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David Koresh
(born Vernon Wayne Howell) (August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993) was
the leader of the Branch Davidians religious sect, believing himself to
be the final prophet, until a 1993 raid by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and subsequent siege by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation ended with the burning of the Branch Davidian
ranch. Koresh, 53 adults (including two pregnant women) and 21 children
died in the fire.
Early life
Koresh was born in Houston, Texas to
a 14-year-old single mother.. Bonnie Sue Clark, his mother, became
pregnant with Koresh after sleeping with a 20-year-old carpenter named
Bobby Howell. The pair remained unmarried. Two years later his father
met another woman and left. He never knew his father and was raised by
"a harsh stepfather".
Koresh described his early childhood
as lonely, and it has been alleged that he was once raped by older boys.
A poor student because of dyslexia, Koresh dropped out of high school.
By the age of 12, however, he had learned the New Testament by heart.
When he was 19, Koresh had an affair
with a 16-year-old girl who became pregnant, but left him because she
considered him unfit to raise a child. He then became a born-again
Christian in the Southern Baptist Church but soon joined his mother's
church, the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
There he fell in love with the
pastor's daughter and while praying for guidance he opened his eyes and
found the bible open at Isaiah 34 which stated that none should want for
a mate; convinced this was a sign from God he approached the pastor and
told him that God wanted him to have his daughter for a wife. The pastor
threw him out, and when he continued to persist with his pursuit of the
daughter he was expelled from the congregation. A member of the
congregation is reported to have said that he never "thought above his
belt buckle."
In 1981 he moved to Waco, Texas where
he joined the Branch Davidians, a religious group originating from a
schism in the 1950s from the Shepherd's Rod, themselves excommunicated
members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the 1930s. They had
established their headquarters at a ranch about 10 miles out of Waco,
which they called the Mount Carmel Center (after the Biblical Mount
Carmel), in 1955.
Ascent to leadership of the
Branch Davidians
In 1983 he began claiming the gift of
prophecy. Koresh then had an affair with Lois Roden, the prophetess and
leader of the sect who was then in her late sixties, eventually claiming
that God had chosen him to father a child with her, who would be the
Chosen One.
In 1983, Roden allowed Koresh to
begin teaching his own message which caused controversy in the group.
Lois Roden's son George intended to be the group's next leader, and
considered Koresh an interloper.
When Koresh announced that God had
instructed him to marry Rachel Jones, there was a short period of calm
at Mount Carmel, but it proved only temporary. In the ensuing power
struggle, George Roden, claiming to have the support of the majority of
the group, forced Koresh and his group off the property at gunpoint.
Disturbed by the events and the move away from the philosophy of the
community's founders, a further splinter group led by Charles Joseph
Pace moved out of Mount Carmel and set up home in Gadsden, Alabama.
Koresh and around 25 followers set up
camp at Palestine, 90 miles from Waco, where they lived rough for the
next two years, during which time Koresh undertook recruitment of new
followers in California, the United Kingdom, Israel and Australia. In
1985 Koresh travelled to Israel and it was there that he had a vision
that he was the modern day Cyrus. The founder of the Davidian movement,
Victor Houteff, wanted to be God's implement and establish the Davidic
kingdom in Palestine, Israel.
Koresh also wanted to be God's tool
and set up the Davidic Kingdom in Jerusalem. At least until 1990, he
believed the place of his martyrdom might be in Israel but by 1991 he
was convinced that his martyrdom would be in the United States. Instead
of Israel, he said the prophecies of Daniel would be fulfilled in Waco
and that the Mount Carmel center was the Davidic kingdom.
At the Palestine, Texas, camp, Koresh
"worked it so that everyone was forced to rely on him, and him alone.
All previous bonds and attachments, family or otherwise, meant nothing.
His rationale was if they had no one to depend on, they had to depend on
him, and that made them vulnerable." By this time, he had already begun
to give the message of his own "Christhood", proclaiming that he was
"the Son of God, the Lamb who could open the Seven seals".
Lois Roden died in 1986. Up until now
Koresh had been teaching that monogamy was the only way to live, but
suddenly announced that polygamy was allowed for him. In March 1986,
Koresh first slept with Karen Doyle, aged 14.
He claimed her
as his second wife. In August 1986, Koresh began secretly sleeping with
Michele Jones, his wife's younger 12 year old sister. In September 1986
Koresh began to preach that he was entitled to 140 wives, sixty women as
his "queens" and eighty as concubines, which he based upon his
interpretation of the Biblical Song of Solomon.
Koresh then built up
an entirely new theology around his "marriage" to Doyle. This theology
was called the "New Light", with a doctrine of polygamy for himself,
which he called "The House of David".
According to this doctrine, Doyle was
supposed to have a daughter named Shoshanna who would then be married to
Koresh's firstborn son Cyrus. Doyle failed to conceive however, so
Koresh then transferred his attention to his wife's sister. Former
Davidian David Bunds said that Koresh's doctrine of polygamy "rose out
of his deep desire to have sex with young girls. Once he was able to
convince himself that it was God's will then he was able to be free of
guilt and have sex with as many young girls as he could get his hands
on."
By late 1987, George Roden's support
had withered. To regain it, he challenged Koresh to a contest to raise
the dead, even digging up one corpse to practice on it. Koresh returned
to Mount Carmel in camouflage, with seven armed followers. All but one -
who managed to escape - were arrested by the local police who had been
alerted by the sound of gunfire. When deputy sheriffs arrived and ended
the shoot-out, they found Koresh and six followers firing their rifles
at Roden, who had already suffered a minor gunshot wound and was pinned
down behind a tree at the Compound.
As a result of the incident, Koresh
and his followers were charged with attempted murder. At the trial,
Koresh testified that he went to Mount Carmel to uncover evidence of
corpse abuse by George Roden. Koresh's followers were acquitted, and in
Koresh's case a mistrial was declared.
In 1988 Roden murdered Dale Adair
with an axe blow to the skull after Adair stated his belief that Koresh
was the Messiah. Roden was convicted of murder and, as he owed thousands
of dollars in unpaid taxes, Mount Carmel was placed for sale. Koresh and
his followers raised the money and purchased the property, which he
subsequently renamed "Ranch Apocalypse". A methamphetamine laboratory
was discovered on the property, which Koresh reported to the local
police department and asked to have removed.
Name change
Koresh believed himself to be a
modern-day Cyrus, who had delivered the Jews from Babylon. Koresh is the
Hebrew word for "Cyrus". In the documentation involved, Koresh stated
that the change was for "publicity and business purposes." The switch
arose from his belief that he was now head of the biblical house of
David, from which Judeo-Christian tradition maintains the Messiah will
come.
The name Koresh is a
transliteration of the Hebrew name of Cyrus the Persian king who allowed
the Jews who had been dispersed throughout Babylonia by Nebuchadnezzar
to return to their homelands.
Both King David
and Cyrus are referred to as Messiah (literally anointed one) in
the Hebrew Bible (King David on several occasions, Cyrus in Isaiah
45:1), thus the names, "David" and "Koresh", Vernon Howell chose
evidenced his belief that he too was an anointed one, a belief that
stemmed from a vision he claimed to have received from God in 1985
during his trip to Israel. During the siege, Koresh would explain to the
FBI negotiators that (in Koresh's mind at least) "koresh" had a deeper
meaning:
Koresh: "What is
Christ revealed as, according to the fourth seal?"
FBI: "Pale... a rider on a pale horse."
Koresh: "And his name is what?"
FBI: "Death."
Koresh: "Now, do you know what the name Koresh means?"
FBI: "Go ahead..."
Koresh: "It means death."
Accusations of
child abuse and statutory rape
Koresh advocated polygamy for
himself, and asserted that he was married to several female residents of
the small community. Some former members of the cult also alleged that
Koresh felt he could claim any of the females in the compound as his.
Evidently he fathered at least a dozen children by the harem. Allegedly,
his harem included girls as young as age 14. The other adults at the
compound were told by Koresh not to tell anyone else about this "because
they wouldn't understand."
The 1993 U.S. Department of Justice
report sets out detailed evidence of historical child sexual and
physical abuse. ATF Special Agent David Aguilera had interviewed former
Branch Davidian Jeannine Bunds, who claimed that Koresh had fathered
"...at least fifteen children with various women and young girls at the
compound.
Some of the girls who had babies
fathered by Koresh were as young as 12 years old. She had personally
delivered 7 of these children. According to Ms. Bunds, Howell annuls all
marriages of couples who join his cult. He then has exclusive sexual
access to the women. He also, according to Mrs. Bunds, has regular
sexual relations with young girls there. The girls ages are from 11
years old to adulthood.
In his book, James Tabor states that
Koresh acknowledged on a videotape sent out of the compound during the
standoff that he had fathered more than 12 children by several "wives",
some of whom were as young as 12 or 13 when they became pregnant. DNA
testing of the women and children in the video who died in the
subsequent fire confirmed that the children were his.
At the time, in Texas, the age of
parental consent for a minor to marry was 14, as was the age for consent
to sex. Kiri Jewell, daughter of Branch Davidian Sherri Jewell, claimed
in testimony before Congress in 1995 that she was sexually molested at
the age of 10 by Koresh, who then read to her from the Bible.
She originally related the incident
in a 1992 custody battle, and the judge ordered that she be kept away
from Koresh and Mount Carmel. While conceding that Jewell's testimony
may be "100 percent true", Schneider's attorney expressed doubts about
her veracity.
Twenty-one children, aged from 5
months to 12 years, were released from Mount Carmel over a 3 day period
at the beginning of the siege. These children were placed in the custody
of the Child Protective Services and housed together in a single
cottage.
Over the next two months, these
children were in the constant care of a multidisciplinary treatment team
consisting of child care and mental health professionals from a variety
of institutions and organizations, who carried out extensive evaluation
and assessment. They concluded that the children had been raised in an
abusive setting, and that Koresh's regime at Mount Carmel was clearly "a
psychologically destructive environment for children."
Koresh deliberately undermined the
traditional parent-child relationship and replaced it with a dependence
upon a central figure, himself. The children related at various times
that they had been instructed to call their natural parents "dogs" and
to call Koresh "father." Children who were not biologically Koresh's or
'adopted' by Koresh were called "bastards."
Koresh continuously undermined all
relationships within the Branch Davidian community, including sibling
relationships, husband and wife relationships, and friendships. Any
attachment judged by Koresh to be more important to an individual than
the dependence upon him or God was not tolerated. By 1992 the children
were being taught to view Koresh as their father, and soon after they
were taught that he was God.
The children demonstrated
inappropriate and age-inappropriate behaviors and significant gaps in
general understanding, reflecting practices present in the compound.
Very young children, including a six year old girl, knew an incredible
amount about weapons, while they knew almost nothing about common
age-appropriate concepts.
Child psychologists concluded that
the children were significantly traumatized by previous harsh and
inappropriate disciplinary techniques including severe corporal
punishment, extended isolation and severe food restrictions. They were
continually exposed to "harsh, capricious, and humiliating" disciplinary
techniques.
Children, as
young as 8 months, were beaten for trivial matters, and older children
were beaten for not fighting hard enough in bouts arranged by Koresh
between the children as part of their "paramilitary training". In the
building where the children were first housed after leaving mount
Carmel, one spotted the door to the basement:
"Do you have a
whipping room down there?" she asked her new guardians. '"No, do you
have one?" "Yes," said the little girl. "When they don't want everyone
to hear us, they take us down there."
The children were also
threatened with death if they revealed aspects of life inside the
compound to the "non-believers". As is typical when an abusive adult
threatens a child, they were told that outsiders would not understand
"our special ways". The children were convinced that Koresh would return
from the grave and punish them if they betrayed the Davidians by
interacting with, or disclosing information to, the "bad guys" (eg law
enforcement and non-Davidians).
Koresh was exploitive and
manipulative of children and exposed them all to a variety of
inappropriate sexual content - such as graphically describing
intercourse and sexual technique in his hours-long sermons at which the
children were present.
Furthermore, the girls were
socialized to believe that sex with Koresh, by age 11-12, was normal,
appropriate, and desirable as part of "God's plan" as revealed to and by
Koresh. All of the young girls were being prepared to be his wives and
to view that as a healthy and desired position to be in. One of the
older girls expressed distress, now that she had been released from the
compound, that she would not be able to be picked by Koresh as one of
his brides. Koresh created an environment which had "an unhealthy,
malignant and predatory quality of sexuality", and all of the girls were
'groomed' for sexual activity at an early age.
Several of the children mentioned
dead babies, and stated that dead babies were kept in the freezer until
they could be buried or burned. Amongst the children there was an
ongoing secretive quality to these occasional allusions to births, dead
babies, miscarriages, storage of dead babies in the freezer, burning
bodies, a ceremony with a male baby underwater and other incomplete and
unformed stories. When any of the children mentioned these subjects,
there was evidence of peer-group monitoring, group censoring and
avoidance of disclosing any more information.
Dr. Bruce D.
Perry concluded that:
"The fact that the
name of God and religion were used to obscure this exploitive and
abusive practice make these activities even more heinous and destructive
to the long term development of these children. The fact that
responsible adults, either parents or 'academics', would minimize these
activities is shameful. David Koresh systematically exploited the
members of the Branch Davidian community, slowly but surely coercing
that community to play out the tragic and destructive visions of his own
disturbed inner world."
Raid and siege
On February 28, 1993, the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) raided Mount Carmel. The raid
resulted in the deaths of four agents and six Davidians. Shortly after
the initial raid, the FBI took command of the federal operation and
contact was established with Koresh inside the church. Communication
over the next 51 days included telephone exchanges with various FBI
negotiators.
As the standoff continued, Koresh,
who was seriously injured by a gunshot wound, along with his closest
male leaders negotiated delays, possibly so he could write religious
documents he said he needed to complete before he surrendered. His
conversations with the negotiators were dense with biblical imagery. The
federal negotiators treated the situation as a hostage crisis despite a
two hour video tape sent out by the Davidians in which the adults and
older children/teens appeared to explain clearly and confidently why
they chose of their own free will to remain with David.
The 51-day siege of Mount Carmel
ended when U.S Attorney General Janet Reno approved recommendations of
veteran FBI officials to proceed with a final assault in which the
Branch Davidians were to be removed from their building by force. In the
course of the assault, the church building caught fire. The cause of the
fire was later alleged by the "Danforth Report," a report commissioned
by The Special Counsel, to be the deliberate actions of some of the
Branch Davidians inside the building..
However this hypothesis is disputed
in the documentary "Waco: The Rules of Engagement," which argues that
the fire was deliberately set when the FBI fired an incendiary device
into the building after loading the building with CS gas, which is
highly flammable.
At the subsequent trial of the
surviving Branch Davidians, the jury listened to edited parts of a
tape-recording from hidden microphones inside Mt. Carmel during the
final attack and fire of 19 April. These consisted of sounds of static
during which one could faintly hear a voice saying "...fire..."
A government expert testified that
through electronic enhancement, he had reconstructed some clearly
incriminating comments, even if the jury couldn't hear them. It later
transpired that the FBI, when meeting Koresh's demands that milk be sent
in for the children's wellbeing, also sent in tiny listening devices
concealed inside the milk cartons and their styrofoam containers..
Barricaded in their building,
seventy-six Branch Davidians, including Koresh, did not survive the
fire. Seventeen of these victims were children under the age of 12. The
Danforth Report claims that those who died were unable, or unwilling, to
flee and that Steve Schneider, Koresh's right-hand man, probably shot
Koresh and killed himself with the same gun. "Waco: The Rules of
Engagement" claims that FBI sharpshooters fired on, and killed, many
Branch Davidians who attempted to flee the flames.
Testimony by the few Branch Davidians
who did successfully flee the fire supports this claim. Autopsy records
indicate that at least 20 Branch Davidians were shot, including 5
children. The Danforth Report claims that the adults who died of gunshot
wounds shot themselves after shooting the children.
David Koresh is buried at Memorial
Park Cemetery, Tyler, Texas.
Branch
Davidians believe that Koresh will someday return to Earth. Some hoped,
based on Daniel 12:12, that this would occur 1,335 days after his death:
December 14, 1996. The Hidden Manna faction believed that it would take
place on August 6, 1999, then October 20, and now March 2012. Other
survivors avoid date-setting.
References
-
Reavis, Dick J. The Ashes of
Waco: An Investigation (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995).
ISBN 0-684-81132-4
-
Samples, Kenneth et al.
Prophets of the Apocalypse: David Koresh & Other American Messiahs
(Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994). ISBN 0-8010-8367-2
Waco Siege
On February 28, 1993, the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) raided the Branch
Davidian ranch at Mount Carmel, a property located nine miles (14 km)
east-northeast of Waco, Texas.
The initial raid resulted in the
deaths of four agents and six Davidians. The subsequent 51-day siege by
the FBI ended on April 19 when fire completely consumed the complex,
killing 79 people, including 21 children and Davidian leader David
Koresh. This has come to be known as the Waco Siege.
History
The Branch Davidian Seventh Day
Adventist Church was formed in Los Angeles, California during the 1930s,
breaking away from the Seventh-day Adventist Church. As the group gained
members, the leadership moved the church to a hilltop several miles west
of Waco, which they named Mount Carmel, after a mountain in Israel
mentioned in the Bible. A few years later, they moved again to a much
larger site east of the city.
The new Mount Carmel Center consisted
of a main church building (constructed primarily of thin plywood, taking
advantage of a lack of building codes at the time), administrative and
storage buildings, and homes for the leadership and important visitors.
The church announced at some point
that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ was about to take place, and
members were told to gather at the center to await this event. Many
built houses, others stayed in tents, trucks or buses, and most sold
their possessions.
By 1992, most of the land belonging
to the group had been sold, and most of the buildings had been removed,
or were being salvaged for construction materials to convert much of the
main chapel and a tall water tank into apartments for the resident
members of the group.
Accusations
Interviews with surviving Davidians
state that David Koresh was intimately versed in the Bible and "knew it
like he wrote it". Koresh taught that the US government was the enemy of
the Davidians, and that they would have to defend themselves. He also
professed that the apocalypse foretold in the Book of Revelation was
upon them.
In a video made by the Davidians and
released during the siege, Koresh stated that he had been told by God to
procreate with the women in the groups to establish a "House of David",
his "Special People".
This involved married couples in the
group dissolving their marriages and agreeing that only Koresh could
have sexual relations with the wives. On the tape, Koresh is also shown
with several minors who claimed to have had babies fathered by Koresh.
In total, Koresh had fourteen young children, who stayed with him in the
compound.
A video clip of an interview between
Koresh and an Australian television station notes that he was accused of
impregnating the aged widow of the founder of Branch Davidianism. He
sarcastically said that if the charges were true, if he had "made an 82
year-old woman pregnant... I do miracles, I'm God!" Frequently, only the
last two words were seen in news coverage.
On February 27, 1993 the Waco
Tribune-Herald began what it called the “Sinful Messiah” series of
articles. It alleged that Koresh had physically abused children in the
compound and had taken underage brides, even raping one of them. Koresh
was also said to advocate polygamy for himself, and declared himself
married to several female residents of the small community.
According to the paper, Koresh
declared that he was entitled to at least 140 wives, that he was
entitled to claim any of the females in the group as his, that he had
fathered at least a dozen children by the harem and that some of these
mothers became brides as young as twelve or thirteen years old.
Reports from
Joyce Sparks, an investigator from the Texas agency responsible for
protective services, stated that she had found no evidence that the
allegations were true in any of several visits to the Mount Carmel site
over a period of months, but said that she was not permitted to speak
with the children alone, nor was she permitted to inspect all areas of
the site. She noted that safety concerns over construction sites at
Mount Carmel were immediately addressed and corrected. Carol Moore,
author of the 1994 "The Massacre Of The Branch Davidians—A Study Of
Government Violations Of Rights, Excessive Force And Cover Up",
published by The Committee For Waco Justice, writes:
(Rick) Ross told the
Houston Chronicle that Koresh is "your stock cult leader. They're all
the same. Meet one and you've met them all. They're deeply disturbed,
have a borderline personality and lack any type of conscience...No one
willingly enters into a relationship like this. So you're talking about
deception and manipulation (by the leader), people being coached in ever
so slight increments, pulled in deeper and deeper without knowing where
it's going or seeing the total picture."
Prelude
In 1992 the ATF became concerned over
reports of automatic gunfire coming from the Carmel compound. Subsequent
investigations, including sending in one agent undercover, revealed that
there were over 150 weapons and 8,000 rounds of ammunition in the
complex. Most of the weapons were legal semi-automatics however the ATF
alleged there were also a number that had been illegally modified to
fire fully automatically.
The ATF began surveillance from a
house across the road from the compound, but their cover was noticeably
poor (the "college students" were in their 30s, not registered at the
local schools, and they did not keep a schedule which would have fit any
legitimate employment or classes).
Speculating that the Davidians had
violated federal law, the ATF obtained search and arrest warrants for
Koresh and specific followers on weapons charges due to the many
firearms they had accumulated, and they planned their raid for March 1,
1993. However, they moved it up a day in response to the Waco
Tribune-Herald "Sinful Messiah" article (which the ATF had tried to
prevent from being published).
People critical of the inital ATF
investigation and raid have lambasted the search warrant application.
The warrant application and supporting affidavits contain a great deal
of discussion listing large numbers of firearms and ammunition, all
having nothing to do with any violation of federal law.
Further, there is much discussion
about the "cult" like nature of the group (Davidians) and allegations of
untoward sexual practices. The result of such language is to prejudice
the reader agaings Koresh and the Davidians all the while providing
information irrelevant to any violation of federal law.
The initial
assault
The ATF mounted the raid on a Sunday
morning, February 28, 1993. Any advantage of surprise was lost as a
reporter, who had been tipped off on the raid, asked for directions from
a USPS mail carrier who was Koresh's brother-in-law, and the assault
team assembled within view of the upper stories of the Mount Carmel main
building.
Koresh then confronted the ATF agent
who had infiltrated the Branch Davidians and told him that they knew a
raid was coming. Koresh and his followers then began arming and taking
up defensive positions, while the women and children were told to take
cover in their rooms.
Despite being informed that the
Davidians knew the raid was coming, the ATF commander ordered that the
raid go ahead, even though their plan had depended on reaching the
compound without the Davidians having armed.
Agents approached the site in cattle
trailers pulled by pickup trucks owned by individual ATF agents. It is
not known who fired the first shots. It is reported that the first
firing occurred at the double front entry doors; ATF agents stated that
they heard shots coming from within the building, while Branch Davidian
survivors claimed that the first shots came from the ATF agents outside.
Within a minute of the raid starting,
a Davidian, Wayne Martin, called 911 pleading for them to stop shooting.
The resident asked for a ceasefire, and audiotapes clearly caught him
saying "Here they come again!" and "That's them shooting, that's not
us!"
The local sheriff then attempted to
contact the ATF force, but initially could not get through as the ATF
communications officer had turned his radio off. Eventually the sheriff
got through and negotiated a ceasefire.
After the ceasefire, the Davidians,
who still had ample ammunition, allowed the dead and wounded to be
removed and held their fire during the ATF retreat. Steve Willis, Robert
Williams, Todd McKeehan and Conway LeBleu were the ATF agents killed
during the raid, with another 16 having been injured.
The Davidians killed were Winston
Blake, Peter Gent, Peter Hipsman, Perry Jones and Jaydean Wendel.
Michael Schroeder was shot dead by ATF agents when he fired a Glock 19
pistol at agents as he attempted to reenter the compound around 5 PM
with Woodrow Kendrick and Norman Allison.
The local sheriff, in audiotapes
broadcast after the incident, said he was not apprised of the raid.
Timeline
of events 28 February
|
Time |
Event |
|
0500 |
76 agents
assemble at Fort Hood for the drive to the staging area at the
Bellmead Civic Center. According to a later Treasury Department
Review, the agents drove in an 80-vehicle convoy that stretched
for a mile with a cattle trailer at either end |
|
0945 |
ATF agents move in on the compound. A
gun battle begins. |
|
0948 |
Branch Davidian
Wayne Martin, a Waco attorney, calls 911 |
|
1130 |
Cease fire reached |
|
1600 |
The first
message from Koresh is relayed over KRLD Radio In Dallas |
|
1655 |
Mike Schroeder
is shot dead returning to the compound |
|
1700 |
ATF spokesman
Ted Royster says gunfire has continued sporadically through the
afternoon |
|
1930 |
David Koresh is
interviewed by CNN. The FBI instructs CNN not to conduct further
interviews |
|
2015 |
ATF
spokesperson Sharon Wheeler says negotiations continue with
Davidians and gunfire has ended |
|
2200 |
By now 4
children have exited (2 Sonobe children, 2 Fagan children) |
|
2205 |
Koresh talks
for about 20 minutes on KRLD, describing his beliefs and saying
he is the most seriously wounded of the Davidians |
The siege
ATF agents established contact with
Koresh and others inside the building after they withdrew. The FBI took
command soon after as a result of the deaths of Federal agents. They
placed the FBI Special Agent in Command of San Antonio, Jeff Jamar, in
charge of the siege. The tactical team was headed by Richard Rogers, who
had previously been criticized for his actions at the Ruby Ridge
incident.
For the next fifty-one days,
communication with those inside was by telephone by a group of 25 FBI
negotiators (who reportedly were not always in touch with the tactical
units surrounding the building).
In the first few days the FBI
believed they had made a breakthrough when they negotiated with Koresh
an agreement that the Davidians would peaceably leave the compound in
return for a message, recorded by Koresh, being broadcast on national
radio. The broadcast was made, but Koresh then told negotiators that God
had told him to remain in the building and "wait".
Despite this, soon afterwards
negotiators managed to facilitate the release of 19 children, but
without their parents. Ninety-eight people remained in the compound.
On day nine the Davidians released a
video tape to show the FBI that there were no hostages, but in fact
everyone was staying inside on their own free will. This video also
included a message from Koresh.
As the stand-off continued, Koresh
negotiated more time, allegedly so he could write religious documents he
said he needed to complete before he surrendered. His conversations,
dense with biblical imagery, alienated the federal negotiators who
treated the situation as a hostage crisis.
As the siege wore on two factions
developed within the FBI, one believing negotiation to be the answer,
the other force. Increasingly aggressive techniques were used to try to
make the Davidians leave. Outside the building nine tanks and five
combat engineering vehicles (CEVs) obtained from the US Army began
patrolling.
The tanks were used to destroy
outbuildings and crush cars belonging to Koresh. Loud music (heavily
distorted) and disturbing sounds were played at high volume. Eventually
all power and water was cut off to the complex, forcing those inside to
survive on rain water and stockpiled army Meal, Ready-to-Eat rations.
Criticism was
later leveled at the tactic of loud noises against Koresh by Schneider's
attorney, Jack Zimmerman:
The point was this -
they were trying to have sleep disturbance and they were trying to take
someone that they viewed as unstable to start with, and they were trying
to drive him crazy. And then they got mad 'cos he does something that
they think is irrational!
Despite the
increasingly aggressive tactics, Koresh ordered a group of followers to
leave. Eleven people left and were arrested as material witnesses, with
one person charged with conspiracy to murder.
The children's willingness to stay
with Koresh disturbed the negotiators who were unprepared to work around
the Davidians' religious zeal. However, as the siege went on, the
children were aware that an earlier group of children who had left with
some women were immediately separated, and the women arrested.
During the siege a number of scholars
who study apocalypticism in religious groups attempted to persuade the
Justice Department that the siege tactics being used by government
agents would only create the impression within the Davidians that they
were part of a Biblical End Times confrontation that had cosmic
significance. This would likely increase the chances of a violent and
deadly outcome (in a subsequent stand-off with the Montana Freemen, the
Justice Department incorporated this advice to end the confrontation
peacefully).
Koresh's discussions with the
negotiating team became increasingly difficult. He proclaimed that he
was the second coming of Christ and had been commanded by his father in
heaven to remain in the compound.
Many of Koresh's statements about
religion that baffled government negotiators were understood by
religious scholars as references to his idiosyncratic interpretations of
the Book of Revelation, and his claimed role in the End Times battle
between good and evil.
The final
assault
The FBI became increasingly concerned
that the Davidians were going to commit mass suicide, as had happened at
Jonestown when 900 people killed themselves at their leader's behest.
The then-newly appointed U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno approved the
recommendations of the FBI to mount an assault after being told that
conditions were deteriorating and children were being abused inside the
compound.
Because the Davidians were heavily
armed, the FBI's arms included .50 caliber guns and armored vehicles
known as combat engineer vehicles (CEVs). A plan was formed which would
see the CEVs use booms to punch holes in the walls of buildings and then
pump in CS gas ("tear gas") to try to flush out the Davidians without
harming them.
The plan called for increasing
amounts of gas to be pumped in over two days to increase pressure. No
armed assault was to be made, and loudspeakers were used to tell the
Davidians that there was no armed assault and to ask them not to fire on
the vehicles. Despite this, several Davidians opened fire. Instead of
returning fire, the FBI increased the amount of gas being used.
After more than six hours no
Davidians had left the building instead sheltering in an underground
bunker or using gas masks. The CEVs were used to punch several large
holes in the building to provide exits for those inside. However several
of these were blocked when the floor above collapsed, and Davidians were
scared that they would be shot if they left. At around noon, three fires
started almost simultaneously in different parts of the building. Even
then, as the fire spread, only nine people left the building.
The remaining Davidians remained
inside as fire engulfed the building, with footage being broadcast
worldwide by television. In all, 74 died. Jeff Jamar prohibited fire
crews access to the burning buildings until after the blaze had burned
itself out, due to the danger of explosives within the fire and possible
weapons fire from surviving Davidians. Nothing remains of the compound
today. Only a small chapel stands on the site, used by a small number of
Branch Davidians.
Chronology of events 19 April
|
Time |
Event |
|
0550 |
Agents call
Davidian compound to warn they are going to begin tank activity
and advise residents "to take cover". Agents say the Davidian
who answered the phone doesn't reply, but instead throws the
phone and phone line out of the front door |
|
0600 |
Surveillance
tapes record a man inside the compound saying "Everybody wake
up, let's start to pray," then, "Pablo have you poured it yet"
..."Huh" ... "Have you poured it yet"... "in the hallway"...
"things are poured, right?" |
|
0604 |
Armored vehicle
with ram and delivery device to pump tear gas into compound with
pressurized air rips into front wall just left of front door
leaving a hole 8 feet high and 10 feet wide. Agents claimed the
holes not only allowed insertion of the gas, but also provided a
means of escape. Agents allege that 75 rounds are fired from
inside compound at this time |
|
0610 |
Surveillance
tapes record "don't pour it all out, we might need some
later"... "throw the tear gas back out" FBI negotiator Byron
Sage is recorded saying "It's time for people to come out."
Surveillance tape records a man saying "what?" then, "no way." |
|
0612 |
Surveillance
tapes record Davidians saying "They're gonna kill us," then
"They don't want to kill us." |
|
0723 |
Surveillance
tapes record a male Davidian saying, "The fuel has to go all
around to get started." Then a second male says, "Well, there
are two cans here, if that's poured soon." |
|
0800 |
Armored vehicle
with battering ram rips into second floor of compound and then
minutes later another hole is punched into the backside of the
compound. The vehicles then withdraw |
|
0900 |
The Davidians
unfurl a banner which reads "We want our phone fixed." |
|
0913 |
Armored vehicle
powers through front door to deliver more gas |
|
0916 |
Surveillance tapes record conversation
between two males identified as David Koresh and Steve
Schneider.
Koresh: "They got two cans of Coleman fuel down there? Huh?"
Schneider: "Empty"
Koresh: "All of it?"
Schneider:
"Nothing left." |
|
1000 |
A man is seen
waving a white flag on the southeast side of the compound. He is
advised over loudspeakers that if he is surrendering he should
come out. He doesn't. At the same time a man believed to be
Schneider comes out to retrieve the phone and phone line |
|
1130 |
More gas
inserted through front, punching another big hole |
|
1140 |
Surveillance
tapes record a man saying "I want a fire around the back," then
later, "Let's keep that fire going." |
|
1143 |
Another gas
insertion takes place, with the armored vehicle moving well into
the building to reach the concrete interior room where the FBI
believe Davidians are trying to avoid gas |
|
1203 |
Armored vehicle
turret knocks away first floor corner on right side |
|
1208 |
First visible
flames appear in two spots in the front of the building, first
on the left of the front door on the second floor (a wisp of
smoke then a small flicker of flame) then a short time later on
the far right side of the front of the building, and at a third
spot on the back side. Agents say Branch Davidian members
ignited the fires, alleging that observers saw a man dressed in
black bend over with cupped hands and then saw flames as he
lifted his hands |
|
1209 |
Ruth Riddle
exits with computer disk in her jacket containing Koresh's
Manuscript on the Seven Seals. |
|
1210 |
Flames spread
quickly, fanned by high winds. The building is not well
constructed and burns very quickly |
|
1212 |
911 call placed for fire department. Two Waco
FD trucks are dispatched. Shortly after, Bellmead FD
dispatches two trucks |
|
1222 |
Waco fire
trucks arrive at checkpoint, Bellmead follows shortly after |
|
1225 |
There is a
large explosion on the left side. One object hurtles into air,
bounces off the top of white bus and lands on grass |
|
1230 |
Part of the
roof collapses. Around this time there are several further
explosions and witnesses report the sound of gunfire, attributed
by the FBI to live ammunition cooking off throughout the
compound because of fire |
|
1243 |
Fire trucks
arrive in compound according to fire department logs |
|
1255 |
Fire begins to
burn out, compound leveled |
|
1545 |
Law enforcement
source says David Koresh is dead |
Aftermath
Various gun-control groups, such as
Handgun Control Incorporated and the Violence Policy Center have claimed
that the Branch Davidans had (and used) .50 caliber rifles and that
therefore these types of firearms should be banned.
However, the US Treasury Department,
in a memorandum to the press dated July 13, 1995 titled "Weapons
Possessed by the Branch Davidians", provided an inventory of all the
firearms and firearm-related items that were recovered from the Branch
Davidian's compound. The inventory shows no .50 rifles or machine guns,
only 4 .50 magazines, 3 .50 magazine springs and .50 belt links.
Several years later, the the General
Accounting Office in response to a request from Henry Waxman released a
briefing paper titled, "Criminal Activity Associated with .50 Caliber
Semiautomatic Rifles" which claims that the Branch Davidians did have
access to and use .50 rifles.
The GAO's claim is based on an
unsourced BATF claim that the Branch Davidians fired on the BATF with a
.50 rifle. There has not been a reconciliation between the Treasury
Department's account and the GAO's.
Actually, transcripts of trial
testimony and exhibit lists confrm that two .50 caliber Barrett rifles
and many rounds of .50 caliber bullets, including armor piercing
bullets, were found in the remains of the compound and entered into
evidence during the criminal trial in 1994 and the civil trial in 2000.
Trial
-
Judge Walter J. Smith (who was under
investigation during the first half of the trial by the Justice
Department for perjury) presided over the trial in which a jury
found some of the surviving Branch Davidians guilty. Over government
objections, Judge Smith empanelled an advisory jury in the civil
case. That jury ruled in favor of the United States and against the
Davidians (see below).
-
Congressional
Inquiry—The House Committee on Government Reform concluded that the
Davidians started the fires.
-
Danforth
Report—The Special Counsel appointed to look into the "darker
questions" concluded with "100% certainty" that the Davidians
started the fires. However, evidence of pyrotechnic "Flite-Rite"
rounds was discounted due to sworn testimony by federal agents that
no such devices were used, present or even available to the FBI.
Since the FBI now admits that this testimony was false, many deem
the Danforth Report conclusions to be less than reliable.
-
Federal
prosecutor Bill Johnston pled guilty to charges of obstructing an
investigation for withholding evidence of the use of pyrotechnic
devices.
-
The advisory
jury that heard the civil case against the government in the summer
of 2000 found in favor of the government on all claims, and found
specifically that the BATF agents acted within the law in returning
fire on February 28, 1993, and that the FBI neither caused, nor
contributed to, the fire.
-
The eleven
surviving Davidians accused of murder in the deaths of the four ATF
agents who were killed in the initial assault were acquitted on
grounds of self-defense.
-
Some critics
claim that the initial assault on the Davidians was an attempt to
divert media attention away from the recent Ruby Ridge incident.
The Davidians' motives for arming are unclear. An
op-ed in the Washington Post, written by former ATF Director Steve
Higgins, posits that the Davidians' taking up of arms and fortifying
their building conflicts with their claims of being law-abiding
citizens. The federal trial and appellate courts all agreed that the
affidavit contained ample proof of probable cause for the issuance of
the search and arrest warrants for the firearms and explosives charges.
Convicted Davidians
-
Kevin A. Whitecliff—convicted of voluntary
manslaughter and using a firearm during a crime.
-
Jaime Castillo—convicted of voluntary manslaughter
and using a firearm during a crime.
-
Paul Gordon Fatta—convicted of conspiracy to possess
machine guns and aiding Davidian leader David Koresh in possessing
machine guns.
-
Renos Lenny Avraam—convicted of voluntary
manslaughter and using a firearm during a crime.
-
Graeme Leonard Craddock—convicted of possessing a
grenade and using or possessing a firearm during a crime.
-
Brad Eugene Branch—convicted of voluntary
manslaughter and using a firearm during a crime.
-
Livingstone Fagan—convicted of voluntary
manslaughter and using a firearm during a crime.
-
Ruth Riddle—convicted of using or carrying a weapon
during a crime.
-
Kathryn Schroeder—sentenced to three years after
pleading guilty to a reduced charge of forcibly resisting arrest.
She was the only Davidian to testify against the others.
Controversies
In the aftermath of the initial raid,
the ATF drew heavy criticism for proceeding, despite being aware that
the Davidians knew of the offensive and of the months-long surveillance
of Mount Carmel.
Some critics also continue to ask why
the ATF agents turned down a direct invitation given months before the
initial assault, in which Koresh spoke with the agents by phone and
asked that they come talk with him about their concerns. There is also
controversy over what the exact content of the original search warrants
were.
Some critics claim that ATF
documentation from their observations of Mount Carmel proved that they
knew that Koresh left the property every day for a run. The ATF has so
far not responded to questions about why they did not wait for Koresh to
leave his property on the day of the raid and then arrest him instead of
staging a raid.
Who fired
first?
Helicopters had been obtained from
the Texas National Guard on the pretext that there was a drug laboratory
at Mount Carmel. There were, however, no drug related charges on the
arrest warrant served on the morning of February 28, 1993. While the
official version of events has always stated that the helicopters were
merely used as a diversion, and that the Davidians were not targeted by
sharpshooters within them, in transcripts of the negotiations, as a
negotiating tactic, one negotiator admitted that the occupants were
armed, and may have opened fire:
Koresh: "No! Let me tell you
something. That may be what you want the media to believe, but there's
other people that saw too! Now, tell me Jim, again - you're honestly
going to say those helicopters didn't fire on any of us?"
Jim Cavanaugh: "What I'm saying is the helicopters didn't have
mounted guns. Ok? I'm not disputing the fact that there might have
been fire from the helicopters."
An Austin Chronicle article
noted, "Long before the fire, the Davidians were discussing the evidence
contained in the doors. During the siege, in a phone conversation with
the FBI, Steve Schneider, one of Koresh's main confidantes, told FBI
agents that "the evidence from the front door will clearly show how many
bullets and what happened."
Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin, who
went inside Mount Carmel during the siege, testified at the trial that
protruding metal on the inside of the right-hand entry door made it
clear that the bullet holes were made by incoming rounds. DeGuerin also
testified that only the right-hand entry door had bullet holes, while
the left-hand entry door was intact. The government presented the
left-hand entry door at the trial, claiming that the right-hand entry
door had been lost. The left-hand door contained numerous bullet holes
made by both outgoing and incoming rounds.
Texas Trooper Sgt. David Keys
testified that he witnessed two men loading what could have been the
missing door into a U-Haul van shortly after the siege had ended, but he
did not see the object itself. And Michael Caddell, the lead attorney
for the Davidians' wrongful death lawsuit explained, "The fact that the
left-hand door is in the condition it's in tells you that the right-hand
door was not consumed by the fire. It was lost on purpose by somebody."
Caddell offered no evidence to support this allegation, which has never
been proved.
The fire
Critics suggest that during the final
raid the CS gas was injected into the building by armored vehicles in an
unsafe manner, which could have started a fire. However, two of the
three fires were started well inside the building, away from where the
CS gas was pumped in.
Between 1993 and 1999, FBI spokesmen
denied (even under oath) the use of any sort of pyrotechnic devices
during the assault; non-pyrotechnic Flite-Rite CS gas grenades had been
found in the rubble immediately following the fire.
In 1999, FBI spokesmen were forced to
admit that they had used the grenades, however they claimed that these
devices, which dispense CS gas through an internal burning process, had
been used during an early morning attempt to penetrate a covered,
water-filled construction pit, and were not fired into the building
itself. According to FBI claims, the fires started approximately four
hours after the grenades had been fired.
FBI-released video and audio tapes,
and aerial infra-red videotape shot by the FBI, shows flashes of light
that some have suggested might be heat signatures consistent with the
launching of CS gas grenades moments before the first heat plume of fire
appears. Several expert studies concluded that the flashes were caused
by reflected infrared radiation and not muzzle blasts.
The FBI has also admitted to using
incendiary flares during the stand-off to illuminate areas at night, but
claims not to have used illumination flares during the assault, all of
which took place during daylight hours.
The Branch Davidians had given
ominous warnings involving fire on several occasions. This may or may
not be indicative of the Davidians' future actions, but could be
construed as evidence that the fire was started by the Davidians.
On May 12, less than a month after
the incident, Texas state authorities bulldozed the site, rendering
further gathering of forensic evidence impossible.
Gunfire
Several documentaries suggest that
the FBI fired weapons into the building, which the FBI denies. The main
evidence for gunfire is bright flashes in aerial infra-red recordings
from Forward looking infrared (FLIR) cameras on government aircraft
flying overhead. Edward Allard, a former government specialist on
infra-red imagery, submitted an affidavit in which he declared that the
video revealed bursts of automatic gunfire coming from government
agents. Another independent FLIR expert, Carlos Ghigliotti, also
confirms gunfire, when shown the original video kept by government
officials.
International experts hired by the
Office of Special Counsel claimed that the flashes were not gunfire
because (1) they lasted too long, (2) there were no guns or people on
the tapes anywhere near the flashes; and (3) the flashes were consistent
with reflections of debris and other materials near the building.
Edward Allard commented on the
reflection theory, saying that it was impossible for the flashes on the
FLIR film to be reflections, because FLIR does not record light, it
records heat, and reflections do not produce enough heat to be
noticeable on tape. Actually, FLIR records infrared radiation, which can
be reflected or absorbed by different materials. Maurice Cox, a former
analyst from the US intelligence community, tested the reflection theory
using the principles of solar geometry. Cox's Sun Reflection Report
concluded that the flashes seen on the FLIR footage could only be from
gunfire.
In January, 1999 Mr Cox challenged
FBI director Louis Freeh and FBI scientists to dispute his findings.
There was no response.
Secondary proof was a summary of a
statement made by FBI sniper Charles Riley several weeks after the
incident to an FBI investigator. Riley stated that he had heard shots
fired from a nearby sniper position Sierra 1. The sniper team had
included Lon Horiuchi and Christopher Curran who had been involved in
the Ruby Ridge incident, with the former having fired the fatal shots.
In 1995, when attorneys submitted the
summary of Riley's statement as evidence to Judge Smith, the FBI
produced an additional interview in which Riley clarified that he had
heard the statement "shots fired" from Sierra 1, which meant that
agents at Sierra 1 had observed shots being fired at FBI vehicles by
the Davidians.
Finally, .308 cartridge cases found
at Sierra 1 were examined by ballistics experts hired by the Branch
Davidians. They agreed with government experts that the casings matched
guns used by the ATF during the first raid on February 28, and the
Davidians dropped the Sierra 1 shooting claim from their lawsuit against
the government.
Autopsies
Autopsies of the dead revealed that
some women and children found beneath a fallen concrete wall of a
storage room died of skull injuries. Photographs taken after the fire
show that the M728 CEV that penetrated the building while injecting CS
gas did not come close enough to cause the collapse, which was more
likely the result of the fire; photographs show signs of spalling on the
concrete, which suggests that it was damaged by the intense heat). Some
claim that the cooking off of some of the ammunition stored in the bank
vault damaged the walls, but so little energy is released by rounds
which cook off that this is highly unlikely.
Autopsy photographs of other children
locked in what appear to be spasmic death poses have been attributed by
some to cyanide poisoning produced by burning CS gas. However, these
poses are more likely the post-mortem "boxer pose" all bodies caught in
fires eventually assume, created as ligaments connecting bones together
shorten as the fire dries them.
Autopsy records indicate that at
least 20 Davidians were shot, including five children under the age of
14, and three-year-old Dayland Gent was stabbed in the chest. The expert
retained by the Office of Special Counsel concluded that many of the
gunshot wounds "support self-destruction either by overt suicide,
consensual execution (suicide by proxy), or less likely, forced
execution."
Documentary
films
The Waco siege has been the subject
of a number of documentary films. The first of these was a made for
television film, In the Line of Duty: Ambush at Waco, which was
made before the final assault on the church and essentially promoted the
government's view of the initial ambush.
The first film that was critical of
the official reports was Waco: The Big Lie, produced by Linda
Thompson followed by Waco II: The Big Lie Continues. The Linda
Thompson videos were controversial and made a number of allegations, the
most famous of which was footage of a tank with what appears to be light
reflected from it; Thompson's narration claimed this was a flame-thrower
attached to the tank.
Thompson's subsequent activities,
such as declaring an armed march on Washington, D.C. and her
denunciation of many other researchers into the Waco siege as part of a
cover-up, limited her credibility in most circles. Other researchers
released footage showing the "flame" to have been a reflection on
aluminized insulation that was torn from the wall and snagged on the
M728 CEV, which is a vehicle that does not come equipped with a
flamethrower. In fact, no flamethrowers were in service in the US
military at the time or even today.
Thompson's "creative editing" was
exposed by the film Waco: An Apparent Deviation (produced by a
group led by Michael McNulty, as the result of a comprehensive
investigation by people associated with the Citizens' Organization for
Public Safety.)
The next film was Day 51: The True
Story of Waco, which featured Ron Cole, a self-proclaimed militia
member from Colorado who was later prosecuted for weapons violations.
The Linda Thompson and Ron Cole films, along with extensive coverage
given to the Branch Davidian siege on some talk radio shows, galvanized
support for the Branch Davidians among some sections of the right
including the Nascent Militia Movement, while critics on the left also
denounced the government siege on civil liberties grounds.
The New Alliance Party produced a
report blaming the siege on the influence of the Cult Awareness Network.
Timothy McVeigh cited the Waco Siege
as a primary motivation for the Oklahoma City bombing and was known to
be a fan of both the Linda Thompson and Ron Cole videos. In March 1993,
McVeigh drove from Arizona to Waco in order to observe firsthand the
federal siege. Along with other protesters, he was photographed by the
F.B.I.
Perhaps because most of the critical
views were seen as coming from the political fringes of the right and
left, most mainstream media discounted any critical views presented by
early documentary films.
This changed when professional
film-makers Dan Gifford and Amy Sommer produced their Emmy Award winning
documentary, Waco: The Rules of Engagement. This film presents a
history of the Branch Davidian movement and most important, a critical
examination of the conduct of law enforcement leading up to the raid,
and through the aftermath of the fire. The film features footage of the
Congressional hearings on Waco, and juxtaposition of official government
spokespeople with footage and evidence often directly contradicting
them.
The documentary also shows infra-red
footage that they claim demonstrated that the FBI likely used incendiary
devices to start the fire which consumed the building and did indeed
fire on, and kill, Branch Davidians attempting to flee the fire.
Notwithstanding the cinematic quality of that film, subsequent
scientific studies disproved both the claim that the FBI fired gunshots
and the claim that the FBI started the fire. Moreover, Professor Kenneth
Newport's book, "The Branch Davidians of Waco" (2006), shows that
starting the fire themselves was consistent with the Branch Davidians'
theology.
Waco: The Rules of Engagement
was nominated for a 1997 Academy Award for best documentary and was
followed by another film: Waco: A New Revelation.
America Wake Up (Or Waco)
was another film released in 2000 by Alex Jones which documents the 1993
Waco incident with the Branch Davidians.
The Assault on Waco
was released on September 16, 2006 on the Discovery channel, and it
details the entire attack on Waco.
Inside Waco
is an Anglo-American documentary that attempts to show what really
happened inside by piecing together accounts from the parties involved.
It was produced jointly by Channel 4 and HBO. It aired on More4 in the
UK on 1 February 2007 and the 10 February 2007.
Bibliography
-
Anthony, D. and
T. Robbins (1997). "Religious totalism, exemplary dualism and the
Waco tragedy." In Robbins and Palmer 1997, 261–284.
-
Christopher
Whitcomb. Cold Zero: Inside the FBI Hostage Rescue Team. ISBN
0-552-14788-5. (Also covers Ruby Ridge.)
-
Docherty, Jayne
Seminare. Learning Lessons From Waco: When the Parties Bring
Their Gods to the Negotiation Table (Syracuse, New York:
Syracuse University Press, 2001). ISBN 0-8156-2751-3
-
Heymann, Philip B.
(U.S. Department of Justice). Lessons of Waco: Proposed Changes
in Federal Law Enforcement (Washington: USDOJ, 1993). ISBN
0-16-042977-3
-
Kerstetter, Todd.
"'That's Just the American Way': The Branch Davidian Tragedy and
Western Religious History", Western Historical Quarterly,
Vol. 35, No. 4, Winter 2004.
-
Kopel, David B. and
Paul H. Blackman. No More Wacos: What’s Wrong With Federal Law
Enforcement and How to Fix It (Amherst, New York: Prometheus
Books, 1997). ISBN 1-57392-125-4
-
Lewis, James R.
(ed.). From the Ashes: Making Sense of Waco (Lanham,
Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 1994). ISBN 0-8476-7915-2 (cloth)
ISBN 0-8476-7914-4 (paper)
-
Linedecker, Clifford
L. Massacre at Waco, Texas: The Shocking Story of Cult Leader
David Koresh and the Branch Davidians (New York: St. Martin’s
Paperbacks, 1993). ISBN 0-312-95226-0
-
Lynch, Timothy.
No Confidence: An Unofficial Account of the Waco Incident
(Washington: Cato Institute, 2001).
-
Moore, Carol. The
Davidian Massacre: Disturbing Questions Abut Waco Which Must Be
Answered." (Virginia: Gun Owners Foundation, 1995). ISBN
1-880692-22-8
-
Newport, Kenneth G.
C. "The Branch Davidians of Waco: The History and Beliefs of an
Apocalyptic Sect" (Oxford University Press, 2006). ISBN 0199245746
-
Reavis, Dick J.
The Ashes of Waco: An Investigation (New York: Simon and
Schuster, 1995). ISBN 0-684-81132-4
-
Tabor, James D. and
Eugene V. Gallagher. Why Waco?: Cults and the Battle for
Religious Freedom in America (Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1995). ISBN 0-520-20186-8
-
Thibodeau, David and
Leon Whiteson. A Place Called Waco: A Survivor's Story (New
York: PublicAffairs, 1999). ISBN 1-891620-42-8
-
Wright, Stuart A.
(ed.). Armageddon in Waco: Critical Perspectives on the Branch
Davidian Conflict (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995).
Legal and governmental
-
United States v. Branch, W.D.
Texas Criminal Case No. 6:93cr46, trial transcript 1/10/94 -
2/26/94; 91 F.3d 699 (5th Cir. 1996)
-
United States v. Castillo, 179 F.3d 321 (1999);
Castillo v. United States, 120 S.Ct. 2090 (2000); on remand, 220
F.3d 648 (5th Cir. 2000)
-
Andrade v. United States, W.D. Texas Civil Action
No. W-96-CA-139, trial transcript 6/19/2000 - 7/14/2000; 116
F.Supp.2d 778 (W.D. Tex. 2000)
-
Andrade v. Chojnacki, 338 F.3d 448 (5th Cir. 2003)
-
United States Department of Justice.
Recommendations of Experts for Improvements in Federal Law
Enforcement After Waco (Washington: USDOJ, 1993). ISBN
0-16-042974-9
Ammerman, Nancy T.
(1993). "Report to the Justice and Treasury Departments regarding law
enforcement interaction with the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas."
Submitted September 3, 1993. Recommendations of Experts for
Improvements in Federal Law Enforcement After Waco. Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Stone, Alan A.
(1993). "Report and Recommendations Concerning the Handling of Incidents
Such As the Branch Davidian Standoff in Waco Texas." Submitted November
10, 1993. Recommendations of Experts for Improvements in Federal Law
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