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04/30/93
Brooks' remarks on attacking cult get inadvertent audience
By Victoria Loe / The Dallas Morning News
U.S. Rep. Jack Brooks, D-Beaumont, has never been one to mince words. And, like many Americans, he has an opinion about how federal authorities should have dealt with the Branch Davidian sect.
His approach: Tear gas them on Day One.
That's what the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee-the
architect of the House's investigation into the tragedy in Waco-said Wednesday on live national TV.
During a break in the hearings, Mr. Brooks approached Stephen Higgins, director of the federal Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, who had been skewered by panel members over the failed Feb. 28 raid. Believing the microphones were off, the irascible Texan felt free to give the ATF director some unsolicited advice.
"Higgins, you know what I'd have done?' Mr. Brooks growled. "The first night, I'd have run everybody off, quietly put a bomb in that damn water tank, put in tear gas.
"If they want to shoot, kill them when they came out. If they didn't want to shoot, put them in the paddy wagon. It woulda been over by 12:30.
"Now that's what Brooks woulda done.'
His remarks were carried live by C-SPAN and repeated on ABC's
Nightline.
Mr. Brooks made no apologies Thursday for his comments. He said he didn't mean either to criticize the ATF or to prejudice the committee's conclusions. "You can't micromanage and second-guess everything they (the ATF) did,' he said.
What he hopes to do, he said, is "to hammer out some creative and different solutions' in case of future cult standoffs.
His televised suggestions drew "a few' calls, he said, both from his district and around the country. The national calls were largely disapproving. But back home, where Texans are more familiar with the siege and allegations about cult leader David Koresh, most everyone applauded his idea, he said.
"Child molesters aren't very popular in my district,' he said.
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