WACO

Ask not for whom the bells tolls

From The Slaves Shall Serve: Meditations on Liberty

“Although we give lip service to the notion of freedom, we know the government is no longer the servant of the people but, at last, has become the people’s master. We have stood by like timid sheep while the wolf killed — first the weak, then the strays, then those on the outer edge of the flock, until at last the entire flock belonged to the wolf.”

— Gerry Spence From Freedom to Slavery

On February 28, 1993 nearly 100 heavily armed federal police descended upon a religious group outside Waco, Texas. A fierce gun battle resulted. Six sect members were killed along with four BATF agents. On April 19, after a 51 day standoff, the church was burned to the ground in a raging inferno that took the lives of 74 people, plus killed two unborn children.

The Branch Davidian Church, an obscure reform movement within the Seventh Day Adventist Church, was founded by Victor Houteff, a Bulgarian immigrant, who began his preaching in Los Angeles in 1929. Houteff and his followers eventually established themselves outside Waco at the first Mt. Carmel Center in 1934. In 1957, they moved to the 77-acre ranch forever etched in the American psyche. The group was mostly self-sufficient — raising much of their own food, making their own clothes, and living communally. Some residents had jobs in the local community, and, in recent years, they established a custom auto restoration and repair business in town.

David Koresh had been the leader of the group since 1987. He was 33 years old when he died, an accomplished biblical student, as well as an enigmatic and troubling personality. He held unorthodox views of sexuality— strangely similar to the 12th century Cathars. He was an ardent firearms enthusiast and collector, a rock musician, custom car devotee, and the father of a number of children by several different wives, most of whom lived together with him at Mt. Carmel. His congregation included approximately 130 people.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms was founded in 1791 by Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton to enforce a federal whiskey tax. They reached their proud apogee during Prohibition when the Untouchable Elliot Ness fought Al Capone in the streets of Chicago. When Prohibition was nullified in 1933, the agency’s prospects were uncertain until passage of the unconstitutional National Firearms Act of 1934.

The February 28th Waco assault was an attempt to gain favorable publicity prior to the annual Congressional appropriations hearing, scheduled for March 10. The agency had been under fire. A series of abusive raids against peaceable gun owners during the late 80s and early 90s were coming under increased scrutiny. On January 12, 60 Minutes broadcast allegations of sexual harassment of BATF female agents — and reports of intimidation and punishment of victims and witnesses who had pressed their claims. Charges of racial discrimination had also been filed against the bureau by a group of black agents in October of 1992. Leaders hoped the raid would be a public relations victory that would set it all right with the new, anti-gun Clinton administration. Dramatic television footage of a commando-style action would also intimidate both religious cultists and gun owners.

The agency never intended to arrest Koresh peacefully, despite the fact that their search and arrest warrants required them do so. BATF had practiced the raid for months at Ft. Hood, Texas. They never discussed a peaceful entry. Eighty members of the Bureau were trained in advanced commando tactics by Army Special Forces. Agents had begun practicing an armed assault in Waco as early as August, 1992, working within 150 yards of the Davidian auto business.

In July of 1992, Davy Aguilera, the agent in charge of the Waco investigation, visited licensed gun dealer Henry McMahon, for an unannounced compliance check. McMahon had legally sold some 100 weapons to Koresh. After inspecting his books, Aguilera began to question McMahon about these purchases. Walking into the next room, McMahon telephoned David to inform him. Koresh responded, “If there’s a problem, tell them to come out here. If they want to see my guns, they’re more than welcome.” McMahon told the agents that David was on the phone and inviting them to visit Mt. Carmel. According to McMahon, Aguilera nervously began shaking his head and whispering, “No, no!”

McMahon had met David Koresh in the spring of 1991. He remembers him as an inspired and persistent biblical enthusiast, who was demonstrably fond of kids. He described the children as happy, well-adjusted, intelligent, well cared for, and trusting of adults. David explained that he was buying firearms for investment purposes. He believed their value would increase, a prophetic assessment. He and McMahon formed a partnership, legally assembling AR-15s for sale at gun shows. The parts were purchased by McMahon, and stored at Mt. Carmel. The Davidians provided financing and labor. The parts ran about $400. An assembled rifle sold for $600. After the 1994 inaccurately titled “Assault Weapons Ban,” the price jumped to $1400.

Previous evidence of cooperation with authorities. A cordial relationship had long existed between the Branch Davidians and the local police. David Koresh had never been convicted of a crime, violent or otherwise. The community had complied with law enforcement several times. In 1987, following a bizarre incident with a former leader of the sect, Koresh and seven others were peaceably arrested, charged with attempted murder, tried, found not guilty, and released. Years later, David did not interfere with a Michigan judge’s decision to remove a 12-year-old child from the sect. And in February of 1992, he personally escorted the local sheriff and a state investigator on a tour of Mt. Carmel, after they called to say they were coming to look into allegations of child-abuse by former members.

Flawed affidavit for Search and Arrest Warrants. The initial charges against the Davidians were contained in an affidavit for a search warrant written by agent Aguilera. He alleged the Davidians were engaged in conversion of semi-automatic weapons to fully-automatic status, and the making of grenades and explosive devices. Despite intensive efforts, he failed to establish probable cause. The evidence was so technically flawed and sloppy that no warrant should ever have been issued.

Apparently aware of this, Aguilera’s warrant attempted to paint Koresh as an anti-Christ who must be stopped immediately at all costs. He alleged ominous deviations from moral norms, that fall far outside the jurisdiction of the BATF, and conjured imminent threats of apocalyptic dangers.

Marc Breault was the source of many accusations. He was an embittered Australian ex-member, who, perhaps unwittingly, was the prime mover in the destruction of Mt. Carmel. He had lived with Koresh from 1988 to mid 1989. Initially an enthusiastic disciple, he turned against him primarily because of David’s evolving sexual doctrines and practices. Breault organized a virulent campaign, with the help of his wife and other ex-disciples, when he returned to Australia. He set himself up as a rival prophet. He contacted law enforcement agencies in the U.S. with complaints; approached U.S. government offices in Australia; and hired a private investigator to help coordinate these activities. An Australian TV host gave Breault’s charges wide exposure.

The BATF flew Breault from Australia to California for an interview in January 1993, despite the fact that reliance on disaffected sect members is a poor investigative practice. They are most often hostile and biased sources of information. Interestingly enough, the large number of ex-Branch Davidians suggests it was a simple matter to leave to group. Breault was quoted as a source by The New York Times every day for one week beginning the day after the raid. Since the Times is a major source of information for other news agencies, the public’s hunger for knowledge of this unknown group was satisfied by Breault’s uncorroborated poison. He was also a major source for the Waco Tribune-Herald’s inflammatory seven-part series, the “Sinful Messiah

The botched BATF raid. Agency spokespeople claimed after the failed assault that Koresh couldn’t be peaceably arrested by himself because he had not left the compound for months. However, numerous local residents had seen him around town as early as six days before. He was a regular patron at the Chelsea Street Pub, which he visited once a week through mid-February. He was also a jogger whose runs extended beyond the Mt. Carmel property line.

Four undercover agents had moved across the street in January, posing as students at a local college. Their new clothes and expensive cars made Davidians suspicious. They checked with the college to learn the agents weren’t students. One agent, Robert Rodriguez, became a regular visitor at Mt. Carmel. In both his trial testimony and an interview with The Dallas Morning News he stated that he never saw any illegal activity during a month of surveillance.

On the day of the raid, the Branch Davidians had nearly two hour’s advance warning. Editors at Dallas TV stations stated that a BATF public information officer called on Saturday seeking the weekend phone numbers of anchors because “something big” was going to happen on Sunday. Eleven reporters and three networks were on the scene of the raid, one from as far away as Oklahoma City. A TV cameraman was responsible for alerting the Davidians to the raid. Mt. Carmel resident David Jones stopped to offer help to a lost motorist, who excitedly informed him that agents were on their way prepared for a shootout. Jones rushed home to inform Koresh while agent Rodriguez was visiting. Rodriguez was allowed to leave peaceably.

After the failed raid, BATF Director Steven Higgins stated on Face the Nation, “Our agents walked into an ambush . . .” Yet, Rodriguez had advised that the raid be called off when he knew it had lost the element of surprise. Although nearly one hundred agents rode up to the door of the church in two unprotected cattle transport vehicles, no shots were fired by Branch Davidians. If they were truly a hostile force, they would have mowed down the assault force before BATF agents could fire the first shot.

The raid was scheduled for late Sunday morning, when working people and school children would be at home. The agency claimed the scheduling of the raid had to be “moved up,” because of the publication by the Waco Tribune Herald of its “Sinful Messiah” series. However, their warrants expired on February 28. No ambulances or fire vehicles were in the area. BATF was forced to commandeer news reporters’ vehicles after agents had been shot during the attack. They did not use hard body armor though they claimed the “cult” was heavily armed.

They lied to former Texas Governor Ann Richards to secure use of State National Guard helicopters by claiming drug dealing was taking place at Mt. Carmel. Before the ground assault began, three helicopters circled the compound firing through the roof of the Davidian home. The helicopters received return fire. Yet BATF raid leaders neither halted the ground assault nor warned ground commanders of the additional danger. Helicopter fire was confirmed by the testimony of two lawyers who were allowed to visit their clients twice during the 51-day siege that followed the raid. Dick DeGuerin and Jack Zimmerman represented David Koresh and his right hand man, Steve Schneider. Zimmerman stated he observed bullet exit holes in the second floor ceiling of the women and children’s living quarters — indicating fire from above.

The firing of the first shot is a key issue. David Koresh claimed BATF fired first after he opened the front door. DeGuerin and Zimmerman believed he was telling the truth because they saw the two front doors peppered with incoming bullet holes. There would be no reason for the bullet holes to be in the door if BATF agents were firing at Davidian snipers in the windows, as they claimed. Nor would the number of bullet holes indicate controlled fire discipline. However, at the 1994 trial, it was learned that half of Mt. Carmel’s double front door was missing from evidence. Two BATF agents, as well as three Davidians, testified at the trial that BATF fired first. At least three of the six dead Davidians were unarmed.

The standoff. After the failed BATF raid, the FBI took charge of the scene. Initially it was hoped sect members would just surrender themselves. They refused to do so, leading to an ill-coordinated FBI  strategy combining negotiation and tactical force. Koresh might make a concession to the negotiating team. Then, a punishing activity would be pursued by the tactical group. When David would renege on his promise, FBI spokesmen would tell the media what a bad guy he was. Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Jamar repeatedly found it necessary to publicly mock the sect’s religious beliefs and David Koresh’s leadership during the tightly controlled, and one-sided, daily media briefings. He also insisted he was dealing with a “hostage situation,” despite the fact that everyone of the 35 members who left the compound expressed both loyalty and devotion to David.

Ron Engelman, a popular talk show host, arranged a communication code with the Davidians after phone lines were cut by the FBI. They requested Engelman’s help to get medical assistance for their wounded, and a negotiator to help with authorities. Koresh agreed to surrender if doctors were allowed to care for the wounded. The FBI refused and later played back the tapes of the conversation on a loudspeaker as part of the psychological torture efforts. Engelman bitterly complained that withholding medical assistance for the wounded was more severe treatment than used against the Viet Cong.

“Psychological operations” during the standoff were begun on March 14, to force the Davidians to surrender. The worst effect of these torments was undoubtedly on the children. Tactics included:

• Bright spotlights aimed into the compound throughout the night.
• Ear splitting recordings of whining and taunting voices, dentist drills, rabbits being slaughtered, Tibetan monks chanting, and Nancy Sinatra singing her famous line “. . . one of these days you know you’re gonna get burnt.”
• Targeting specific automobiles for destruction by tanks.
• Smashing children’s toys that had been left outside.

Dr. Alan Stone of Harvard University, a lawyer, psychiatrist, and nationally recognized expert on violence, wrote that the FBI conduct was a “. . . misguided and punishing law enforcement strategy that contributed to the tragic ending . . .” The brutal psychological tactics and heavy show of force were warned against early on by FBI behavioral scientists, who claimed this would only enhance apocalyptic mentality. They proposed a more conciliatory approach to negotiation.

The cult busters. The public was continually prepared for a violent end to the standoff by endless appearances on television, major magazines and newspapers by Cult Awareness Network personnel and other “expert deprogrammers.” These psycho-fascists interpret any religious behavior or belief outside the secular norm as indicative of “cult-based mind control.” Professional cult-busters, hired by FBI siege leaders, were described by the media as “negotiators,” “consultants,” and “advisers.” Among them was Rick Ross, a convicted jewel thief and embezzler. Ross had recently been assessed $2.5 million in punitive damages by a federal jury in Seattle for his part in the 1991 kidnapping and “deprogramming” of a young fundamentalist. The jury found him, and Cult Awareness Network, guilty of violating the young man’s right to freedom of religion. Total damages in the case were nearly $5 million.

The fire. The siege against surviving Branch Davidians ended with the fiery deaths of 21 children and 53 adults broadcast live on national television. The FBI had chosen to terminate negotiations. Bob Ricks, FBI spokesman, said at 10:30 am on April 19, “We’re saying come out . . . this matter is over.” Two hours later it was. FBI began forcibly inserting canisters of CS gas with tanks, smashing through the fragile wooden walls of Mt. Carmel. The CS gas, used against women and children in Waco, is banned for use in battlefields under the Chemical Weapons Convention. It causes dizziness, disorientation, shortness of breath, chest tightness, nausea, burning of the skin, intense tearing, coughing and vomiting. The children would have been the most harmed because of their smaller size. While Davidians had gas masks for some relief, these masks do not fit children.

The video footage shows such violent ramming of the building that it must be seen to be believed. The structure was simply demolished. Falling debris blocked a trap door to an underground shelter, killing those inside. A front stairway collapsed, leaving the women’s and children’s second-floor exit cut off. The roof over the gymnasium collapsed, killing others in that area. The main entrance and exit doors in front were blocked.

Around noon, the building caught fire. I recorded the following entry in my diary. “It is 4:30 p.m. on April 19, 1993. To the best of my knowledge the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas are dead. The news broadcast which I saw live on NBC stated that upon firing into the compound to make openings for the tear gas, the building caught fire. About half an hour later, the Justice Department stated that two members of the group had been observed setting fire to the compound at either end. I am writing this to make clear that it contradicted the live broadcast.”

The fire was the worst disaster in U.S. law enforcement history. The federal and media spin doctors were at work immediately. They had their work cut out for them. At 6:11 that morning, the FBI had called Parkland Hospital in Dallas to check how many beds were available in the burn unit. Yet they made no provisions for water trucks or fire-fighting equipment. After the fire started, FBI agents waited 10 minutes before calling the fire department, then held them for 16 minutes after they arrived on the scene. Described by the media and the government as a “fortress,” the building was a tinderbox constructed mostly from used lumber and plywood. It burned to the ground in 45 minutes.

Cause of the fire. According to lawyers Zimmerman and DeGuerin, the cause of the fire was either a lantern or propane bottle being knocked over by a tank, or the CS gas spontaneously igniting. The FBI had cut off electricity to the building on March 12. They knew the Davidians were relying on gasoline powered generators, kerosene lamps and propane fuel, and that they had piled bales of hay for protection against bullets.

Federal character assassination. After the fire, President Clinton wasted no time in calling the Branch Davidians a “bunch of fanatics [who] decided to kill themselves . . .” He said of David Koresh, “[His] response to the demands for his surrender . . . was to destroy himself and murder the children who were his captives as well as the other people who were there . . .” And, just to make sure no one felt too badly about the deaths of so many people at the hands of his administration, Clinton added, “We know that David Koresh had sex with children.”

Regarding allegations of mass suicide, however, former FBI head William Sessions stated April 20th on The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour, that “every single analysis made of his [Koresh’s] writing; of what he had said, of what he said to his lawyers; of what behavioral science people said; what the psychologists thought; the psycholinguists thought; what the psychiatrists believed; was that this man was not suicidal.” Koresh had been working on a manuscript, had discussed publication rights with his lawyer Dick DeGuerin, and had retained a literary agent. He had asked DeGuerin to help prepare a will to protect Davidian property rights, and establish a trust fund for the children to safeguard future income from media sales. Steve Schneider was even concerned about whether he should get a haircut before the surrender.

Child abuse. Both DeGuerin and Zimmerman believed that the charges of child abuse were part of a purposeful disinformation campaign spread by the BATF, the FBI, the Justice Department, and the White House. Zimmerman was adamant that there was no evidence of child abuse. He said the children were, “. . . well-fed, they were clean and they were well-adjusted. They smiled, they talked to us . . .” A home-made video made by the Davidians during the siege surfaced some time after the fire. Small children are seen affectionately climbing on David and playing with him, further contradicting the accusations of child abuse. The footage was purposely withheld from the public by the government during the standoff, lest it engender sympathy for the group.

A near fantasy level of child abuse charges were parroted by an uncritical media. James Tom, for example, claimed that Koresh spanked Tom’s 8-month-old daughter for 30 to 40 minutes until she was bleeding; and that Tom didn’t try to stop it because he might get hurt. He claimed to have immediately recognized Koresh as a Charles Manson figure, and said David wanted one of Tom’s children for a human sacrifice. No reporter bothered to ask why, given this astute assessment, he willingly enrolled himself and his family under such leadership.

Janet Reno claimed that child abuse initially brought the Davidians to the attention of the feds, that it was the basis for the original raid, and that her decision to smash holes in the walls with tanks and insert CS gas was caused by her “information that infants were being slapped around and beaten.” Later she admitted she couldn’t exactly prove this “in terms of a criminal case.” She claimed that this statement was a misunderstanding of something someone (she forgot who) had told her. Later still, she admitted she did not read the FBI’s prepared statement carefully, nor did she read the supporting documentation assembled for her review prior to authorizing the final assault. On April 21, the Justice Department acknowledged that there was no evidence of child abuse during the standoff (despite the electronic surveillance) but that psychiatrists were speculating that with Koresh under pressure there must have been!

The Texas Department of Protective and Regulatory services issued a case summary on April 23, 1993 stating that the former allegations of child abuse could not be verified by their previous investigation; that no additional charges had been filed since the investigation closed the year before; and that no further evidence of child abuse was provided by examining or interviewing the 21 children released during the 51-day siege.

Arson investigation. The government hired an arson investigator named Paul Gray who “confirmed” that Davidians used gasoline to set the April 19 fire. Gray is the husband of a BATF employee in its Houston office, and was a friend of one of the dead agents. Gray’s office had been located in the BATF Houston office from 1982 to 1990. He carried a BATF identification card. Jack Zimmerman said, “We’re the only ones that were on the inside, saw the physical evidence, talked to the people inside who are now dead, and also talked to the survivors. That bullshit story about the way the fire started was put out by that BATF agent disguised as a Houston Fire Department officer.”

Destruction of evidence. The continuous moving, plowing, and shifting around of the crime scene destroyed evidence of shell casings, which would have proved who fired what, and how much of it during the raid. Crushing the cars destroyed trajectory data, as did smashing the bullet-hole-ridden walls of the house with tanks. The fire destroyed more evidence. On May 12, government officials simply bulldozed the burned-out ruins. Assistant US Attorney in Waco, William Johnston, complained in a March 23 letter to Janet Reno that Jeffrey Jamar was destroying evidence about the BATF raid. Johnston was removed from the case. During the trial, Texas Rangers complained that FBI agents were loading trash into a dumpster as Rangers were attempting to process the crime scene for evidence.

Government thievery. Thousands of dollars worth of automobile tools disappeared from the Mag Bag garage when it was ransacked by agents. The FBI smashed through the garage doors with tanks on March 8, even though the landlord offered them keys. A church safe containing more than $50,000 in cash, plus personal valuables of church members, was signed over to the FBI by the Texas Rangers. It was not on the evidence list prepared by the government. The government attempted to seize the 77-acre Mt. Carmel land, described as “prime ranch property.”

The trial of eleven surviving Davidians opened in January 1994. The 10 count indictment included conspiracy to murder federal agents, murder of federal agents, and various federal firearm violations. The government sought to win life sentences against all defendants with the conspiracy to murder charges, since three of them were not even present at Mt. Carmel on the day of the BATF raid.

The verdict. All eleven Branch Davidians were found not guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, and of aiding and abetting in the murders of the four BATF agents. The New York Times called the verdict “a resounding warning against the use of excessive force by law enforcement.” The jury deliberated for three days. Three Davidians were found not guilty of all charges. Eight others were found guilty of lesser charges, including aiding and abetting voluntary manslaughter and various weapons possession counts.

The jury, however, made an unfortunate technical error. They misunderstood one of the charges. They found seven Davidians guilty of the charge in Count Three of the indictment, “using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to the commission of an offense.” This charge was linked to Count One, “conspiracy to commit murder.” The legal error was that since there was no conspiracy to murder, defendants could not be guilty of carrying weapons to commit a conspiracy to murder.

Judge Smith gave a long and audible sigh when he read this part of the verdict and called the defense and prosecution attorneys to the bench. The prosecution urged the Judge to return the count to the jury for a better-informed assessment. The defense urged him to just throw it out as a misunderstanding.

Judge overturns verdict. Smith adjourned the proceeding for the weekend after releasing two of the Davidians who had been cleared of all charges. On Monday, February 28, 1994, the first anniversary of the BATF raid, he released a third defendant, Ruth Riddle, who had been convicted solely of the Count Three charge. However, under pressure from the prosecution, he reversed himself and had her re-arrested. He next declared that even though all Davidians had been found innocent of the conspiracy to murder charge in Count One, the fact that the jury (mistakenly) found seven of them guilty of the weapons charge in Count Three proved that they were in fact guilty of the conspiracy to murder charge in Count One. The jurors were horrified and made public pronouncements of their sorrow at their error, and their disagreement with the Judge. Jury foreman Sara Bain told Smith in a letter that they had misunderstood the charge. If Count Three were returned to the jury, they would find the defendants not guilty. The much-maligned Branch Davidians were now suffering an abandonment of the Constitutional protection of trial by jury.

Sentencing. Smith next  extrapolated various technical loopholes so that he was able to sentence five Davidians to an additional 30 years each for the Count Three conviction. The foreman of the jury cried on the steps of the courthouse, lamenting that the judge had simply overlooked the jury’s verdict. The Davidians were to serve a combined total of 240 years. The jury had convicted them of charges which would have given them 70 years maximum. The Judge had added 170 years to their sentences by finding them guilty of crimes the jury had acquitted them of committing. (In June, 2000, the Supreme Court remanded the case for re-sentencing, and Smith was forced to reduce the sentences of the five members from 30 to five years for the Count Three charge, and to reduce the sentence of a sixth defendant by five years.)

Evolution of a police state. Waco has been characterized as the confrontation between a maniac claiming to be the Son of God, and a tyrannical Federal Government convinced that it is God. The first World Trade center bombing preceded the BATF attack by two days. The two incidents prompted a show on Ted Koppel’s Nightline favoring additional restrictions on the First and Second Amendments, especially when combined. Koppel’s question was, are the First and Second Amendments outdated in “complex” modern society? (Ironically, the Clinton administration’s refusal to treat the World Trade Center bombing as seriously as it did “domestic extremists,” would set the stage for the September 11, 2001 attacks.) As the BATF triumphantly raised its flag over the ashes of Mt. Carmel, the American flag might well have hidden her beauty in sorrow.

Gun control. The Branch Davidians were accused of being a “heavily armed cult” by nearly every Establishment media source in early 1993. The truth was far more benign. Texas Rangers recovered about 200 guns from the ashes, or about two per adult resident. Statewide in Texas the average is four guns per adult. Approximately 16,500 Texans own automatic weapons. One quarter million Americans were registered owners of machine guns in 1993. If semi-automatic firearms had been converted to fully automatic fire by the Branch Davidians, the crime consisted of not registering the converted weapons, and not paying the $200 federal tax on their possession. Whatever one’s views of the Second Amendment, 86 people dead over gun registration is insane.

Freedom of religion. Secular humanism is the mortal enemy of idealism. When the ultimate source of authority and morality is the state, God becomes an antiquated and dangerous adversary. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the new enemy is religious fundamentalism, whether Islamic, Jewish or Christian. It is beyond doubt that David Koresh held strange religious beliefs. But he and the Branch Davidians never interfered with anyone else’s right to believe as they chose.

The loneliness of the Branch Davidians. Richard A. Schweder of the University of Chicago wrote an Op-Ed piece published in The New York Times on April 17, 1994. “[N]o one stepped forward to be the Davidians’ friend. The BATF spent months planning and rehearsing the largest `law enforcement’ operation of its 200-year history. This turned out to be a major military operation worthy of a police state, carried out against the domestic residence of an unpopular and readily stigmatized religious community. The American Civil Liberties Union does not like guns, and it’s very busy, so it didn’t get involved. The religious leaders of our country do not like `cults,’ and the women’s movement does not like patriarchal living arrangements, so they didn’t much care. And no one wanted to seem sympathetic to ‘child abuse’ or unsympathetic to the FBI. Throughout the 51-day standoff, an uncharacteristic silence fell across the editorial pages of many leading newspapers.”

Denouement. A series of Congressional hearings finally took place in July and August of 1995, soon after officials were awakened to the seriousness of continued public discontent by the Oklahoma City bombing. The Congressional hearings determined that the April 19 fire was set by the Davidians. However, during the hearings, evidence was presented of FLIR (Forward Looking Infra-Red) or heat sensitive video footage shot by government surveillance planes on the day of the fire. It appeared that government operatives were firing automatic weapons into the cafeteria at the rear of the burning building, well out of sight of the carefully positioned cameras of the media. As shocking as it was, this video footage was not addressed in depth at the hearings because of various levels of confusion.

In 1998, Waco documentary producer Mike McNulty discovered government issued military pyrotechnic munitions in a locked FBI evidence storage facility. This caused another uproar that forced Janet Reno in 1999 to appoint former Senator John Danforth as a special counsel to investigate this discovery, revisit the FLIR evidence, and review the presence of Army Special Forces personnel at Waco in violation of the Posse Comitatus Act. To no one’s surprise Danforth concluded in his November 2000 report that government agents did not murder Branch Davidians trying to escape the fire by running out the back of the building. Danforth also confirmed that, despite the discovery of the pyrotechnic shells, the Davidians had set the fire themselves. And finally, he reported that elite military personnel were present solely in an advisory capacity.

My advice to any reader troubled by the horrific possibilities raised in the preceding paragraphs is to purchase the two videos by Mike McNulty, listed in the bibliography, and draw your own conclusions.

In July of 2003, I visited the Branch Davidian Church with my family and two friends to pay our respects. Our shared first impression was that the accusation these people were planning to swarm into Waco to attack others was simply insane. The isolation of their land spoke volumes about their lifestyles and intentions. Miraculously, the community has so far managed to avoid the land grab many felt helped motivate the attack. Donations have come in from all parts of the world to help sustain the property. A beautiful arbor of 82 trees commemorates each of the Davidians who died. A humble new church graces the land. A core group of about six survivors, who now live off-site, continues their devotions, joined by new members. Foreign born Davidians were repatriated. Other survivors drifted away. Imprisoned Davidians continue serving their unjust sentences. The wrongful death lawsuit, alleging excessive use of force by the U.S. government, initially filed in 1994, was dismissed in September of 2000.