The Waco Siege

Waco, Texas, 1993. David Koresh, real name Vernon Wayne Howell, has formed a new religious sect called the Branch Davidians, named after himself. He believes that he is the son of God, and that the Second Coming is nigh. At the Mount Carmel Center ranch, named for the Biblical mountain, Koresh and his religious sect have stockpiled hundreds of illegal weapons.

The Mount Carmel Center

The Branch Davidians had a number of questionable beliefs. David Koresh was accused several times of abusing children in the compound and taking multiple underaged wives. Koresh had claimed that he was able to take up to 140 wives. He fathered over a dozen children, including with girls ages 12 and 13.

Reports of automatic gunfire concerned the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms as early as 1992, and they began to prepare for a raid.

Agents wait behind a tank as a fire burns

On February 28, 1993, the ATF tried to carry out their raid with the element of surprise. This failed when a reporter asked for directions from David Koresh's brother-in-law. The ATF agents wrote their blood type on their necks or forearms, and went in. The Branch Davidians fired back immediately, killing ATF agents. David Koresh was shot in the abdomen by the ATF, but he was not killed. The ATF began a siege of the compound.

The siege lasted over a month, and Koresh wavered between surrendering and remaining in the compound. Eventually, the ATF decided that the risk of mass suicide was too high and that the compound needed to be raided again to prevent child abuse and deteriorating conditions.

April 19, 1993. The ATF begins their raid at 5:50 in the morning. At 6 in the morning, a man inside the Carmel compound was recorded by the FBI saying "Things are poured, right?" This was in reference to cans of Coleman fuel used in fomenting enormous fires that broke out later in the day.

The Branch Davidian flag

At 3:45 in the afternoon, law enforcement announced that David Koresh was dead. The cult leader had been shot and killed by a close aide, who had then shot himself. Koresh was one of 76 fatalities among the Branch Davidians. Only nine survived the assault.