Waco

 Part Seven: April 19, 1993

n the days leading up to April 19, 1993, high-ranking figures grew increasingly concerned that the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas had no intention of surrendering anytime soon. While many cautioned the FBI to continue holding out - to let Koresh see through the writing of this manuscript - others were hesitant to let him have that time. Soon, the government would move forward with a plan to end the Branch Davidian holdout once and for all...

In the Branch Davidian compound near Mount Carmel, Texas, just a handful of miles outside of Waco, things had been overseen for years by David Koresh. Born with the name Vernon Wayne Howell, David had assumed this new name years beforehand, after returning from a trip to Israel. There, he had evidently stumbled upon the teachings of Cyrus Teed, another preacher from a century beforehand, who had similarly assumed the name "Koresh" and followed a similar prophetic path.

Afterward, David Koresh had transformed himself fully into the leader of the Branch Davidian church, having overcome some legitimate adversity in the process. After unsuccessfully wrestling control of the group and its compound from his longtime rival George Roden, Koresh had led his devoted followers on a wandering trip between rural Texas and sunny California for a few years, until eventually, he was able to get Roden out of the picture.

In the years afterward, Koresh cemented himself as the leader of the church, using his affinity for the Bible to forge ahead with his own unique brand of Adventist sermons, centered around a pending war with the evil armies of Babylon, which would be followed by the return of Jesus Christ. Koresh's preaching earned him dozens of supporters; men, women, and children, all of whom believed earnestly in his vision. Yet there were those that became disillusioned with David and his increasingly-strange demands.

For years, David Koresh had subjected those that wanted to leave his compound - his church - to an exit interview of sorts. During these conversations, Koresh wanted to remind these individuals that their obedience to him wasn't out of any kind of selfishness on his part... of course not. Rather, they were merely serving God through him, with him merely standing in as a vessel for the Lord to accomplish great acts in this plane of existence. Anyone that willingly chose to abandon their compound - abandon him - was abandoning God himself. And through it, salvation.

The message being: if you chose to leave, you were risking eternal damnation. Because not only were you turning your back on David Koresh, you were turning your back on God.

Yet, despite this gusto, it seems like David Koresh didn't always think of himself as this impartial vessel for God. He spoke about himself as an imperfect man, a sinner, who was just as capable of perpetrating wrong as the rest of us. This double standard was not lost on Byron Sage, one of the FBI's lead negotiators, during his many conversations with David Koresh between March and April of 1993. In particular, a conversation that took place on March 17th, 1993, at approximately 2:00 PM. In it, Koresh seemed to dance around the idea that he was Christ, something that Sage attempted to capitalize on.

Sage, a self-proclaimed Christian and a Vietnam veteran, was a skilled FBI negotiator who was able to use these openings to try and press forward to find some sort of compromise with David Koresh. But in doing so, he discovered that Koresh's convictions weren't as rigid as he claimed them to be. As Sage later recalled to reporters with PBS Frontline:

"I tell him that I am absolutely confident in my salvation and he's not in a position to challenge it. Now, if anyone was in a position to try to challenge my faith as a Christian, it would be someone that perceived himself to be Christ. He does not assume that posture. From that point forward, it is absolutely patently clear in my mind what we're dealing with. This guy is not delusional. He is not a Messianic complex. He does not buy off on his own con."

Thirty years later, questions linger over whether or not David Koresh truly believed himself to be what he claimed. Some continue to believe that he was a messianic figure. Many - I would argue most - disagree. But his impact on the world continues to be felt more than thirty years later, with the name Waco continuing to evoke the message that he preached.

In the days leading up to April 19th, 1993, the U.S. government had grown increasingly concerned that David Koresh had no intention of surrendering anytime soon. FBI officials openly speculated that his writing of a manuscript centered around the seven seals was just another delaying tactic, meant to buy him and his supporters additional time inside of the compound. For what purpose was anyone's guess.

Two religious scholars, James Tabor and Phillip Arnold, had been talking to the FBI and consulting other members of the Branch Davidian church. These scholars had attempted to figure out what the Branch Davidians truly believed in order to help, and hopefully help Koresh and the FBI reach a compromise. Through their work, the two learned that the Branch Davidians believed they were living through what writer Malcolm Gladwell described in a New Yorker article as:

"... a late stage in the end of time, during which believers are asked to suffer through a round of bloodshed, to 'wait a little season,' and then suffer a second round."

If this was correct, then the Davidians' shootout with the ATF on February 28th was the first round. The second round - whatever that may be - was yet to come. Likely in the form of a larger, longer armed conflict.

Tabor and Arnold were able to communicate with Koresh through an audio tape they put together, a detailed conversation about the Book of Revelation, and were able to persuade Koresh to keep talking to the FBI. This is what had preceded him agreeing to write a manuscript, to put down his ideas on paper once and for all, and hopefully (peacefully) surrender afterward. He seemed to positively respond to the idea of someone - or in this case, someones - speaking in his language, that of the Bible, instead of in trading lives like baseball cards (which he felt like the FBI negotiators were doing).

In a letter released to his lawyer, Dick Deguerin, on April 14th, which would prove to be his last communication with the outside world, Koresh wrote:

"I want the people of this generation to be saved. I am working night and day to complete my final work of the writing out of these Seals. I thank my Father. He has finally granted me the chance to do this. It will bring New Light and hope to many and they will not have to deal with me the person. I will demand the first manuscript of the Seals be given to you. Many scholars and religious leaders will wish to have copies for examination. I will keep a copy with me. As soon as I can see that people like Jim Tabor and Phil Arnold have a copy I will come out and then you can do your thing with this beast."

Those inside the compound believed that this was finally coming to an end. They believed that the publishing of David Koresh's manuscript of the seven seals would bring this fiasco to a close. Those on the outside, however, didn't believe that this was the end for David Koresh. For starters, Koresh had made and broken similar promises in the past, having agreed to surrender if the government helped distribute an audiotape of his. Afterward, he'd immediately rescinded that and prolonged the siege.

Hoping to gauge whether this was possibly the end, government officials consulted with mental health experts. While not all of these experts agreed on the finer points, they all seemed to echo the belief that David Koresh was unlikely to surrender anytime soon. Carl Raschke, famed cult researcher, told reporters with the Chicago Tribune in April of 1993:

"They do not see themselves as martyrs. They see themselves as agents of God's wrath on Earth."

Yet others believed that mass suicide, the kind seen in Jonestown, was still a real possibility. Koresh, after all, had often spoken about his apocalyptic visions for the future, and that thinking had been instilled in the youngest children saved from the compound, who had been surrendered to the government in the preceding weeks. They too believed in this hellish vision for the world, that their lives would end in flames if they didn't resist until their dying breath.

While many cautioned the FBI to continue holding out, to let David Koresh see out this manuscript however long it may take - possibly upward of two weeks - others were hesitant to let him have that time to write what they joked was an "autobiography." They were becoming increasingly unwilling to give David Koresh any more time.

In the preceding weeks, the government had begun to formulate a plan to end the Branch Davidian holdout once and for all. As I touched on in the last episode, this plan was formulated at the highest levels of the U.S. government, with members of the FBI and their Hostage Rescue Team sending numerous drafts of this plan to newly-appointed Attorney General Janet Reno.

At first, Reno had balked at the plans. But as days passed without any sign of progress on the ground, she allowed these plans to move forward. She brought word of the operation to President Bill Clinton on April 18th, and he later recalled:

"I told her that if she thought it was the right thing to do, she could go ahead."

Later, Janet Reno would struggle to pin down a specific rationale for why she okayed the plans as they were and allowed them to move forward, after saying no - rather emphatically, in fact - just days beforehand.

At first, she claimed that it was the rampant allegations of child abuse and sexual assault inside the Davidian compound that encouraged her to move forward with the HRT's proposed plan. If you recall, that had ultimately helped spawn the government's case against David Koresh, with David Koresh having had sex with numerous underage girls in the many months before the ATF's failed raid. Numerous claims of child abuse had been made, but there was no proof that this was ongoing inside the compound.

At first, it was proposed that the FBI should engage in a more all-out assault, but that plan was rejected outright. It was theorized that the Davidians wouldn't hesitate to use the children inside as human shields, which many in the FBI argued they had already been doing that for two months, using the potential mass casualties inside as an effective deterrent.

Later, when pressed on the belief that children were at risk inside of the compound, Janet Reno relented. Then, she admitted that she had moved forward with the HRT's plan because members of America's right wing militia movement were on their way to Waco to throw in their support to the Branch Davidians... potentially making a volatile situation even more explosive.

However, there was even less proof of this than there was the ongoing child abuse. Despite supporters of the Davidians gathering in or near Waco, there was no sign of a collective push to help support the religious movement in a tactical way. In fact, a cable from the FBI's Indianapolis office in April of 1993 identified the target of Janet Reno's ire, the "Unorganized Militia of the United States," as exactly that: unorganized. This "militia" that Janet Reno referred to was really just a middle-aged attorney named Linda Thompson, who had gathered a small group of approximately 30 supporters to gather in and meet in Waco to protest the government. You'll hear a bit more about Thompson later in this episode, but she was far from the threat Janet Reno cited her as.

While the rationale for why this plan was okayed has never been firmly established, it was set to begin on the morning of April 19th, 1993.

The FBI planed to use explosives from within their armored Combat Engineering Vehicles (CEV) to punch holes in the outer walls of the Branch Davidian compound, and then pump in CS gas over approximately 48 hours. The rationale being that the Davidians inside were known to have gas masks, which were effective for approximately 48 hours. To counteract the effectiveness of these masks, the FBI would intermittently pump in gas over approximately two days, making the masks less effective over time. The holes punched in the exterior walls would give those inside an easy way out.

Members of the FBI's HRT were directed not to fire at any Branch Davidians, but were given permission to return any incoming fire.

What was originally envisioned as a non-lethal option to end this two month siege would sadly prove to be anything but.

Early on the morning of April 19th, 1993, at approximately 5:59 AM, the Branch Davidians received a phone call at a direct line established near their front door. On the line was the FBI's lead negotiator, Byron Sage, notifying them of an imminent assault on the facility using tear gas. At around the same time, a similar announcement was made over the loudspeaker system outside, letting the Davidians inside know that they were under arrest and should surrender quickly to spare themselves - and their children - discomfort.

After the call was received by the Davidians, Steve Schneider - who had spoken to the FBI that morning - threw the phone out the front door. Shortly thereafter, the FBI began using two of their CEVs to begin inserting CS gas into the compound, hoping to funnel those inside toward the large exits they punched in the walls.

In response, the Davidians began shooting at the vehicles outside. After this, the FBI would begin firing cannisters containing tear gas into the windows of the compound, increasing the spread of the gas. These were 40-millimetre Ferret brand CS gas rounds distributed through M79 grenade launchers, which were shot directly into the compound through windows. This made the area near the windows untenable for those without gas masks. Sporadic gunfire from the windows would continue, however.

Within half an hour of the initial announcement, the entire Davidian compound was gassed, and things seemed to be progressing as the FBI had initially drawn up.

At 7:30 AM, a CEV breached the front side of the building and began injecting more gas. This would be followed up by additional gas being inserted into the back of the building, on the second floor, about half-an-hour later.

At 7:48, members of the HRT requested permission to fire a military-style tear gas shell into an underground bunker of the compound. They received permission to do so, and fired at least one shell into the concrete bunker. This will come up again later in the story, but didn't seem to have played a major role in the assault at the time.

At around this point, the FBI requested additional gas cannisters from Houston, which would arrive about an hour later, near 9:00 AM. That is around the time that mother nature began to rear her ugly head, with the wind temperatures rising, carrying the gas away from the compound. Those that believe in a higher power might call this fate, with winds reaching approximately 31 miles-per-hour that AM, and causing the gas near the compound to quickly dissipate. The National Weather Service had actually issued a wind advisory for the area that day, but this seems to have been ignored, or at least not noticed. Hard to tell what looks worse years later.

Regardless, the FBI would carry on, using a CEV to make the hole in the front of the compound even bigger, hoping that increasing the square footage of the gaping hole there would begin to funnel out the Branch Davidians. Sadly, it would have the opposite effect, with no Branch Davidians choosing to leave. In fact, the large hole actually allowed the wind speed to gather, causing the CS gas to pump out of the compound at an increasingly-alarming rate.

Nonetheless, the FBI's HRT would continue to fire gas cannisters into the compound sporadically for the next chunk of time, laying off at around 11:00 AM.

Still, no Branch Davidians had left. Not even the children, whose faces were too small to fit into the gas masks procured by the Branch Davidians.

Over the next hour, not much changed.

Just after noon, another CEV punched a hole in an exterior wall, and about a minute later, trouble was spotted for the first time.

At 12:07 PM - roughly six hours after the FBI had begun injecting the Branch Davidian compound with CS gas - smoke began pouring out of a location on the second floor, near the front door. Moments later, smoke could be seen emerging from somewhere on the building's right side, and then again, near the rear of the property. Government records would later report that the Davidians themselves lit these flames, igniting:

"... simultaneous fires at three or more different locations within the compound."

Much has been said and written about the cause of these fires, but we'll touch upon this a bit later.

Immediately after smoke was first seen, the fire began spreading quickly throughout the compound. FBI negotiator Byron Sage called back into the compound again at 12:12 PM, once again urging David Koresh to lead his followers out to safety. Shortly thereafter, a small number of Davidians would flee, with the fire beginning to tear its way through the building.

Sadly, the situation was almost tailor-made to spiral out of control.

The fire was encouraged by the continuous heavy winds, as well as the fresh holes that the FBI had just punched through the building, which did nothing but provide fresh streams of oxygen for the fire to continue to grow. It then fed on the repurposed wood that the Davidians had used to fortify their expansive compound months prior.

Minutes later, at 12:25 PM, members of the HRT would begin to hear the distinct sound of gunshots coming from inside the compound. These rounds weren't being fired at them, but were popping off inside the building itself. It's believed that quite a bit of this was live ammunition being cooked by the fire, along with grenades and other explosives, which caused small bursts of extreme flame to punch large holes in the building and quickly collapse walls.

However, it's believed that a not-insignificant portion of the gunshots came from Branch Davidians inside, choosing to making the terrible, final decision to end their own - or others' -lives.

The entire time the building burned, film crews stood outside, exposing this tragedy to a horrified international audience.

At approximately 12:41 PM, firefighting efforts started at the Branch Davidian compound, but it was too little and too late. Roughly fifteen minutes later, close to 1:00 PM, the fire had started to burn out, having torn its way through the entire building in less than an hour.

Members of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team would begin entering the facility shortly afterward, searching the underground tunnels for any sign of survivors. Sadly, there were no hostages to rescue. Everyone still inside the compound had perished.

Almost all of the Branch Davidians had fled down into the tunnels beneath the compound to escape the relentless CS gas from above, only to end up trapped in a confined underground bunker as fire began destroying the compound around them. An analysis of the scene would later reveal that the FBI's breaching operations on the west side of the building may have blocked a possible escape route through the tunnel system, making it impossible for the dozens of men, women, and children down there from escaping once the fire started.

The largest concentration of deaths had come this location, "the bunker," the underground space built underneath the compound using concrete blocks. Survivors claimed that most had fled there shortly after the FBI began filling the compound with CS gas, while others had remained above with gas masks.

At least one small group of women and children were found underneath a fallen concrete wall in a storage room, having died due to skull injuries. It is unknown when the concrete wall had fallen: either during the breaching attempts by the FBI, which caused entire walls of the property to collapse, or the fire that had followed some time later, which had thoroughly destroyed the remainder of the property.

Most of those whose remains were found had died via smoke inhalation. It was believed that they had lost consciousness well before the fire reached the bunker. At least 50 bodies were found with significant levels of carbon monoxide in their system, although the saturation levels varied widely, from 10% to 79%.

It's not believed that any were still affected by the CS gas at the time of their death, with only one body found with traces of benzene, one of the main components of CS gas. The last Ferret rounds had been shot into the compound roughly one hour beforehand, and the winds had dispersed a fair amount of it. In the hour that followed the final rounds being fired, the CS gas had likely worked its way out of most.

One child, three-year-old Gayland Gent, had been fatally stabbed in the chest. It was believed that this was a mercy killing, likely from a desperate parent having to live out the most hellish possibility I can think of.

Many yet were found with gunshot wounds, with at least twenty Branch Davidians having been fatally shot at close range. These were undoubtedly mostly mercy killings by members of the church, not wanting themselves or their children to suffer. Of the twenty that had died by gunshots, five were children under the age of fourteen.

Some in the FBI believe, however, that some inside were shot as a deterrent to others, meant to keep other followers in line.

One of the gunshot victims was none other than David Koresh himself, whose remains were found in the property along with more than seventy of his followers. His body had been badly burned, but it was later determined that he had died via a single gunshot to the head; likely administered by someone else. In a report filed to the Deputy Attorney General:

"Koresh died of gunshot wound to the forehead. His body was found in the communication room on the first floor of the building, nearby the door. A rifle barrel was found on the floor near his body. A piece of grenade shrapnel was also found in Koresh's body, but that wound probably occurred post-mortem, when ammunition was exploding during the fire. Koresh's body was identified from dental records. He was 33 years old."

The FBI later postulated that Koresh had been shot and killed by Steve Schneider, his right-hand man, who had taken on a leadership role alongside David in the preceding months. Alongside Koresh, he had acted as the Davidians' chief negotiator, and was believed to have grown increasingly frustrated with the other man over time. Despite that, it's unknown why he had likely shot and killed Koresh. Some believe he did so in an attempt to carry out David's suicidal wish, while others theorize that he might have committed the act in wrath.

The same report to the Deputy A.G. that I mentioned a moment ago included the following detail:

"Schneider died of a gunshot wound to the mouth. His body was also found in the communication room."

The common belief now is that Schneider killed Koresh and then himself.

Months after the Waco tragedy, FBI spokesman Bob Ricks would tell a public panel:

"After [Koresh] had caused so much harm and destruction, he probably now wanted to come out, and Mr. Schneider could not tolerate the situation... [he] probably realized he was dealing with a fraud."

While this remains unconfirmed decades later, it is possibly true, with Tarrant County Medical Examiner Nizam Peerwani - who performed autopsies on the bodies recovered from Waco - told reporters with the Washington Post that it was "possible" for the FBI's account of Koresh's death to be correct. She also admitted that she and other public officials weren't privy to all of the FBI's knowledge.

After all, the FBI had been in charge of the siege for nearly two months, overseeing it until its tragic and preventable end. During their numerous dealings with the Branch Davidians, they had managed to instill listening devices inside, and had been able to listen in on events unfolding inside. What exactly the FBI and other government officials had known (and when) would begin to come into focus in the subsequent days, weeks, months, and years, as the American public - the world, really - began to digest what they had just seen unfold on their television screens in real time.

In the years since the tragedy in Waco, confusion lingers over almost everything. Namely, though, the fire. How did it start? And why did it spread so quickly throughout the compound, leaving almost nothing behind, other than the most basic components of the concrete foundation.

The government insists, based on their own investigations, that the fire was intentionally started by the Branch Davidians in at least three different parts. That these three fires were started simultaneously in an effort to deliberately burn down the compound and immolate themselves.

However, the survivors from inside say that this wasn't true, that it was possible the fire had been started - perhaps unintentionally - by the government's usage of CS gas. If you recall from the last episode, Attorney General Janet Reno had shown concerns about that very thing.

It was speculated that the FBI's pyrotechnic rounds might have somehow ignited the gas, causing the fire to break out in multiple spots at once. It was also briefly theorized that one of the armored vehicles had knocked over a lantern inside the compound when it crashed into one of the exterior walls at 12:06 PM on April 19th, 1993, but this was approximately 90 seconds before the first fire started, and wouldn't explain how fire broke out in three separate locations at once.

The FBI, who had been conducting this siege for nearly two months, had managed to get numerous bugs into the Branch Davidian facility during shipments of supplies. They claimed that Davidians inside had been recorded laying out the groundwork for the fire, having reportedly distributed Coleman fuel throughout the facility in the hope that it would accelerate the building's burning. This included the following quotes just after 6:00 AM, when the FBI had announced their imminent tear gas operation:

"Have you poured it yet?"

"Things are poured, right?"

Approximately 10 minutes later, at 6:10, a voice had stated:

"Don't pour it all out, we might need some later."

Over an hour later, at 7:23 AM, a voice said:

"The fuel has to go all around to get started."

Hours later, between 11:15 AM and 12:05 PM, numerous voices said:

"I want a fire."

"Keep that fire going."

"Do you think I could light this soon?"

Yet, many would proffer that these recordings were very imperfect. Those that have listened to these tapes claim that it's hard to listen to the language used within, and lawyers for the survivors allege that the recordings don't quite capture what the FBI had claimed, that they had insisted they heard what was later published in official transcripts but that it wasn't clear in the audio.

The fire spread quickly around the compound almost immediately after noon, spreading out from multiple locations... seemingly at once. First in two spots near the front of the building - on the left side near the front door on the second floor and then on the far right side of the front - and then moments later, began spreading out from the rear. This was evidently done by some kind of accelerant... but this is where the great controversy of Waco comes into focus.

Was the accelerant fuel splashed around by the Branch Davidians trying to immolate themselves in pursuit of a higher purpose? Or was it the FBI filling a compound with a strange gas, and then accidentally igniting it? Likely with an incendiary round? If you trust the government's word on this, the former is correct; but if you ask the skeptics, they claim the latter.

In the numerous investigations that would follow, the FBI would insist that they had not used pyrotechnic rounds during the CS gas insertion. But that would be proven false in 1999, when an FBI spokesman clarified that at least one pyrotechnic CS cannister had been used. Afterward, the FBI would amend their official statement, announcing that they had used a pyrotechnic round... but that they were still unlikely to have started the fire. However, in doing so, had failed to produce a proper inventory showing the usage of at least one "fired U.S. military 40 mm shell casing."

It was later learned that the page showing the usage of that shell casing was quite literally hidden from federal investigators for more than five years, until this announcement revealed it. Approximately one hundred FBI employees knew this information was being withheld from the public, but just... chose to say nothing.

This single pyrotechnic round was fired at an underground bunker approximately 40 yards away from the main Branch Davidian compound roughly three hours before the fire started. For that reason, it was unlikely to have been the cause behind the tragic fire, but the fact that this has been so thoroughly covered up by dozens of FBI agents gave validation to those among us that already had a reason to distrust the government. And soured what little trust the public still had in the FBI after watching the compound burn to the ground on live TV just a few years beforehand.

This sentiment was so perfectly encapsulated by Newsweek journalist Daniel Klaidman in an article he published in September of 1999. In it, he mentions the missing page of the FBI's inventory, aka "page 49."

"The story of page 49 is much like the tale of Waco itself. The Feds made mistakes and then exercised poor judgment by covering their tracks, making their motives look more suspect than they probably were."

Despite not using this pyrotechnic round with any malicious intent, it appears that the FBI had not made any plans to deal with a fire. In the 568-page assault plan proposed to Attorney General Janet Reno, which she had signed off on, nothing was listed involving contingencies for fires. That's why it took approximately half-an-hour for firefighters from the surrounding area to respond to the scene. That failure to think about fires ahead of time - paired with the high winds and the gaping holes in the compound (punched by the FBI's armored vehicles) - allowed the fire to burn unabated for more than 30 minutes before firefighters even arrived.

Even if the government hadn't started the blaze, it was their own ineptitude that led to it unfolding as horrifically and quickly as it did. They punched several large holes in the compound walls, providing it with plentiful oxygen, and then corralled the Davidians down into an underground bunker because of their proliferation of CS gas. Of course, that also ignores the fact that David Koresh and the rest of the Davidians were planning to surrender in a little under two weeks, according to survivors.

The entire situation that day had been escalated by the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team, who planned and carried out the tear gas operation from start to finish.

The fire investigation of the scene itself was overseen by the Texas Rangers, along with cooperation from the FBI. This investigation concluded on July 13th, 1993, when the Rangers filed their report on the fire.

In addition to more than 75 bodies recovered from the scene, the Rangers had recovered 305 firearms, as well as approximately 1.9 million rounds of "cooked" or spent ammunition (most of which had been destroyed by the fire). They wrote in their findings that arson was most likely the cause of fire, including details supplied to them by the FBI, who had been surveilling the Branch Davidian compound with infrared aerial cameras. Through these tapes, the FBI had been able to identify three spots in which the fire started at almost exactly the same time. As written in the DOJ's official report to the Deputy Attorney General:

"The arson team concluded that the fire was deliberately set by one or more persons inside the compound. The fire had three separate points of origin. The arson investigation established that those fires occurred in areas significantly distant from one another, but within such a short time frame that it was not possible for the fire to have been accidentally set or for it to have been caused by a single ignition."

Additional findings from the arson investigation included:

"Finally, the arson team addressed whether the fire could have been started by the FBI's deployment of tear gas into the compound. The team concluded that "the fire was not caused by nor was it intensified by any chemicals present in the tear-gassing operations." The team noted that the two methods used to deliver the gas were non-incendiary. The pressurized gas delivered through the combat engineering vehicles was sprayed through a nozzle using carbon dioxide as the propellant. The team noted that carbon dioxide would be incapable of igniting, and might even have acted as a fire inhibiting agent. The other method -- 40 mm Ferret cartridges delivered by an M79 hand-held launcher containing a nonburning, nonexplosive liquid agent containing methylene chloride as the carrier -- could not have had any incendiary effect either.

"The arson team likewise concluded that, given the multiple simultaneous points of origin, the fire could not possibly have been started by a ferret round entering a window and knocking over a container of flammable liquid. Moreover, the arson team concluded (contrary to a theory that has been advanced by certain people) that the fire could not have been started by one of the combat engineering vehicles rupturing a propane container and igniting it. If that had happened, according to the report, 'an immediate vapor air explosion or flash fire would have occurred involving the vehicle itself. It did not happen.'

"Finally, the team noted that, based on its investigation, 'a great many of the occupants could have escaped to the outside of the compound even as the building burned. . . . [C]onsidering the observable means of exit available, we must assume that many of the occupants were either denied escape from within or refused to leave until escape was not an option.'"

As you can imagine, this entire situation would begin to lead to many questions... many of which were political in nature. With this story involving so many high profile political figures, namely the President of the United States and his Attorney General, along with some of the highest-ranking figures in the FBI - in a time where 24/7 news was becoming more widespread - it was perhaps inevitable.

The volatile political situation at the time was only worsened by the Waco tragedy, leading to an ever-growing rift between Republicans and Democrats. Many on the fringes of the right wing would begin to use Waco as a cause celebre, but... that's something we'll dive into a little bit later.

Suffice it to say, there were many that wanted to use this tragedy to score political points against the current administration, who - it's fair to say - had completely fucked up the government's response to the Branch Davidians. Not only in their dynamic entry on the morning of April 19th, 1993, but the entire siege, beginning after the ATF's failed raid on February 28th.

After this highly-publicized debacle - which, again, was occurring at the same time that 24/7 news stations set up shop - there were many that wanted their pound of flesh in the public square. Many of the government officials were called in to testify - some in public, some in private - leading to several investigations that wanted to discover how things had gone so terribly wrong in seemingly every way.

Despite most of the Branch Davidians perishing during the events of April 19th, 1993, there were thankfully dozens of survivors. Fourteen adults and twenty-one children had left the compound in the days and weeks ahead of the fire that burned it down. There were also nine that escaped the day of the fire, many of whom were later retained in police custody and charged with miscellaneous crimes, such as aiding and abetting the manslaughter of federal agents or firearms charges.

Eight were ultimately convicted on a range of charges, but as of 2007, all had been released. Many have since gone on to tell their stories through memoirs or documentaries, while a few remain tight-lipped to this day... understandably hesitant to share their stories.

Several civil suits were later filed by the surviving Branch Davidians against the federal government, calling into question their handling of the initial ATF raid and the subsequent FBI siege, both of which were evidently marred with issues. But all of these civil suits were ultimately unsuccessful in swaying a jury, with the government successfully able to argue that the Davidians had been the ones who set the fire within their compound, and had more than adequate time beforehand to have left the compound.

Despite the numerous investigations that followed, very little consequence trickled down to those responsible for overseeing the government's actions in Waco.

Two ATF agents, Chuck Sarabyn and Phillip Chojinacki, were fired. If you recall from a couple of episodes back, these two had been criticized by several ATF agents for failing in their supervisory roles during the initial failed raid that led to several Davidians and ATF agents dead. They'd ignored multiple warnings from undercover operatives on the ground that David Koresh and the rest knew they were coming, and had adequate time to prepare before the ATF arrived en masse an hour later.

However, despite being fired, these two were later reinstated at a lower rank and received full back pay and benefits, their careers mostly-unfazed by the largest blunder in ATF history.

Despite the government's bungling of the Branch Davidian situation, the numerous investigations led to very few repercussions for those involved in the planning or carrying out of said bungle. However, this tragedy did lead to major changes in how law enforcement handled similar cases, especially as it pertained to the communication and strategy between the negotiating and tactical units. The FBI's lead negotiator during this saga, Byron Sage, told the Austin American-Statesmen in 2018:

"Probably one of the biggest lessons learned from this is that the tactical teams and the negotiators absolutely need to be on the same sheet of music. What we're saying, they've got to be mirroring with their actions. And what they're doing with their actions, we need to be aware of so that we can mitigate any kind of concern the (opposite side) might have with it. We didn't have that - that was a major breakdown."

This tragedy also led to overhauls in how government agencies operate; namely, law enforcement divisions. The ATF completely overhauled their special response teams, hoping to prevent events like the botched February 28th raid from happening again. Other law enforcement agencies (including the local agencies from our counties and cities) began investing heavily in their hostage rescue, warrant execution, breaching, tear gas, and other specialized capabilities.

Some would argue that this isn't a good thing, especially in light of talking about how an extremely large militarized police force failed, but... that's not a conversation I'm prepared to have at this moment.

Months ago, when I interviewed author Jeff Guinn ahead of the release of his book on this subject, "Waco: David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, and A Legacy of Rage," we briefly touched upon the final part of that title. This aptly-named "legacy of rage." You see, in addition to being an extremely tragic story and a cautionary tale, the entire saga of Waco was a harbinger of what was to come. A necessary prelude to the next few decades in the United States.

In her reasoning for allowing the tear gas operation from April 19th, 1993 to move forward, Janet Reno had stated that the militia movement in America was becoming galvanized by David Koresh and his followers. However, she stated this in the sense of direct support - weapons, supplies, and bodies - and not in an abstract sense. However, in allowing this plan to move forward - directly or indirectly leading to the deaths of these men, women, and children - she and the FBI had made martyrs out of every single fatality that day.

The militia movement in the United States had not been physically rallying around David Koresh and the Branch Davidians. But after April 19th, that would change. Those same movements now had evidence that their worst fears were accurate, and they would immediately begin to rally around what they perceived to be the biggest example of government overreach seen in a century. Perhaps longer. Maybe ever.

Among the specific agitators cited by Janet Reno was Linda Thompson, later dubbed by Esquire "The White Woman From Hell." Thompson was a lawyer and anti-government activist, the founder of the American Justice Federation and self-proclaimed leader of the "Unorganized Militia of the United States," a ragtag group of supposed freedom fighters that gathered in early internet chat rooms.

Linda Thompson was able to gather a lot of support for her anti-government sentiments after Waco, and tried to capitalize on the government's failings there to create an echo chamber... pretty much the prototype of the ones we see or hear of today. She began to spread her ideas through websites and internet forums dedicated to political rants and conspiracy theories. She had a lot of her own. Some of which you're likely familiar with.

If you've ever heard of the theory that Bill Clinton had dozens of people around them killed (the "Clinton body count conspiracy" for those looking on Wikipedia) then you're familiar with ideas populated by Linda Thompson. Others may be familiar with the idea that the government was creating FEMA camps to stash “undesirables” in pursuit of a "New World Order." That's another one from her greatest hits. Both of these ideas were among those spread by Thompson early on, with both becoming rather-mainstream ideas among the right wing in the years to come.

While Linda Thompson would die of a prescription drug overdose in 2009, her legacy lives on to this day. You see, in addition to the insane conspiracy theories that clutter the dark corners of Youtube 30 years later, she also had a more immediate impact on the world.

Shortly after the Waco tragedy, Linda Thompson released a series of videos, which she distributed herself. These videos were part of a series called "Waco, the Big Lie," published in 1993 and followed up on in a sequel, "Waco II, the Big Lie Continues," the next year, 1994. These videos were very ahead of their time, making several allegations about the Waco siege and seeming to allege a government conspiracy to kill the Branch Davidians and cover it up retroactively.

These videos made a little splash at their release, getting distributed through gun shows and mail order catalogs, but would gain national prominence later on when it was revealed that a young veteran named Timothy McVeigh had watched "Waco, the Big Lie" numerous times, along with a friend of his, Terry Nichols. Both had started down the road to radicalization well ahead of time, but became desperate to do something once they watched these tapes.

McVeigh was a young Army veteran that had grown up in New York, and was a huge gun proponent from an early age. During his short-lived Army career, he showed several racist inclinations, using racial slurs and assigning undesirable work to black servicemen under his command. After leaving the Army four years after enlisting, McVeigh fell down the rabbit hole of conspiratorial thinking, beginning to consume more and more anti-government propaganda. He became a hardline proponent of absolute gun rights, and believed that any infringement on his right to bear arms was a direct attack on him and his civil liberties. He felt the same way about taxes... and basically anything he didn't like.

Timothy McVeigh, still in his early twenties, seemed to blame all of his problems on everyone else. The government just made a convenient scapegoat at times. He blamed society for him being unable to find a girlfriend. He blamed others for his inability to pay back loans after gambling away his money. He blamed taxes for his inability to succeed.

In 1993, as the siege in Waco unfolded, McVeigh drove down to central Texas to show his support and distribute pro-gun rights literature. He'd already become radicalized, but Waco was the straw that broke the camel's back. McVeigh became increasingly willing to risk his life for what he believed in, telling others about his belief that the FBI members involved in the failures at Waco and Ruby Ridge should be executed.

On April 19th, 1995, on the two-year anniversary of the Waco tragedy, McVeigh parked a Ryder truck in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. He had packed it full of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, nitromethane, and diesel fuel - approximately 4800 pounds in total - and lit a two minute fuse. The ensuing blast killed 168 people, including 19 children located in a day care center on the second floor. 684 others were injured, and the entire front of the Murrah building was sheered from existence.

To this day, the Oklahoma City Bombing remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in American history, and the second deadliest overall behind September 11th.

Afterward, McVeigh expressed little remorse, and blamed the government's actions in Waco for his senseless act of terror. He was later executed in 2001.

We've seen the Waco tragedy come into play in other acts of terror, including one that I covered on this show some time ago: the derailing of the Sunset Limited train in Arizona in 1995, just months after the OKC Bombing. The act left one man dead and dozens more injured, and to this day, remains unsolved. No one has been held to account for the Sunset Limited Derailment, with a mysterious entity calling themselves the "Sons of the Gestapo" or "SOG" leaving behind strange letters near the site. In these letters, they directly alluded to the perceived government overreach in both Waco and Ruby Ridge.

In the years since, the Waco saga continues to live on. Despite not all of us having memories of the events as they unfolded, Waco is still often cited at the go-to example for government ineptitude. Hell, how many of us simply hear the name "Waco" and think of the saga involving David Koresh?

But outside of the story's perseverance in the mainstream, it continues to be used as a rallying cry among those on the fringes of society, including the underground militia movement, which is just as alive as it has ever been. Perhaps even more so today than thirty years ago.

Just recently, former-President Donald Trump gave a speech at Waco, in which a longtime Branch Davidian, Charles Pace, told Rolling Stone that Trump was "making a statement" by going to Waco. Tom O'Connor, a retired FBI expert on right wing militant violence, told The Intercept that Trump was indeed making a statement by going to Waco:

"It will be perceived as a coded message of revolution to those on the extreme."

More than three decades after the fire that ended the lives of so many Branch Davidians, the location where their compound once stood is mostly empty, other than a small chapel where adherents of the Branch Davidian faith continue to gather for congregation. They've since renamed themselves The Branch, The Lord Our Righteousness, and are headed by Charles Pace, a longtime Branch Davidian who arrived in Waco in 1973, when the church was overseen by the Roden family.

Pace lived through the deaths of Benjamin and Lois Roden, and chose not to continue following along when David Koresh, then Vernon Howell, became its new heir apparent. He believes that Koresh was someone that "twisted" the words of the Bible in a way that he could not tolerate, and that Koresh was:

"... the means by which Satan came to impersonate the descendant of Christ."

In 1984, Pace left the Branch Davidian church and relocated to Alabama, where he was living at the time of the FBI's siege nearly a decade later. He returned to Waco in 1994, believing himself to return the Branch to its roots, it's "true theology," as he puts it. Pace preaches that the world is set to end during his lifetime, and that all of those who don't adhere to his faith will perish. Many of those that once followed the Davidian faith believe him to be fake. Nonetheless, he seems to have become the current successor to the Mount Carmel property by happenstance, having taken over the Branch Davidian hierarchy that started more than a century ago, with Victor Houteff and the Shepherd's Rod movement from California.

In 1994, survivors from the Waco tragedy led an effort to plan 82 trees at the Mount Carmel Center, one for each of the Branch Davidians that died in 1993. Charles Pace decided to chop down the tree belonging to Koresh. After spending the last few months immersed in everything Waco, I can't say that I blame him, but it still hurts my heart to know that those trees are just reminders of human beings that once strived to feel happiness and comfort. They weren't all devoted followers of Koresh by choice. Many were misguided and mistreated in life. Many were children, who had no say in the matter.

Clive Doyle is a figure I've mentioned sporadically throughout this series. He was a Branch Davidian from Australia, who'd been following along the Adventist and Davidian movements for decades, dating back to his childhood.

Doyle had lived in Waco with his family for some time leading up to the ATF raid and the FBI siege, and ended up becoming one of the nine survivors from April of 1993. Sadly, one of his daughters, Shari, died in the fire. Doyle himself was later treated for significant burns, and later put on trial alongside the other survivors, of which he was acquitted on all charges.

Years later, Clive Doyle continued to live in Waco, and was a constant presence at all of the memorials. Despite his continued faith, he seemed to be a man that was forever-changed. Speaking to reporters with Texas Monthly in 2018, he stated:

"Somebody asked me one time, they said, 'Do you blame David Koresh for all that happened to you?' And I said, 'No, I blame God. God is supposed to be in control. God permitted it to happen for a reason.'"

Doyle died of pancreatic cancer in June of 2022, at the age of 81. Yet until his final breath, he - and others - continued to believe that the end of this story hasn't been written. These adherents believe that those who perished back in 1993 are destined to return to this earth. This includes David Koresh. Speaking to Texas Public Radio in 2013, Clive Doyle said:

"We survivors of 1993 are looking for David and all those that died either in the shootout or in the fire. We believe that God will resurrect this special group."

Sadly, the list of those who died at the Branch Davidian compound on April 19th, 1993 is rather extensive, but I'm going to close out this episode by listing all of them, along with their corresponding ages. I'd like to end this series by hoping that their names can be heard at least one more time:

- Katherine Andrade, 24

- Chanel Andrade, 1

- Jennifer Andrade, 19

- George Bennett, 35

- Susan Benta, 31

- Mary Jean Borst, 49

- Pablo Cohen, 38

- Abedowalo Davies, 30

- Shari Doyle, 18

- Beverly Elliot, 30

- Yvette Fagan, 32

- Doris Fagan, 51

- Lisa Marie Farris, 24

- Raymond Friesen, 76

- Sandra Hardial, 27

- Zilla Henry, 55

- Vanessa Henry, 19

- Phillip Henry, 22

- Paulina Henry, 24

- Stephen Henry, 26

- Diana Henry, 28

- Novellette Hipsman, 36

- Floyd Houtman, 61

- Sherri Jewell, 43

- David M. Jones, 38

- David Koresh, 33

- Rachel Koresh, 24

- Cyrus Koresh, 8

- Star Koresh, 6

- Bobbie Lane Koresh, 2

- Jeffery Little, 32

- Nicole Gent Little, 24 (and unborn child)

- Dayland Gent, 3

- Page Gent, 1

- Livingston Malcolm, 26

- Diane Martin, 41

- Wayne Martin, Sr., 42

- Lisa Martin, 13

- Sheila Martin, Jr., 15

- Anita Martin, 18

- Wayne Martin, Jr., 20

- Julliete Martinez, 30

- Crystal Martinez, 3

- Isaiah Martinez, 4

- Joseph Martinez, 8

- Abigail Martinez, 11

- Audrey Martinez, 13

- John-Mark McBean, 27

- Bernadette Monbelly, 31

- Rosemary Morrison, 29

- Melissa Morrison, 6

- Sonia Murray, 29

- Theresa Nobrega, 48

- James Riddle, 32

- Rebecca Saipaia, 24

- Steve Schneider, 43

- Judy Schneider, 41

- Mayanah Schneider, 2

- Clifford Sellors, 33

- Scott Kojiro Sonobe, 35

- Floracita Sonobe, 34

- Gregory Summers, 28

- Aisha Gyrfas Summers, 17 (and unborn child)

- Startle Summers, 1

- Lorraine Sylvia, 40

- Rachel Sylvia, 12

- Hollywood Sylvia, 1

- Michelle Jones Thibodeau, 18

- Serenity Jones, 4

- Chica Jones, 2

- Little One Jones, 2

- Neal Vaega, 38

- Margarida Vaega, 47

- Mark H. Wendell, 40