Waco Siege

Background

The Branch Davidians were a cult that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Shepherd's Rod (Davidians) following the death of the Shepherd's Rod founder Victor Houteff. Houteff founded the Davidians based on his prophecy of an imminent apocalypse involving the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the defeat of the evil armies of Babylon. As the original Davidian group gained members, its leadership moved the church to a hilltop several miles east of Waco, Texas, which they named Mount Carmel, after a mountain in Israel mentioned in Joshua 19:26 in the Bible's Old Testament.

A few years later, they relocated again to a much larger site east of the city. In 1959, Victor's widow, Florence Houteff, announced that the expected Armageddon was about to take place, and members were told to gather at the center to await this event. Many of them built houses, others stayed in tents, trucks, or buses, and most of them sold their possessions.

After the failure of this prophecy, control of the site (Mount Carmel Center) fell to Benjamin Roden, founder of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association (Branch Davidians). He promoted different doctrinal beliefs than those of Victor Houteff's original Davidian Seventh-day Adventist organization. On Roden's death, control of the Branch Davidians fell to his wife, Lois Roden. Lois considered their son, George Roden, unfit to assume the position of prophet. Instead, she groomed Vernon Wayne Howell (later known as David Koresh) to be her successor.

In 1984, a meeting resulted in a division of the group, with Howell leading one faction (calling themselves the Branch Davidians) and George Roden leading the competing faction. After this split, George Roden ran Howell and his followers off Mount Carmel at gunpoint. Howell and his group relocated to Palestine, Texas.

After the death of Lois Roden in November 1986 and probate of her estate in January 1987, Howell attempted to gain control of Mount Carmel Center by force. George Roden had dug up the casket of Anna Hughes from the Davidian cemetery and had challenged Howell to a resurrection contest to prove who was the rightful heir to the leadership. Howell instead went to the police and claimed Roden was guilty of corpse abuse, but the county prosecutors refused to file charges without proof.

Prelude

On February 27, 1993, the Waco Tribune-Herald began publishing "The Sinful Messiah", a series of articles by Mark England and Darlene McCormick, who reported allegations that Koresh had physically abused children in the compound and had committed statutory rape by taking multiple underage brides. Koresh was also said to advocate polygamy for himself and declared that he was married to several female residents of the small community. The paper claimed that Koresh had announced he was entitled to at least 140 wives and that he was entitled to claim any of the women in the group as his, that he had fathered at least a dozen children, and that some of these mothers became brides as young as 12 or 13 years old.

In addition to allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct, Koresh and his followers were suspected of stockpiling illegal weapons. In May 1992, Chief Deputy Daniel Weyenberg of the McLennan County Sheriff's Department called the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) to notify them that his office had been contacted by a local UPS representative concerned about a report by a local driver. The UPS driver said a package had broken open on delivery to the Branch Davidian residence, revealing at least half a dozen grenades. He also noted that the compound had been receiving packages from an arms dealer for months.

On June 9, the ATF opened a formal investigation and a week later it was classified as sensitive, "thereby calling for a high degree of oversight" from both Houston and headquarters. The documentary Inside Waco claims that the investigation started in 1992 when the ATF became concerned over reports of automatic gunfire coming from the Carmel compound. On July 30, ATF agents David Aguilera and Skinner visited the Branch Davidians' gun dealer Henry McMahon, who tried to get them to talk with Koresh on the phone. Koresh offered to let ATF inspect the Branch Davidians' weapons and paperwork and asked to speak with Aguilera, but Aguilera declined.

Sheriff Harwell told reporters regarding law enforcement talking with Koresh, "Just go out and talk to them, what's wrong with notifying them?" The ATF began surveillance from a house across the road from the compound several months before the siege. Their cover was poor (the "college students" were in their thirties, had new cars, were not registered at the local schools, and did not keep a schedule that would have fit any legitimate employment or classes). The investigation included sending in an undercover agent, Robert Rodriguez, whose identity Koresh learned, though he only revealed that fact on the day of the raid.

Aguilera's affidavit

The ATF used an affidavit filed by Special Agent David Aguilera to obtain the search and arrest warrant that led to the Waco siege. The official filing date of this affidavit was February 25, 1993. Allegedly, the initial investigation began in June 1992 when a postal worker informed a sheriff of McLennan County that he believed he had been delivering explosives to the ammo and gun store owned and operated by the Branch Davidians. This store, named the "Mag-Bag", had been identified by the postal worker as suspicious in deliveries. The worker continued deliveries to the Mt. Carmel Center and reported seeing occupied observation posts; in the affidavit, it states he believed there were armed personnel at these observation posts.

The McLennan county sheriff was notified in May and June of that year of two cases of inert grenades, black gunpowder, 90 pounds of powdered aluminum, and 30–40 cardboard tubes. Aguilera also noted that the Mag-Bag had purchased several AR-15/M-16 parts kits. Some of the sellers of these kits were under investigation at that time by the ATF, and the ATF had seized illegal weapons from their previous customers. Aguilera stated, "I have been involved in many cases where defendants, following a relatively simple process, convert AR-15 semi-automatic rifles to fully automatic rifles of the nature of the M-16" to justify the ATF's involvement in the case.

In November 1992, a local farmer (Ben Hays) and his wife (Cameron Krejeci) reported to the sheriff that he had heard machine-gun fire. "By the sound of it," he said, "it was likely a .50 caliber machine gun and multiple M-16s." Hays claimed he was very familiar with machine guns, having done a tour overseas in the US Army. The affidavit closed with Aguilera verifying the story via interviews made with associated parties and gun shops from which the Mag-Bag purchased items. Among these items were over forty-five AR-15 upper receivers and five M-16 upper receivers, which Aguilera annotated, "These kits contain all the parts of an M-16 except for the lower receiver unit, which is the 'firearm' by lawful definition," admitting that neither the noise nor the items ordered were necessarily illegal. The ArmaLite AR-15, which the M16 rifle was adapted from, also has the designation for its serialized part on the lower receiver to comply with the National Firearms Act.

ATF raid

Preparations

Using the affidavit filed by Aguilera that alleged that the Davidians had violated federal law, the ATF obtained search and arrest warrants for Koresh and specific followers on weapons charges, citing the many firearms they had accumulated. The search warrant commanded a search "on or before February 28, 1993", in the daytime between 6:00 am and 10:00 pm. The ATF made a claim that Koresh was possibly operating a methamphetamine lab, allowing them to obtain military assets under the war on drugs. ATF ultimately received only a training site, medical equipment, and communications support, not combat assets. Although the ATF's investigation "focused on firearm violations, not on illegal drugs", the ATF requested assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the United States Department of Defense (DOD) "citing a drug connection" based on 1) a recent delivery to the compound of "chemicals, instruments, and glassware", 2) a written testimony from a former compound resident, alleging "Howell had told him that drug trafficking was a desirable way to raise money", 3) several current residents who "had prior drug involvement", 4) two former residents who were incarcerated for drug-trafficking crimes, and 5) National Guard overflights' thermal images showing a "hot spot inside the compound, possibly indicating a methamphetamine laboratory". The original request for assistance was initially approved, but the commander of the Special Forces detachment questioned it, and the ATF obtained only a training site at Fort Hood, Texas, from February 25 to February 27 with safety inspections for the training lanes, and was given only medical and communications training and equipment.

The ATF had planned their raid for Monday, March 1, 1993, with the code name "Showtime". The ATF later claimed that the raid was moved up a day, to February 28, 1993, in response to the Waco Tribune-Herald's "The Sinful Messiah" series of articles (which the ATF had tried to prevent from being published). Beginning February 1, ATF agents had three meetings with Tribune-Herald staff regarding a delay in publication of "The Sinful Messiah". The paper was first told by the ATF that the raid would take place February 22, which they changed to March 1, and then ultimately to an indefinite date. ATF agents felt the newspaper had held off publication at the request of the ATF for at least three weeks. In a February 24 meeting between Tribune-Herald staff and ATF agent Phillip Chojancki and two other agents, the ATF could not give the newspaper staff a clear idea of what action was planned or when. The Tribune-Herald informed ATF they were publishing the series, which included an editorial calling for local authorities to act. Personnel of the Tribune-Herald found out about the imminent raid after the first installment of "The Sinful Messiah" had already appeared on February 27.

February 28

The ATF attempted to execute their search warrant on Sunday morning, February 28, 1993. The local sheriff, in audiotapes broadcast after the incident, said he was not told about the raid — despite the fact that a member of his own department's support staff was embedded with the ATF raid preparation team and is believed to have been the source of the media leak that ultimately cost the operation its element of surprise. Despite being informed that the Branch Davidians knew a raid was coming, the ATF commander ordered that it go ahead, even though their plan depended on reaching the compound without the Branch Davidians being armed and prepared.

Any advantage of surprise was lost when a KWTX-TV reporter who had been tipped off about the raid asked for directions from a US Postal Service mail carrier who was coincidentally Koresh's brother-in-law. Koresh then told undercover ATF agent Robert Rodriguez that they knew a raid was imminent. Rodriguez had infiltrated the Branch Davidians and was astonished to find that his cover had been blown. The agent made an excuse and left the compound. When asked later what the Branch Davidians had been doing when he left the compound, Rodriguez replied, "They were praying." Branch Davidian survivors have written that Koresh ordered selected male followers to begin arming and taking up defensive positions, while the women and children were told to take cover in their rooms. Koresh told them he would try to speak to the agents, and what happened next would depend on the agents' intentions. The ATF arrived at 9:45 am in a convoy of civilian vehicles containing uniformed personnel in SWAT-style tactical gear.

The question of who fired first has never been definitively resolved. ATF agents who participated in the raid testified in court, and at congressional hearings, that the Branch Davidians fired first. However, shortly after the raid, one ATF agent told investigators that a fellow agent may have shot first when killing a dog outside the compound. Roland Ballesteros, one of the first ATF agents out of the cattle trucks, told Texas Rangers and Waco police shortly after the raid that he thought the first shots came from agents aiming at the Davidians' dogs. Three helicopters of the Army National Guard were used as an aerial distraction, and all took incoming fire. During the first shots, Koresh was wounded, shot in the hand and the stomach. Within a minute of the raid's start, Branch Davidian Wayne Martin called emergency services, pleading for them to stop shooting. Martin asked for a ceasefire, and audiotapes record him saying, "Here they come again!" and, "That's them shooting! That's not us!"

FBI siege

ATF agents established contact with Koresh and others inside the compound after they withdrew. The FBI took command soon after as a result of the deaths of federal agents, placing Jeff Jamar, head of the Bureau's San Antonio field office, in charge of the siege as Site Commander. The FBI Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) was headed by HRT Commander Richard Rogers, who had previously been criticized for his actions during the Ruby Ridge incident. As at Ruby Ridge, Rogers often overrode the Site Commander at Waco and had mobilized both the Blue and Gold HRT tactical teams to the same site, which ultimately created pressure to resolve the situation tactically due to lack of HRT reserves.

At first, the Davidians had telephone contact with local news media, and Koresh gave phone interviews. The FBI then cut Davidian communication to the outside world. For the next 51 days, communication with those inside was by telephone by a group of 25 FBI negotiators. The final Justice Department report found that negotiators criticized the tactical commanders for undercutting negotiations.

In the first few days, the FBI believed they had made a breakthrough when they negotiated with Koresh an agreement that the Branch Davidians would peacefully leave the compound in return for a message, recorded by Koresh, being broadcast on national radio. The broadcast was made, but Koresh then told negotiators that God had told him to remain in the building and "wait". Despite this, soon afterwards negotiators managed to facilitate the release of 19 children, ranging in age from five months to 12 years old, without their parents. However, 98 people remained in the building. The children were interviewed by the FBI and Texas Rangers, some for hours at a time. Allegedly, the children had been physically and sexually abused long before the standoff. This was the key justification offered by the FBI (both to then President Bill Clinton and to Attorney General Janet Reno) for launching CS gas attacks to force the Branch Davidians out of the compound.

During the siege, the FBI sent a video camera to the Branch Davidians. In the videotape made by Koresh's followers, Koresh introduced his children and his "wives" to the FBI negotiators, including several minors who claimed to have had babies fathered by Koresh; he had fathered perhaps 14 of the children who stayed with him in the compound. Several Branch Davidians made statements in the video. On day nine, Monday, March 8, the Branch Davidians sent out the videotape to show the FBI that there were no hostages, but everyone was staying inside on their own free will. This video also included a message from Koresh.

Final assault and the burning of the Mount Carmel Center

Newly appointed US Attorney General Janet Reno approved recommendations by the FBI Hostage Rescue Team to mount an assault, after being told that conditions were deteriorating and that children were being abused inside the compound. Reno made the FBI's case to Clinton. Recalling the April 19, 1985, The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA) siege in Arkansas (which was ended without loss of life by a blockade without a deadline), Clinton suggested similar tactics against the Branch Davidians. Reno countered that the FBI Hostage Rescue Team was tired of waiting; that the standoff was costing a million dollars per week; that the Branch Davidians could hold out longer than the CSA; and that the chances of child sexual abuse and mass suicide were imminent. Clinton later recounted: "Finally, I told her that if she thought it was the right thing to do, she could go ahead." Over the next months, Reno's reason for approving the final CS gas attack varied from her initial claim that the FBI Hostage Rescue Team had told her that Koresh was sexually abusing children and beating babies (the FBI Hostage Rescue Team later denied evidence of child abuse during the standoff) to her claim that Linda Thompson's "Unorganized Militia of the United States" was on the way to Waco "either to help Koresh or to attack him."

The assault took place on April 19, 1993. Because the Branch Davidians were heavily armed, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team's arms included .50 caliber (12.7 mm) rifles and armored Combat Engineering Vehicles (CEV). The CEVs used explosives to punch holes in the walls of buildings of the compound so they could pump in CS gas (tear gas) and try to force the Branch Davidians out without harming them. The stated plan called for increasing amounts of gas to be pumped in over two days to increase pressure. Officially, no armed assault was to be made. Regarding the initial plan to tear gas the building, the spokesperson of the FBI Carl Stern claimed that input was taken from psychologists, psychiatrists, behavioral specialists, as well as, "scientific, medical stuff". Loudspeakers were to be used to tell the Branch Davidians that there would be no armed assault and to ask them not to fire on the vehicles. According to the FBI, the Hostage Rescue Team agents had been permitted to return any incoming fire, but no shots were fired by federal agents on April 19. When several Branch Davidians opened fire, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team's response was to increase the amount of gas being used. An anonymous official claimed that the reason for the FBI's increased aggression was bureau audio listening equipment inside the compound; this claim was neither corroborated nor denied by FBI Director William Sessions.

Aftermath

The new ATF Director, John Magaw, criticized several aspects of the ATF raid. Magaw made the Treasury "Blue Book" report on Waco required reading for new agents. A 1995 Government Accountability Office report on the use of force by federal law enforcement agencies observed that "On the basis of Treasury's report on the Waco operation and views of tactical operations experts and ATF's own personnel, ATF decided in October 1995 that dynamic entry would only be planned after all other options have been considered and began to adjust its training accordingly."

Nothing remains of the buildings today other than concrete foundation components, as the entire site was bulldozed two weeks after the end of the siege. Only a small chapel, built years after the siege, stands on the site. It is still used by the remaining Branch Davidians as a place of worship and memorial. A memorial plaque for the four ATF agents killed in the shootout is on the grounds as is the barbed wire the authorities used to prevent the cult members from escaping.

In the years following the siege, the ATF received significant criticism for their actions at Waco. The Waco siege has become a "symbol of government oppression" by those critical of the government generally. Critics blame the ATF for improper planning, execution, communication and exaggerating the threat that the Branch Davidians posed as being the leading causes for the deaths of the women and children in the compound. The siege is often viewed as one of the worst and most deadly failures in the history of the agency.

FBI's post-Waco adjustments

The Waco siege prompted the FBI to reevaluate its tactics and procedures. The agency made several adjustments in response to the criticism it faced. Firstly, there was a greater emphasis on crisis negotiation and peaceful resolutions, leading to increased training and the establishment of specialized negotiation teams. Secondly, the Hostage Rescue Team underwent enhancements in terms of training, equipment, and coordination to improve their effectiveness in high-risk operations. Interagency cooperation was emphasized to facilitate better coordination and information sharing among federal entities involved in complex operations. The FBI also recognized the value of intelligence gathering and analysis, leading to a focus on enhancing intelligence capabilities. Lastly, after-action reviews were conducted, and lessons learned were incorporated into training programs to better prepare agents for future situations.

Trial and imprisonments of Branch Davidians

The events at Mount Carmel spurred both criminal prosecution and civil litigation. On August 3, 1993, a federal grand jury returned a superseding ten-count indictment against 12 of the surviving Branch Davidians. The grand jury charged, among other things, that the Branch Davidians had conspired to, and aided and abetted in, the murder of federal officers, and had unlawfully possessed and used various firearms. The government dismissed the charges against one of the 12 Branch Davidians according to a plea bargain.

After a jury trial lasting nearly two months, the jury acquitted four of the Branch Davidians on all charges. Additionally, the jury acquitted all of the Branch Davidians on the murder-related charges but convicted five of them on lesser charges, including aiding and abetting the voluntary manslaughter of federal agents. Eight Branch Davidians were convicted on firearms charges.

The convicted Branch Davidians, who received sentences of up to 40 years, were:

Kevin A. Whitecliff – convicted of voluntary manslaughter and using a firearm during a crime.

Jaime Castillo – convicted of voluntary manslaughter and using a firearm during a crime.

Paul Gordon Fatta – convicted of conspiracy to possess machine guns and aiding Branch Davidian leader Koresh in possessing machine guns.

Renos Lenny Avraam (British national) – convicted of voluntary manslaughter and using a firearm during a crime.

Graeme Leonard Craddock (Australian national) – convicted of possessing a grenade and using or possessing a firearm during a crime.

Brad Eugene Branch – convicted of voluntary manslaughter and using a firearm during a crime.

Civil suits by Branch Davidians

Several of the surviving Branch Davidians, as well as more than a hundred family members of those who had died or were injured in the confrontation, brought civil suits against the United States government, numerous federal officials, the former governor of Texas Ann Richards, and members of the Texas Army National Guard. They sought monetary damages under the Federal Tort Claims Act, civil rights statutes, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, and Texas state law. The bulk of these claims were dismissed because they were insufficient as a matter of law or because the plaintiffs could advance no material evidence in support of them.

The trial ran from June 19 through July 14, 2000. Under the Federal Tort Claims Act, plaintiffs had no right to a jury trial, but on plaintiffs' motion, Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. empaneled a five-member advisory jury. The advisory jury found that the United States had not acted negligently in any respect, and Judge Smith subsequently issued findings of fact and conclusions of law adopting that result, entering a final "take-nothing" judgment against the plaintiffs on September 20, 2000. ATF agents returned gunfire to the building, the court ruled, to protect themselves and other agents from death or serious bodily harm. The court found that the government's planning of the siege—i.e., the decisions to use tear gas against the Branch Davidians; to insert the tear gas using military vehicles and to omit specific planning for the possibility that a fire would erupt—was a discretionary function for which the government could not be sued. The court also found that the use of tear gas was not negligent. Further, even if the United States government were negligent by causing damage to the buildings before the fires broke out, thus either blocking escape routes or enabling the fires to spread faster, that negligence did not legally cause the plaintiffs' injuries because the Branch Davidians started the fires.

The Branch Davidians appealed. They contended that the trial court judge, Walter S. Smith Jr., should have recused himself from hearing their claims on account of his relationships with defendants, defense counsel, and court staff; prior judicial determinations; and comments during trial. The Fifth Circuit concluded that these allegations did not reflect conduct that would cause a reasonable observer to question Judge Smith's impartiality, and it affirmed the take-nothing judgment, in Andrade v. Chojnacki, 338 F.3d 448 (5th Cir. 2003), cert. denied (2004).

Press coverage surrounding the Waco siege

The press coverage of the Waco siege was criticized for its sensationalism and for providing a platform for Koresh and his followers. Some journalists were accused of glamorizing Koresh and his beliefs, leading to concerns that the media attention may have unintentionally fueled the cult leader's messianic complex and prolonged the standoff. The legal proceedings that followed were complex and involved charges ranging from firearms violations to conspiracy to commit murder.

The trials were also criticized by some who believed that the defendants that were fueled by the media did not receive a fair trial or that the government failed to fully investigate its own actions during the siege.

Controversies

Roland Ballesteros, one of the agents assigned to the ATF door team that assaulted the front door, told Texas Rangers and Waco police that he thought the first shots came from the ATF dog team assigned to neutralize the Branch Davidians' dogs, but later at the trial, he insisted that the Branch Davidians had shot first. The Branch Davidians also claimed that the ATF door team opened fire at the door, and they returned fire in self-defense. An Austin Chronicle article noted, "Long before the fire," the Davidians were discussing the evidence contained in the doors. During the siege, in a phone conversation with the FBI, Steve Schneider, one of Koresh's main confidants told FBI agents that 'the evidence from the front door will clearly show how many bullets and what happened'." Houston attorney Dick DeGuerin, who went inside Mount Carmel during the siege, testified at the trial that protruding metal on the inside of the right-hand entry door made it clear that the bullet holes were made by incoming rounds. DeGuerin also testified that only the right-hand entry door had bullet holes, while the left-hand entry door was intact. The government presented the left-hand entry door at the trial, claiming that the right-hand entry door had been lost. The left-hand door contained numerous bullet holes made by both outgoing and incoming rounds. Texas Trooper Sgt. David Keys testified that he witnessed two men loading what could have been the missing door into a U-Haul van shortly after the siege had ended, but he did not see the object. Michael Caddell, the lead attorney for the Branch Davidians' wrongful death lawsuit explained, "The fact that the left-hand door is in the condition it's in tells you that the right-hand door was not consumed by the fire. It was lost on purpose by somebody." Caddell offered no evidence to support this allegation, which has never been proven. Fire investigators stated that it was "extremely unlikely" that the steel right door could have suffered damage in the fire much greater than did the steel left door, and both doors would have been found together. The right door remains missing, and the entire site was under close supervision by law enforcement officials until the debris—including both doors—had been removed.

In the weeks preceding the raid, Rick Alan Ross, a self-described cult expert and deprogrammer affiliated with the Cult Awareness Network, appeared on major networks such as NBC and CBS in regard to Koresh. Ross later described his role in advising authorities about the Davidians and Koresh, and what actions should be taken to end the siege. He was quoted as saying that he was consulted by the ATF and he contacted the FBI on March 4, 1993, requesting "that he be interviewed regarding his knowledge of cults in general and the Branch Davidians in particular." The FBI reports that it did not rely on Ross for advice whatsoever during the standoff, but that it did an interview and received input from him. Ross also telephoned the FBI on March 27 and March 28, offering advice about negotiation strategies, suggesting that the FBI "...attempt to embarrass Koresh by informing other members of the compound about Koresh's faults and failures in life, in order to convince them that Koresh was not the prophet they had been led to believe." The ATF also contacted Ross in January 1993 for information about Koresh. Several writers have documented the Cult Awareness Network's role about the government's decision-making concerning Waco. Mark MacWilliams notes that several studies have shown how "self-styled cult experts like Ross, anticult organizations like the Cult Awareness Network (CAN), and disaffected Branch Davidian defectors like Breault played important roles in popularizing a harshly negative image of Koresh as a dangerous cult leader. Portrayed as "self-obsessed, egomaniacal, sociopathic and heartless", Koresh was frequently characterized as either a religious lunatic who doomed his followers to mass suicide or a con man who manipulated religion for his own bizarre personal advantage." According to religious scholars Phillip Arnold and James Tabor who made an effort to help resolve the conflict, "the crisis need not have ended tragically if only the FBI had been more open to Religious Studies and better able to distinguish between the dubious ideas of Ross and the scholarly expertise."

Danforth's report

The Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, caused the media to revisit many of the questionable aspects of the government's actions at Waco, and many Americans who previously supported those actions began asking for an investigation of them. By 1999—as a result of certain aspects of the documentaries discussed below, as well as allegations made by advocates for Branch Davidians during litigation, public opinion held that the federal government had engaged in serious misconduct at Waco. A Time poll conducted on August 26, 1999, for example, indicated that 61 percent of the public believed that federal law enforcement officials started the fire at the Branch Davidian complex.

In September 1999, Attorney General Reno appointed former US Senator John C. Danforth as Special Counsel to investigate the matter. In particular, the Special Counsel was directed to investigate charges that government agents started or spread the fire at the Mount Carmel complex, directed gunfire at the Branch Davidians, and unlawfully employed the armed forces of the United States. A yearlong investigation ensued, during which the Office of the Special Counsel interviewed 1,001 witnesses, reviewed over 2.3 million pages of documents, and examined thousands of pounds of physical evidence. In the "Final report to the Deputy Attorney General concerning the 1993 confrontation at the Mt. Carmel Complex, Waco Texas" of November 8, 2000, Special Counsel Danforth concluded that the allegations were meritless. The report found that certain government employees had failed to disclose during litigation against the Branch Davidians the use of pyrotechnic devices at the complex, and had obstructed the Special Counsel's investigation. Disciplinary action was pursued against the employees.

Allegations that the government started the fire were largely based on an FBI agent's having fired three "pyrotechnic" tear gas rounds, which are delivered with a charge that burns. The Special Counsel concluded that the rounds did not start or contribute to the spread of the fire, based on their finding that the FBI fired the rounds nearly four hours before the fire started, at a concrete construction pit partially filled with water, 75 feet (23 m) away and downwind from the main living quarters of the complex. The Special Counsel noted that recorded interceptions of Branch Davidian conversations included such statements as "David said we have to get the fuel on" and "So we light it first when they come in with the tank right ... right as they're coming in." Some Branch Davidians who survived the fire acknowledged that other Branch Davidians started the fire. FBI agents witnessed Branch Davidians pouring fuel and igniting a fire, and noted these observations contemporaneously. Lab analysis found accelerants on the clothing of Branch Davidians, and investigators found deliberately punctured fuel cans and a homemade torch at the site. Based on this evidence and testimony, the Special Counsel concluded that the fire was started by the Branch Davidians.

Equipment and manpower

Government agencies

Raid (February 28): 75 federal agents (ATF and FBI); three Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters crewed by 10 Texas National Guard counter-drug personnel as distraction during the raid and filming; ballistic protection equipment, fire retardant clothing, regular flashlights, regular cameras (i.e., flash photography), pump-action shotguns and flashbang grenades, 9 mm handguns, 9 mm MP5 submachine guns, 5.56 NATO M16 rifles, a .308 bolt-action sniper rifle.

Siege (March 1 through April 18): Hundreds of federal agents; two Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopters.

Assault (April 19): Hundreds of federal agents; military vehicles (with their normal weapon systems removed): approx. nine M3 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, four or five M728 Combat Engineering Vehicles (CEVs) armed with CS gas, two M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks, one M88 recovery vehicle.

Support: one Britten-Norman Defender surveillance aircraft; a number of Texas National Guard personnel for maintenance of military vehicles and training on the use of the vehicles and their support vehicles (Humvees and flatbed trucks); surveillance from Texas National Guard counter-drug UC-26 surveillance aircraft and from Alabama National Guard; three soldiers from Delta Force, to serve as observers (also present during assault); two senior US Army officers as advisers, two members of the British Army's 22nd Special Air Service as observers; 50+ men in total.

Branch Davidians

The Branch Davidians were well-stocked with small arms, possessing 305 total firearms, including numerous rifles (semi-automatic AK-47s and AR-15s), shotguns, revolvers and pistols; 46 semi-automatic firearms modified to fire in fully automatic mode (included on above list): 22 AR-15 (erroneously referred to as M16), 20 AK-47 rifles, 2 HK SP-89, 2 M-11/Nine Texas Rangers reported "at least 16 AR-15 rifles,"; 2 AR-15 lower receivers modified to fire in fully automatic mode; 39 "auto sear" devices used to convert semi-automatic weapons into automatic weapons; parts for fully automatic AK-47 and M16 rifles; 30-round magazines and 100-round magazines for M16 and AK-47 rifles; pouches to carry large ammunition magazines; substantial quantities of ammunition of various sizes.

Other items found at the compound included about 1.9 million rounds of "cooked off" ammunition; grenade launcher parts; flare launchers; gas masks and chemical warfare suits; night vision equipment; hundreds of practice hand grenade hulls and components (including more than 200 inert M31 practice rifle grenades, more than 100 modified M-21 practice hand grenade bodies, 219 grenade safety pins and 243 grenade safety levers found after the fire); Kevlar helmets and ballistic vests; 88 lower receivers for the AR-15 rifle; and approximately 15 sound suppressors or silencers (the Treasury reports lists 21 silencers, Texas Rangers report that at least six items had been mislabeled and were actually 40 mm grenades or flash bang grenades from manufacturers who sold those models to the ATF or FBI exclusively; former Branch Davidian Donald Bunds testified he had manufactured silencers under direct orders of Koresh).

The ATF knew that the Branch Davidians had two .50 caliber rifles, so they asked for Bradley fighting vehicles, which could resist that caliber. During the siege, Koresh said that he had weapons bigger than .50 rifles and that he could destroy the Bradleys, so they were supplemented with two Abrams tanks and five M728 vehicles. The Texas Rangers recovered at least two .50 caliber weapons from the remains of the compound.

Whether the Branch Davidians fired the .50 caliber rifles during the raid or the assault is disputed. Various groups supporting gun control, such as Handgun Control Incorporated and the Violence Policy Center, have claimed that the Branch Davidians had fired .50 caliber rifles, and they have cited this as one reason to ban these weapons. The ATF claims such rifles were used against ATF agents the day of the search. Several years later, the General Accounting Office, in response to a request from Henry Waxman, released a briefing paper titled "Criminal Activity Associated with .50 Caliber Semiautomatic Rifles" that repeated the ATF's claims that the Branch Davidians used .50 caliber rifles during the search. FBI Hostage Rescue Team snipers reported sighting one of the weapons, readily identifiable by its distinctive muzzle brake, during the siege.

Legacy

Connection to the Oklahoma City bombing

Timothy McVeigh cited the Waco incident as a primary motivation for the Oklahoma City bombing, his April 19, 1995 truck bomb attack that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, a US government office complex in downtown Oklahoma City, and destroyed or damaged numerous other buildings in the vicinity. The attack claimed 168 lives (including 19 children under age 6) and left over 600 injured in the deadliest act of terrorism on US soil before the Al-Qaeda perpetrated September 11 attacks. As of 2026, it remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in American history.

Within days after the bombing, McVeigh and Terry Nichols were both taken into custody for their roles in the bombing. Investigators determined that the two were both sympathizers of an anti-government militia movement and that their motive was to avenge the government's handling of the Waco and Ruby Ridge incidents. McVeigh testified that he chose the date of April 19 because it was the second anniversary of the deadly fire at Mount Carmel. In March 1993, McVeigh drove from Arizona to Waco to observe the federal standoff. Along with other protesters, he was photographed by the FBI, and McVeigh was briefly interviewed by a television reporter. A courtroom reporter also claims to have later seen McVeigh outside the courthouse at Waco, selling anti-government bumper stickers.

Other events sharing the date of fire at Mt. Carmel have been mentioned in discussions of the Waco siege. The April 20th 1999, Columbine High School massacre was intended to be timed on April 19th in connection with McVeigh’s 1995 attack, however it was delayed as perpetrators Eric and Dylan did not get their ammunition in time, thus making it appear to have been (coincidentally) timed on Adolf Hitler’s birthday. Eight years before the Waco fire, the ATF and FBI raided another compound of a religious cult: The Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord. Some ATF agents who were present at that raid were present at Waco. April 19 was also the date from the American Revolution's opening battles of Lexington and Concord.

Montana Freeman siege

The Montana Freemen became the center of public attention in 1996 when they engaged in a prolonged armed standoff with agents of the FBI. The Waco siege, as well as the 1992 incident between the Weaver family and the FBI at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, were still fresh in the public mind, and the FBI was extremely cautious and wanted to prevent a recurrence of those violent events. After 81 days of negotiations, the Freemen surrendered to authorities on June 14, 1996, without loss of life.

Canadian anti-government militia

Several men with ties to the Canadian Armed Forces, including 2 active duty soldiers, were arrested in 2024, accused of creating an "anti-government militia". After a 2 year investigation by the RCMP, following a tip by CSIS, 4 men from Quebec were arrested with an extreme amount of firepower. According to the RCMP, 16 explosive devices, 83 firearms and accessories, approximately 11,000 rounds of ammunition of various calibres, nearly 130 magazines, four pairs of night vision goggles and military equipment were seized, as well as grenades. One of those arrested, Marc-Aurèle Chabot, allegedly said on a podcast in 2023, that "It's gonna be another Waco.", according to court documents.

Media portrayals of Waco

The Waco siege has been the subject of numerous documentary films and books. The first film was a made-for television docudrama film, In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco, which was made during the siege, before the April 19 assault on the church, and presented the initial firefight of February 28, 1993 as an ambush. The film's writer, Phil Penningroth, has since disowned his screenplay as pro-ATF "propaganda".

The first book about the incident was 1993's Inside the Cult co-authored by ex-Branch Davidian Marc Breault, who left the group in September 1989, and Martin King who interviewed Koresh for Australian television in 1992. In July 1993, true crime author Clifford L. Linedecker published his book Massacre at Waco, Texas.

Shortly after, in 1994, a collection of 45 essays called From the Ashes: Making Sense of Waco was published, about the events of Waco from various cultural, historical, and religious perspectives. The essays in the book include one by Michael Barkun that talked about how the Branch Davidians' behavior was consistent with other millenarian religious sects and how the use of the word cult is used to discredit religious organizations, one by James R. Lewis that claims a large amount of evidence that the FBI lit the fires, and many others. All of these perspectives are united in the belief that the deaths of the Branch Davidians at Waco could have been prevented and that "the popular demonization of nontraditional religious movements in the aftermath of Waco represents a continuing threat to freedom of religion".

Carol Moore's The Davidian Massacre: Disturbing Questions About Waco That Must Be Answered was published in 1995.

The American novelist John Updike was directly inspired by the Waco events in writing the fourth and last part of his book In the Beauty of the Lilies (1996).

The first documentary films critical of the official versions were Waco, the Big Lie and Waco II, the Big Lie Continues, both produced by Linda Thompson in 1993. Thompson's films made several controversial allegations, the most notorious of which was her claim that footage of an armored vehicle breaking through the outer walls of the compound, with an appearance of orange light on its front, was showing a flamethrower attached to the vehicle, setting fire to the building. As a response to Thompson, Michael McNulty released footage to support his counter-claim that the appearance of light was a reflection on aluminized insulation that was torn from the wall and snagged on the vehicle. (The vehicle is an M728 CEV, which is not normally equipped with a flamethrower.) McNulty accused Thompson of "creative editing" in his film Waco: An Apparent Deviation. Thompson worked from a VHS copy of the surveillance tape; McNulty was given access to a beta original. McNulty in turn was later accused of having digitally altered his footage, an allegation he denied.

Series

The Waco siege is used as a subplot in the South Park episode, "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub". In the episode, the ATF plans to save the day by stopping the 'cultists' of a meteor-shower from killing themselves. Even if it means they have to "Kill every single one of them". The episode depicted the ATF as incompetent and shows them killing multiple innocent people needlessly.

The X-Files season 4 episode 5, The Field Where I Died makes references to various cult related events from that period, including the Waco siege. The episode centres around an ATF and FBI investigation of a cult compound suspected to be involved in child abuse and illegal gun manufacturing.

In season 3, episode 11 of True Blood, Jason Stackhouse tells his romantic partner, Crystal Norris, that the Drug Enforcement Administration is planning to raid the drug dens her family and community operate in fictional town Hotshot, Louisiana. She responds, saying the community will fight back, or, kill everyone to avoid prosecution. Jason then exclaims it'll be Waco all over again.

Branch Davidian survivor David Thibodeau wrote his account of life in the group and of the siege in the book A Place Called Waco, published in 1999. His book served in part as the basis for the 2018 Paramount Network six-part television drama miniseries Waco, starring Michael Shannon as the FBI negotiator Gary Noesner, Taylor Kitsch as Koresh, and Rory Culkin as Thibodeau. Developed by John Erick Dowdle and Drew Dowdle, it premiered on January 24, 2018.

The City of God: A New American Opera by Joshua Armenta dramatized the negotiations between the FBI and Koresh, premiered in 2012, utilizing actual transcripts from the negotiations as well as biblical texts and hymns from the Davidian hymnal. In 2015, Retro Report released a mini documentary looking back at Waco and how it has fueled many right-wing militias.