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Uncredited photo of Linda Thompson (1953-2009)

At the time of the February 28, 1993 assault on the Branch Davidian community in Waco, Texas, Linda Thompson was a practicing attorney living in Indianapolis, Indiana.  Linda was one of the those who realized the catastrophic implication of events and swung into action.  She visited Waco during and after the siege, at first trying to assist the victims and then investigating and documenting the horror. 

In June, 1993, Linda produced a video called Waco, the Big Lie.  This was followed by

• "Waco, the Big Lie Continues (also here),
• FBI Swat Team Home Video, and
• Forgive Us, We Didn't Know.

Linda Thompson's videos are no longer publicly available and are now historical artifacts.  A friend of the Museum has made some of the sequences in Mrs. Thompson's videos available to Museum visitors.

Waco, the Big Lie showed TV footage of a tank with flame shooting from the barrel backing out of the Mt. Carmel Center building during the morning of April 19 (the day of the fire).  The video was distributed widely and provided a focus for public outrage over the Waco Holocaust.  Here is a clip of that tank in action, with the flame clearly visible.  This is a repeating GIF format, looping through the sequence.

Also available: 

• Flame-throwing tank shown in repeating action (GIF file)
• Flame-throwing tank, complete sequence
• Commando, jumping from roof of Mt. Carmel (5M)
• Commando, jumping from roof of Mt. Carmel (same but 1.7 M)