'Waco: The Aftermath' Episode 5 Review: Noesner's unexpected testimony leads to a SHOCKING revelation

Noesner came to the court with one mindset: tell the truth, and he did exactly that

BY AAYUSH SHARMA

PUBLISHED MAY 13, 2023

Michael Shannon as Gary Noesner in 'Waco: The Aftermath' (Showtime)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: When the trial for ‘Waco Siege’ began, it looked like the US government will do everything and anything to save itself. There were many twists and turns in the trial. We saw one of the ‘Waco 5’ taking the plea deal and giving testimony against their own. Dan Cogdell, who was defending the ‘Waco 5’, did some extraordinary work to make people believe that his clients did not do anything to deserve any kind of punishment. At the end of the fourth episode, we saw FBI negotiator Gary Noesner (Michael Shannon) being called for testimony because he was responsible for bringing 35 people out of the building that was raided by the ATF.

The stage was set and people knew that something concrete is going to come from Noesner’s testimony. In the final episode of 'Waco: The Aftermath', he made his way to the court and Cogdell (Giovanni Ribisi) barged him with questions. Noesner made it clear that his negotiations were going well and that’s why he was able to bring 35 people out. He also made it clear that different approaches were made during the siege. During his testimony, a shocking revelation came out when Cogdell asked him about the time when the decision of the raid was done. It was revealed that Noesner, the lead negotiator, was not even in the meeting where ATF and FBI decided that a “raid” should be conducted because everyone knew that he would oppose it.

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A still from 'Waco: The Aftermath' (Showtime)

Why Gary Noesner was not present in the meeting with Attorney General?

Noesner was fed up with all these “trick” questions and asked Cogdell to ask what question he really wants to ask. And that question was: “Was it inevitable if they were planning to die all along?” So, Cogdell went ahead and asked him the same, to which, Noesner replied with a firm “NO.” He also said that if his team would have been given more time, they could have brought almost everyone out. Did Noesner tell the same to the leadership? Yes, he did and that’s why he was not called in the meeting with the Attorney General.

He added, “That’s why I was rotated out. Some FBI leaders were tired of the press and the attention. The American public was tired of it. Everyone was tired. The FBI wanted it over at any cost.”

Noesner's testimony came as a shock to the govt.

His testimony came as a shock to everyone and the prosecution team was left stunned because they were expecting him to be supporting everything that the FBI was saying. But he couldn’t do that because he was having nightmares and couldn’t sleep. The entire situation could have been handled differently if Noesner was present there, but the government wanted to end it by taking a decision that ended up being so brutal.

After his testimony, he continued to work with the FBI and retired in 2003 after a 30-year-long career including 23 years as the chief of the agency’s Crisis Negotiation Unit, the Critical Incident Response Group.