than they'd ever experienced before, and what would be the effects on wider US society ?

Large scale uprisings by white supremacists would number what? A few thousand in the entire United States? Contrary to what you might see on the news they are a pretty small minority and the Feds would just start upping the survailance of these groups and squash those that commit crimes.
 
As the other guys said, I think you're overestimating the whirte supremacist forces of darkness. They look scary with their bedsheets and camos, but that's probably about it. Call it the six-hour war :)

A more sustained, ruthless terrorist campaign OTOH - nasty. Remember, the current US attitude towards free speech is a hard-won one, and if things got bad enough the state might choose simply not to go out on a limb to defend the right of said group. ("He has every right to go out and say he favours the WAR, but, ya know, if he says it out loud ... they're not popular hereabouts and we do have a shortage pf patrol officers...")
 
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