Waco After 20 Years: A Warning Against Unrestrained Government

The New American

April 19 marks the 20th anniversary of the Waco, Texas, massacre of Branch Davidian church members at the organization’s Mount Carmel compound. Some 82 Davidians (including 26 children) and four ATF agents were killed in two related episodes, a February 28 military-style assault by 100 ATF agents and an April 19 fire after a six-week stand-off provoked by the FBI.

The Waco massacre ranks among the largest mass-killing of American citizens by its own government since 19th century Indian massacres, such as Wounded Knee, the Dakota Sioux War of 1862, and the Trail of Tears.

The massacre began in a February 28 raid by AFT officials on the compound where Davidians lived. The Davidians were ready for the ATF. Four ATF agents were killed and another 16 injured, and the ATF was repulsed from the Mount Carmel Center compound. Six Davidians — a Seventh Day Adventist splinter group — were also reportedly killed in the February 28 melee.

The raid was a result of ATF allegations that the Davidian’s leader David Koresh (also known by his birth name Vernon Howell) had modified legally purchased AR-15 military-style rifles to fully automatic status, a federal crime. The FBI later concluded that the Davidians had modified 48 firearms to fire in fully automatic mode, and that they also had 21 silencers and a number of “practice” hand-grenades.

Koresh had been the subject of a series of articles in the Waco Tribune-Herald beginning the day before the February 28 ATF raid. The paper quoted former Davidians who claimed firearms violations as well as polygamy and child molestation by Koresh. The series began with the following allegations:

Waco — If you are a Branch Davidian, Christ lives on a threadbare piece of land 10 miles east of here called Mount Carmel. He has dimples, claims a ninth-grade education, married his legal wife when she was 14, enjoys a beer now and then, plays a mean guitar, reportedly packs a 9mm Glock and keeps an arsenal of military assault rifles, and willingly admits that he is a sinner without equal….

An eight-month Waco Tribune-Herald investigation that involved numerous interviews with Breault and more than 20 other former cult members and a review of court records and statements to law enforcement officials revealed complaints that Howell:

• abused children physically and psychologically;

• boasted of having sex with underage girls in the cult;

• and has had at least 15 so-called “wives.”

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