Subject: Initial Waco Chronology (Part 1/2) Date: Thu, 7 Oct 1993 23:07:20 GMT REVISED WAC
From: chrisw@wixer.bga.com (chris walker)
Subject: Initial Waco Chronology (Part 1/2)
Date: Thu, 7 Oct 1993 23:07:20 GMT
REVISED WACO CHRONOLOGY -- October 1993.
By Eric Samuelson
Attorney at Law
Austin, TX
Edited for posting.
E-mail address: cwalker@wixer.bga.com
This is a general chronology of the events that led to the Waco tragedy.
This material was compiled from several sources of varying reliability
including Breault's book, Thompson's video and papers, government press
releases and journal articles. Eric Samuelson is in the data gathering
stage and would appreciate any information leading to the full truth about
the Waco tragedy being exposed to the public.
If you have material to supplement this, please email it to me
at chrisw@wixer.bga.com.
All responses will be forwarded to Eric Samuelson.
This material originally had footnotes but I can't extract them to DOS.
If anyone knows how to do this in Wordperfect 5.0, 5.1 or Word, please
let me know.
Warning: Some of this material contains claims that will prove to be
rumor and conjecture. In addition, some will find this material offensive.
This file may be distributed anywhere provided credit is given to
Eric Samuelson.
-------------
In Texas, where 98% of the land is still privately owned, 17 million Texans
own 68 million guns. Yet, there are those who believe in the disarmament
of both citizens and nations
On Wednesday, April 19, 1775, British Major Pitcairn told about a hundred
American colonists: "Disperse, you villains! Lay down your arms!" When the
colonists refused, the first battle of the American War for Independence
began.
The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states: "A well-regulated
militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the
people to keep and to bear arms shall not be infringed."
President Thomas Jefferson said: "The strongest reason for the people to
retain their right to bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves
against tyranny in government."
The 1876 Texas Constitution provides in Article I, Section 23: "Every
citizen shall have the right to keep and bear arms in the lawful defense of
himself or the State; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to
regulate the wearing of arms, with a view to prevent crime."
In 1930, 15 years after Ellen G. White died, Victor T. Houteff claimed to
have the prophetic office. His teachings later became known as the
Davidian ("Shepherd's Rod") movement. He printed his own currency which
was required to be used on the earlier Mount Carmel property.
In 1955 Florence Houteff sold the Old Mount Carmel property and
purchased around 400 acres that eventually became only 77 acres.
In 1959 more than one thousand Branch Davidians gathered at Mount
Carmel waiting for God's deliverance. Among the crowd was Ben L. Roden
who said that God had told him to warn the Davidians that they were
following a foolish course. He had made arrangements for land in northern
Israel and said that deliverance would come in 1960. Ben Roden has two
main preoccupations: the establishment of the Davidic kingdom in Israel
and a virulent strain of anti-Catholicism.
1959 -- David Wayne Howell was born in Houston on August 17, 1959. He did not
know who his real mother was until he was five years old. Bonnie Clark,
his mother, became pregnant with Koresh at the age of 14 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.
In 1962 Ben L. Roden and his followers bought out the Davidians and
moved into the Mount Carmel Center.
In December 1970 a special school for the training of young Levites in the
ancient rites of sacrifice was established by Israel.
From 1962-1977 Ben Roden taught that he was the Antitypical David, the
king of Israel. He taught that Christians were required to celebrate Hebrew
feast days including Passover, Pentecost, Day of Atonement and Feast of
Tabernacles.
Under the influence of the Seventh-day Baptist Church, the Adventists
began keeping a Saturday Sabbath. The "Shepherd's Rod" was taken from
Mose's rod--the only rod that has ever spoken--and the rod that Moses
used to deliver Israel out of Egypt. Houteff rested his case upon the Bible
and the teachings of Ellen White.
A new location was determined in 1935 by reliance upon Isa. 19:24 which
discussed Israel as "a blessing in the midst of the land."
At Mount Carmel Elijah challenged the 450 prophets of Baal. The battle
was won when Elijah called down fire from heaven which consumed a
bullock on the alter. Afterwards the onlookers took the 450 false prophets
and killed them, The "Branch" was Christ and Christ was a Davidian.
Ben Roden was considered the "Antitypical David" referred to in Ezekiel
34-37.
In 1977 Ben Roden's wife Lois claimed to have a vision from God in
which she saw the Holy Spirit as a feminine aspect of the Trinity. In 1977
Lois Roden was studying Revelations 18:1. She looked out her window and
saw a vision of a shining, silver angel flying by. She concluded that the
angel represented "the Holy Spirit Mother." Her work became to bring out
the femininity of God in the Bible.
In 1978 when Ben Roden died, Lois Roden assumed the presidency of the
Branch Davidians at Mount Carmel.
In 1979 Vernon Howell was baptised into the Tyler, Texas Seventh-day
Adventist Church.
In 1981 Vernon Howell was disfellowshiped from the Seventh-day Adventist
church. He arrived at Waco and became the handyman at Mount Carmel.
In his later years Koresh spoke of an attempted rape by three boys when
he was seven years old. Bonnie Halderman said that by the time he was
thirteen he had "memorized much of the New Testament..." When Vernon
Howell came to Mt. Carmel, his carpentry skills were much needed "since
most of the buildings hastily constructed in 1959 were already falling
apart."
In February 1982, the Senate Judicary Committee said in a report that the
ATF had "disregarded rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the
United States." It noted that expert evidence was submitted "establishing
that approximately 75 percent of BATF gun prosecutions were aimed at
ordinary citizens who had neither criminal intent nor knowledge, but were
enticed by agents into unknowing technical violations." In the wake of the
rreport, plans to abolish the agency were shelved after neither the U.S.
Customs agency or the Secret Service would accept the transfer of the
discredited BATF agents into their organizations.
Koresh admitted that he had sleep with 67-year-old Lois Roden-- but only
because of Isaiah. 8:3. In 1983 Vernon Howell first claimed divine
inspiration. He convinced Lois Roden that because of Chapter 8 of Isaiah
he must have sex relations with her. The leader and the handyman began
to cohabitate. This generated friction with George Roden who also began
to claim divine inspiration.
In February 1983, in the confrontation at rural Medina, North Dakota, with
Gordon Kahl, a follower (member) of Posse Comitatus, the federal
marshall for North Dakota and one of his deputies were shot to death in
a gunfight. Kahl was wanted for violating probation after a conviction for
refusing to pay the income tax. The Posse Comitatus, like the Christian-
Patriots Defense League, "espouses Identity fundamentalism " Kahl and
his wife, son and a few colleagues were confronted after they had left a tax
resistance meeting.
On February 13, 1983, Gordon Kahl was ambushed by federal agents in
Medina, North Dakota. The agents dressed in plain clothes fired at him
without either identification or warning. His alleged crime was being an
"illegal tax protester." He became a federal fugitive after shooting back and
killing several agents.
[Is this true?]
On June 3, 1983, the FBI located Gordon Kahl at a friend's house in
Smithville, Arkansas. After the FBI had arrested the homeowners, Kahl was
alone in the house--nearly deaf due to WWII injuries. A federal swat team
sneaked in behind him as he watched TV and shot him in the back of the
head. Gene Matthews, the sheriff who had witnessed the killing, was shot
a few seconds later by the Federal Swat Team. Kahl's body was then
dismembered. In their hurry, agents kicked one of the severed feet under
the nearby refrigerator. The federal agents than brought mattresses into
the kitchen. The body of Gordon Kahl, and his severed parts, was placed
on them. Gasoline and fuel oil was used to torch the house. The following
day the site was burned once again. An autopsy on Kahl's remains by a
forensic pathologist concluded that federal agents perjured their testimony
as to the real events that occurred during the murder and incineration of
Gordon Kahl. The cabin was burnt to the ground and all evidence at
the FBI-controlled crime scene was burned up.
Gordon Kahl, who termed his son Yorie as a first rate soldier of Jesus
Christ, was assaulted and his body burned. News reports said that the
Arkansas sheriff was killed by shots from the rear. Despite the claim of a
shoot-out between Kahl and the local sheriff, both parties were shot from
behind.
In 1984 a Branch Davidian convention was held but accomplished little.
Vernon Howell married Rachel Jones, daughter of a longtime Davidian
minister Perry Jones, at the age of 14.
On the night of January 13, 1984, a Vernon Howell death decree (based
on Ezek. 9:1-5) was issued against George Roden, the Roden family and
Lois Roden--according to George Roden.
Vernon Howell married Perry Jone's fair-haired daughter Rachel Jones on
January 18, 1984. She was just 14 years old. A few weeks before the
marriage she had said she "couldn't stand" Howell.
In 1985 Vernon Howell and his already pregnant child-bride Rachel went
to Israel with the help of contributions of his social security-supported
group. It was there that he had a vision that he was the modern day Cyrus.
In April 1985, upon the couple's return to Texas, they had a son named
Cyrus ben-Joseph Howell. A 40-acre property was purchased in a pine
forest in Palestine, Texas.
In the January/February 1985 issue of Police Marksman, Richard Garrison
listed four types of survivalists: 1) The Hobby or Closet Survivalist, 2) the
Retreater Suvivalist, 3) the Religious Survivalist and the Political Survivalist.
He said law enforcment problems had arisen from a small percentage of
survivalists whose storage plans included "controlled and prohibited
weapons..." Both the 1983 ADL report and Garrison spoke of personal
beliefs about the end of the world as identifying marks to alert police.
In 1986, Howell's mother Bonnie joined his group.
The Howell Australian contingent left Palestine, Texas in 1986 for
Melbourne to recruit their friends and families. Howell "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."
In January 1986, Marc Breault joined the group.
In February 1986, Howell made his first trip to Australia where he
recruited some who were members of the Ben and Lois Roden group.
In March 1986, Howell first slept with Karen Doyle, aged 14. He claimed
her as his second wife and began to teach polygomy.
In June 1986, a number of people from Honolulu, Hawaii joined the
Branch Davidians. Howell taught that he was the second intercessor for
mankind and that Christ only died for those before the cross.
In July-August 1986, Howell began secretly sleeping with Michele Jones, his
wife's youngest 12-year-old sister.
In August 1986 a recruitment drive was made in Wisconsin but it failed.
In September 1986 Marc Breault broke with Howell's teaching that Christ
did not die for our sins. After Howell appeared to change his mind, he
then began to preach that he was entitled to 140 wives, sixty women as
queens and eighty as concubines. this was from the biblical Song of
Solomon. Koresh compared himself to King David who had takeen up the
practice in his old age of bedding down with younger women to keep warm
(in Hebrew this practice as called abishag).
In December 1986, people from Hawaii began settling in Palestine, Texas.
Sherri Jewel, Kiri's mother, was introduced into the group.
David Koresh, 33, called the Branch Davidians "God's Marines." In the
Bible Elijah confronted the false prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel.
While the other six raiders languished in McClennan County jail, David
Koresh and Paul Fatta raised almost $100,000 for bail the day after their
capture.
In early 1987 Robyn Bunds joined Howell's Harem.
In September 1987, Sherri Jewel joined Howell's harem.
On November 3, 1987, a shoot-out occurred with George Roden on the
Mount Carmel property. Eight Davidians were arrested--including Vernon
Howell. Howell stood trial for conspiracy to murder after a shootout with
George Roden--a former Branch Davidian cult leader. Jack Harwell,
McLennan County Sheriff, called Koresh on the phone and informed him
of the charges, asked him to turn himself in, along with six others, and to
surrender his weapons. "When deputies arrived at the Church grounds,
Koresh and the other Davidian members peacefully complied."
The ATF said that Koresh had to be arrested at the complex because he had
not left it for several months. Koresh was known to jog on the same route
most mornings and frequented a local restaurant and hardware store on a
regular basis. Later the ATF finally admitted that they knew nothing
about Koresh's whereabouts because they never even put him under
surveillance--let alone try to arrest him.
By late 1987, George Roden "had almost no money, few followers,
mounting debts and an angry Texas Supreme Court Justice on his trail."
Carmela, Roden's first wife, went to Israel and never returned. Amo Bishop
Roden was his second wife at the time of the shootout. On March 21,
1988, Roden was served with a citation for contempt of court. U.S. District
Judge Walter S. Smith, Jr. sentenced him to six months in jail for
continuing to file expletive-filled motions despite orders to cease and
desist.
In 1988, INTERPOL changed their constitution so they could investigate
anyone classified as a "terrorist", such as David Koresh. Also in 1988, under
the Omnibus Crime Control Act, the U.S. Marshal's service was transfered
to the use of the UN Secretary General.
In 1988 Bonnie's husband and her son Roger joined the group.
On April 25, 1988, seven of the eight Davidians were acquitted. The jury
hung by 9-3 in favor of Howell's acquittal. The state dropped the charges
against him.
In March-May 1988, George Roden went to jail and a couple paid the back
taxes owing on the Mount Carmel property. This allowed Howell and the
Davidians to move in. In 1987 Howell took over the Branch Davidians-
-an offshoot of the Seventh Day Adventists. The sect was headquartered ten
miles outside Waco in a 77-acre farm called "Mount Carmel." Howell paid
up 16 years of delinquent taxes, obtained a lien and then asked the sheriff
to enforce the lien.
George Roden was sentenced to jail for six months for contempt after
sending letters to the Texas Supreme Court threatening the justices with
AIDS and herpes. Fifteen months after the trial, in the summer of 1988,
Roden was approached by a man who claimed to be the Messiah after
talking with Koresh. Roden split Dale Adair's head open with an ax and
the man died.
In July 1988, Nicole Gent was recruited and soon afterwards joined
Howell's harem.
On September 10, 1988, the first child was born to Howell from other than
his legal wife.
In November 1988, Robyn Bund's child Shaun (originally named Wisdom
by Howell) was born.
In early 1989 friction between Howell and Breault began. Nicole Gent left
for Australia to have her baby.
Beginning in early 1989, Howell had people beaten for disobedience to the
group. His high command later became David Jones (the chief Mighty
Man), Douglas Wayne Martin (his lawyer) and Steve Schneider (chief
evangelist, spokesman and high priest).
On April 28, 1989 Marc Breault and Elizabeth were photographed on their
wedding day with Steve Schneider and Sherri Jewel. The photo shows
Beault as cross-eyed.
In May 1989, Elizabeth returned to Australia and Breault waited for a
migrant's visa to join her. He tried to reconcile himself with Howell and
it worked for a time.
On August 5, 1989, Howell taught that all women belonged to him and
that only he had the right to procreate.
In September 1989, Marc Breault left Mount Carmel--never to
return. On September 29, 1989, Breault arrived in Australia.
From September 1989 to June 1990 there was a battle for the allegiance
of the Davidians in Australia. Most left Howell.
In October 1989, Howell claimed the male member's wives after two
months of intensive teaching. He was quoted as telling the men: "All you
men are just fuckers, that's all you are. You married without getting God's
permission. Even worse, you married my wives. God gave them to me first.
So now I'm taking them back. I'm the only one that can produce righteous
children. The rest of you are just shit." He had decreed that the Billings
method used for birth control was to be used in reverse. He directed
women to inform him when they had arrived at the most fertile part of
their cycle. In October 1989 he began to have sex with the other men's
wives. The New Light thing, where Koresh claimed the exclusive taking
of the wives was said to be the last straw--the one that would lead to
muntiny and thus to the end.
In October 1989, Howell made his most damaging tape which was sent to
the Australian Davidians to try to keep them with him.
On October 18, 1989, Odessa police charged George Roden with murder.
Months later he was sentenced to an indeterminate stay in the Vernon
State Hospital in Vernon, Texas.
The Branch Davidians did not celebrate the Christmas holiday.
1990 David Koresh tried to establish a branch of his sect in Israel
according to Rabbi Avraham Peled--who actively works to "win back"
Israelis and other Jews who join missionary sects. Koresh recruited 12
Israelis by promising them plane fares and music-connected jobs in Waco.
In the end he managed to obtain only one Israeli recruit, Pablo Cohen (a
South American Jew) who died in the fire on April 19, 1993. Pablo
Cohen, a "polyglotally monickered" Israeli citizen was living in Chile before
he became a Branch Davidian.
When Robyn Bunds led police up the stairs in the house in a Los Angeles
suburb, Koresh was found surrounded by twenty women. Koresh lost his
composure. His voice quivered: "It showed how completely dependent he was
for his 'authority' upon their own unquestioning acceptance." Koresh
surrounded himself with people who devoutly believed in scripture. This
allowed him to excuse his otherwise intolerable behavior by quoting
scripture. He was most likely to recruit those without a wide-ranging
understanding of the Bible. Control was exercised by the fear against
"going against a prophet." To make sure that unfavorable outside
information did not reach the faithful, a sealed, fortified, utterly
impregnable fortress was the solution.. Koresh stressed that the outside
world was evil.
In 1990 Vernon Howell changed his name to David (King David) Koresh
(Hebrew for Cyrus). The name change came in the Spring of 1990.
He once said that Koresh meant death--the rider on the fourth pale
horse. He rebuilt the site with a siege in mind, according to the
McClennan County sheriff. Former cult members claimed he had sex
with all the women in the cult while male members were ordered to be
celibate. One night Marc Breault said he stayed up and saw 13-year-old
Alisha come out of Koresh's room at 5:00 a.m. with tousled hair with a
change in clothes she did not have when she went in.
The women and men became separated in the complex. Baby girls were
treated like garbage. Boys were needed for the army. Children were
forbidden from having any contact with their natural fathers. To
compensate the men for the loss of their wives and children, Koresh gave
them as much beer as they could drink. Howell's followers were required
to observe Davidian rules regarding vegetarianism, Sabbath-keeping, and
hour-after-hour Bible study led by their meat-eating leader. Some of the
Davidians wanted to eat meat, like Koresh, but they would not go against
him. A comment has been made that may apply both to the Davidians
and U.S. taxpayers: "People throw good money after bad. Once they've
made an investment, whether of emotion, time, money, or labor (and in the
case of the Branch Davidians, all of the above), rather than face the fact
that they've been made fools of, and cutting their losses and running, they
will continue to invest ever greater amounts of time, money, emotions, and
so on. (NP) If they just leave, what do they have to show for all those
years, all that money, all that loyalty, all that willingness to believe?"
Korsh first separated the fathers from the mothers. The children by age
twelve were to move into domitories with others of the same sex.
It has been said that before Koresh turned the children "into ashes, he
dragged them through the mud." Koresh, it is claimed, had a "whipping
room" and he told the children to refer to their parents as "dogs." To
himself alone was reserved the title "Father."
In February 1990 Marc Breault was in New Zealand.
In May 1990, Breault made a second trip to New Zealand. Leslie and Poia
Vaega defected from Howell.
On May 15, 1990, Vernon Howell applied to a court in Pomona, California
for a change of name.
In June 1990 Breault flew back to Waco to be ignored by the Waco police
department. Geoff Hossack, an Australian private investigator, became
involved.
In July-August 1990, Robyn Bunds broke away from Howell. A raid at La
Verne yielded results. Three warrants, according to Hossack, for statutory
rape, were issued against Howell. Jack Hackworth participated in a raid
on the Branch Davidian's property in La Verne, California. Hackworth, who
hated paedophiles with a passion, said Howell was all trembling and scared:
"No son of God here."
In August 1990 affidavits were signed against Koresh by eight Australians
alleging: 1) Statutory rape, 2) Assault with a deadly weapon, 3) Tax fraud,
4) Massive immigration violations, 5) Failure to register the births of
children, 6) Possession and carrying of concealed weapons, 7) Food and
water deprivation, 8) Child abuse, 9) Failure to enroll children at school,
10) Plans to engage authorities in a gun battle, 11) Fears of child sacrifices
and 12) Exposing children to explicit episodes of sex and violence.
Evidence against Koresh included two video media stories and audio tapes
in which Koresh described sexual activities with under-aged girls.
On August 28, 1990 the Pomona court granted Vernon Howell's request to
change his name to David Koresh. Koresh claimed to be the Man on the
White Horse--the Lion of Judah mentioned in Revelation. "His reasoning
was that he was a Leo!"
In October 1990, Steve Schneider made a last futile appeal to the members
in Australia.
Janet Reno, who would later claimed full responsibility for the April 19th
assault, told a Florida meeting of the B'nai Brith in 1991 that waiting
periods were only a step, registration only a step, and the prohibition of
private ownership of firearms was the only solution to controlling crime.
Janet Reno and Lloyd Bentsen are permanent and alternative members,
respectively, of INTERPOL. Article 30 of the INTERPOL constitution
requires members to expatriate their citizenship to the U.S.
In June 1991, Koresh had a 29-year-old women punished after she began
to hear possibly competitive voices. She was imprisoned for four months in
one of the cottages under guard. Koresh, it is claimed, told one of the
guards: "If she gives you any trouble, fuck her." The woman was repeatedly
raped and beaten during the four months. Later, while wandering the
streets of San Francisco, she was committed to a mental asylum.
In June 1991, was the first confirmation of Kiri Jewell's danger. the first
rescue attempt failed.
For more than a year Koresh had predicted an armed confrontation with
federal agents. He nicknamed the compound "Ranch Apocalypse." Some
$200,000 worth of weapons, thousands of rounds of ammunition and a
granade launcher were obtained. The traced shopping list included a 50
calibre machine gun and an M-76 grenade launcher.
On December 30, 1991, the Australian program "A Current Affair" (not
related to U.S. version) interviewed the Austrailian Davidians. Martin King
was assigned to the story.
On January 5, 1992, an interview with Robyn Bunds was made in California
and Koresh was interviewed at Mount Carmel.
On January 7, 1992, the Vernonites received official notification of the
temporary custody order.
In January-February 1992, final preparations were made for Kiri Jewel's
court hearing.
Koresh forbade his wifes from talking to one another about him. According
to Marc Breault, when Koresh took a little girl to bed, "he made sure the
girl would leave his bedroom very early in the morning before anyone in
the camp got up." He confided to Bresult: "I'll be put in jail for this one
day." Once when someone talked about child sex behind his back, Koresh
said that in the future such talk would result in the offender having their
tongue torn out.
On February 27, 1992, Joyce Sparks of the Texas Department of Human
Services in Waco arrived unannounced at Mont Carmel to investigate a
complaint from outside Texas that Koresh was running a commune and
abusing young girls. Sparks spoke to Rachel Koresh's wife and a few
children without notingg any armed watchstanders. A few weeks later she
returned to the property and was escorted on a tour by David Koresh. She
then filed a report saying that the charges were not verified.
From March until June 1992, David Block was a member of the Branch
Davidian cult. He pointed a finger at a potentially dangerous mechanical
engineer, lathe operator, gunsmith and designer who was still inside the
complex--Don Bunds. Block told Aguilia that he had seen Bunds sitting in
front of the computer with an auto-cad program designing a "grease gun"
or "Sten gun." This was a machine gun type weapon from World War II.
On April 6, 1992, Ms. Sparks returned to Mount Carmel. She said that
Koresh had told her he was a Messenger of God, that the world was
coming to an end, and that when God reveals himself "the riots in Los
Angeles would pale in comparison to what was going to happen in Waco,
Texas." In a "military-type operation" "all non-believers" would have to
suffer. However, the riots in Los Angeles did not break out until April 30,
1992. When Sparks returned for another visit, Koresh explained that the
buried school bus was used for target practice so as not to disturb the
neighbors.
Around May 1992, NBC aired "In the Line of Duty...Manhunt in the
Dakotas." This program sought to dispel rumors of government wrongdoing
in the murder of Gordon Kahl.
In May of 1992, Larry Gilbreath of the UPS discovered 50 empty hand
grenades after a package accidently broke open while he was loading it.
Gilbreath of UPS notified Lt. Barber of the delivery of "suspicious parcels"
to David Koresh and Mike Schroeder. Schroeder had been chosen by
Koresh to accompany him in a band. Gilbreath had attempted to make
a delivery COD to the MagBag (a car restoration service of the Davidians)
but he had been told to go on to Mount Carmel to make the deliveries.
He saw several manned observation posts and believed the observers were
armed. Gilbreath also told Lt. Barber that two cases of inert hand
grenades and black gun powder were delivered by him to MagBag in May
1992 but the source was unknown to him. He also knew that "90 pounds
of aluminum powder and 30-40 cardboard tubes" as well as other
"ordnance" were shipped to Mount Carmel.
On June 4, 1992, the ATF-dubbed "Operation Showtime" began when
Special Agent David Aguilera of ATF met with Lt. Gene Barber of the
McLennan County Sheriff's office. Aguilera was furnished with recently
taken aerial photographs of the Mount Carmel Church which had been
taken by CPT Dan Weyenberg of the McLennan County Sheriff's
Department.
In July 1992, when the AFT checked a local gun store and found records
of Branch Davidians gun purchses, Koresh, contacted by the store owner
(Henry McMahon), offered the agents to come out to the complex and
check around for themselves. The offer was declined.
A helicopter that was attempting to dump fuel on the Randy Weaver cabin
was stopped only by an alert reporter waving a camera in the air.
Around November 1992 was the last date that Rosenblatt heard from
Koresh in a letter that said Koresh would certainly be in Israel for Pesach
(Passover).
In the late summer of 1992, the ATF rented a house about 300 yards down
the road from Ranch Apocalypse for undercover agents. Two more
explosions were observed at Mt. Carmel the first two weeks of November.
One was observed by a passing sheriff's deputy.
On November 13, 1992, Aguilera of the ATF was told by Lt. Coy Jones
of the McLennan County Sheriff's office that another anonymous UPS
employee had said he had a relative who was a machinist who worked with
David Koresh. Aguilera speculated that the Davidians were making machine
guns.
In January 1993, CS Gas was banned at the Chemical Weapons Convention
in Paris.
A little more than a month before the ATF raid, the sheriff had
determined there were no illegal weapons in the Branch Davidian church.
The sheriff, pursuant to a search warrant, had taken in all the arms and
then returned them after determining they were all legal weapons. The
BATF had stated that the presence of illegal weapons was the reason for
the massive assault on the church.
On January 13, 1993, AFT agent Aguilera interviewed the UPS man who
told him that in May 1992 a package "accidently broke open" and had
about 50 pineapple hand grenades in it.
On January 31, 1993, the Branch Davidians owed $3.275.88 in back taxes
based upon Mt. Carmel.
During the early days of February 1993, Koresh was seen in several places
in Waco--including the Chelsea's pub where he watched bands and had a
few beers. Three weeks before the assault, Koresh was seen eating bean
and cheese nachos at the Richland Mall (and had been stopping by there
about once a week from late January until the middle of February).
Another store owner said he dropped by about three or four times a
week.
On February 22, 1993, McCormick and England of the Waco Tribune
Herald called Koresh to answer some questions. They were told that Koresh
was working on a car at the Mag Bag--well down the road and definitely
away from the complex.
A February 23, 1993 FBI memo, obtained by the Dallas Morning News,
stated that no information had been developed to verify Michigan
allegations of "child abuse and neglect, tax evasion, slavery and reports of
possible mass destruction."
Jack Killorin, Washington ATF spokesman, concluded that Koresh "would
either launch an attack on Waco residents or instigate a mass suicide."
A few days before the first raid, undercover ATF Special Agent Robert
Rodriquez was contacted by Koresh and invited to a Bible study. Rodriquez
was told that the Davidians didn't "pay federal or local taxes" and was
shown a Gun Owners of America video which protrayed the ATF was an
agency that violated the rights of gun owners by threats and lies.
On February 25, 1993, U. S. Magistrate Greene issued a search warrant based on
agent Aguilera's affidavit.
By February 25, 1993, the ATF believed there was a leak in the
McClennan County Sheriff's office so the decision was made to bypass local
authorities. They intended to lure Koresh away from the complex to avoid
involving the women and children. But when they learned that Koresh had
been tipped off--they had to act immediately.
The BATF dubbed its February raid "Operation Trojan Horse."
On February 27, 1993, the media was told to get ready for a big blowout
and to get their TV cameras in place.
On Saturday, February 27, 1993, the Waco Tribune-Herald began a series
of articles on the Branch Davidian "cult." Prior to the raid, reports said
the Branch Davidians had kept to themselves and harmed no one outside
their church. The ATF privately criticized the Waco paper for begining
to publish its series on February 27, 1993, a day before the raid.
Originally the ATF said they had an arrest warrant for Koresh and
a search warrant for the complex. Later it was shown they had no arrest
warrant.
Before the raid, ATF agents told the Houston Post was told, the ATF had
practiced to where it took seven seconds to get out of the tarp-covered
cattle trailers and 12 seconds to get to the front door.
On August 28, 1993, the front page story for the Dallas Morning News said
that Waco KWTX cameraman Jim Peeler had told the AP that he had had
a February 28, 1993 conversation with a man (David Jones) in a private car
bearing U.S. Postal Service signs just before the raid and had asked for
directions to the Davidian complex. Jones had apparently stopped at a
convenience store where he met a journalist invited to cover the raid.
According to Dick DeGuerin, Koresh told him the claim that the Davidians
had gotten a phone tip was merely a ruse to separate Koresh from an ATF
undercover agent. David Jones said that he was told to "get out of here"
because "they're going to have a big shoot out with the religious nuts."
Jones received distinctions for markmanship in the U.S. Air Force and was
"the top gun."
When Jones returned with news of the impending raid, Koresh was talking
to Robert Gonzales, the informant. Koresh told Gonzales: "well, I guess its
decision time for you, Robert." Gonzales immediately fled the church, got
in his car and sounded an alarm which informed the ATF that he was
clear of the church.
The media had been waiting for three hours before the raid--from 7:00 a.m.
that morning.
On Sunday, February 28, 1993, at 8:30 a.m. over 100 agents of the ATF
stormed Mount Carmel. The ATF arrived at 9:55 a.m. They arrived
in cattle trucks dressed in Nazi-style kevlar helmets, black fatingues and
jack boots. When they jumped off the trucks "screaming like Ramo" they
started firing at the door. Koresh came to the door and started waving and
shouting "stop it! stop it!, there are women and children in here."
According to the ATF, Koresh greeted them at the door clad in black and
bearing a rifle: "Neither ATF or the National Guard will ever get me. They
got me once, and they will never get me again. They are coming; the time
has come."
On a CNN interview Koresh claimed the ATF shot first. Witnesses said the
ATF stormed the building, throwing concussion grenades and shouted:
"Come Out!" National Guard helicopters circled overhead. Two helicopters
and a news van were hit. Two helicopters were hit by the Davidians
during the initial assault. One bulletin pierced the cabin and whizzed by the
head of Phllip J. Chojnacki who was the man responsible for the
operation. Davdian David Thibodeau said that gunfire came through the
roof and one Koreshian died in his bed while holding a piece of French
toast.
Ted Royster, head of the Dallas office of the ATF, said it appeared "as
though they were waiting for us." In the continuing hail of bullets,
Koresh was wounded in his left shoulder. Perry Jones, Koresh's 72-year-
old father-in-law, was mortally wounded in the hall. Jones was once called
"the kindest man and a perfect gentleman."
What was planned to be a 2-minute operation instead lasted 45 minutes.
Four ATF agents were killed and 16 wounded. All four of the ATF
casulaties and at least nine of the reported injuries were the result of
accidental discharges, detonations and incidental friendly crossfire that
principally came from three armed Texas National Guard helicopters.
Six men participated in the assault on the Davidian armory. Three lived to
tell about it. Bill Buford, a special ATF agent from Little Rock, Arkansas,
had been a Green Beret in Vietnam during the 1960s. He participated in
the 1985 standoof with the heavily armed group called The Covenant. His
Little Rock colleague, Robert J. "Robb" Williams, 26, was on the armory
assault team along with New Orleans office agents Conway LeBieu, 30, and
Todd McKeehan, 28. A dozen other members of the New Orleans office
supported them on the race for the side of the building. The smallest team
involved in the raid took the most casualties.
The ATF agents scaled a ladder to the roof, broke through a window and
entered the church building. The original tape, confiscated by the
government (the media was given an edited version), showed the ATF
agents hurling concussion hand grenades through the window. Since the
women and children had been sent to the bedrooms, the hand grenades
went off upstairs where the women and children were staying. The
Davidians took up arms, captured four agents and killed 2 (the other
agents were killed outside. One Davidian entered the room where the ATF
agents had entered and a point-blank firefight ensued. One ATF agent was
killed and another mortally wounded. Fire from the wounded agent's 9 mm
automatic missed the confronting Davidian and after exiting an exterior wall
hit an ATF agent on the roof. Some Davidians vaulted into the living room
and began firing into the roof.
Ted Koppel, on ABC Nightline, played exerpts from a tape made on
February 28, 1993 of a conversation between Koresh lawyer Wayne Martin
and McLennan County Deputy Sheriff Robert Lynch. Lynch told Martin to
stop the Davidians from firing on the AFT agents. "Oh God! The
helicopter's coming in for another pass!" said martin.The sound of
automatic gunfire could then be heard. "Stop shooting! Stop shooting! Stop
Shooting! Lynch screamed into the 911 line. "it's not us; it's them! screamed
Martin back. "I can't believe this is happening!" Lynch said. Martin, a
Harvard-educated Black attorney, was put in touch with Earl Dunagan, the
regional director of the ATF. A ceasefire was arrange. The Davidians
released the four captured agents and allowed them to remove the
Davidian dead and wounded. Gent died of bleeding after the ATF refused
to allow the Davidians to retrieve him from the water tank. Peter Gent
was shot by a marksman after Koresh sent him up to the tower as a pay-
back to Bruce and Lisa for defying him. Peter Gent was probably killed,
according to the official version, by one of the agents in the house across
the road--perhaps by Rodriquez. He was shot in a good, clean kill and
knocked off the tower. He fell three stories but was dead before he came
to rest with his body tangled in a tree.
The gunfire continued uninterrupted for 45 minutes. For another 80
minutes there was sporadic gunfire.
Several Branch Davidians were killed--including a two year old child. The
Davidians killed included Peter Ghet (24), Peter Jones, Mike Schroeder,
Winston Blake and two others. Four elderly Davidians were killed in
their beds by indiscriminate helicopter fire.
During the afternoon of February 28th, Peter Ghent from Australia was
killed by ATF snipers as he attempted to exit the Davidian water tower
which he had been cleaning. "He climbed to the top of the tank and
peered over when he was struck in the head and neck by government
gunfire. Falling inside, he lay there terribly wounded."
The ATF claimed "we were outgunned." This claim was made despite
helicopter gunships, armored vehicles and fully automatic weapons.
According to SFT Intelligence Chief DavidTroy, the entire raid was
videotaped but the tapes were being withheld due to "the continuing
homicide ingestigation." U.S.District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. ordered the
FBI to preserve all of the government's audio and video tapes of the
February 28th raid.
Koresh told radio stations that he had been hit in "the gut" and that his
two year old daughter was killed. In his live interview with KLRD-Radio,
Koresh claimed that his two-year-old daughter had been killed: "The dead
baby story was never confirmed."
The seige began with the Davidians surrounded by four Abrams M-1 main
battle tanks. It was only after Koresh bragged about having anti-tank
guns that the authorities brought in the virtually indestructible M-1
Abrams.
Around 6:00 p.m. February 28, 1993, additional gunfire occurred when ATF
snipers fired at three Davidians attempted to cross a field from a site they
had been working at on the morning of the raid. Norman Allyson and Bob
Kendricks fell to the ground and were picked up by armoured vehicles.
Michael Schroeder, who was unarmed, the third man, was hit in the back
and died on the fence. His body was removed on March 3 with the
assistance of a Bradley-type APC. In the second skirmish, Michael
Schroeder, 29, was killed. Del Roy Nash was slightly injured and then
arrested. Woodrow Kendrick denied that he ever saw any ATF officers and
said he certainly never fired upon them.
Linda
Thompson, attorney for Ken Schroeder, said the results of the autopsy
showed seven bullet wounds in the back and a leg chewed on by an
animal. Michael had been trying to return to be with his wife and family.
The Waco Tribune decided to fill the entire Monday issue after the bloody
Sunday with the remaining installments of its seven-part series.
Shortly after the original raid, two ATF agents came forward on TV in
New York (their faces were not shown) and said they were afraid of a
coverup.
Once the seige began there was an international angle. A bunch of hillbillys
from around the world, in Texas, were shooting at the U.S. government.
The government press conferences in Waco were rigged events with three
agendas: 1) to control the media, 2) to control public perceptions of David
Koresh and 3) to further inflame the already beleaguered cult leader.
The rules of the press briefings were rigged so that the FBI always won:
"No shouting. Raise your hand. And more important, each newsman getting
the FBI nod was strictly limited to one question and a follow-up--but only
if he announced his intention of asking the second one at the start of the
first. (NP) And he never got another question, not the next day or the day
after, if he asked one question the FBI or the ATF didn't much like."
"The format and punitive attitude prevented any deep probing."
The FBI consulted with its cadre of "priests/psychologists from the Freudian
Cult" while the FBI's "High Priesthood's altar boys" spoke of Koresh in
harsh and even libelous terms. Despite all the disputes regarding
Koresh's promises, the FBI took him "completely at his word and absolutely
on his honor on one subject: Suicide."
After the February 28th raid, CAN officials were omnipresent at
establishment daily press briefings in Waco. On March 2, 1993, Rick
Ross, told reporters that when the FBI approached Koresh he was going
to go outside with grenades and commit suicide--taking as many ATF
agents with him as he could. Rick Ross is based in Phionex. Ross
around February 16, 1993 urged Sue Johnson to hire him to deprogram
Steve Schneider and said that something was about to happen real soon.
C.A.N. Director Cynthia Kisser has called for a much larger role for C.A.N.
in dealing with cults in the future.
In March 1993, Kiri revealed on the Donahue show that Koresh had
instructed the children on the best ways to commit suicide.
On March 4, 1993 the press was told that there had been an attempted
three-man "attack" on February 28th on the 300 heavily armed ATF and
DPS forces that surrounded the Branch Davidian Complex. ATF agent
Conroy claimed the three had tried to make war on the 300 or so ATF
agents around the complex.
During the first week of the seige, 21 children were released. The
agreement between the Davidian parents and the FBI Hostage Rescue
Team was that a written list of friends and family members as well as bank
account numbers was to be used to place and provide care an temporary
homes for the children in the Waco area. The children were also to be
allowed a phone call home to let their parents know they were OK. "None
of these promises..were kept. All of the children were handed over to Child
Protective Services incom-municado, and the list of careproviders was used
by the FBI to find 'material witnesses.'"
Eight days after he was killed, a funeral was permitted for Peter Ghent.
On March 6, 1993, the FBI denied that there were any plans to use
psychological warefare against the Davidians.
On March 6, 1993, Kirk D. Lyon, Executive Director of CAUSE
Foundation, and D.M.A. (Dave) Hollaway flew to Waco and set up a
command post to set up a legal defense network for the Davidians. Bonnie
Haldeman, Koresh's mother, called CAUSE and asked for help for her son.
Kirk Lyons called Dick DeGuerin, a high-profile criminal attorney from
Houston and asked that he represent Koresh pro bono. Lyons and
Holloway had just finished helping DeGuerin with a case involving a man
accused of shooting a homosexual who was attempting to bribe him.
Despite the police having a body, a murder weapon and a confession, Dick
DeGuerin was able to win an acquittal. Attorney Dick DeGguerin was
a long-time friend and former classmate of FBI director William Sessions.
Until he went directly to Sessions, his access to the complex had been
denied on numerous occasions by government agents at the Waco seige
site.
An application for a Temporary Restraining Order was filed by CAUSE
Foundation with the U.S. District Court in Waco. It asked the government
to show cause why it had beseiged the Davidians and averred that the feds
had the intention to prevent outside independent observation of its actions
and sought to assault or otherwise attack or kill the Davidians. Eight
attorneys joined the CAUSE TRO application--Gary J. Coker, Dick
DeGuerin, Vic Feazell, Gary Richardson, Kelly Richardson of the
Rutherford Institute and Mark Lane. DeGurin filed an application for a
writ of habeas corpus on behalf of Koresh.
On Msrch 10, 1993. Woodrow Kendrick was arrested.
On March 11, 1993, Dick DeGuerin showed up at the ATF checkpoint with
Bonnie Haldeman--Koresh's mother who had asked DeGuerin to represent
her son.
On March 12. 1993, the ATF account of the February 28th evening incident
was amended to include a hand-grenade allegedly thrown at the ATF
forces. The press amd media, a half-mile away, had reported no
explosions.
As early as March 14, 1993, the government began to shine high wattage
lights at the complex to protect their officers from possible snipers.
On March 16, 1993, Jesse Amen managed to sneak into the Davidian
complex. When he emerged on April 4, 1993, FBI officials said he made
no sense.
At the Waco daily newspaper, Mark England was the anti-Davidian's
contact.
On Masrch 24, 1993. Louis Alaniz got past agents to knock on the door of
the Davidian building. He was allowed in. After being in jail, he said he
wanted to return to Houston where people knew he was insane.
The March 26, 1993 issue of the London Jewish Chronicle quoted Rabbi
Shaul Rosenblatt as saying that Koresh spent three weeks in Jerusalem.
The Forward of New York City said: "He was very interested in Judaism
and talked a lot about conversion and his desire to join the Israeli army."
The Waco-Tribune Herald reported on March 28, 1993, that although the
ATF had told the Texas National Guard (to obtain use of their helicopters)
that there was an illegal drug lab at the complex, there was no evidence
of this before, during or after the raid.
On Mach 29, 1993, a long-distance lense spotted Dick DeGuerin sitting in
a chair of the Davidian complex.
In late March the FBI began considering a tear gas plan. It was brought
to the attention of Janet Reno in the first week of April. Initially she
rejected the idea but later approved it because the FBI was telling her
things were increasingly "unstable."
When Koresh got his message from God to write on the Seven Seals, his
work was specifically addressed to Dr. J. Phillip Arnold of Reunion
Institute and Dr. James Tabor of the University of North Carolina.
In the April 1993 issue of the Populist Observer it was claimed that David
Koresh was Jewish. The flag flown over the Davidian church was the
hexagram--an Israeli emblem. Interlaced triangles is the symbol of the
Divine Divinity (Jehovah White and Jehovah Black). It is called
Macrocosmos, Star of David and Solomon's Seal. It also represents the sex
force (male and female union). It is asserted that Koresh was a
"Renegade Jew" who had embraced the "Identity doctrine" and was
attempting to convert other Jews. An unidentified Branch Davidian
claims Koresh thought he was the Lamb protrayed in the Book of
Revelations and that he would return.
The actual and long-standing name for the Waco Davidian area "Holy Hill"
was Lamb's Hill.
On April 2, 1993, ATF Director Steven Higgins told a Senate subcommittee
that the ATF mission failed only "because the Branch Davidians ambushed
the ATF." The truth was that the ATF attacked the Davidians. Also,
Higgins admitted that they knew they had lost the element of surprise and
attacked anyway.
On April 18, 1993, President Clinton celebrated the opening of the
Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. "Later that day he ordereed the
incineration of the American and British citizens within the Branch
Davidian Church. No children survived."
During the seige, recordings played to the Davidians included the sounds
of dental drills and rabbits being killed. A negotiator told the Davidians
that all they wanted them to do was to come out. Then the negotiator
accidently left the microphone on and said: "I've been in the FBI for 27
years and I've never seen anything like these people. They think they can
get away with murder; well they'll have another thing coming as soon as
they come out of there."
After a 51-day seige, Federal troops moved on the Davidians.
A Special Operations Team was brought in from Quantico, Virginia.
David Koresh, a day or two before the fire, was said to be crazy by an FBI
spokesman who said Koresh thought the government was going to burn
him. Koresh celebrated Passover and planned to observe Pesach in
Jerusalem.
Before the final scene, the McLennan County Sheriff went into the
Davidian compound. He came out and then sent Koresh a latter promising
him some stuff. Koresh didn't like the stuff so he sent the letter out.
The cover of the New York Times of April 19, 1993, center page, carried
the story "Memories Live of Warsaw Ghetto Battle."
On the morning of the chemical weapon attack, the press and media
reporters were placed under a three-mile limit for the first time in U.S.
history. One reporter who violated the ban was arrested and place in jail.
April 19, 1993 was the 50th annivesay of the NAZI's raid on the Jewish
Ghetto in Warsaw and the 218th anniversary of when Paul Revere made
his famous ride to warn that the British were coming.
On April 19, 1993, an IHOP waitress told Gary Hunt that ATF customers
had been in much earlier than usual for coffee saying they were working
a second shift. One ATF agent told an employee that "This thing is going
to be over with today." The FBI called the Waco hospitals and told them
to get ready for a large number of burn victims. The FBI sent the fire
trucks away after they had been stationed at the complex for seven
weeks.
On April 19, 1993, beginning at 6:04 a.m., heavily-armed tanks were sent
against the Davidians to break through the walls and inject tear gas. In
the early morning hours, the FBI reported that they had taken about 75
rounds fired by the Davidians while punching holes into the complex to
induce the CS gas. By the end of the day that figure was up to 200 rounds.
Yet two eye-witness survivors of the fire said no shots were fired from the
compound.
At 12:05, after tanks had rammed the building five different times, flames
erupted from the opposite ends of the compound and were whipped by 20-
30 mph winds. Fire trucks were not called until 30 minutes after the fire
had broken out. Firemen were prevented from fighting the fire for another
hour. The fire chief said he was standing by but the FBI did not call
him.
By 12:18 the watchtower collapsed. Shortly afterward the ammun-itions
room exploded in a ball of fire.
By 12:28 p.m. the second floor was engulfed in flames and the roof
collapsed.
Only nine people escaped or survived the fire. The fire reached nearly
2,000 degrees. The bodies were cremated into ashes. 86 men, women and
children died. 24 children were killed. Koresh was found with a bullet
hole in his forehead; Steve Schneider was found with a bullet hole in the
back of his head.
An FBI sniper reported that he viewed a figure dressed in black inside the
compound lighting the fire. It is suggested that a team had been placed
inside the complex to light the fire. Several hours after this report, an
affidavit was released stressing that Koresh and his second in command
dressed in black immediately upon learning that a raid was imminent. Yet,
all the information used to gain authorization for the raid was given to
the courts and sealed 24-hours before the raid occurred. Koresh never
wore black but the ATF, FBI and "special ops" all do.
On April 19, 1993, FBI spokesman Bob Ricks quoted Branch Davidians
survivor Renos Avraam was saying: "The fire's been lit. The fire's been lit."
When questioned on camera, Avraam said: "One of the tanks knocked over
a gas lantern, and it started a fire under some bales of hay that were
laying around...The fire wasn't started by us."
Janet Reno said after the assault: "I made the decisions, I'm accountable."
She said she relied upon "experts." One of those in the small group that
met with Reno before the raid was Mark Richard, the founder of the
Office of Special Operation and who "has a long history as a top agent
within the U.S. government of the A.D.L. and the Israeli Mossad."
Janet Reno and Sessions told the Congressional Commitee that they went
in with the gas on April 19th for the same reason that the ATF stormed
the place on February 28th--because they feared that the cultists would
commit suicide at any time. But Jeff Jamar, the man in charge in Waco,
said: "Our best estimate was that he was not going to commit suicide, and
mass suicide was a possibility but not a probability."
A voice inside the bugged complex, believed to be Koresh, was taped
saying: "Stay low, stay ready and loaded." Koresh met a quick end--
dispatched by a rifle bullet between the eyes. No gun was found near
him. Twelve of the 25 children who died "remained wrapped in the
charred bones of their mother's arms..." The Davidians were "burned
beyond recognition." After Operation Waco, no pictures of those killed
were ever shown.
During the Waco seige, a local citizen saw one of the helicopters land
rather hard in an open field. The man ran over to the ATF agents who
had scrambled out of the aircraft intending to help. The good samaritan
was thrown to the ground--face down in wet mud--and forced into the
ground by boots in his back forcing him to suck in some muddy water and
dirt into his lungs.
On April 20, 1993, Clinton said that CS was a "tear gas which had been
tested not to cause permanent damage to adults or children." Yet CS gas
is now banned from military use by the Geneva Protocals. CS gas is a
battlefield gas 80 times more powerful than tear gas. Bo Gritz said the
use of "CS Gas" was insufferable and inhumane. He also said the gas was
a highly flamable dust initiator. Thomas Charles Searengen wrote in Tear
Gas Munitions that CS even used outdoors is dangerous since "CS may
hamper the movement because of the rapid and severe unslaught of
symptoms." When heated, according to Properties of Industrial Materials, CS
emits toxic fumes of Chlorine, Nitrates and Cyanide.
On the evening of the fire, President Clinton said Janet Reno had acted
"because of the children" who were "being abused." Later officials admitted
there was no evidence of child abuse.
No news reporter or independent outside investigators were allowed near
the "crime scene" while the little remaining evidence was destroyed.
Vic Feazell blamed the ATF for the confrontation and accused them of "a
vulgar display of power." In 1987 he said "we treated them like human
beings, rather than storm-trooping the place." He also stated: "(I)f they'd
called and talked to them, the Davidians would've given them what they
wanted." The government did as Vic Feazell, the former McLennan
County District Attorney, had predicted. A massive media effort was first
used to discredit the Davidians. Then the public was slowly convinced that
the people inside were under the control of a pyschopath and that a mass
suicide was possible. Third, the efforts were cloaked by saying non-lethal
CS-gas was used "for the sake of the children."
Rick Ross, a top deprogrammer of CAN (Cult Awareness Network), a
national kidnap-for-hire ring, who was convicted of a felony in 1975 for a
jewelry heist, once deprogrammed a member of the Branch Davidians.
Before the raid he had been hired to handle another. According to NPR
he had been working as an ATF consultant for more than a month. Many
of the CAN deprogrammers got their start as experts with the CIA's
"Operation MK-Ultra" mind control experiments in the 1950s and 1960s.
On April 20, 1993, an ABC news reporter stated that they had heard at
least two explosions since dark.
On April 20, 1993, FBI Director Sessions said on the MacNeil/Lehrer
Newshour that all the FBI analyses of Koresh indicated he would never
commit suicide,
At a Rose Garden press conference on April 20, 1993, President Clinton
claimed that the Davidians "had illegally stockpiled weapons and
ammunition." He said that Koresh has "placed innocent children at risk."
Also, Clinton suggested that Koresh was "dangerous, irrational, and
probably insane." He claimed the April 19th attack was "an effort to protect
the young hostages." The President also said that: "Mr. Koresh's
response to the demand for his surrender by federal agents was to destroy
himself and murder the children who were his captives...He killed those he
controlled."BC also stated: "I am frankly surprised to say that anyone would
suggest that the Attorney General should resign because some religious
fanatics murdered themselves."
A special prayer meeting was attended in Waco by Governor Ann Richards
who said that it was time to begin the healing. Some newspapers
reported a "sharp exchange" took place between Richards and Reno on the
handling of the investigation into the carnage and death of 86 home
residents.
On April 21, 1993, George Stephanopolis said: "(T)here is absolutely no
question that there's overwhelming evidence of child abuse in the Waco
compound." This claim was later admitted to be without foundation by the
FBI. Dr. Bruce Perry, the head of the team treating the 21 children who
were allowed to leave, said: "(N)one of the 21 children had been sexually
abused or molested."
The April 22, 1993 edition of the Washington Times (owned by Rev. Sun
Myung Moon and his various organizations) stated that the FBI used a
chemical "banned for war..."
On April 22, 1993, CNN's David Goodenhauer stated: "One of the cults
that is shortly going to have to be dealt with is the Identity group which
is 40,000 nationwide."
On April 22, 1993, attorneys representing Koresh said that interviews with
members who had escaped revealed that those who died on Monday were
trapped inside by the debris barring stairways and other outlets from
destruction of the interior of the complex by government vehicles. Also
members of the church were anxious for the seige to end so they could
come out. One member who slipped into the complex and then came out
a few days later said there were no signs of child abuse, that members
were looking forward to coming out and that there was no suicide pact. No
agreement or suicide pact had been made by anyone, including David
Koresh.
On April 22, 1993, three days after the Davidian Massacre, the Holocaust
Museum opened in Washington, D.C. with dignitaries present from all
around the world.
On April 23, 1993, President Clinton, speaking from the Rose Garden,
placed all blame on Koresh who he said was insane, a child abuser who
had had sex with many children in the complex. Clinton said: "I
hope...that others who will be tempted to join cults and become involved
with people like Koresh will be deterred by the horrible scenses they have
seen." "There is, unfortunately, a rise in this sort of fanaticism all over the
world. And we may have to confront it again."
On April 28, 1993, Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bensten issued a statement
saying he was deeply troubled by conflicting statements about the raid.
On April 28, 1993, FBI Deputy Director Floyd Clarke told the House
Judiciary Committee that the "Davidians had used their own children as
human shields by holding them up in front of windows." Later FBI
spokesman Richard Swensen admitted that the Davidian parents were
holding the children up to see the M1-A1 Abrahams battle tanks sitting in
their front yard.
On April 28, 1993, Congressman Jack Brooks, Chairman of the U.S. House
Judiciary Committee, presiding over an investigation of the raid, during a
brief recess, without realizing the cameras were rolling, strolled over to
ATF Director Steven Higgins and said: "Mr. Higgins, you know what I'da
done; the first night I'da run everybody off, quietly put a bomb in that
damn water tank, put tear gas in there; if they wouldn't shoot, kill 'em
when they came out...if they didn't wanna shoot, put 'em on a paddy
wagon, it would've been over by twelve thirty. Now that's the way Brook's
would've done it!"
On April 28, 1993 Nightline correspondent Chris Bury stated that the
independence of the "outside arson" investigation had been questioned.
Attorney Jack Zimmerman said that the chief of the arson investigation
team was "a fellow who had been on an ATF Joint Task Force for eight
to ten years out of the Houston office of the ATF...the (same) office that
planned and executed the raid?" The head of the "independent"
invetigation was a long time contractor for the FBI. His wife was personal
secretary to the head of the Houston ATF office--where the whole raid was
planned.
Zimmerman said that since it could be proved that the ATF shot first it
would be highly unlikely that any of the Davidians could be convicted for
murdering the ATF agents.
On April 28, 1993, William Cooper, on radio station WRNO (7395 Khz),
unidentified individuals who were downwind from the complex on April
19th confirmed that there was no smell of tear gas but there was a scent
of petroleum in the air.
On May 2, 1993, David Koresh' body was found in the kitchen area near
a large number of other bodies.
On May 4, 1993 a CBS docudrama was aired entitled "Prophet of Evil." It
was about how the FBI protects Americans against religious freaks.
On May 5, 1993, an interview was reported in the Cincinnati Post with Dr.
Bruce Perry under the headline "Psychiatrist: Cult Kids Were Not
Molested."
According to Time Magazine's May 3, 1993, issue, before the last bodies
were removed from the rubble in Waco, an NBC film crew was already
filming re-enactment scenes for a movie.
On May 8, 1993, Prime Time Live, A Current Affair, the Dallas Observer and
Cox News Service were briefed at 3:00 CST. An independent investigation
determined that the February 28th raid was an orchestrated event oriented
toward destroying and or confiscating certain sensitive videotape and
computer evidence posseed and gathered by Koresh's "inner circle" deemed
damaging to ATF and considered "sensitive" by the Justice Department.
On May 9, 1993, the Los Angeles Times noted that in a taped conversation
with a lawyer, Koresh had blasted the notion that his church members
planned a mass suicide.
It is claimed that the Spotlight issue of May 10, 1993 said nothing about
Waco.
On May 12, 1993, FBI officials, citing the fear that someone might fall into
the fenced and guarded bunker, rolled bulldozers across the burned out
Davidian complex--completely obliterating any remaining evidence. For
three weeks following the holocaust, the FBI controlled the crime scene
"letting no Texas Rangers, local police or truly independent arson
investigators in..." Defense Attorney Jeff Kearney of Fort Worth told
reporters: "Government agents can say what they want now and there's
little physical evidence to dispute it."
On May 15, 1993, an AP story by Sharon Cohen drew a parallel between
Operation Rescue and lethal riots between Moslem and Hindus: "Two news
evente, on common bond: both are tied to fundamentalism, one of the
world's fatest growing religious movments. For all their differences, they
share two goals: They want to change society. And they believe that they-
-and they alone--have the answer."
On May 15, 1993, the Justice Department announced that it would not
investigate the decision-making process associated with the final assault.
On May 23, 1993, NBC aired "In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco."
It starred Tim Daly, co-star of TV's "Wings" as Koresh.
On May 23, 1993, Mike Wallace ended a segment entitled "ATF &
Harrassment" by saying: "Waco was a publicity stunt, which was intended
to improve the AFT's tarnished image."
On July 9, 1993, members of the Adair County Sheriff's Office in Muldrow,
OK, visited the 70 resients of Bethel Christian Ministries (Elohim City)--
an identity religious community led by Rev. Robert G. Millar. Area law
enforcement authorities had been alerted by the Fort Smith, AZ ATF
office to be on the lookout for a suspect wanted for possession of an
unregistered machine gun and that the two-wived suspect was known to
be around Elohim City. The sheriff's officials said they didn't want "a Waco
situation developing in their county."
On September 3, 1993, John Sharp, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts,
wrote: "Of the many lessons learned during the crisis at the Branch
Davidian compound and its aftermath, perhaps the most evident is that the
situation might have been handled in a better fashion."
The Treasury Department has proposed regulations that would exempt
Waco information from the Freedom of Information Act.
Sessions told Congress: "We do not normally in our criminal justice system
allow a criminal to set their own timetable on when they will submit to
authority." Initial reactions from law-and-order types was to scream for
Koresh's head, his blood and the blood of his followers: "These religious
crazies had broken the laws of this nation and should be shot down like
dogs, pure and simple."
Bob Matthews, Gordon Kahl, Randy Weaver and David Koresh have all
been termed to be "identity" believers. Only Randy Weaver escaped being
cremated by fire. This suggests a possible "burnt offering" natgure to the
non-judicial executions or accidents--depending upon the viewpoint
considered. ADL expertise was used in Waco and in the Randy Weaver
case. The San Francisco raid on an ADL office showed that dossiers
were kept on thousands of individuals and groups. A Davidian who was
not at the church during the 51-day ordeal, claimed that the Davidians
believe that the Anglo-Saxons are the true Israelites but do not use the
term "Identity" as others do to describe themselves as the true seed. He
believes that the ten lost tribes migrated over the Caucasus Mountains and
into Europe and that the present day Jews are not true Israelites. The
Davidians, according to this undisclosed source, believe the Jerusalem of
the Book of Revelations will be destroyed. The ADL was incensed over
Koresh's claims and the NWO plans to aniliate those who maintain such
claims.
According to Livingston Fagan, 33, who walked out of the complex to carry
forward the Davidian message, Jesus was actually Zeus Christos (in the
Greek). The true name, according to Fagan, was Yahshua or "Yah Saves."
The Jesus which the Catholic Church gave to Protestantism was in fact
Zeus--the war god.
From: cww@zycor.lgc.com (Chris Walker)
Subject: Re: Initial Waco Chronology (Part 2/2)
Date: Fri, 8 Oct 1993 22:43:31 GMT
>I'd be interested in some supporting documentation for this claim.
Press Release for "We the People Committee" released May 9, 1993
regarding Affidavid W93-54M filed at US District Court April 13, 1993.
We are working on getting the footnotes posted.
--
Chris Walker
cwalker@zycor.lgc.com
From: dfo@vttoulu.tko.vtt.fi (Foxvog Douglas)
Date: Tue, 5 Oct 1993 09:25:33 GMT
In article
E-Mail Fredric L. Rice / The Skeptic Tank