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Leftwinghank
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Assault on Waco
by Kevin S. Van Horn
On January 10 the trials of those few Branch Davidians who survived
the Waco Massacre begin. With their home, the Mt. Carmel complex, in
ruins, and families and friends dead, they remain stigmatized by the
government and press as dangerous, lunatic "cultists." This article is
an attempt to counter the defamation they have suffered and publicize
the crimes committed against them by the government. Given the limited
space available, I have chosen to trade breadth for depth; thus this
article will consider only the accusations made against the Davidians,
the events leading up to the ATF assault on their home, and the
assault itself.
Who Were the Branch Davidians?
Immediately after the ATF assault on Mount Carmel the Federal
Government began a campaign of vilification against the Branch
Davidians. They were repeatedly portrayed in the press as dangerous,
insane, bloodthirsty fanatics. Yet this supposedly sociopathic sect
had lived peacefully in and near Waco for over half a century. Let's
see what their neighbors have to say about the Davidians.
Collective Impressions
According to the Houston Post, Gene Chapman, owner of Chapman's Fruit
Market, has nothing but kind words for the Davidians. "They're just
all nice, decent, normal people," he said. "Well, not normal." [30]
A.L. Dreyer, an 80-yr-old farmer, owns a ranch adjoining the Mt.
Carmel property. "I've never had no trouble with them people," he
said. "I've always said if they stay on their side of the fence, I'll
stay on mine... I have no fear of those people." [31]
The ATF's "storm trooper tactics" were "a vulgar display of power on
the part of the feds," said former Waco District Attorney Vic Feazell.
Feazell unsuccesfully prosecuted seven Branch Davidians in 1988. "We
treated them like human beings, rather than storm-trooping the place,"
he told the Houston Chronicle. "They were extremely polite... They're
protective of what's theirs..." [12]
"(T)hey were basically good people," said McLennan County Sheriff Jack
Harwell. "All of 'em were good people." [59]
Koresh
Henry McMahon, a former Waco resident and gun store owner, described
David Koresh as a likable guy. "There was nothing out of the ordinary
(about Koresh's personality)," McMahon said, adding that Koresh was
"an average Joe." [41] , [43]
"He (Koresh) is a very gentle man," said a Waco doctor who had treated
Koresh for three years prior to the ATF assault. "He is very
intelligent and articulate. They made him sound like a ruthless killer
and that's just absurd." [18]
Gary Coker, a Waco lawyer, said he believed Koresh wouldn't hurt
anyone unless he was bothered by outsiders. "It's sort of like a
rattlesnake. Unless you step on him, he's not going to hurt
anybody." [23]
Steve Schneider
Steve Schneider emerged as a chief negotiator during the standoff, and
was considered Koresh's lieutenant. FBI Special Agent Bob Ricks called
Schneider "a cool, calm, deliberate individual." Cult Awareness
Network `deprogrammer' Rick Ross described Schneider as well-educated,
and said he was "a man with a history of deep religious conviction,
honesty and integrity." [32]
Wayne Martin
Douglas Wayne Martin held a position of major responsibility among the
Davidians; only he and Steve Schneider ever spoke face- to-face with
federal negotiators during the siege. Martin was a 42-year-old black
lawyer and graduate of Harvard Law School. For seven years he was an
assistant professor at the North Carolina Central University School of
Law. After moving to Waco he maintained a law practice near Mount
Carmel. He had a wife and seven children. [38] , [42]
Martin was viewed by many who knew him as a quiet, jovial and
religious person [38] . He was routinely described as professional and
competent in court [34] .
"People may tend to dismiss this event as just a bunch of religious
fanatics, but having known Doug humanizes it for me," said Mark
Morris, a law professor at NCCU. "He was a very bright, smart, able,
kind person, and it's a real shock (Martin's death)."
"He left about a year after I got here, but he seemed to be a very
nice and personable guy," Associate Law School Dean Irving Joyner said
[38] .
McLennan County Commissioner Lester Gibson said he and others who knew
Martin found it hard to believe he could have been involved in
anything so violent. "He was very friendly and quiet," said Gibson.
"It was common knowledge that he was a Davidian, but he never talked
religion." [34]
Gary Coker, a Waco lawyer, described Martin as a kind man and a
particularly devoted father.
Waco city council member Lawrence Johnson had known Martin for five
years at the time of the assault. He described Martin as a computer
whiz and as a diligent lawyer. "I enjoyed working with him. He was
smart, he was well-educated," Johnson said.
After the raid, Martin, still the conscientious lawyer, managed to
send Johnson money to reimburse clients he was unable to represent
while he was holed up in the compound. "That was his sense of
responsibility coming out." [42]
Perry Jones
Perry Jones was Koresh's father-in-law. News reports described him as
a polite older man, bespectacled and somewhat frail, and well known at
various businesses in the Waco community. Jones was once called "the
kindest man and a perfect gentleman." "He was nice and he had good
manners," said Tim Jander, general manager of Star Tex Propane in
Waco.
Jones died a slow and painful death after ATF agents shot him in the
abdomen. [49]
Unsurprisingly, the feds decided that they did not want to hold the
trials of the surviving Branch Davidians in Waco. Instead they got a
change of venue to San Antonio, nearly 200 miles away, where the jury
members would be unlikely to have independent knowledge of the
Davidians' character.
The Roden Gunfight
One incident which the government and press used to paint the Branch
Davidians as dangerous and violent was the gunfight with George Roden
that took place at Mt. Carmel in 1988. But it was George Roden who was
dangerous, violent, murderous and insane.
In 1984 a dispute arose between George Roden and David Koresh over
leadership of the Davidians. This culminated in Roden forcing Koresh
and his followers off of the Mt. Carmel property at gunpoint [21] .
Koresh led his group to the city of Palestine, Texas [26] .
By late 1987 things were faring badly for George Roden. He had almost
no money, few followers, mounting debts and an angry Texas Supreme
Court Justice on his trail [70] . So Roden decided to conclusively
settle the leadership dispute with Koresh. He went to a graveyard and
dug up the body of a man who had been dead 25 years, put the casket in
the Mt. Carmel chapel, and said that whoever could raise this man from
the dead was the one to lead the Davidians.
Koresh reported the action to the Sheriff's Department. He was told
that his word alone wasn't enough -- proof was needed. So on November
3, 1987, Koresh and several men went out to Mt. Carmel to take
pictures of the body in the casket. The Sheriff had warned them to be
careful, because Roden was dangerous, so they armed themselves. The
plan was to open the casket, take the pictures, and leave, but Roden
caught them, and a gunfight ensued in which Roden was wounded [64] .
Koresh and seven other Davidians were charged with attempted murder
[20] . Jack Harwell, McLennan County Sheriff, called Koresh on the
phone and informed him of the charges. He asked Koresh and the others
to turn themselves in, and to surrender their weapons. When deputies
arrived at Mount Carmel, Koresh and the other Davidians peacefully
complied [64] . Officials traced the weapons and found that each was
legally purchased [22] .
On March 21, 1988, Roden was served with a citation for contempt of
court. U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith, Jr. sentenced him to six
months in jail for continuing to file expletive-filled motions
threatening the justices with AIDS and herpes, despite orders to cease
and desist [70] , [65] , [30] .
On April 25, Koresh's seven followers were acquitted, and the jury
hung 9-3 in favor of Koresh's acquittal. The state then dropped the
charges against him [68] , [20] .
Koresh paid up 16 years of delinquent taxes on the Mount Carmel
property, which allowed him and his followers to move in [68] . Upon
returning to the property they found a methamphetamine lab and large
piles of pornographic material. They burned the pornography and
reported the meth lab to the DA's office [64] .
Fifteen months after Koresh's trial, in the summer of 1989, Roden was
approached by a man who claimed to be the Messiah. Roden split the
man's head open with an ax [67] . Odessa police charged Roden with
murder. The following year he was found not guilty by reason of
insanity and sent to a state mental hospital [10] , where he remains
to this day [26] .
Allegations of Child Abuse
Another tactic the federal government used to demonize the Davidians
was to accuse them of child abuse. These accusations originally arose
from Marc Breault, a former follower of Koresh who had a bitter
falling out with him. Breault quit the sect at the end of 1989 and
moved to Australia. He then threw himself into a campaign to discredit
his former mentor, in the process leading away most of the Australian
members of the sect.
In March 1990 Breault, his wife and a number of his Australian
followers swore out more than 30 pages of affidavits claiming that
Koresh was abusing children. A second set of affidavits was sworn out
for use in a child custody hearing in early 1992, in which a Michigan
man named David Jewell petitioned to gain custody of his daughter,
then living at Mt. Carmel with Jewell's ex-wife. However, the
allegations were mostly general and lacking in detail [48] .
Thus the allegations of child abuse sprung from two sources: (1) a man
who hated Koresh and was obsessed with discrediting him; and (2) a
child-custody dispute. Note that allegations of child abuse are a
common tactic in child-custody disputes.
As a result of Breault's efforts, local authorities began an
investigation of the child abuse charges. Officials of the Child
Protective Services division of the Texas Department of Protective and
Regulatory Services, and the McLennan County sheriff's office, visited
Mt. Carmel in February and March 1992. They found no evidence of child
abuse [46] .
On April 23, 1993, in response to the Clinton administration's
continued claims of child abuse, the Texas Department of Protective
and Regulatory Services offered the following summary of its nine-week
investigation: "None of the allegations could be verified. The
children denied being abused in any way by any adults in the compound.
They denied any knowledge of other children being abused. The adults
consistently denied participation in or knowledge of any abuse to
children. Examinations of the children produced no indication of
current or previous injuries." Texas child protection officials also
said they received no further abuse allegations after that time
[48] .
Breault had also contacted the FBI, accusing Koresh of a number of
other crimes besides child abuse. A February 23, 1993 FBI memo,
obtained by the Dallas Morning News, stated that no information had
been developed to verify the allegations of "child abuse and neglect,
tax evasion, slavery and reports of possible mass destruction."
The Clinton administration alleged that the Davidians were abusing
children during the siege of Mt. Carmel. This was contradicted by
those who actually saw the children. During the siege a man named
Louis Alaniz managed to sneak past federal officials to visit the
Davidians (he was not a Davidian himself). After leaving, he reported
that the children at Mt. Carmel appeared happy, playing and laughing
continuously, and that there were no outward signs of child abuse
[44] .
Sheriff Jack Harwell, who was the only outside negotiator brought into
the Mount Carmel siege, said there was never any proof that children
were being abused inside the compound. None of the children who were
released from the compound, Harwell said, showed any signs of physical
abuse [45] .
According to Texas child protective services officials, none of the 21
children released to the authorities showed signs of abuse, and none
of them confirmed that any abuse was committed. The children were
physically and psychologically examined [45] , [47] . Dr. Bruce Perry,
the head of the team treating the children, stated flatly: "(N)one of
the 21 children had been sexually abused or molested." [69]
After the blaze that killed most of the Davidians, the Clinton
administration stepped up its "child abuse" offensive. White House
communications director George Stephanopoulos claimed that "there was
overwhelming evidence of child abuse in the Waco compound." [39] But
this claim was contradicted by others within the federal government
itself.
FBI director William Sessions said his agency had "no contemporaneous
evidence" of child abuse in the compound during the siege [48] .
"(T)here had been no recent reports of the beating of children." In
response to Janet Reno's claim of reports that "babies were being
beaten," Sessions said, "I do not know what the attorney general was
referring to specifically." [37]
The Justice Department itself put the lie to Clinton's and Reno's wild
accusations. In a report released in early October, the Justice
Department said there was no evidence of child abuse at the compound
during the siege or even enough evidence to arrest Koresh on such
charges before the February 28 raid [5] .
The Gun Arsenal
The press and the federal government made much of the Davidians'
collection of guns. President Clinton claimed the Davidians had
"illegally stockpiled weaponry and ammunition." [1] But there is no
law limiting the number of legal weapons one may accumulate.
Furthermore, by Texas standards the Davidians' gun collection was
rather small. After the siege investigators found only 200 firearms in
the ruins of Mt. Carmel [57] , which amounts to about two guns per
adult. But Texas' 17 million residents own a total of 68 million guns,
for an average of four guns apiece, while 16,600 Texans legally own
machine guns [33] .
The government also claimed that the Davidians were planning an
assault on Waco. This claim was based on third-hand information
related to ATF Special Agent Davy Aguilera, who filed the affidavit
for the original raid on Mt. Carmel. Aguilera had interviewed ATF
Special Agent Carlos Torres, who had interviewed Joyce Sparks, an
investigator with the Texas Department of Human Services. According to
Aguilera's affidavit, Torres told Aguilera that Sparks had told him
that Koresh had told her "that he was the `Messenger' from God, that
the world was coming to an end, and that when he `reveals' himself the
riots in Los Angeles would pale in comparison to what was going to
happen in Waco, Texas." Furthermore, this self-revelation "would be a
`military type operation' and... all the `non-believers' would have to
suffer." Koresh supposedly said this on Sparks' second and final visit
to Mt. Carmel to investigate child-abuse charges, on April 6, 1992
[63] . But the LA riots broke out on April 29, more than three weeks
after Sparks last visited Koresh!
Enter the ATF
In Feb. 1982, the Senate Judiciary Committee said in a report that the
ATF had "disregarded rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of
the United States." Illegal ATF actions included entrapment and secret
lawmaking via unpublished administrative interpretations of gun laws.
The report noted that "expert evidence was submitted establishing that
approximately 75 percent of BATF gun prosecutions were aimed at
ordinary citizens who had neither criminal intent nor knowledge, but
were enticed by agents into unknowing technical violations." In the
wake of the report, plans to abolish the agency were shelved after
neither the U.S. Customs Bureau nor the Secret Service would accept
the transfer of the discredited ATF agents into their organizations
[3] .
The ATF acted true to form in its investigation of the Davidians --
the purpose of the raid appears to have been to bolster the ATF's
image, rather than any protection of the public safety. From
Aguilera's affidavit it appears that the ATF collected no reliable new
information for its investigation after June 23, 1992. But in mid-
November "60 Minutes" began contacting ATF personnel about allegations
of sexual harrassment in the agency [61] . In early December the
investigation picked up again, after a lapse of 5-1/2 months [62] .
On January 12, 1993 the segment aired. It presented allegations by
female ATF agents that they had been sexually harrassed on the job and
that the agency intimidated victims and witnesses who had pressed
sexual harrassment claims. Among the charges was one of near-rape:
agent Michelle Roberts charged that another agent had pinned her
against the hood of a car while two others tore at her clothes. ATF
agent Bob Hoffman told "60 Minutes" that he had verified the
complaints of one female agent, and said, "In my career with ATF, the
people that I put in jail have more honor than the top administration
in this organization." Shortly afterwards, there was also a front-page
article in the The Washington Post about racial discrimination in the
ATF.
The "60 Minutes" story devastated both the public image and morale of
the ATF. ATF Director Stephen Higgins must have been in a panic. A
Republican appointee, he stood a good chance of losing his job with a
Democratic administration coming in. Even if he didn't, he was going
to have a rough time at the congressional budget hearings coming up on
March 10. Said one high-level former ATF senior official who requested
anonymity, "The show had great repercussions within the bureau...
(S)ome (within the ATF) concluded that he (Higgins) was... looking for
a high-profile case to counteract the negative image and enable him to
go to the budget appropriations hearings with a strong hand." [52]
This analysis was supported by a followup "60 Minutes" report on May
23. Based on statements from ATF agents, Mike Wallace concluded the
report by saying, "Waco was a publicity stunt, which was intended to
improve the ATF's tarnished image." Consistent with this
interpretation, the ATF notified the media before the raid [50] ,
[56] , [35] , and there were a large number of television and
newspaper reporters at the site on the morning of the raid [50] .
Appendix G of the Treasury Department report on Waco suggests another,
more disturbing motive for the raid. The appendix, entitled "A Brief
History of Federal Firearms Enforcement," contains the following
statement:
In a larger sense, however, the raid fit within an historic, well-
established and well-defended government interest in prohibiting and
breaking up all organized groups that sought to arm or fortify
themselves... From its earliest formation, the federal government has
actively suppressed any effort by disgruntled or rebellious citizens
to coalesce into an armed group, however small the group, petty its
complaint, or grandiose its ambition.
In other words: regardless of whether you break any law, if some
federal official doesn't like your politics and thinks you have too
many weapons, you will be exterminated.
Serving the Warrant
On February 25 ATF Special Agent Davy Aguilera filed for and received
a warrant to search the premises of Mt. Carmel, claiming evidence of
illegal conversion of (legal) semiautomic weapons to automatic.
Contrary to early ATF claims, there was no arrest warrant for Koresh.
The affidavit supporting the warrant was seriously flawed, containing
many inaccuracies and patently false statements (such as the "LA
riots" quote). According to several legal experts, including a former
ATF senior enforcement official with more than 20 years' federal
firearms experience, it is questionable that the affidavit demostrated
probable cause for a search [51] , [58] .
Steve Holbrook, an attorney in Washington, D.C. area, whose law
practice specializes in gun-related offenses, was unequivocal:
"Probable cause did not exist. There was evidence cited of a large
quantity of legal firearms and parts, including interchangeable
parts... Nowhere in the affidavit is it said all necessary parts and
materials to convert semiautomatic weapons into machine guns were
obtained (by Koresh)." [51]
The claimed violation itself is a tricky area of the law. "This is a
very, very convoluted, technical, angels-dancing-on- the-head-of-a-pin
kind of argument," says Robert Sanders, former enforcement chief of
the ATF. "And there are no published rulings telling you what is and
isn't (a violation)." [62]
Importantly, this was not a no-knock search warrant, in which agents
may knock down doors and burst in heavily armed without prior warning
to occupants; such warrants must be specifically applied for, which
the ATF failed to do [53] . Nor was a no-knock approach necessary. As
we have seen, Koresh and his followers had peacefully cooperated with
law enforcement officers on at least three occasions in the past (once
after the Roden gunfight, twice during the child-abuse investigation).
And in July 1992 Koresh had actually invited ATF investigators to come
out to Mt. Carmel and inspect the Davidians' guns [4] , [6] , [55] ,
but he was angrily told "we don't want to do it that way." [6]
Furthermore, the ATF knew that nearly all the guns at Mt. Carmel were
locked up and only Koresh had a key [63] . To avoid any possibility of
armed resistance from the Davidians, they could have simply detained
Koresh during one of his frequent excursions outside of Mt. Carmel
[18] , [29] and had him unlock the store of guns in their presence.
Absent a no-knock warrant, U.S. law (Title 18, U.S.C. 3109) states
that an officer must give notice of his legal authority and purpose
before attempting to enter the premises to be searched. Only if
admittance is refused after giving such notice is it legal for an
officer to use force to gain entry. Said one former senior ATF
official, "Irrespective of the situation inside, the notice of
authority and purpose must be given... Unless the occupants of a
dwelling are made aware that the persons attempting to enter have
legal authority and a legal warrant to enter, the occupants have every
right to defend themselves..." [54]
Dick DeGuerin, a well-known Houston lawyer, put it more bluntly:
"...if a warrant is being unlawfully executed by the use of excessive
force, you or I or anybody else has a right to resist that unlawful
force. If someone's trying to kill you, even under the excuse that
they have a warrant, you have a right to defend yourself with deadly
force, and to kill that person." [4]
It appears that the ATF never intended to serve the warrant in a
lawful manner. ATF agents told the Houston Post that before the raid
they had practiced to where it took 7 seconds to get out of their tarp-
covered cattle trailers and 12 seconds to get to the front door. It is
absurd to imagine that after such a mad dash to the door, the ATF
agents intended to stop, knock, calmly state their legal authority and
purpose, demand entry, and wait for a response, all before taking
further action.
So how did the ATF serve its warrant? On Sunday morning, February 28,
1993, 100 federal agents arrived at Mt. Carmel in cattle cars and
helicopters. About 30 agents dressed in black commando uniforms and
armed with machine guns stormed the complex [9] , [19] . According to
an Associated Press report, "Witnesses said the law officers stormed
the compound's main home, throwing concussion grenades and screaming
`Come out,' while three National Guard helicopters approached." [2]
Who Shot First?
The question of who shot first is in a sense irrelevant, as the ATF
agents clearly attacked first when they threw grenades at the
Davidians' home. Once the ATF used unlawful force, the Davidians had
the legal right to resist them with deadly force.
Nevertheless, the Davidians insist that ATF agents shot first. "They
fired on us first," Koresh told CNN. "...I fell back against the door
and the bullets started coming through the door... I was already
hollering, `Go away, there's women and children here, let's
talk.'" [19] Davidians in another part of the city-block-sized complex
said the battle began when the helicopters circling overhead fired on
them without warning [13] .
David Troy, ATF intelligence chief, said a videotape was taken of the
entire mission [36] . But although parts of this tape were released to
the media, one important part was not: the start of the raid. It seems
unlikely the ATF would have withheld this footage if it supported the
ATF's contention that the Davidians fired first.
There is evidence to support Koresh's version of events. Federal law
enforcement sources told Soldier of Fortune magazine the following:
One ATF agent had an accidental discharge getting out of one of two
goose-necked cattle trailers used to transport and conceal agents --
he wounded himself in the leg and cried out, "I'm hit!" [14] Unless
you have a very disciplined group, you can expect all hell to break
loose once any shot is fired; and according to Charles Beckwith, a
retired Army colonel and founder of the military's antiterrorist Delta
Force, the ATF's raid was "very amateur." [28]
Steve Willis, one of the ATF agents killed in the raid, was assigned
to "take out" Koresh if necessary. When Koresh came out, Willis began
firing a suppressed MP5 SD submachine gun at him from the passenger
side of the leading pickup. Reporters kept some distance away from the
action would not have heard a silenced MP5 SD, while the cattle
trailer would likely have blocked their view [14] , [15] .
The Assault
Concurrent with the attack on the front of the Mt. Carmel complex were
two other attacks on the Davidians.
According to Davidians who surrendered during the siege, the
helicopters circling overhead fired down through the roof into the
complex, killing one man and two women as they lay in their beds [64]
[72] . The children, whose dormitory was on the second floor, crawled
under their beds as bullets ripped through the walls above them [15] ,
[25] . Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin viewed the inside of the complex
after the raid, when federal officials allowed him to meet with the
Davidians and try to persuade them to surrender. He reported seeing
bullet holes on the second storey, clearly coming from the outside in,
at such an angle that they could only have come from above the complex
[64] .
Moments after the assault began, an 8-man ATF team began ascending the
roof near an upstairs window which they believed to be in the vicinity
of Koresh's bedroom and weapons locker [12] , [15] . Video footage of
the raid shows the agents breaking the window, tossing grenades
inside, and indiscriminately spraying gunfire within.
A well-placed federal official told the Houston Post that at least 10
Davidians were killed in the battle. One of those confirmed dead was
Koresh's two-year-old daughter [24] . Another was Winston Blake, a 28-
year-old printer, painter, and welder; he was shot to death as he
stood unarmed by the complex's water tank [40] .
Four ATF agents were killed in the gunfight, and numerous wounded. Dan
Hartnett, associate director of the ATF, claimed that the ATF suffered
heavy casualties because of strict rules of engagement that prohibit
shooting without a definite target. "We had to wait for a target
because there are so many women and children inside," he said. But
broadcast video of the raid shows agents exercising poor fire control,
firing over vehicles with little or no view of what they were shooting
at, at a rate of two rounds per second [11] , [27] .
The ATF's concern for the women and children inside was further
demonstrated by their use of the "9 mm. Cyclone" round in their
submachine guns. This highly-penetrating round is available only to
law-enforcement special operations teams and the military, and is
specifically designed to cut through body armor [17] .
Two separate federal sources told Soldier of Fortune magazine that
such a round was removed from a wounded ATF agent, and that many, if
not most, of the ATF casualties resulted from "friendly fire." [17]
Newsweek also reported that a federal source involved in the Waco
situation said that "there is evidence that supports the theory of
friendly fire," and that during the assault "there was a huge amount
of cross-fire." [8] Furthermore, in the released video footage of the
raid, there is little or no evidence of return fire from the
Davidians.
The attack terrified the Davidians, and they were eager for a cease-
fire. Wayne Martin telephoned his friend, Waco city councilman
Lawrence Johnson. According to Johnson, Martin said "they were in a
firefight, they were taking casualties, and a lot of people were hurt.
He asked me to contact the media." [42] The New York Times reported
that after capturing four federal agents, the Davidians disarmed and
released them during the firefight. And both Martin and Koresh phoned
911 about the attack.
ABC broadcast portions of the 911 tapes on its Nightline program.
Martin phoned first and spoke with Lieutenant Lynch of the Waco
Sheriff's Department. He told Lynch, "There's about 75 men around our
building and they're shooting it up in Mt. Carmel... Tell them there
are women and children in here and to call it off!" Calling it off
took some time. During a later return phone call, even as Lynch and
Martin were trying to arrange the cease-fire, Martin's location was
receiving heavy gunfire and Martin himself was hit. When requested not
to return fire, an unidentified Davidian replied in a disgusted tone,
"We haven't been." [7]
In the end, it was not humanitarian concerns or negotiations that
brought an end to the hour-long assault; it was lack of ammunition.
The 100 agents who participated in the assault had a total of only 40
rounds left among them when they finally backed off [16] .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
1. Press conference given by President Clinton in Washington, D C., on
April 20, 1993, 1:36 p.m. EDT.
2. Associated Press, March 1, 1993; appeared in Knoxville News-
Sentinal
3. Washington Times, June 1, 1993, p. E3.
4. Houston Press, July 22, 1993.
5. San Francisco Chronicle, October 9, 1993.
6. Houston Chronicle
7. ABC's "Nightline", June 9, 1993.
8. "Was It Friendly Fire?", Newsweek, April 5, 1993, p. 50.
9. Reuters News Service, February 28, 1993.
10. Associated Press, February 28, 1993.
11. "Gun Gestapo's Day of Infamy," Soldier of Fortune, June 1993, p
48..
12. Ibid., p. 49.
13. Ibid., p. 50.
14. Ibid., p. 51.
15. Ibid., p. 52.
16. Ibid., p. 53.
17. Ibid., p. 62.
18. Ibid., p. 63.
19. Houston Post, March 1, 1993, p. A1.
20. Ibid., p. A8.
21. Ibid., p. A4.
22. Houston Post, March 2, 1993, p. A8.
23. Ibid., p. A13.
24. Houston Post, March 3, 1993, p. A1.
25. Ibid., p. A12.
26. Ibid., p. A18.
27. Houston Post, March 4, 1993, p. A1.
28. Ibid., p. A20.
29. Houston Post, March 5, 1993, p. A1 and A16.
30. Ibid., p. A22.
31. Houston Post, March 8, 1993, p. A1.
32. Ibid., p. A10.
33. Houston Post, March 9, 1993, p. A8.
34. Ibid., p. A13.
35. Houston Post, March 12, 1993, p. A20.
36. Houston Post, March 29, 1993, p. A6.
37. Washington Post, April 21, 1993, p. A15.
38. Houston Post, April 22, 1993, p. A21.
39. Ibid., p. A1.
40. Ibid., p. A21.
41. Ibid., p. A20.
42. Washington Post, April 22, 1993, p. A15-16.
43. Reuters News Service, April 22, 1993.
44. Houston Post, April 23, 1993, p. A5.
45. Houston Post, April 24, 1993, p. A18.
46. Washington Post, April 24, 1993, p. A8.
47. Washington Post, April 25, 1993, p. A1.
48. Ibid., p. A20.
49. Washington Post, April 28, 1993, p. A4.
50. Washington Post, April 30, 1993, p. A1.
51. "Waco's Defective Warrants," Soldier of Fortune, August 1993, p
46..
52. Ibid, p. 48.
53. Ibid, p. 49.
54. Ibid, p. 74.
55. "Truth and Cover-up," The New American, June 14, 1993, p. 24,
quoting an April 21st television interview with Henry McMahon, the man
who relayed the offer to the ATF
56. Testimony of BATF Director Stephen E. Higgins before the House
Judiciary Committee, April 28, 1993
57. Associated Press, May 5, 1993.
58. "Gunning for Koresh," The American Spectator, August 1993.
59. Ibid, p. 32.
60. Ibid, p. 33.
61. Ibid, p. 39.
62. Ibid, p. 33.
63. Affidavit to obtain search warrant, submitted by Davy Aguilera on
February 25, 1993
64. Speech by Ron Engleman on the Waco Massacre. Engleman was a Dallas
radio talk-show host whom the Davidians requested as a negotiator
during the siege Engleman's speech was based on his own experiences
and interviews with others A videotape of the speech may be obtained
from Libertarian Party of Dallas County, P O. Box 64832, Dallas, TX
75206.
65. Marc Breault and Martin King, Inside the Cult, p. 71 (1993).
66. Ibid, p. 100.
67. Ibid, pp. 106-107.
68. Ibid, p. 369.
69. "The Waco Massacre: A Case Study on the Emerging American Police
State," The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor 19 (July 1993)
70. Brad Bailey & Bob Darden, Mad Man in Waco, p. 81 (1993).
71. Ibid, p. 88.
72. Ibid, p. 173.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Scott Ostrander: scotto@cica.indiana.edu
.................................................
History repeats itself....watch out.
love
hank
...................................................
by Kevin S. Van Horn
On January 10 the trials of those few Branch Davidians who survived
the Waco Massacre begin. With their home, the Mt. Carmel complex, in
ruins, and families and friends dead, they remain stigmatized by the
government and press as dangerous, lunatic "cultists." This article is
an attempt to counter the defamation they have suffered and publicize
the crimes committed against them by the government. Given the limited
space available, I have chosen to trade breadth for depth; thus this
article will consider only the accusations made against the Davidians,
the events leading up to the ATF assault on their home, and the
assault itself.
Who Were the Branch Davidians?
Immediately after the ATF assault on Mount Carmel the Federal
Government began a campaign of vilification against the Branch
Davidians. They were repeatedly portrayed in the press as dangerous,
insane, bloodthirsty fanatics. Yet this supposedly sociopathic sect
had lived peacefully in and near Waco for over half a century. Let's
see what their neighbors have to say about the Davidians.
Collective Impressions
According to the Houston Post, Gene Chapman, owner of Chapman's Fruit
Market, has nothing but kind words for the Davidians. "They're just
all nice, decent, normal people," he said. "Well, not normal." [30]
A.L. Dreyer, an 80-yr-old farmer, owns a ranch adjoining the Mt.
Carmel property. "I've never had no trouble with them people," he
said. "I've always said if they stay on their side of the fence, I'll
stay on mine... I have no fear of those people." [31]
The ATF's "storm trooper tactics" were "a vulgar display of power on
the part of the feds," said former Waco District Attorney Vic Feazell.
Feazell unsuccesfully prosecuted seven Branch Davidians in 1988. "We
treated them like human beings, rather than storm-trooping the place,"
he told the Houston Chronicle. "They were extremely polite... They're
protective of what's theirs..." [12]
"(T)hey were basically good people," said McLennan County Sheriff Jack
Harwell. "All of 'em were good people." [59]
Koresh
Henry McMahon, a former Waco resident and gun store owner, described
David Koresh as a likable guy. "There was nothing out of the ordinary
(about Koresh's personality)," McMahon said, adding that Koresh was
"an average Joe." [41] , [43]
"He (Koresh) is a very gentle man," said a Waco doctor who had treated
Koresh for three years prior to the ATF assault. "He is very
intelligent and articulate. They made him sound like a ruthless killer
and that's just absurd." [18]
Gary Coker, a Waco lawyer, said he believed Koresh wouldn't hurt
anyone unless he was bothered by outsiders. "It's sort of like a
rattlesnake. Unless you step on him, he's not going to hurt
anybody." [23]
Steve Schneider
Steve Schneider emerged as a chief negotiator during the standoff, and
was considered Koresh's lieutenant. FBI Special Agent Bob Ricks called
Schneider "a cool, calm, deliberate individual." Cult Awareness
Network `deprogrammer' Rick Ross described Schneider as well-educated,
and said he was "a man with a history of deep religious conviction,
honesty and integrity." [32]
Wayne Martin
Douglas Wayne Martin held a position of major responsibility among the
Davidians; only he and Steve Schneider ever spoke face- to-face with
federal negotiators during the siege. Martin was a 42-year-old black
lawyer and graduate of Harvard Law School. For seven years he was an
assistant professor at the North Carolina Central University School of
Law. After moving to Waco he maintained a law practice near Mount
Carmel. He had a wife and seven children. [38] , [42]
Martin was viewed by many who knew him as a quiet, jovial and
religious person [38] . He was routinely described as professional and
competent in court [34] .
"People may tend to dismiss this event as just a bunch of religious
fanatics, but having known Doug humanizes it for me," said Mark
Morris, a law professor at NCCU. "He was a very bright, smart, able,
kind person, and it's a real shock (Martin's death)."
"He left about a year after I got here, but he seemed to be a very
nice and personable guy," Associate Law School Dean Irving Joyner said
[38] .
McLennan County Commissioner Lester Gibson said he and others who knew
Martin found it hard to believe he could have been involved in
anything so violent. "He was very friendly and quiet," said Gibson.
"It was common knowledge that he was a Davidian, but he never talked
religion." [34]
Gary Coker, a Waco lawyer, described Martin as a kind man and a
particularly devoted father.
Waco city council member Lawrence Johnson had known Martin for five
years at the time of the assault. He described Martin as a computer
whiz and as a diligent lawyer. "I enjoyed working with him. He was
smart, he was well-educated," Johnson said.
After the raid, Martin, still the conscientious lawyer, managed to
send Johnson money to reimburse clients he was unable to represent
while he was holed up in the compound. "That was his sense of
responsibility coming out." [42]
Perry Jones
Perry Jones was Koresh's father-in-law. News reports described him as
a polite older man, bespectacled and somewhat frail, and well known at
various businesses in the Waco community. Jones was once called "the
kindest man and a perfect gentleman." "He was nice and he had good
manners," said Tim Jander, general manager of Star Tex Propane in
Waco.
Jones died a slow and painful death after ATF agents shot him in the
abdomen. [49]
Unsurprisingly, the feds decided that they did not want to hold the
trials of the surviving Branch Davidians in Waco. Instead they got a
change of venue to San Antonio, nearly 200 miles away, where the jury
members would be unlikely to have independent knowledge of the
Davidians' character.
The Roden Gunfight
One incident which the government and press used to paint the Branch
Davidians as dangerous and violent was the gunfight with George Roden
that took place at Mt. Carmel in 1988. But it was George Roden who was
dangerous, violent, murderous and insane.
In 1984 a dispute arose between George Roden and David Koresh over
leadership of the Davidians. This culminated in Roden forcing Koresh
and his followers off of the Mt. Carmel property at gunpoint [21] .
Koresh led his group to the city of Palestine, Texas [26] .
By late 1987 things were faring badly for George Roden. He had almost
no money, few followers, mounting debts and an angry Texas Supreme
Court Justice on his trail [70] . So Roden decided to conclusively
settle the leadership dispute with Koresh. He went to a graveyard and
dug up the body of a man who had been dead 25 years, put the casket in
the Mt. Carmel chapel, and said that whoever could raise this man from
the dead was the one to lead the Davidians.
Koresh reported the action to the Sheriff's Department. He was told
that his word alone wasn't enough -- proof was needed. So on November
3, 1987, Koresh and several men went out to Mt. Carmel to take
pictures of the body in the casket. The Sheriff had warned them to be
careful, because Roden was dangerous, so they armed themselves. The
plan was to open the casket, take the pictures, and leave, but Roden
caught them, and a gunfight ensued in which Roden was wounded [64] .
Koresh and seven other Davidians were charged with attempted murder
[20] . Jack Harwell, McLennan County Sheriff, called Koresh on the
phone and informed him of the charges. He asked Koresh and the others
to turn themselves in, and to surrender their weapons. When deputies
arrived at Mount Carmel, Koresh and the other Davidians peacefully
complied [64] . Officials traced the weapons and found that each was
legally purchased [22] .
On March 21, 1988, Roden was served with a citation for contempt of
court. U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith, Jr. sentenced him to six
months in jail for continuing to file expletive-filled motions
threatening the justices with AIDS and herpes, despite orders to cease
and desist [70] , [65] , [30] .
On April 25, Koresh's seven followers were acquitted, and the jury
hung 9-3 in favor of Koresh's acquittal. The state then dropped the
charges against him [68] , [20] .
Koresh paid up 16 years of delinquent taxes on the Mount Carmel
property, which allowed him and his followers to move in [68] . Upon
returning to the property they found a methamphetamine lab and large
piles of pornographic material. They burned the pornography and
reported the meth lab to the DA's office [64] .
Fifteen months after Koresh's trial, in the summer of 1989, Roden was
approached by a man who claimed to be the Messiah. Roden split the
man's head open with an ax [67] . Odessa police charged Roden with
murder. The following year he was found not guilty by reason of
insanity and sent to a state mental hospital [10] , where he remains
to this day [26] .
Allegations of Child Abuse
Another tactic the federal government used to demonize the Davidians
was to accuse them of child abuse. These accusations originally arose
from Marc Breault, a former follower of Koresh who had a bitter
falling out with him. Breault quit the sect at the end of 1989 and
moved to Australia. He then threw himself into a campaign to discredit
his former mentor, in the process leading away most of the Australian
members of the sect.
In March 1990 Breault, his wife and a number of his Australian
followers swore out more than 30 pages of affidavits claiming that
Koresh was abusing children. A second set of affidavits was sworn out
for use in a child custody hearing in early 1992, in which a Michigan
man named David Jewell petitioned to gain custody of his daughter,
then living at Mt. Carmel with Jewell's ex-wife. However, the
allegations were mostly general and lacking in detail [48] .
Thus the allegations of child abuse sprung from two sources: (1) a man
who hated Koresh and was obsessed with discrediting him; and (2) a
child-custody dispute. Note that allegations of child abuse are a
common tactic in child-custody disputes.
As a result of Breault's efforts, local authorities began an
investigation of the child abuse charges. Officials of the Child
Protective Services division of the Texas Department of Protective and
Regulatory Services, and the McLennan County sheriff's office, visited
Mt. Carmel in February and March 1992. They found no evidence of child
abuse [46] .
On April 23, 1993, in response to the Clinton administration's
continued claims of child abuse, the Texas Department of Protective
and Regulatory Services offered the following summary of its nine-week
investigation: "None of the allegations could be verified. The
children denied being abused in any way by any adults in the compound.
They denied any knowledge of other children being abused. The adults
consistently denied participation in or knowledge of any abuse to
children. Examinations of the children produced no indication of
current or previous injuries." Texas child protection officials also
said they received no further abuse allegations after that time
[48] .
Breault had also contacted the FBI, accusing Koresh of a number of
other crimes besides child abuse. A February 23, 1993 FBI memo,
obtained by the Dallas Morning News, stated that no information had
been developed to verify the allegations of "child abuse and neglect,
tax evasion, slavery and reports of possible mass destruction."
The Clinton administration alleged that the Davidians were abusing
children during the siege of Mt. Carmel. This was contradicted by
those who actually saw the children. During the siege a man named
Louis Alaniz managed to sneak past federal officials to visit the
Davidians (he was not a Davidian himself). After leaving, he reported
that the children at Mt. Carmel appeared happy, playing and laughing
continuously, and that there were no outward signs of child abuse
[44] .
Sheriff Jack Harwell, who was the only outside negotiator brought into
the Mount Carmel siege, said there was never any proof that children
were being abused inside the compound. None of the children who were
released from the compound, Harwell said, showed any signs of physical
abuse [45] .
According to Texas child protective services officials, none of the 21
children released to the authorities showed signs of abuse, and none
of them confirmed that any abuse was committed. The children were
physically and psychologically examined [45] , [47] . Dr. Bruce Perry,
the head of the team treating the children, stated flatly: "(N)one of
the 21 children had been sexually abused or molested." [69]
After the blaze that killed most of the Davidians, the Clinton
administration stepped up its "child abuse" offensive. White House
communications director George Stephanopoulos claimed that "there was
overwhelming evidence of child abuse in the Waco compound." [39] But
this claim was contradicted by others within the federal government
itself.
FBI director William Sessions said his agency had "no contemporaneous
evidence" of child abuse in the compound during the siege [48] .
"(T)here had been no recent reports of the beating of children." In
response to Janet Reno's claim of reports that "babies were being
beaten," Sessions said, "I do not know what the attorney general was
referring to specifically." [37]
The Justice Department itself put the lie to Clinton's and Reno's wild
accusations. In a report released in early October, the Justice
Department said there was no evidence of child abuse at the compound
during the siege or even enough evidence to arrest Koresh on such
charges before the February 28 raid [5] .
The Gun Arsenal
The press and the federal government made much of the Davidians'
collection of guns. President Clinton claimed the Davidians had
"illegally stockpiled weaponry and ammunition." [1] But there is no
law limiting the number of legal weapons one may accumulate.
Furthermore, by Texas standards the Davidians' gun collection was
rather small. After the siege investigators found only 200 firearms in
the ruins of Mt. Carmel [57] , which amounts to about two guns per
adult. But Texas' 17 million residents own a total of 68 million guns,
for an average of four guns apiece, while 16,600 Texans legally own
machine guns [33] .
The government also claimed that the Davidians were planning an
assault on Waco. This claim was based on third-hand information
related to ATF Special Agent Davy Aguilera, who filed the affidavit
for the original raid on Mt. Carmel. Aguilera had interviewed ATF
Special Agent Carlos Torres, who had interviewed Joyce Sparks, an
investigator with the Texas Department of Human Services. According to
Aguilera's affidavit, Torres told Aguilera that Sparks had told him
that Koresh had told her "that he was the `Messenger' from God, that
the world was coming to an end, and that when he `reveals' himself the
riots in Los Angeles would pale in comparison to what was going to
happen in Waco, Texas." Furthermore, this self-revelation "would be a
`military type operation' and... all the `non-believers' would have to
suffer." Koresh supposedly said this on Sparks' second and final visit
to Mt. Carmel to investigate child-abuse charges, on April 6, 1992
[63] . But the LA riots broke out on April 29, more than three weeks
after Sparks last visited Koresh!
Enter the ATF
In Feb. 1982, the Senate Judiciary Committee said in a report that the
ATF had "disregarded rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of
the United States." Illegal ATF actions included entrapment and secret
lawmaking via unpublished administrative interpretations of gun laws.
The report noted that "expert evidence was submitted establishing that
approximately 75 percent of BATF gun prosecutions were aimed at
ordinary citizens who had neither criminal intent nor knowledge, but
were enticed by agents into unknowing technical violations." In the
wake of the report, plans to abolish the agency were shelved after
neither the U.S. Customs Bureau nor the Secret Service would accept
the transfer of the discredited ATF agents into their organizations
[3] .
The ATF acted true to form in its investigation of the Davidians --
the purpose of the raid appears to have been to bolster the ATF's
image, rather than any protection of the public safety. From
Aguilera's affidavit it appears that the ATF collected no reliable new
information for its investigation after June 23, 1992. But in mid-
November "60 Minutes" began contacting ATF personnel about allegations
of sexual harrassment in the agency [61] . In early December the
investigation picked up again, after a lapse of 5-1/2 months [62] .
On January 12, 1993 the segment aired. It presented allegations by
female ATF agents that they had been sexually harrassed on the job and
that the agency intimidated victims and witnesses who had pressed
sexual harrassment claims. Among the charges was one of near-rape:
agent Michelle Roberts charged that another agent had pinned her
against the hood of a car while two others tore at her clothes. ATF
agent Bob Hoffman told "60 Minutes" that he had verified the
complaints of one female agent, and said, "In my career with ATF, the
people that I put in jail have more honor than the top administration
in this organization." Shortly afterwards, there was also a front-page
article in the The Washington Post about racial discrimination in the
ATF.
The "60 Minutes" story devastated both the public image and morale of
the ATF. ATF Director Stephen Higgins must have been in a panic. A
Republican appointee, he stood a good chance of losing his job with a
Democratic administration coming in. Even if he didn't, he was going
to have a rough time at the congressional budget hearings coming up on
March 10. Said one high-level former ATF senior official who requested
anonymity, "The show had great repercussions within the bureau...
(S)ome (within the ATF) concluded that he (Higgins) was... looking for
a high-profile case to counteract the negative image and enable him to
go to the budget appropriations hearings with a strong hand." [52]
This analysis was supported by a followup "60 Minutes" report on May
23. Based on statements from ATF agents, Mike Wallace concluded the
report by saying, "Waco was a publicity stunt, which was intended to
improve the ATF's tarnished image." Consistent with this
interpretation, the ATF notified the media before the raid [50] ,
[56] , [35] , and there were a large number of television and
newspaper reporters at the site on the morning of the raid [50] .
Appendix G of the Treasury Department report on Waco suggests another,
more disturbing motive for the raid. The appendix, entitled "A Brief
History of Federal Firearms Enforcement," contains the following
statement:
In a larger sense, however, the raid fit within an historic, well-
established and well-defended government interest in prohibiting and
breaking up all organized groups that sought to arm or fortify
themselves... From its earliest formation, the federal government has
actively suppressed any effort by disgruntled or rebellious citizens
to coalesce into an armed group, however small the group, petty its
complaint, or grandiose its ambition.
In other words: regardless of whether you break any law, if some
federal official doesn't like your politics and thinks you have too
many weapons, you will be exterminated.
Serving the Warrant
On February 25 ATF Special Agent Davy Aguilera filed for and received
a warrant to search the premises of Mt. Carmel, claiming evidence of
illegal conversion of (legal) semiautomic weapons to automatic.
Contrary to early ATF claims, there was no arrest warrant for Koresh.
The affidavit supporting the warrant was seriously flawed, containing
many inaccuracies and patently false statements (such as the "LA
riots" quote). According to several legal experts, including a former
ATF senior enforcement official with more than 20 years' federal
firearms experience, it is questionable that the affidavit demostrated
probable cause for a search [51] , [58] .
Steve Holbrook, an attorney in Washington, D.C. area, whose law
practice specializes in gun-related offenses, was unequivocal:
"Probable cause did not exist. There was evidence cited of a large
quantity of legal firearms and parts, including interchangeable
parts... Nowhere in the affidavit is it said all necessary parts and
materials to convert semiautomatic weapons into machine guns were
obtained (by Koresh)." [51]
The claimed violation itself is a tricky area of the law. "This is a
very, very convoluted, technical, angels-dancing-on- the-head-of-a-pin
kind of argument," says Robert Sanders, former enforcement chief of
the ATF. "And there are no published rulings telling you what is and
isn't (a violation)." [62]
Importantly, this was not a no-knock search warrant, in which agents
may knock down doors and burst in heavily armed without prior warning
to occupants; such warrants must be specifically applied for, which
the ATF failed to do [53] . Nor was a no-knock approach necessary. As
we have seen, Koresh and his followers had peacefully cooperated with
law enforcement officers on at least three occasions in the past (once
after the Roden gunfight, twice during the child-abuse investigation).
And in July 1992 Koresh had actually invited ATF investigators to come
out to Mt. Carmel and inspect the Davidians' guns [4] , [6] , [55] ,
but he was angrily told "we don't want to do it that way." [6]
Furthermore, the ATF knew that nearly all the guns at Mt. Carmel were
locked up and only Koresh had a key [63] . To avoid any possibility of
armed resistance from the Davidians, they could have simply detained
Koresh during one of his frequent excursions outside of Mt. Carmel
[18] , [29] and had him unlock the store of guns in their presence.
Absent a no-knock warrant, U.S. law (Title 18, U.S.C. 3109) states
that an officer must give notice of his legal authority and purpose
before attempting to enter the premises to be searched. Only if
admittance is refused after giving such notice is it legal for an
officer to use force to gain entry. Said one former senior ATF
official, "Irrespective of the situation inside, the notice of
authority and purpose must be given... Unless the occupants of a
dwelling are made aware that the persons attempting to enter have
legal authority and a legal warrant to enter, the occupants have every
right to defend themselves..." [54]
Dick DeGuerin, a well-known Houston lawyer, put it more bluntly:
"...if a warrant is being unlawfully executed by the use of excessive
force, you or I or anybody else has a right to resist that unlawful
force. If someone's trying to kill you, even under the excuse that
they have a warrant, you have a right to defend yourself with deadly
force, and to kill that person." [4]
It appears that the ATF never intended to serve the warrant in a
lawful manner. ATF agents told the Houston Post that before the raid
they had practiced to where it took 7 seconds to get out of their tarp-
covered cattle trailers and 12 seconds to get to the front door. It is
absurd to imagine that after such a mad dash to the door, the ATF
agents intended to stop, knock, calmly state their legal authority and
purpose, demand entry, and wait for a response, all before taking
further action.
So how did the ATF serve its warrant? On Sunday morning, February 28,
1993, 100 federal agents arrived at Mt. Carmel in cattle cars and
helicopters. About 30 agents dressed in black commando uniforms and
armed with machine guns stormed the complex [9] , [19] . According to
an Associated Press report, "Witnesses said the law officers stormed
the compound's main home, throwing concussion grenades and screaming
`Come out,' while three National Guard helicopters approached." [2]
Who Shot First?
The question of who shot first is in a sense irrelevant, as the ATF
agents clearly attacked first when they threw grenades at the
Davidians' home. Once the ATF used unlawful force, the Davidians had
the legal right to resist them with deadly force.
Nevertheless, the Davidians insist that ATF agents shot first. "They
fired on us first," Koresh told CNN. "...I fell back against the door
and the bullets started coming through the door... I was already
hollering, `Go away, there's women and children here, let's
talk.'" [19] Davidians in another part of the city-block-sized complex
said the battle began when the helicopters circling overhead fired on
them without warning [13] .
David Troy, ATF intelligence chief, said a videotape was taken of the
entire mission [36] . But although parts of this tape were released to
the media, one important part was not: the start of the raid. It seems
unlikely the ATF would have withheld this footage if it supported the
ATF's contention that the Davidians fired first.
There is evidence to support Koresh's version of events. Federal law
enforcement sources told Soldier of Fortune magazine the following:
One ATF agent had an accidental discharge getting out of one of two
goose-necked cattle trailers used to transport and conceal agents --
he wounded himself in the leg and cried out, "I'm hit!" [14] Unless
you have a very disciplined group, you can expect all hell to break
loose once any shot is fired; and according to Charles Beckwith, a
retired Army colonel and founder of the military's antiterrorist Delta
Force, the ATF's raid was "very amateur." [28]
Steve Willis, one of the ATF agents killed in the raid, was assigned
to "take out" Koresh if necessary. When Koresh came out, Willis began
firing a suppressed MP5 SD submachine gun at him from the passenger
side of the leading pickup. Reporters kept some distance away from the
action would not have heard a silenced MP5 SD, while the cattle
trailer would likely have blocked their view [14] , [15] .
The Assault
Concurrent with the attack on the front of the Mt. Carmel complex were
two other attacks on the Davidians.
According to Davidians who surrendered during the siege, the
helicopters circling overhead fired down through the roof into the
complex, killing one man and two women as they lay in their beds [64]
[72] . The children, whose dormitory was on the second floor, crawled
under their beds as bullets ripped through the walls above them [15] ,
[25] . Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin viewed the inside of the complex
after the raid, when federal officials allowed him to meet with the
Davidians and try to persuade them to surrender. He reported seeing
bullet holes on the second storey, clearly coming from the outside in,
at such an angle that they could only have come from above the complex
[64] .
Moments after the assault began, an 8-man ATF team began ascending the
roof near an upstairs window which they believed to be in the vicinity
of Koresh's bedroom and weapons locker [12] , [15] . Video footage of
the raid shows the agents breaking the window, tossing grenades
inside, and indiscriminately spraying gunfire within.
A well-placed federal official told the Houston Post that at least 10
Davidians were killed in the battle. One of those confirmed dead was
Koresh's two-year-old daughter [24] . Another was Winston Blake, a 28-
year-old printer, painter, and welder; he was shot to death as he
stood unarmed by the complex's water tank [40] .
Four ATF agents were killed in the gunfight, and numerous wounded. Dan
Hartnett, associate director of the ATF, claimed that the ATF suffered
heavy casualties because of strict rules of engagement that prohibit
shooting without a definite target. "We had to wait for a target
because there are so many women and children inside," he said. But
broadcast video of the raid shows agents exercising poor fire control,
firing over vehicles with little or no view of what they were shooting
at, at a rate of two rounds per second [11] , [27] .
The ATF's concern for the women and children inside was further
demonstrated by their use of the "9 mm. Cyclone" round in their
submachine guns. This highly-penetrating round is available only to
law-enforcement special operations teams and the military, and is
specifically designed to cut through body armor [17] .
Two separate federal sources told Soldier of Fortune magazine that
such a round was removed from a wounded ATF agent, and that many, if
not most, of the ATF casualties resulted from "friendly fire." [17]
Newsweek also reported that a federal source involved in the Waco
situation said that "there is evidence that supports the theory of
friendly fire," and that during the assault "there was a huge amount
of cross-fire." [8] Furthermore, in the released video footage of the
raid, there is little or no evidence of return fire from the
Davidians.
The attack terrified the Davidians, and they were eager for a cease-
fire. Wayne Martin telephoned his friend, Waco city councilman
Lawrence Johnson. According to Johnson, Martin said "they were in a
firefight, they were taking casualties, and a lot of people were hurt.
He asked me to contact the media." [42] The New York Times reported
that after capturing four federal agents, the Davidians disarmed and
released them during the firefight. And both Martin and Koresh phoned
911 about the attack.
ABC broadcast portions of the 911 tapes on its Nightline program.
Martin phoned first and spoke with Lieutenant Lynch of the Waco
Sheriff's Department. He told Lynch, "There's about 75 men around our
building and they're shooting it up in Mt. Carmel... Tell them there
are women and children in here and to call it off!" Calling it off
took some time. During a later return phone call, even as Lynch and
Martin were trying to arrange the cease-fire, Martin's location was
receiving heavy gunfire and Martin himself was hit. When requested not
to return fire, an unidentified Davidian replied in a disgusted tone,
"We haven't been." [7]
In the end, it was not humanitarian concerns or negotiations that
brought an end to the hour-long assault; it was lack of ammunition.
The 100 agents who participated in the assault had a total of only 40
rounds left among them when they finally backed off [16] .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
References
1. Press conference given by President Clinton in Washington, D C., on
April 20, 1993, 1:36 p.m. EDT.
2. Associated Press, March 1, 1993; appeared in Knoxville News-
Sentinal
3. Washington Times, June 1, 1993, p. E3.
4. Houston Press, July 22, 1993.
5. San Francisco Chronicle, October 9, 1993.
6. Houston Chronicle
7. ABC's "Nightline", June 9, 1993.
8. "Was It Friendly Fire?", Newsweek, April 5, 1993, p. 50.
9. Reuters News Service, February 28, 1993.
10. Associated Press, February 28, 1993.
11. "Gun Gestapo's Day of Infamy," Soldier of Fortune, June 1993, p
48..
12. Ibid., p. 49.
13. Ibid., p. 50.
14. Ibid., p. 51.
15. Ibid., p. 52.
16. Ibid., p. 53.
17. Ibid., p. 62.
18. Ibid., p. 63.
19. Houston Post, March 1, 1993, p. A1.
20. Ibid., p. A8.
21. Ibid., p. A4.
22. Houston Post, March 2, 1993, p. A8.
23. Ibid., p. A13.
24. Houston Post, March 3, 1993, p. A1.
25. Ibid., p. A12.
26. Ibid., p. A18.
27. Houston Post, March 4, 1993, p. A1.
28. Ibid., p. A20.
29. Houston Post, March 5, 1993, p. A1 and A16.
30. Ibid., p. A22.
31. Houston Post, March 8, 1993, p. A1.
32. Ibid., p. A10.
33. Houston Post, March 9, 1993, p. A8.
34. Ibid., p. A13.
35. Houston Post, March 12, 1993, p. A20.
36. Houston Post, March 29, 1993, p. A6.
37. Washington Post, April 21, 1993, p. A15.
38. Houston Post, April 22, 1993, p. A21.
39. Ibid., p. A1.
40. Ibid., p. A21.
41. Ibid., p. A20.
42. Washington Post, April 22, 1993, p. A15-16.
43. Reuters News Service, April 22, 1993.
44. Houston Post, April 23, 1993, p. A5.
45. Houston Post, April 24, 1993, p. A18.
46. Washington Post, April 24, 1993, p. A8.
47. Washington Post, April 25, 1993, p. A1.
48. Ibid., p. A20.
49. Washington Post, April 28, 1993, p. A4.
50. Washington Post, April 30, 1993, p. A1.
51. "Waco's Defective Warrants," Soldier of Fortune, August 1993, p
46..
52. Ibid, p. 48.
53. Ibid, p. 49.
54. Ibid, p. 74.
55. "Truth and Cover-up," The New American, June 14, 1993, p. 24,
quoting an April 21st television interview with Henry McMahon, the man
who relayed the offer to the ATF
56. Testimony of BATF Director Stephen E. Higgins before the House
Judiciary Committee, April 28, 1993
57. Associated Press, May 5, 1993.
58. "Gunning for Koresh," The American Spectator, August 1993.
59. Ibid, p. 32.
60. Ibid, p. 33.
61. Ibid, p. 39.
62. Ibid, p. 33.
63. Affidavit to obtain search warrant, submitted by Davy Aguilera on
February 25, 1993
64. Speech by Ron Engleman on the Waco Massacre. Engleman was a Dallas
radio talk-show host whom the Davidians requested as a negotiator
during the siege Engleman's speech was based on his own experiences
and interviews with others A videotape of the speech may be obtained
from Libertarian Party of Dallas County, P O. Box 64832, Dallas, TX
75206.
65. Marc Breault and Martin King, Inside the Cult, p. 71 (1993).
66. Ibid, p. 100.
67. Ibid, pp. 106-107.
68. Ibid, p. 369.
69. "The Waco Massacre: A Case Study on the Emerging American Police
State," The McAlvany Intelligence Advisor 19 (July 1993)
70. Brad Bailey & Bob Darden, Mad Man in Waco, p. 81 (1993).
71. Ibid, p. 88.
72. Ibid, p. 173.
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.................................................
History repeats itself....watch out.
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hank
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