‘Waco: American Apocalypse’: What happened at Waco? The siege explained
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA : On April 19, 1989, the Branch Davidian facility outside of Waco, Texas, was tragically destroyed, killing David Koresh and 75 of his followers, including 26 children. 'Waco: American Apocalypse', a new Netflix series, revisits the 51-day confrontation between the cult and federal agents that ended when the Branch Davidians set fire to their compound. The siege and the death count made it unique in terms of a takedown of an American cult by government authorities.
Was the catastrophe avoidable? Former ATF officers, FBI negotiators, Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) members, and Branch Davidians have all stated in interviews that the tragedy could have played out with far less casualties. But what exactly did transpire? In other words, what was the Waco siege in 'Waco : American Apocalypse' all about?
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Who were the Branch Davidians?
Ben Roden formed the Branch Davidians in 1959 as a division of the Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which had been started by Victor Houteff decades previously. Eventually, Houteff's group relocated to a farm about 10 miles east of Waco, Texas, but by 1962 Roden and his supporters had already taken control of the settlement. In that location, the Branch Davidians led a modest lifestyle in anticipation of Jesus' impending return. The organization, however, became involved in a power struggle in the middle of the 1980s, and by the end of the decade, Vernon Howell (later known as David Koresh) was in charge of the neighbourhood. Soon after, he reportedly started taking "spiritual wives," some of whom were as young as 11. Legal authorities were alerted by allegations of child abuse and Koresh's opening of a retail gun store.
The siege that took place between the Davidians and the police authorities
The US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) acquired both an arrest warrant for Koresh and a search warrant for the property because they thought the group was illegitimately accumulating weapons. On February 28, 1993, the compound was raided by more than 70 ATF agents. Four federal agents were murdered and more than a dozen were injured during the two-hour gunfight, though it is unclear who opened fire first. Six Davidians reportedly died in addition.
After that, some 900 law enforcement officers—including FBI hostage negotiators—arrived at the facility. Even though Koresh claimed that neither he nor his followers were suicidal, he used "Bible babble" and made violent threats during phone calls. Koresh enabled more than 30 followers to depart in exchange for various supplies, including milk that was brought in boxes equipped with listening devices. It was estimated that only 100 people were still within the property. Agents employed a variety of tactics, including as "disrupting sleep" by turning off the electricity at the facility, playing Tibetan chants over the loudspeakers, and shining spotlights on the building. At last, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno authorised the FBI to conduct a raid on the property after becoming certain that Koresh would not submit willingly.
On April 19, 1993, at around six in the morning, the FBI started shooting tear gas into the compound. The Branch Davidians soon started using their own weapons stash to retaliate. Approximately 400 tear-gas canisters were dropped inside the compound over the course of more than five hours by armored vehicles, some of which made holes in the walls. The assault finished around 11:40 am. The Branch Davidians started multiple fires around 25 minutes later, and at 12:25 PM shooting could be heard inside the site.
Firefighters were not permitted to enter the area for another 15 minutes because of safety reasons, by which time the compound was destroyed. Nine persons were able to flee, but the others died. 75 bodies were subsequently discovered by investigators, 25 of which belonged to children. Koresh was among the dead, who had been shot rather than dying in the subsequent fire. Some of the wounds appeared to have been self-inflicted, but not all of them.