Where to start. What happened here nine years ago is a complex question. Vernon Howell aka David Koresh was the leader and minister of a splinter group of the 7th Day Adventists called the Branch Davidians (BD). The group had split off, or been expelled, from the main line of the 7DA quite a few years before. During the 1970s and 1980s Howell became ascendant in the internal leadership struggle, which amoung other things gave rise to a trial for attempted murder. Howell/Koresh was released after a hung jury, when the County Attorney decided not to retry the case.
I know the foreman of the jury rather well. He is a certified right wing law and order type. He was convinced that the charges were fabricated and that there should never have been a trial in the first place. The Jury was hung 10 to aquit and 2 to convict. If all these details are messy, suffice to say that many of the local authorities disliked him. Among them were Child Protective Services (CPS) and various educational bodies, who did not think that the group's child rearing practices were appropriate.
Suffice to say that there was never any legal claim against him that stuck. Among his followers was a Harvard lawyer. Howell/Koresh proved quite agile in court. One problem CPS had with proving abuse, in many cases, is the fact that the children's parents were also members of the group and refused to file charges. Another problem was presence in the group of certified teachers and other experts who could refute the state in court. Even now it is unclear whether the groups practices were unusual or criminal. It depends on who is speaking. Many outside people feel that the group amounted to a cult and that its members were brain washed. Others, and I include the jury foreman, think that the legitimate social and religious practices of a seperatist group were being persecuted.
In any event, during the tenure of Howell/Koresh (I am unclear on when he chose to change the name) the membership increased significantly. Followers were encouraged to move into "Mount Carmel" which is the BD name for its enclave or "compound" to use the media term. The stucture, which everyone remembers fro the fire, was constructed and expanded several times. In addition to the people living in the enclave, there were a number of others who lived outside and returned fr worship. This group, after a legal battle over the title to the land, have constructed and attend a church on the site. Among others was a number of retired and/or invalid people in a nursing home about 10 miles away.
The nursing home is where I met him the one time I did. Koresh was setting up the weekly service, which acording to their doctrine was on Saturday. My impression wa that he was an unwashed hippy wannabe. His hair was dirty and his shower was to many hours back. The fact that he was setting up a guitar service for a bunch of 80 year olds struck me as funny. There was nothing funny about the devotion of his people to "The Reverend." In truth, though I did not see it, he was quite charming when he wanted to be and, I am told, an absolutely spell binding speaker.
About a year later, in the spring of 1993, the local paper began to run a many part story on Koresh and the Branch Davidians. The first installment ran on Saturday. "The Sinfull Messiah" was the banner headline on the front page. Early the next morning the aborted raid was attempted.
Several things need to be remembered about the raid. First, it was clearly unnecessary. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had obtained a search warrant. Had they walked up to the door, they would most likely have been admitted. Based on the previous history of Koresh dealing with the law, if they had contacted his attorney and requested that he come down for questioning, he would have complied. Instead, BATF decided to raid in large force. The intent was to do a drug style, quick strike raid and quickly subdue the occupants of the building. It did not work.
The reasons for the collapse of the raid are numerous. First, it is clear that the people in the compound knew something was coming, though the details may have been less clear. The timing of the newspaper story is certainly suspicious.
What is known is that the BD was on the phone to police, claiming that armed people were trying to break into the house. This is no less than the truth. It is NOT clear that the warrant was ever served, or if proper identification was ever given. So what we have is an alerted residence fearing and receiving an attack by armed people in the middle of the night. A spark was struck and the pile of powder exploded.
The BATF agents forced the front door and attempted to force other entries. Notably, a second story window was attempted, and repeled by gunfire from within, all caught on video. Once the first shot was fired, gunfire erupted all over the structure. At least one heavy rifle was used by the occupants. Reports of machine gun fire have been convincingly disproven. Koresh had a reputation as a gun afficionado. There were a large number of firearms available, and it appears many or must were used. The supposed purpose of the raid was to find automatic weapons. There were none.
Many of the criticisms of BATF in the aftermath rested on the poor preparation for the raid. While it was designed as a quick hitting, dont give them a chance to react raid, the personnel were clearly not prepared for a serious fight. At least one overweight AFT agent is seen clearly in the videos, running around screaming. The obvious inference is that the agent was being given a chance for an "easy" operations notation is her records. In the event of a firefight, she turned out to be worse than useless.
Another major complaint was the lax security, which allowed advance notice of the raid to get to the media. One theory is that the Bureau was expecting to be desolved and absorbed into Justice and FBI. The supposed intent was to get a high profile arrest, in spectacular style, with integrated media coverage to justify continued funding. While there is a certain ring of validity to this theory, it remains unproven.
One of the many outcomes of the incident is that BATF had its house thoroughly cleaned. In the recent sniper case BATF was lead agency, and appears to have done stellar work.
Once the firefight died down, the BATF agents pulled back and seige began. Since there were Federal agents dead, BATF and later FBI had little choice but to press as hard as possible. When push came to shove, Koresh would not come out. It is clear from the cases that followed, that he was entirely correct in thinking that he would receive no mercy from the courts. Those that did survive, received 20 year and longer sentances.
The end came very much as the seige in Moscow. The building was attacked with tear gas and the fires started. I am personally satisfied that the people inside set the fires to destroy the building. Many then killed themselves with handguns, to save themselves from the fire. In allthe years and much litigation, nothing else has ever been shown.
In many ways this whole situation is a microcosm of persecuted minorities worldwide and throughout history. Many people believe that the Branch Davidians were chosen because they were a strange religious group, which offended various public oversight groups. Certainly it was not a place I would wish my children to join. Their beliefs, among them that all girls age 14 and older were reserved for the first use of the Elder, in this case Koresh, is offensive to most. Koresh had as many as 150 children by dozens of women. Some consider it illegal.
Some, myself included, believe that the BD were chosen as an example. A government agency, which had at heart "turf" instead of justice, decided to show them as specimens of the worst of society. It has a distinct Nazi flavor to it. The fact that entire affair happened under President Clinton's watch cannot be overlooked. The parties promoting the raid were politically alligned with the Clinton Administration. I think it is no coincidence that the go ahead came soon after he came into office and not under President Bush.
This is getting too long. i hope this answers some of the questions.
J
