The Secret Rulers of the World

Released: 2001-04-29

Runtime: 50 minutes

Episode Overview

Jon Ronson meets with Randy Weaver and daughter Rachel, two of the surviving members of the Weaver family. The film shows previously unseen archive footage to describe the life of a family who claim to have moved to a cabin in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, to live peacefully, and escape what they saw as the tyrannical elite of international bankers bent on enslaving the world. Ronson also explains how the Weaver family's conspiracy theories became a shocking tragedy when U.S. Marshals killed two of the family members, their dog, and shot and wounded Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris, whom the Weaver family considered their son. Ronson explores the unsympathetic media response to the killings and how this incident might have influenced the siege at Waco, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the growth of the American militia movement.

Series Overview

The Secret Rulers of the World was first shown on Channel 4 in April 2001. The five-part documentary series accompanied creator Jon Ronson's book 'Them: Adventures with Extremists', which covered similar topics and described many of the same episodes. Both the series and book detail Ronson's encounters following theorists and activists residing outside political, religious, and sociological norms.