Text Excerpt 8: Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum Not an Ambush As noted above, the Treasury Report claims their agents were killed and wounded in an ambush. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines ambush as (1) A lying in wait to attack by surprise and (2) a surprise attack made from a concealed position. The same dictionary defines attack: "To set upon with violent force; begin hostilities against . . . " But it was the ATF that intruded upon the Davidians, attacked them by surprise, began hostilities against them. Using the common meaning of the words as defined in an American dictionary, it was obvious that the Davidians ambushed no one. Had the Branch Davidians been armed for warfare with a 50 caliber machine gun and spoiling for a fight with the government, as the ATF said, the ATF agents were at a deadly disadvantage. Given the Davidians had cover and elevation, the ATF agents could have been slaughtered wholesale. But that didn't happen. Blind Fire TV footage of the scene show an animated version of the still pictures: agents carelessly peppering the building with pistols and rifles. The timing and manner of their shots does not suggest they were picking their targets, aiming, and firing, but rather emptying their magazines. In the light of other information, however, this manner of shooting is more sinister. As researcher Ken Fawcett points out, diagrams left in a diner by ATF agents at the time of the raid show the floor plan of the Center and names of Davidians listed for each room (see the Smart Diagrams). Given the relatively flimsy structure that was Mt. Carmel, bullets would penetrate the walls almost as easily as the windows. Peppering the outside walls of rooms of individuals selected for death just might work. Entry of Agents into Second Story Window Sometime during the morning of February 28, a team of four agents climbed a ladder onto a second story roof. The window on that roof lead into the room marked "Koresh's Quarters[--] Guns" on the Dumb Diagram of Mt. Carmel, Second Floor. Waco researcher Ken Fawcett captured footage apparently taken during the incident, footage which was heavily edited even before it was beamed down from the TV satellite. The footage shows three agents entering the room, and a fourth agent remaining behind on the roof. The fourth agent then throws at least one grenade into the room and fires in blindly with his gun. Whoever is in the room fires back at the fourth agent, who is also fired upon by persons from the ground and the air. Only a few frames of this footage appeard on commerical news coverage and in newsmagazines. Those frames usually showed the agents at the window, or an agent shielding himself from shots coming through the walls of the room. Footage that showed the fourth agent throwing a grenade and firing blindly into the room was not shown. On March 5, 1993, the Dallas Morning News reported that all the agents who had entered that room, Robert Williams, Conway LeBleu, and Todd McKeehan had died. Later, this report was changed. Killed by Expert Marksmen The ATF charged that a fourth agent, Steven D. Willis, had been killed by the Branch Davidians. All four agents appear to have been killed by professional assassins; three were killed by shots to the head, and one by a shot through the aorta (main artery of the heart). Conrad LeBlue's head bore two gunshot wounds (see Autopsy Report diagram); Todd McKeehan was killed by a single shot to the left upper chest which ruptured the aorta (see Autopsy Report diagram); note the "tracheostomy" wound in the throat: a tracheostomy is not an recommended treatment for a bullet puncture of the aorta. Note: Branch Davidian Peter Gent (Mt. Carmel Doe 76 was also killed by a shot through the aorta.) Robert Williams' head bore two gunshot wounds (see Autopsy Report diagram); and Steven Willis's head bore at least two gunshot wounds (see Autopsy Report diagram). This was remarkable shooting for Bible students. In fact, such precision killing is more typical of professional assassins, the likes of which have had military training, are currently in the military, or on "retired" status in the military, and work as snipers for a paramilitary government agency. All four who were killed by expert marksmen were treated by private physicians or emergency medical technicians on the scene; none were taken to nearby hospitals, despite the severity of the injuries (Treasury Report, pg. 102). Death of ATF Agents Necessary for Escalation of War The deaths of ATF agents was used as a justification for the siege. "The first thing I did after the ATF agents were killed, once we knew that the FBI was going to go in, was to ask that the military be consulted because of the quasi-military nature of the conflict, given the resources that Koresh had in his compound and their obvious willingness to use them," President Clinton said (Washington Times, April 24, 1993). Certainly there would have been little public support for tanks, torture, and escalating the war had agents not been killed. In the War Gallery Entrance, we saw that heavy military equipment was at Mt. Carmel from Day One, February 28, 1993. The failure of the raid was apparently a forgone conclusion before it was started; as already pointed out in a previous exhibit, the raid was Designed to Fail. NOTE: Four Branch Davidians were ultimately tried for conspiracy to murder the ATF agents. In a trial that took place in San Antonio in 1994, they were all acquitted of murder. As a result of a press blackout, their acquittal has been a carefully kept secret from the American people. See Burial Gallery. Next: Excerpt 9, Death Gallery ------------------------------------------------------------ Entire set of text excerpts from the Museum available with anonymous ftp from ftp://ftp.public-action.com/wm2-0txt.zip Excerpted by Carol Valentine. Images omitted. Visit the Museum at http://www.holocausts.org/waco. SkyWriter@holocausts.org Copyright 1996-2000 by Carol A. Valentine, on loan to Public Action, Inc. All commercial rights are reserved. Full statement of terms and conditions for copying and redistribution is available in the Museum Library. "Waco Holocaust Electronic Museum," "SkyWriter," and the skywriting logo are trademarks of Public Action Inc.