Brief History
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1. Brief History |
| On February 28, 1993, more than 100 agents of various federal agencies attacked a religious commmunity on the Texas prairie near Waco, Texas. For 51 days, the residents were held captive in isolation from all forms of communication with the outside world. Then on April 19, 1993, the Mt. Carmel Center burned to the ground in a terrible fire that lasted less than an hour. Though more than 80 men, women, and children were said to be within, fire crews and equipment were stopped at the "perimeter" by government employees and not permitted to fight the fire or attempt a rescue. This is the story. (Associated Press, republished by National Public Radio, April 20, 2013) |
Between the days of February 28, 1993 and April 19th, 1993, approximately 80 men, women, and children living peacefully in their home near Waco, Texas, were killed by the combined efforts of the US Defense Department and other government paramilitary units: the US Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The incident also claimed the lives of four ATF agents.
The civilians lived in a religious community called the Mt. Carmel Center. They were called Branch Davidians.
The incident began with a military-style raid on February 28, complete with helicopter gunships firing down upon the women's and children's quarters. Then followed a long siege. On April 19, the US government sent tanks to demolish and gas the building where the people lived. The government said they decided to gas the Davidians because they were concerned about the sanitary conditions in the house, because they were afraid one of the Davidians, David Koresh, was spanking babies, and because the FBI agents were getting tired.
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| A careful observer will notice that none of the published pictures of the Mt. Carmel Center fire show firemen or fire fighting equipment. No one is fleeing the building and no rescuers are waiting with stretchers, inhalators, or other medical aid for survivers. (Centerfold in Time, May 3, 1993) A google search for images of the fire resoundingly confirms the fact: The building was empty of all life, and the government agents very well knew it. |
The tanks tore big holes in the walls, drove into the house, and knocked down whole sections of the building. The government said they were only making holes in the building so they could get the gas in, and let the people out. But the waiting public saw no Davidians coming out.
A fire broke out as the tanks were driving about. The fire became an inferno, lasted 40 minutes and burned the house to the ground. As they watched the inferno on TV, many wondered why they could not see Davidians escaping the burning building. Seventy five people are said to have perished in the flames.
Much public concern was focused on the circumstances surrounding the deaths of the 33 women, children, and babies. Their remains were found in a concrete room which served as a pantry and food storage area off the kitchen in the Mt. Carmel Center. This was the room the US called "the bunker."
Circumstantial and physical evidence suggested to some Americans that the Branch Davidians were deliberately killed by the US government. A video was made by an attorney named Linda Thompson. The video contained TV footage that showed what seemed to be a flame-throwing tank backing out of the smashed building, flame coming out of its muzzle. Other footage showed uniformed US military personnel at the scene, and tanks fitted with plow blades pushing debris into the flaming rubble. The video was circulated nation-wide and caused people to become outraged.
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| No fugitives, no liberators, no life. Just a fire consuming a dead building, where 51 days ago a few dozen families lived. Click to enlarge. (Daily Mail, 24 October 2016) |
Others said that the TV footage of the flame throwing tank was misleading. They said the fire started when the tanks accidentally tipped over some lanterns, and was fed by hay and household fuels that happened to be in the building. A public outcry for full Congressional hearings ensued.
Two years to the day after the April 19 fire, the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, where many federal offices were housed, was bombed. The US news services immediately inferred the building was bombed by those who objected to the Waco Holocaust. Waco Holocaust protesters said that the bombing of the Murrah building was most likely the work of the US government, seeking an excuse to extinguish Constitutional liberties, as evidenced by events in Waco.
Finally, more than two years after the April 19, 1993 inferno in Waco, Congress held lengthy hearings. The hearings were held with the stated purpose of finding the truth, wherever it lay. It was promised that the hearings would put the Waco controversy to rest.
Any serious investigation of suspicious deaths begins by looking at the autopsy reports of the victims and physical evidence of the death scene; but Congress ignored the autopsy reports of the Davidians and most of the available physical evidence. Instead, Congress began the hearings by questioning a journalist who had written a book about Waco.
Another Congressional witness was a teenage girl who made scandalous allegations of sexual misconduct against the late David Koresh. Her charges were allowed to stand without cross-examination. It was later revealed that the witness never lived at the Mt. Carmel Center and her testimony was prepared for her by a relative.
Congress was highly selective in whatever physical evidence it did examine. When interpretations were sought, most came from interested parties. And finally, when penetrating questions were asked, government employees were permitted to avoid answering.
After the 1995 hearings, it seemed that the protest over the Waco Holocaust had been neutralized.
Then in the Fall of 1996, the Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum was released on the World Wide Web. It made the autopsy reports and other forensic evidence broadly available. This evidence revealed a shocking truth: Many of the Davidians were dead at the time of the April 19 tank attack and fire; some of the mothers and children had been dead for weeks. The Davidian bodies had been selectively beheaded, mutilated and incinerated ("laundered") to disguise the time, cause, and circumstances of death. The tank attack and fire were diversions to hide the truth and destroy the death scene.
Many hundreds of thousands of people all over the world are now studying the evidence of the atrocity committed by the US government. The public conscience has been reawakened. That reawakening is still occurring, and new attempts are being made to neutralize the rising voice of protest.
The Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum makes available some of evidence suppressed by Congress, and explains the on-going attempts to cover up the Waco Holocaust.
Next: Why the Waco Holocaust Matters
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