| The Branch Davidians are a religious group originating from the Seventh-day Adventist church. They are best known because of the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas by
federal agents, which ended in the deaths of 75 of the church's members, including head
figure David Koresh.
History
In 1929, Victor Houteff, a Bulgarian immigrant, claimed that he had a new message for
the SDA church. It was submitted in the form of a book entitled "The Shepherd's Rod." His claims were not accepted and he left to
form the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists. The term "Davidian" refers to the restoration of the Davidic kingdom, while
"Branch" refers to the new name of Christ. In 1955, after Houteff's death, a split of this
movement formed the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists, headed initially by Benjamin L. Roden. The group established a
settlement outside of Waco, Texas
on the property previously occupied by the Davidian group. Leadership and occupancy of the property had been the subject of inner
conflict among the Davidians before Vernon Howell (later renamed David Koresh) took charge of the property in 1988. George Roden, son of Benjamin, had claimed that he was the rightful prophet of the group, but
was jailed for contempt of court and in his absence Howell took charge of the disputed land.
In 1981 Howell joined the group as a regular member which at the time was headed by
Benjamin Roden's wife Lois who claimed to have a message of her own, one element of which was that the Holy Spirit is feminine in gender. In 1983 she
allowed Howell to begin to teach his own message which caused much controversy in the group. There was a general meeting at Mt.
Carmel of all Branch Davidians in 1984 and the end result was that the group split into
several factions one of which was loyal to Howell. At that time Howell named his faction, "Davidian Branch Davidian Seventh
Day Adventist." It was also at this time that George Roden forced Howell to leave the property. Upon returning to the
property under questionable circumstances in 1988, Howell dropped the new name of his association, and assumed the name of the
association he and his followers left four years previously. In 1990 Howell changed his
name to David Koresh, invoking the biblical Kings David and Cyrus. From its inception, the group was
apocalyptic, in that they believed themselves to be living in a time when
Christian prophesies of a final divine judgment were coming to pass. Davidians under Koresh believed prophesy to foretell a
cyclic series of events, described as a spiral, with history returning to prophetically foretell events but each time, advance in
terms of cosmological progress. Koresh supported his beliefs with detailed biblical
interpretation, using the Book of Revelation as the lens
through which the entire Bible was viewed.
BATF raid and siege
On February 28, 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms (BATF) raided the Branch Davidian ranch in Mount Carmel, a rural area near Waco, Texas. The raid was conducted due to allegations of illegal weapons present on the property. The initial
raid resulted in the deaths of four agents and five Davidians. The subsequent 51-day siege ended on April 19 when the compound was completely consumed by fire killing 75 men, women, and children, including
Koresh.
Prelude
A Texas newspaper had investigated
reports that Koresh had abused children in the building, and was publishing a
series about the allegations at the time of the raid. Koresh openly advocated polygamy for himself and selected others in the
group, and asserted himself married to several female residents of the small community. His sect was said by some to be a
cult for its authoritarian structure. Survivors of the raids, former members, and families
of members have widely varying accounts of the group's beliefs, practices, and demeanor.
Justification for the raid, as widely repeated in initial media reports, was a report by a delivery company that a package of
grenade casings had been shipped to the Davidians. Later investigation revealed the casings were legal dummy grenades often used
for paperweights or sold to military enthusiasts. The media also repeated what officials had told a judge who signed the warrant,
that there was evidence the Davidians were converting semi-automatic weapons to automatic weapons.
The Davidians were not licensed gun dealers at the time, but were until shortly before the raid lawfully assembling weapons
under a contract with a licensed dealer. Through what some authors say was pressure by BATF agents, their dealer removed his
umbrella of protection from the Davidians. At that point, the Davidians could still possess parts and assemble semi-automatic
rifles, but could not resell them in large numbers or convert them for automatic fire.
The warrant also alleged the Davidians converted rifles to automatic rifles, and that the quick forceful raid, or "dynamic entry" was essential to prevent the occupants from destroying evidence of
converted rifles. Questions after the raid centered on whether the automatic conversions involved re-tooling the trigger
mechanisms, or whether the Davidians had in their possession legal hell-fire triggers, a
spring-loaded mechanism that helps shooters rapidly fire semi-automatic rifles. Officials said the large number of agents trained
in assault tactics was necessary because of the potential firepower inside the
building.
The BATF practiced the large-scale raid at another location for several days before launching the assault near Waco. The raid
occurred shortly after a change of administration, when senior agency veterans were otherwise struggling to show Congress why it
should continue funding a unique law enforcement agency to control firearms, tobacco and alcohol.
The raid
Agents approached the compound on Sunday morning, February 28, 1993, in trailers covered to appear as cattle trailers hauled by a local rancher. Some of the first
shots during the raid are reported to have occurred near the front door. There is no agreement as to the shots' motivations or
origins. Books written about the incident suggest the first shots fired might have been at dogs that approached the agents as
they spilled from the trailers. Images of the initial raid, with the agents retreating under fire, were broadcast worldwide by
television crews BATF agents had invited along during the raid.
During the gunfire, a resident of the compound called the McLennan county sheriff's department to ask why the
agents were shooting at them. He asked for a cease-fire. The sheriff, in
audiotapes broadcast after the incident, said he did not know in advance of the raid and did not know how to contact the BATF
agents involved in the raid.
Failure to secure the scene was in part a result of fortification the Davidians had prepared. Lower sections of walls had been
filled with concrete, providing effective cover against
small arms fire for those inside. The Davidians had also constructed
underground refuges that likely protected some of the uninvolved occupants from indirect gunfire as agents swarmed the structure
in a hail of bullets. Some tactical analysts have also suggested agents suffered from their own crossfire during the most intense moments of the firefight.
The siege
Government officials established contact with Koresh and others inside the compound at some point after they failed to rapidly
secure the scene and retreated. The FBI took command of the scene soon after the initial
raid. For the next 51 days, communication with those inside included telephone contacts with various FBI negotiators who
reportedly were not always in touch with front-line tactical units surrounding the building and pressing those inside to come
out. Outside the building, tracked vehicles pushed aside vehicles from parking areas, and began circling the building. Amplifiers
were used to broadcast sounds at the building in a psychological warfare tactic intended to fatigue those inside. The Davidians hung banners from high
places in the building, seeking help from those outside the government siege.
As the standoff continued, Koresh, seriously injured by a gunshot to his side, and his closest male leaders negotiated delays,
usually 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. The Davidians released
videotapes to agents during the siege, in which children sat by Koresh, asking among other things if the agents were going to
come kill them. Their willingness to stay by Koresh vexed the agents who were unequipped to work around the Davidians' religious
zeal.
The fire
Newly appointed U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno approved the recommendations of veteran FBI officials to proceed with the final assault after
being told children were being abused inside the besieged complex. Armored vehicles retrofitted for gas warfare approached the building from two sides, upwind on a day when
strong sustained winds gusted above 25mph. As the fighting vehicle first forced the tube of its gun into the building, debris and
structural damage compromised a stairway. A few people spilled out, diving from windows and were immediately arrested by FBI
agents. Most remained inside as fire engulfed the building. All this was broadcast worldwide from gyro-stabilized lenses set up
at the nearest point FBI officials allowed press observers.
The cause of the fatal fire is disputed. The government claims that the fire was intentionally set by Koresh and his followers
as a suicidal act. Others claim that the fire was caused by the FBI's use of flammable CS
gas grenades injected into the wooden buildings. The government points to audio and infrared visual recordings made just
before the fire broke out to support their contention. Critics note that CS gas was injected into the building by armored
vehicles in an unsafe manner immediately before the fire broke out. The government attempted to refute the use of the flammable
grenades for six years.
Several documentaries suggest that the FBI fired weapons into the compound, which the FBI denies. The main evidence for
gunfire is bright flashes in aerial infrared recordings known as forward looking infrared or FLIR. The flashes look like they might be the heat signature of
gunfire, but close analysis shows the flashes do not resemble gunfire in several ways. They persist longer than gunfire, and
their shape is more irregular than gunfire. There is no apparent human movement at the flash locations. At several of the flash
locations there is identifiable debris, such as fallen windows, which can reflect infrared from sources like the sun, the tank
exhaust, and the fire. For more analysis on this dispute, see the external links below.
The fact that fire crews were prohibited access to the burning buildings until they were reduced to ash has led many people to
severely question the motivations of the FBI site chief. The FBI states that fire crews were
not allowed into the compound due to the danger of explosives within the fire and possible weapons fire from surviving
inhabitants.
Autopsies revealed some of the women and children found beneath the remains of a concrete wall of a storage room died of skull
injuries. The wall was in the path of a Bradley Fighting Vehicle that
penetrated the structure while injecting the usually non-lethal chemical
weapon. Other victims were recovered from an underground crawlspace, which also had been in the path of the Bradley vehicle.
Autopsy photographs depicting bodies 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" can also be attributed to the classic post-mortem
"boxer pose" all bodies caught in fires eventually assume, created as ligaments connecting bones together shorten as the fire
dries them.
Today
Davidians continue to own and use the site and have since erected memorials at the scene of the deaths.
In 1996 Koresh's remaining followers filed a lawsuit to gain clear title to the church's property under the premise that they
were the Trustees of the church. With opposition from a church member (Doug Mitchell) who did not join Howell's faction, the jury
in 2000 ruled against them. In spite of this, they and others still continue to assume the identity of the true church, and its
property.
External links
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