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

DATE: SATURDAY, January 7, 1995                   TAG: 9501090056
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

FBI DIRECTOR CENSURES DEPUTY, AGENTS FOR SHOOTOUT HANDLING

The deputy FBI director and 11 agents were disciplined Friday by Director Louis Freeh for ``improper judgment and neglect of duty'' during a 1992 shootout in Idaho. But Freeh concluded that an FBI sniper killed the wife of a white separatist by ``tragic accident.''

Freeh dismissed no one. And despite calling for censure of acting Deputy Director Larry Potts, Freeh ``enthusiastically'' proposed Potts' promotion to the bureau's No.2 job on a permanent basis.

Freeh's decisions were labeled ``a total whitewash'' by Gerry Spence, attorney for white separatist Randy Weaver, whose refusal to surrender on weapons charges to federal marshals at his Ruby Ridge, Idaho, cabin triggered a siege and shootouts in which a marshal and Weaver's son and wife were killed.

``The censure means nothing. The promotion means everything. The clear message is: `It's all right to kill innocent women; we'll stand behind you; we'll even promote you,''' Spence said.

``I am not ready to say the punishments are sufficient,'' said Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who has been pressing for action. He wants to see if Idaho prosecutor Randall Day charges federal agents under state law.

Day is reviewing Justice Department internal investigations, which concluded in October that federal criminal charges were not warranted.

Potts is to be censured for failing to read and correct what Freeh said were potentially unconstitutional rules of engagement given to the FBI's hostage rescue team. But Freeh said, ``I have full confidence in him.''

Because of his rank, Potts' censure and promotion must be approved by Justice Department officials.

Freeh said Potts, who headed criminal investigations and supervised the siege, failed to read the rules of engagement, in part because he had left headquarters after 36 hours on duty when they arrived. Potts' deputy, Danny Coulson, now FBI chief in Dallas, also was censured for failing to read the rules of engagement.

``Had they read those rules, I'm confident both Coulson and Potts would have fixed them,'' Freeh said.

Punishments for the others ranged from an oral reprimand to written censure, transfer to new duties and suspension from duty without pay for up to 15 days.

by CNB