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Conspiracy file · 1993

Waco

The 1993 standoff between federal agents and the Branch Davidians at Mount Carmel, outside Waco, Texas. It began with a gun battle that killed four ATF agents and six Davidians. It ended 51 days later in a fire in which at least 76 people died, more than 20 of them children.

Also known as The Waco siege · The Branch Davidian standoff · Mount Carmel · The Waco massacre

WatchOn the recordTimelineIn Paranoid American comicsSources & further reading

Waco: Waco Branch Davidian Sticker Sheet
From Waco Branch Davidian Sticker Sheet

The story

Mount Carmel, outside Waco, Texas, was the home of the Branch Davidians, an offshoot of an Adventist reform movement that settled near Waco in 1935. By 1993 the group was led by Vernon Howell, who had legally changed his name to David Koresh. On February 28, 1993, 76 agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) arrived to serve search and arrest warrants in a weapons case. The gun battle that followed killed four agents and six Davidians.

The FBI took over and a 51-day standoff began. Thirty-five people came out in the first weeks, 21 of them children. On April 19, with the approval of Attorney General Janet Reno, FBI agents in armored vehicles began inserting CS tear gas into the building at about 6 a.m. Just after noon, fire broke out in three places and destroyed the building. Nine people escaped. At least 76 died, more than 20 of them children.

Almost every part of that account has been disputed: who fired first, who set the fire, whether agents shot at people trying to get out. Films such as Waco: The Big Lie (1993) and Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997) made the case against the government. In August 1999 the FBI acknowledged that it had fired pyrotechnic tear gas rounds on the final morning, after six years of saying it had not. Special counsel John Danforth concluded in 2000 that those rounds did not start the fire and that Davidians did. He also found that officials had failed to disclose them.

Watch

Waco, The Big Lie (1993) and Waco II, the Big Lie Continues (1994) Review | Under the Docs · Paranoid AmericanWatch on YouTube
Waco: Government Cover-Up EXPOSED in 2 Hour Doc · Paranoid AmericanWatch on YouTube

Memorandum for the recordSubject: Waco

On the record

  1. On February 28, 1993, 76 ATF agents arrived at Mount Carmel to serve a search warrant and an arrest warrant for David Koresh, after an undercover agent had reported that Koresh knew they were coming; four agents and six Branch Davidians were killed that day.
  2. The FBI took control on March 1, and by March 23, 35 people had left the building, 21 of them children.
  3. On April 19, 1993, the FBI began inserting CS tear gas at about 6 a.m.; fire was first seen at 12:07 p.m. and was burning in three places within two minutes. Nine Davidians got out and at least 76 died.
  4. Autopsies found that at least 20 of those who died on April 19 had been shot, at least five of them children under 14 (Danforth report, 2000).
  5. On February 26, 1994, a federal jury acquitted the Davidian defendants of murder and conspiracy; five were convicted of manslaughter, others of weapons charges, and three were acquitted of everything.
  6. A House report of August 2, 1996 called the ATF's investigation "grossly incompetent" and Attorney General Reno's approval of the gas plan "premature, wrong, and highly irresponsible", and also found evidence that some Davidians set the fires.
  7. In August 1999 the FBI acknowledged firing pyrotechnic tear gas rounds on April 19; the Danforth report found that three were fired at 8:08 a.m. at a concrete pit 75 feet from the living quarters, and that they did not start the fire four hours later.

The theory

  • The ATF fired first: Jack Zimmerman, attorney for Steve Schneider, told Congress in 1995 that he believed the gun battle began with an accidental discharge by an ATF agent. ATF agents testified that the first shots came from inside, through the front door.
  • Agents fired from helicopters during the raid: the Davidians' attorneys told Congress they were shown bullet holes that came in through the roof. The helicopter crews said no shots were fired from the air.
  • The government set the fire: Linda Thompson's 1993 video Waco: The Big Lie claimed its footage showed a tank with a flamethrower setting the building alight. Survivors and families of the dead argued in a civil suit that the FBI started the fire or helped it spread.
  • Agents shot at people trying to escape: the makers of Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997) said flashes on the FBI's infrared aerial video were government gunfire that pinned the Davidians inside. The FBI said the flashes were sunlight reflecting off debris.
  • The military took part in the assault: in August 1999 The Dallas Morning News quoted a source saying members of a secret Army unit were "present, up front and close" on April 19. Some versions say Army Special Forces entered the building or fired on it.

Timeline

  1. 1935Victor Houteff and 37 followers settle outside Waco and name the site Mount Carmel
  2. 1955Houteff dies; Ben Roden organizes the Branch Davidians
  3. 1987Vernon Howell and his followers exchange gunfire with rival George Roden at Mount Carmel; Howell's faction later takes over the property
  4. 1990Howell legally changes his name to David Koresh
  5. 1993February 28: the ATF raid. Four agents and six Davidians are killed and the standoff begins
  6. 1993April 19: the FBI inserts tear gas, fire destroys the building and at least 76 people die
  7. 1993The Treasury Department (September) and the Justice Department (October 8) publish their reviews
  8. 1994February 26: a federal jury acquits the Davidian defendants of murder and conspiracy; eight are convicted of lesser charges
  9. 1995April 19: the Oklahoma City bombing kills 168 people on the second anniversary of the fire; Timothy McVeigh cited Waco as a motive
  10. 1996August 2: after ten days of hearings in 1995, a House report faults the ATF, the FBI and Reno, and finds evidence that Davidians set the fire
  11. 1997The documentary Waco: The Rules of Engagement is released and nominated for an Academy Award
  12. 1999August: the FBI acknowledges using pyrotechnic tear gas rounds. On September 9 Reno appoints John Danforth special counsel
  13. 2000An advisory jury in the survivors' civil suit finds for the government (July 14); Danforth's final report (November 8) concludes that agents did not start the fire, fire guns or misuse the military

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