Waco: The Raid on Mount Carmel (Part 2/3) | Forensic Files

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In the wooded hills of northern Idaho, just 30-odd miles south of the Canadian border, lies a mountain ridge in the
Kaniksu National Forest known as Ruby Ridge. This rugged and remote location was home
to 20 acres of land that belonged to a former US Army Special Forces officer named Randy Weaver.
Randy had bought the land in 1983 after his wife, Vicki, who was deeply religious, began having recurring dreams
about living on a mountain top. Believing an apocalypse was imminent and that Vicki's dreams indicated where they
needed to be, Randy and Vicki sold their belongings, learned from an Amish community how to live without
electricity, and built a basic cabin on their newly purchased land. It had no power or running water, but
the Weavers made it work. Over the next decade, they turned it into a home for their four children:
Sara, Samuel, Rachel, and Elisheba. The family lived a survivalist, self-sufficient lifestyle.
Instead of buying food, they hunted and foraged and raised their own livestock. The children were homeschooled.
Despite their isolated setup, the Weavers made friends with others in the area. They even took in a troubled teenager
named Kevin Harris. Early on the morning of Friday, August 21, 1992, Kevin Harris and 14-year-old
Samuel Weaver were walking along a trail that led to the family's cabin, accompanied by one of the Weavers' dogs,
a Labrador retriever named Striker. The trail was wide enough to accommodate an SUV and flanked by heavy woods on
either side. When a noise emanated from some nearby brush, Striker barked. The dog approached the brush, still
barking loudly. Hoping Striker might have sniffed out some game they could hunt for meat,
Samuel and Kevin followed. According to later testimony from the Weaver family, gunfire suddenly rang
out, killing Striker. Three US Marshals who dressed from head to toe in camouflage and carrying M-16
rifles had been hiding in the surrounding woods as part of a reconnaissance team keeping watch over
the property. One of them shot Striker after he revealed their location. Samuel Weaver cried out,
"You've killed my dog, you son of a bitch." As he was carrying a firearm, the 14-year-old returned fire.
A second US Marshal shot back in his direction, hitting Samuel in the arm. Samuel began running up a hill back
toward the family's house when he was shot again, twice in the back, and fell face down on the ground.
Meanwhile, Kevin had dived behind a tree stump for cover before firing his own gun at the Marshals.
He hit and killed one of them. Kevin Harris managed to flee back to the cabin. Wails and despair could be heard from
inside its walls as the family discovered that their only son and brother had been killed.
19 rounds had been fired during the confrontation. Three were shot by Samuel Weaver, two by
Kevin Harris, and 14 by the three US marshals combined. The marshals' story differed somewhat
from the Weaver family's. They had been at the property as part of a planned raid to arrest a Randy Weaver,
a white supremacist who'd been on the radar of multiple law enforcement agencies for years.
In 1985, a neighbor had accused him of threatening to kill then US President Ronald Reagan, the governor of Idaho,
and Pope John Paul II. It was said that Randy was a member of the racist terror group Aryan Nations,
and that he had a large cache of firearms. In 1986, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
and Firearms, known as the ATF, learned of Randy Weaver after one of their informants met him at the World Aryan
Congress, a convention where American neo-Nazis called for the creation of a new white
and male-dominated homeland. Randy met with the informant several times and suggested they form a group to
fight what he called the Zionist Organized Government. This was his term for the United States
government, referencing an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory that claims Jews secretly run Western states.
The ATF later charged Randy Weaver with selling their undercover informant two shotguns with barrels that had been
sawed off below the legal minimum length. In October 1990, a grand jury indicted
Randy for possession of illegal weapons. He was granted bail but failed to appear
in court for his scheduled trial date. It was said that Randy possessed multiple firearms and arresting him at
his own residence was therefore deemed too dangerous. This led to the US Marshals attempting
to arrange for Randy to surrender himself peacefully. After four months of failed
negotiations, on Friday, August 21, 1992, the US Marshals descended on the Weaver property under cover of darkness
in a planned raid that resulted in 14-year-old Samuel Weaver, a US Marshal named William Bill Degan, and the
Weaver's dog being killed. In the Marshals' version of events, Randy Weaver had been with Samuel,
Kevin, and Striker as they approached the brush. They claimed that when Striker exposed
their locations, they shouted to identify themselves, which led to Kevin Harris firing at them and initiating the
confrontation. Deputy US Marshal Degan, who Kevin had mortally wounded, fired seven rounds
back while another Marshal shot Striker, scared the dog would attack. It was then that Samuel Weaver started
firing. Ballistics reports indicated that Samuel was killed by Deputy US Marshal Larry
Cooper, though these reports weren't conclusive. Cooper denied shooting Samuel, saying he
hit Kevin Harris instead. Though there was no evidence that Kevin was struck at all.
The FBI later stated that they hadn't realized Samuel Weaver was dead until days after the shootout.
The altercation led to a standoff between law enforcement and the Weaver family.
While the Weavers barricaded themselves in their home, the Marshals radioed for reinforcements.
State police, ATF agents, an FBI hostage rescue team, and FBI snipers took up locations around the property.
Given the drastic situation with two people already dead, one of those a member of federal law enforcement, and a
family said to be armed and to dangerous, the FBI amended its usual rules of engagement.
Ordinarily, an FBI agent can only fire against someone if they or other agents are in danger of bodily harm or death.
At Ruby Ridge, agents would be permitted to fire at any adult male holding a weapon as long as the shot could be
taken without endangering children. In the wake of the initial shootout, members of the Weaver family had managed
to collect Samuel's body from where it lay dead on the ground and moved him to a shed.
On Saturday, August 22, they made plans to bury him. Before laying his son to rest, Randy
Weaver left the cabin to visit him one last time. He was joined by his 16-year-old
daughter, Sara, and family friend, Kevin Harris. Randy Weaver was lifting the latch to
the shed where Samuel's body lay when a shot rang out. An FBI sniper named Lon Horiuchi, who
had been watching the scene from 200 yards to the north had taken fire. The shot struck Randy in his back with
the bullet exiting his right armpit. Injured, but not incapacitated, Randy turned and ran back towards the cabin
with Sara and Kevin. Sara did her best to shield her father from being shot again, realizing that he
was the target, and pushed him in front of her towards the cabin. Vicki Weaver stood in the cabin's
doorway holding the door open for them with her 10-month-old daughter Elisheba in her arms.
Randy and Sara raced indoors with Kevin behind them. As he crossed the threshold, Agent
Horiuchi fired another shot aiming for Kevin. But the bullet struck Vicki first,
fatally tearing through her face before hitting Kevin Harris in the chest. Vicki fell to the floor with her infant
daughter still in her arms. Kevin was badly injured and begged Randy to kill him and put him out of his
misery. Randy refused. The Weavers felt like they were being hunted. They had no faith in the federal
government and refused to trust the FBI negotiators who tried to arrange for their surrender.
The standoff went on for days with the Weaver family holed up inside their cabin and federal agents surrounding the
property. A crowd of spectators and protesters sympathetic to the Weavers gathered at
the base of the mountain. Some carried signs that decried the actions of federal law enforcement.
One read, "Federal informant, federal charges, federal attack. I'm fed up. Are you?
Stand up before it's too late. Eventually, a former US Army Special Forces member with similar politics to
Randy Weaver was called in to help. Over 3 days, he managed to convince Randy to surrender, promising that he
would assist in getting Randy a fair trial. The standoff finally came to an end on
Monday, August 31, 11 days after it began. Randy Weaver and Kevin Harris, who recovered from his bullet wound after
the surrender, were charged with multiple offenses, including the murder of the US Marshal.
Both men were acquitted of this most serious crime at a federal trial. Ballistic reports revealed that Randy
Weaver hadn't fired a single shot during the entire standoff. In the end, Randy was sentenced to 18
months in for missing his original court date and violating bail conditions. He later filed a $200 million civil suit
against the government for the wrongful deaths of his wife and son. In 1995, the government settled the
case, agreeing to pay Randy Weaver $100,000 and $1 million to each of his three daughters.
The events at Ruby Ridge sent shockwaves through the United States and had significant ramifications.
The media and the public were broadly critical of how the various federal agencies had handled the case.
A special task force report and a Senate subcommittee report both agreed that the
rules of engagement were unconstitutional. They also broadly agreed with the Weavers' version of how the altercation
began. Agent Lon Horiuchi, the FBI sniper who shot killed Vicki Weaver, was charged
with involuntary manslaughter, though the case against him was ultimately dismissed.
There were no criminal convictions for the deaths of either Samuel or Vicki Weaver.
For many Americans, the Ruby Ridge incident was seen as a shocking example of state overreach and unnecessary
government interference into the lives of private citizens. Roughly 2,000 mi away, at the Mount
Carmel Center east of Waco, Texas, members of the Branch Davidian Church were among those taking note.
For some time now, their leader, David Koresh, had been predicting an impending apocalypse on their land, which would
take the form of government persecution. "What are you going to do 6 months from
now when this is all surrounded by tanks?" he'd asked several followers in June of 1992.
2 months later, as they followed reports of the Ruby Ridge siege on television news, David Koresh wondered aloud,
"Is it a dress rehearsal for an attack on Mount Carmel?" The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and
Firearms, abbreviated to the ATF, is a US federal law enforcement agency that falls under the Department of Justice.
Initially founded as a way to collect taxes on imported spirits and tobacco, the agency's role evolved over time,
taking on a more investigative and regulatory role. The ATF is responsible for investigating
crimes that involve alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives, which has made it an unpopular agency at times.
This has been attributed to the ATF's role in regulating products that many Americans enjoy and don't want
regulated. In the words of author Jeff Guinn, the agency has become something of a public
punching bag. The ATF wasn't just unpopular with the public. It struggled with lawmakers,
too. It received less funding than other federal law enforcement agencies, had fewer employees, and frequently came
under attack by the country's powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association.
The ATF's role as the nation's enforcer of gun laws meant it was often accused of trampling on citizens' Second
Amendment rights, the amendment in the US Constitution that enshrines the rights of Americans to bear arms.
In the early 1990s, the ATF was in such dire financial straits that agents in charge of divisional offices began
issuing fines to other agents if they were late for meetings, just so they had some money they could use to purchase
necessary equipment. The ATF undertook its own investigations, but was also often
called upon by other agencies to provide support as required. In early June of 1992, the ATF received
one request from a sheriff's department in Texas who said that they were dealing
with a situation in McLennan County, near the city of Waco. It had all started with some reports of
troubling things being sent in the mail. Larry Gilbreath was a driver for the United Parcel Service, or UPS, and he
had been delivering parcels to the Mount Carmel compound since 1986. Sometimes he made several deliveries in
one week. Initially, he'd thought nothing of it. The residents who lived at Mount Carmel
were viewed by the broader community in Waco as maybe a little odd, but harmless
and decent people. Larry would drive their parcels out to the Mount Carmel compound, where David
Koresh often signed for them personally. He was always friendly, and Larry enjoyed chatting with him about cars and
other hobbies. But, things changed over time. While the parcels had initially borne
packaging labels that indicated they contained medication or other personal items, larger boxes had started arriving
from an arms dealer. More and more kept coming. Larry thought it was strange that a
religious organization would be ordering so many firearms. In early 1992, David Koresh began
redirecting these deliveries, so they weren't addressed to the Mount Carmel compound. Instead, Larry had to take
them to a garage that they rented several miles away, known as the Mag Bag. The Branch Davidians who met Larry to
sign for the packages began dressing in military fatigues. In Larry's view, they looked more like a
militia than a church group. They were also ordering ammunition and magazines for .223 rifles, AK-47s, and
AR-15s. They even ordered a grenade launcher. One day in February of 1992, Larry
dropped one of the parcels marked for delivery to the Mag Bag and it broke open.
Inside were about 50 hand grenades. Several rolled out of the box. Terrified, Larry jumped back before
realizing that they were just the grenade casings and they had no explosives inside.
Still, the sight of so many potential bombs was alarming, especially as Larry had noted that another delivery was
marked as containing black powder, a substance used to make explosives. Larry told his wife about the incident,
who in turn reported it to the local Sheriff's Department. The Gilbreaths told the Sheriff about
the other deliveries as well. It wasn't illegal to receive large shipments of firearms in Texas, but the
grenades and black powder were more concerning. Plus, some of the ammunition David
Koresh was ordering was for fully automatic rifles, suggesting he might be illegally converting semi-automatic
weapons. The size of these orders was large enough to suggest a substantial operation.
A number of the Sheriff's deputies also remembered David Koresh's shootout with the George Roden several years earlier
and how he was subsequently trialed for attempted murder. On Thursday, June 4, 1992, McLennan
County Sheriff's Department reached out to the ATF to request an investigation. Agent Davey Aguilera began looking into
the matter, tracing David Koresh's purchases of firearms and ammunition. He also interviewed neighbors who lived
near the Mount Carmel compound to see if they had noticed anything strange. One neighbor, a military veteran,
mentioned that in January of 1992, he'd heard machine gun fire coming from Mount
Carmel. After learning that Koresh had purchased weapons from a local dealer named Henry
McMahon, Agent Aguilera spoke to him as well. Henry told the agent that he and Koresh
were in business together. Koresh and his Branch Davidians assembled AR-15s from other parts, then
Henry sold them at gun shows. Agent Aguilera informed Henry that this arrangement could make him liable for an
11% federal tax on any proceeds, and he'd need to keep meticulous records of every transaction.
This prompted Henry to cancel the arrangement with Koresh, as he didn't want the extra cost or hassle.
While he was speaking with Agent Aguilera, Henry called Koresh to tell him that the ATF was there asking
questions. Now, the Branch Davidians would know they were being investigated. "Well, if there's a problem, tell them
to come out here," Koresh replied. But the agents declined his invitation, as they didn't yet have a warrant to
search the compound and doubted Koresh would show them everything they wanted to see.
Agent Aguilera continued working on his investigation, certain that Koresh was involved in illegal firearm activities.
He also sent a report on his discoveries to ATF headquarters, asking for permission to seek a search warrant for
Mount Carmel from federal court. While Agent Aguilera was waiting to hear back about his request, news broke of
the siege at Ruby Ridge in which two innocent civilians and a US Marshal had been killed.
This led to significant negative publicity for the ATF along with other federal law enforcement agencies.
Two months after the conclusion of the siege, Agent Aguilera was informed on Monday, November 2, that his request to
search Mount Carmel had been denied. The denial of Agent Aguilera's request didn't mean the case was closed. It just
meant that Aguilera had to keep digging for more evidence. Understaffing at the ATF meant that he
was mostly working solo with occasional help here and there. He'd managed to track down multiple arms
dealers who'd sold to Koresh and established that the Branch Davidians possessed enough firearms, conversion
kits, and munitions to suggest that they were likely involved in illegal sales. But, Aguilera hadn't found any actual
evidence that proved criminal activity. In December 1992, he began focusing more
on interviewing individuals who might have witnessed illegal activity. Agent Aguilera spoke to Child Protective
Services worker Joyce Sparks about her investigation into the Branch Davidians. Amongst her general recollections of
what she'd seen at Mount Carmel, Joyce described how a little boy there had told her that all of the adults had guns
and practiced using them a lot. Joyce had asked if David Koresh if she could see the guns kept at the compound.
After a 30-minute wait, Koresh escorted Joyce to an old yellow school bus that lay next to the compound.
It was mostly buried under the ground. At one end of the bus was a refrigerator marked with bullet holes.
Three rifles lay on the floor. Koresh explained that he did his target practice there as the bus muffled the
sound and didn't disturb the neighbors. Joyce also related how Koresh had given an ominous warning stating,
"My time is coming. When I reveal myself as the messenger and my time comes, what
happens will make the riots in LA pale in comparison." He was referring to the 1992 Los Angeles
riots, which saw a series of violent riots and civil disturbances across Los Angeles County during May and April of
that year. In total, 63 people had been killed and 2,383 were injured. Agent Aguilera interviewed some
ex-Branch Davidians including Mark Breault who was living in Australia and had started a campaign against Koresh
after becoming disillusioned with his former mentor. Mark described how he had participated
in shooting practice alongside Koresh and said that Branch Davidians took it in turns to stand guard around the
building while armed. He himself had done so with a loaded gun. According to Mark, Koresh had told them
that if anyone attempted to enter the property, they should shoot to kill. During one conversation, Koresh had
disparaged gun laws as ludicrous because, quote, "An individual could easily acquire a
firearm and the necessary parts to convert it to a machine gun. But, if a person had the gun and the
parts together, they would be in violation of the law." This was significant as it was an open
admission that Koresh knew he was breaking the law by converting firearms. Another witness who had left the Branch
Davidians in June 1992 said that Koresh's arsenal had grown even larger in recent months.
This individual had seen a .50 caliber weapon so large that it was mounted on a tactical bipod and had heard of other
similar firearms on the property. There were also around 15 AR-15s, 25 AK-47s, several pistols, and three street
sweepers, a 12-gauge 12-shot shotgun with a spring-driven drum magazine and folding buttstock.
Each time a street sweeper's trigger was released after firing a shot, the magazine rotated to position the next
shot for firing. Agent Aguilera also spoke to one of Koresh's former wives, Robyn Bunds, her
brother, and her mother, Jeannine, who had also slept with Koresh with the intention of conceiving a child.
They told the agent that Koresh had screened violent movies about the Vietnam War and told his followers they
were training films. Branch Davidians armed with guns took turns standing guard around the building
and there were sometimes shooting drills with AK-47s. The Bunds also told Aguilera that there
were foreigners at Mount Carmel who had overstayed their visas, and that Koresh had fathered more than a dozen children
with various women and girls. They explained that no man other than Koresh were permitted to engage in
sexual activity. Janine Bunds told the agent that she had personally delivered some of the babies
born to female Branch Davidians. The youngest mother had been just 11 years old.
Although the sexual abuse of minors and immigration violations did not fall under the ATF's jurisdiction, these
other alleged crimes strengthened Aguilera's case, especially as it was against federal law for illegal aliens
to receive a firearm. Upon performing background checks on the Branch Davidians, Agent Aguilera found
that more than 40 were foreign nationals, many of whom were there illegally. Several others had been arrested,
convicted, or were under investigation for various crimes, ranging from fraud to smuggling and narcotics offenses.
Agent Aguilera had enough to obtain the search warrant he needed to raid Mount Carmel.
But he still wanted evidence that was stronger than statements from former members who'd left the compound years
earlier. On Friday, October 2, 1992, the ATF installed a pole camera along the road
near the property in the hopes of capturing photographic proof of the Branch Davidians shooting drills.
Unfortunately, the footage captured by the cameras was too poor to be of any use.
Their next option was to send in some undercover agents. >> The Mount Carmel compound had a long
driveway and it sat 200 yards back from Double A Ranch Road. It was a narrow road that could barely
accommodate two lanes and much of it was unpaved. It was mostly packed dirt framed by
gravel along its margins. Sprawling sparse fields lay on either side with an occasional house here and
there. As there were just a few other properties within the vicinity of Mount Carmel, everybody there knew one
another. One of these properties sat directly across the road from the Mount Carmel
driveway. In late 1992, the tenants of that house moved out explaining that the property's
owner wanted to perform some minor repairs. In January 1993, eight men in their late
20s and early 30s moved in. They told the Branch Davidians and other neighbors that they were students at
Texas State Technical College in Waco. Not long after they arrived, they threw a housewarming party and invited the
Branch Davidians. In reality, they were undercover ATF agents tasked with surveilling the Mount
Carmel compound. Their new home was dubbed the undercover house. They kept cameras aimed at the compound
at all times and noted all the comings and goings of its residents. The ATF estimated that about 75 people
lived at Mount Carmel, but it was difficult to obtain an accurate count of the residents due to the way people came
and went from the building. There were always people milling about. In actuality, Mount Carmel's population
was almost double that amount. There were 130 Branch Davidians there including 42 men, 45 women, and 43
children aged 15 and younger. The undercover agents also wanted to get a sense of what the compound's internal
layout was like. On Thursday, January 28th, 1993, two of the undercover agents walked over to
Mount Carmel and tried to strike up a conversation with some of the men working outside on the property.
After a few of these visits, Agent Robert Rodriguez received an invitation from David Koresh to attend a Bible
study. The two seemed to build a rapport, with Koresh spending time talking to Agent
Rodriguez one-on-one. He warned the undercover agent that his group was being persecuted by law
enforcement, and said that Rodriguez would also be watched by police if he continued to visit.
Koresh spoke disparagingly of regulations that made it illegal to convert semi-automatic rifles to
automatic ones without a permit. He referred to the United States as the dragon and said it was going to be
destroyed. Over the next few weeks, Rodriguez visited a few more times, and even
participated in shooting practice with Koresh. On Sunday, February 21st, Koresh suggested that Rodriguez join a two-week
Bible study course that was beginning in just over a week's time on Monday, March
1st. After completing the course, Rodriguez could move into the compound as part of
becoming a Branch Davidian. Joining the Branch Davidians and living at Mount Carmel would give Robert
Rodriguez complete access to the inside of the compound, allowing him to provide
a detailed description of its layout to his superiors. He proposed that he take Koresh up on
his offer, but his proposal was rejected. The ATF already had another plan. While the undercover operation had been
getting underway, tactical leaders at the agency had been developing plans for how they would serve search warrants at
the property. They wanted the operation to be seamless. Recently, the ATF had been on the
receiving end of negative publicity from all sides. The Ruby Ridge siege had led to strong
criticism from the public and conservative politicians who were already disinclined to like the agency.
Late in 1992, reports that female ATF agents had been sexually harassed by male colleagues led to negative
attention from the political left as well. There were rumors that the newly elected
US President Bill Clinton wanted to merge the ATF with the FBI. The ATF's officials wanted to improve
their optics. They needed a big win that would reflect well on their work. They had hopes that win would be a
successful raid of the Branch Davidian compound. Ideally, they would just arrest a David
Koresh away from the compound when he left to conduct a business elsewhere. That would ensure the safety of the many
followers who lived at Mount Carmel. But, the ATF received inaccurate reports that Koresh never left the compound. So,
they didn't put together a plan for how such an arrest might be achieved. Usually, the ATF used one of two methods
when conducting a raid. The first was dubbed surround and call out, where they would approach a
residence and call out to its occupants to surrender peacefully. The other was known as a dynamic entry
and involved bursting into a location before the suspects inside had time to prepare.
Everything the ATF thought they knew about the Branch Davidians made the first option a no-go.
There was fear they might destroy evidence, use their firearms to attack, or enact a mass suicide rather than
surrender. They also had enough food in the form of military style ready-to-eat meals to
sustain them for months. The problem with the dynamic entry was that Mount Carmel was in a difficult
spot to launch a surprise attack. It sat on top of a small hill with no ground cover around it.
Any approach by the ATF would be seen by the Branch Davidians before they arrived.
Even though Koresh kept strict controls over the group's firearms and they were locked away when not in use, they'd
still have time to grab their weapons. Then they could fire at approaching agents who'd be left completely exposed.
Plus, there were many women and children who lived at the property. The last thing the ATF wanted was
another situation where innocent civilians were killed. Intelligence gathered by Agent Aguilera
helped them come up with an alternative idea. He'd learned that every morning of the
week except for Saturdays, the men at the compound went outside by 10:00 a.m. at the latest and worked on excavating a
large pit intended as a tornado shelter. Maybe the ATF could catch them by surprise before they had time to grab
weapons from the compound by driving up in pickup trucks with cattle trailers hitched to the back.
That would make them look like regular road users instead of law enforcement. When the Branch Davidians saw them
heading up the driveway, they would probably assume they'd just taken a wrong turn.
It was decided that helicopters would also fly overhead as a kind of diversion from the pickup trucks.
Snipers would also take up position in the undercover agent's house nearby, just in case.
As the pickup trucks pulled up, agents would burst out from the cattle trailers and subdue the men at the pit.
Another group would climb into the compound via a ladder to secure the gun room inside, making sure no one else
could gain access. Meanwhile, other agents would announce themselves at the front door, then use a
battering ram to gain entrance. Female ATF agents would herd the women and children together and keep them calm
in a separate area of the compound. After the scene was contained, the agents would search the compound and
seize illegally converted weapons along with any other illicit materials they might find.
76 ATF agents would participate in the raid, and about half of these were members of the agency's elite tactical
units known as the special response teams, or SRTs. Agents from all over the country would
arrive in Texas several days beforehand to be deployed at Fort Hood Army base for briefings, special training
exercises, and rehearsals. Then, they would be relocated to Waco the night before the scheduled raid.
It would be the biggest raid in the agency's history and was dubbed Operation Trojan Horse.
The go word to signal the launch of the raid was showtime. The ATF director signed off on the plan
in mid-February, and Operation Trojan Horse was scheduled for Monday, March 1, until a last-minute complication changed
everything. By early 1993, Branch Davidians had been making occasional headlines in the Waco
Tribune-Herald for a number of years. The newspaper had covered the 1988 trial of eight Branch Davidians for attempted
murder, and in April 1992, they ran several articles about a mass suicide that was rumored to be planned at Mount
Carmel. Stories about so-called cult groups always attracted interest from readers
and made for a change of pace to the usual daily news. Mark England and Darlene McCormick were
the journalists of the Waco Tribune-Herald known to cover the Branch Davidians. In October 1992, they received reports
from sources that the group was being investigated by the federal government for possessing illegal weapons.
When Darlene McCormick had dug deeper into the matter, one of her sources told her how David Koresh had claimed the
divine right to take every man's wife. They also alleged that he had boasted of having sex with underage girls, and he'd
abused children both physically and psychologically. Darlene McCormick and Mark England began
putting together an investigative series on the Branch Davidians. It was ready for publication by early
January 1993, but its release was postponed after ATF officials confirmed with the newspaper that a raid was being
planned. The agency wanted the paper to hold off on publication until after the raid.
They initially told the editors that the raid would happen on February 22, then changed it to March 1, and then moved it
to an indefinite date. After much back and forth, the agency refused to provide an exact date for of
operation or even a window for when it was likely to occur. Tired of holding off on the story, and
believing the public had a right to know what was being alleged about the church
group, the Waco Tribune-Herald published the first article in the series on Saturday, February 27, 1993.
Under the headline, The Sinful Messiah, the article opened with the words, "If you are a Branch Davidian, Christ
lives on a threadbare piece of land 10 miles east of Waco called Mount Carmel. He has dimples, claims a ninth-grade
education, married his legal wife when she was 14, enjoys a beer now and then, plays a mean guitar, reportedly packs a
9-mm Glock, and keeps an arsenal of military assault rifles, and willingly admits that he is a sinner without
equal." Spread across three pages, the article went on to outline the allegations
against 33-year-old David Koresh, noting that authorities have done little to prosecute Koresh for his alleged crimes.
It described how many former members had left the group, but that Koresh remains
with about 75 faithful in a compound they built to await the end of the world. Former cult members and authorities say
it is heavily armed. The newspaper also ran an editorial imploring local authorities to take
action against Koresh. The ATF had originally planned to execute the raid on Monday, March 1.
After learning that the Waco Tribune-Herald was beginning a series about the Branch Davidians 2 days before
the intended raid, the ATF decided to change their plans. Worried the articles might make the
Branch Davidians cagier and more alert to danger than usual, they would bring the raid forward.
They couldn't move it to the day of the articles publication as most of the agents participating in the operation
would have only just arrived and needed more time to prepare. Instead, the raid would take place the
day after the story ran on Sunday, February 28th. On Saturday, February 27th, undercover
agent Robert Rodriguez visited Mount Carmel with a copy of the paper to show the group.
After David Koresh read the articles, he seemed concerned. At a sermon in the chapel that day,
Koresh spoke about the coverage and how an attack from Babylon was clearly impending adding,
"Now for sure, they'll be coming. Remember what I taught, how we have rehearsed.
It seemed as though Koresh was clearly anticipating some kind of intervention. Agent Rodriguez reported back to his
superiors stating that while Koresh and his followers had been unhappy about the
articles, they'd still gone about their usual routine. He also noted that he hadn't seen any
guns out while at the compound. This seemed reassuring. Rodriguez's superiors told him to return
to Mount Carmel early the next morning before the raid to gauge the goings-on there.
Sunday, February 28th was a chilly morning with light rain. At 8:00 a.m., agent Robert Rodriguez
returned to Mount Carmel with copies of that day's Waco Tribune Herald. Everything seemed normal with no sign of
any preparations for an attack. He chatted with Koresh in the front compound area.
After reading the articles, David Koresh decided he wanted more copies of the paper. So, he asked his brother-in-law,
David Jones, to go to the store and buy some. David was employed as a postal worker,
and he drove a yellow Buick with the words US Mail painted on the door. At about 8:30 a.m., David Jones drove
away from Mount Carmel. As David drove along Old Mexia Road towards Waco, he spotted a car pulled
over the side of the road. Standing next to the car was a man wearing a windbreaker jacket emblazoned
with the letters KWTX, the name of a local television station. David pulled over and asked if there was
a problem. The man introduced himself as Jim Peeler, a TV news cameraman. He said he was looking for a nearby
compound called Mount Carmel, but he was lost. Thinking he was just talking to a US
postal worker, Jim explained that he needed to film an important police raid that was about to take place.
David Jones pointed out where the compound was. Then he got back into his car, did a
U-turn, and sped back to Mount Carmel. David Jones burst back into the compound just 15 minutes after he'd left.
He saw that David Koresh was still speaking to Agent Rodriguez in the front compound area.
Although Rodriguez believed he'd successfully infiltrated the Branch Davidians with an undercover persona,
the truth was that they had known he belonged to law enforcement right from the start.
The entire household of undercover agents had stood out like a sore thumb. Despite saying they were students, the
eight men looked too old to be in college and had the clean-cut look of law enforcement agents.
They drove new model cars and when they'd hosted a house party, they kept most of the doors inside firmly closed.
The Branch Davidians had realized who they really were and some had discouraged David Koresh from welcoming
Agent Rodriguez to their home. Koresh had simply reminded them that the Gospels told of Jesus befriending a
Roman Centurion. Knowing that Rodriguez was with the ATF, David Jones didn't want him to know that
he was now aware of the impending raid. So instead of approaching Koresh, he whispered the information to his father,
Perry Jones, who then summoned Koresh to another room by pretending he had a phone call.
After speaking with Perry Jones for a few minutes, David Koresh returned and approached Agent Rodriguez, who could
immediately see that something was wrong. Koresh was physically shaking and had dropped the Bible he was carrying.
Nervously, he told Rodriguez, "They got me once and they'll never get me again."
He then walked to a window and gazed out across the long driveway before moving to another window.
After staring outside for some time, Koresh turned back to Rodriguez and said, "They're coming, Robert.
The time has come." Understanding that Koresh had somehow found out about the imminent raid,
Rodriguez knew he had to leave the compound. Meanwhile, more and more Branch Davidians were gathering in the room,
watching and listening to the goings-on. Agent Rodriguez told Koresh he had to leave and meet someone for breakfast.
Koresh shook his hand and added, "Okay, Robert. Good luck." Rodriguez exited the compound terrified
that someone might shoot him from behind as he walked to his car. Trying to hide his fear, he walked the
30-ft distance to where he'd parked, glancing at the end of the driveway towards the undercover house as he did
so. He was shocked to see that all of the house's windows were open with cameras
and snipers clearly visible inside. If any of the Branch Davidians walked outside, they would be able to see that,
too. Rodriguez made it to his car and drove down the long driveway back to the undercover house.
Once he was inside, he called raid leader and operations second-in-command, Chuck Sarabyn, who was stationed at the
ATF's command post about 8 mi away. Frantically, Rodriguez explained how their cover was blown and Koresh knew
they were coming. In response, Agent Sarabyn asked if Rodriguez had seen any guns out while
inside the compound. Rodriguez said he hadn't and nor had Koresh responded to the news with a call
to arms. He had just been shaking and reading the Bible. Nevertheless, Rodriguez still hoped that
the raid would be called off. But instead, Agent Sarabyn decided, "I think it'll be okay if we go
quickly." At 9:10 a.m. Agent Chuck Sarabyn arrived at the staging area where the agents
participating in the raid were waiting. "Get geared up. We've got to go now." he
shouted. "They know ATF and the National Guard are coming. We're going to hit them
now." He ran to agents milling about the parking lot and to others waiting inside, urging all of them to hurry.
Within 15 minutes of Sarabyn's arrival at the staging area, the ATF special response and arrest teams were geared up
and crammed into the two cattle trailers that would transport them to Mount Carmel.
Space inside the trailers was tight and the agents were sardined together. Some of the agents felt confident while
others were apprehensive about going ahead with the raid if the element of surprise was gone.
But none felt it would be appropriate to question a decision made by the higher-ups.
The mood inside the trailers was later described as uncharacteristically somber.
Agent Sarabyn rode in the truck pulling the first trailer and maintained cellular contact with Agent James
Cavanaugh who was one of the top officials waiting in the undercover house. Agent Cavanaugh kept Sarabyn up to date
on the scene at Mount Carmel. He reported that there were no signs of any Branch Davidians.
"Everyone must have been inside." When the trucks with the two cattle trailers pulled up to the Mount Carmel
driveway at around 9:45 a.m., the mood was eerily quiet. "There's no one outside." one agent
radioed. "That's not good." another replied. At the same time as the trucks arrived,
three helicopters sent by the National Guard approached the rear of the compound.
They were supposed to be a diversion, but had arrived too late, failing to have the intended impact.
One was a Blackhawk with five ATF agents and a National Guard pilot inside. The other two were smaller models, also
piloted by National Guard pilots, and with ATF Operation Commander Phil O'Neal Netsky riding as a passenger in one.
Meanwhile, the trucks had parked in front of the compound's main building as per the plan.
Then the agents began to climb out. The first to emerge were those tasked with fending off the compound's dogs,
which were kept in a pen by the front entrance. The Branch Davidians had five dogs, an
80-lb brown Malamute named Fawn and her four 10-month-old puppies. The ATF dog team had fire extinguishers
to keep the dogs at bay, as well as shotguns just in case. One agent immediately discharged a fire
extinguisher at the dogs, while another approached the compound gate. David Koresh suddenly appeared in the
front double doorway and called out, "What's going on?" The agents identified themselves,
calling out that they had a warrant and ordering Koresh to freeze and get down. Koresh slammed the door shut and
disappeared. Accounts of the following events vary, and there are some discrepancies between
the government's version of events and the Branch Davidians. Kathy Schroeder, a Branch Davidian,
would later say that she had been looking down from her second-floor bedroom window when the ATF trailers
arrived. She was hiding up there with her four kids, with Koresh having told the women
and children to go to their rooms. Kathy's room looked out directly over the dog pen.
According to her memory, the first gunshots of that day were the ATF agents firing shots at Fawn and her pups almost
immediately upon arrival, killing the five dogs. Then, after that, "There was a lot of shooting," she told
author Jeff Guinn. Branch Davidian David Thibodeau wrote in his memoir that he ran into the foyer
just as David Koresh was slamming the double doors shut, and bullets were being fired at the doors by ATF agents
outside. In David's view, the shots that followed from inside the compound were a natural
attempt at self-defense by the Branch Davidians, who had armed themselves with 9-mm pistols and automatic and
semi-automatic assault rifles over the preceding hour. ATF agents said that it was the other
way around. The first gunshots rang out from inside the compound as soon as David Koresh disappeared behind the
front door. The gunfire was shot through the door so heavily that the door bowed outward.
The agent standing closest to the door was shot in the thumb before diving for cover in a nearby pit.
Other agents still emerging from the trailers became caught up in the gunfire as well.
The initial shots from the doorway were followed by shots from windows all along
the first and second floors. Bullets punctured the trailers canvas coverings and pinged off the metal poles
along the sides. Some hit ATF agents. The ATF's version of events has been supported by members of the media who
were watching the scene unfold from a ditch on Double A Ranch Road. Several reporters and a cameraman all
said that the shooting started from inside the compound right when the door slammed shut.
The helicopters that had arrived at the compound at the same time as the trailers were targets, too.
Official government reports note that when the helicopters were roughly 350 m from the back of the compound, they were
fired upon. This forced them to pull back, but it was too late for them to warn the agents
in the trailers to abort the raid. Two of the helicopters landed in a nearby field to check for damage, while
the third remained hovering above. All three had been struck by bullets. None of the helicopters were fitted out
with mounted guns, and the pilots were certain none of the agents on board had fired any shots.
Plus, they only carried sidearms, which would have had little impact when fired from such a height.
However, several Branch Davidians have said they were fired on from above, with the roof of the compound's tower being
riddled with bullets. This account was later supported by the Branch Davidians lawyer, Dick DeGuerin,
who entered the compound some weeks later. On the ground, ATF agents took cover behind the trucks and behind the Branch
Davidians cars and vans parked nearby. One agent who hid behind a white van with several colleagues later said that
the van seemed to bounce from all of the bullets hitting it. Other agents ducked behind an old air
conditioning unit that lay abandoned outside. Others crawled up to the base of the
compound building, pressing themselves low against the walls. When they looked up, they could see gun
barrels poking out of the windows above. Once they had cover, they began firing back.
They did admit to shooting the compound's dogs, but only after they were fired at first.
The ATF agents weren't as well armed as the Branch Davidians. Most had a German 9 mm submachine gun
known as an MP5. Some only had their handguns, and a few had shotguns. Six had AR-15s.
In the chaos and smoke of the gun battle, they could see little of the people they were firing at.
Within a few minutes, most of the ATF agents had spent all of their ammunition. They began shouting to their colleagues
over the gunfire and the sound of the helicopter, asking them to ration their bullets.
At one point, a Branch Davidian inside the compound began firing with one of the .50 caliber rifles.
An agent told author Jeff Guinn how its bullets tore chunks as large as cantaloupes from the ground.
When they hit the cars outside, chunks of the engines flew off and ripped into the agents' legs.
Branch Davidians also tossed hand grenades down from the windows, spraying agents with shrapnel.
16 ATF agents were injured. One was shot five times, but survived. Some sustained leg wounds, with one
agent being hit in both legs. Several others were pinned down behind a shed when another agent staggered over
and collapsed on top of them, his arm bleeding profusely. An agent who was also a medic braved
gunfire to try and reach his fallen colleagues, only to have his medical bag shot out of his hands by bullets from a
.50 caliber weapon. He attempted to go to the aid of a 32-year-old agent named Steve Willis,
who'd taken cover behind a van when he was shot through the head. Willis died at the scene.
Meanwhile, the ATF pushed forward to complete their mission with a team of seven agents hauling ladders through the
gunfire to the east side of the building. They had been tasked with climbing into
the compound to gain access to David Koresh's bedroom and the gun room. Their intelligence from former Branch
Davidians who'd left the group was that all of the weapons were kept in the same
room on the upper floor. The agents raised the the ladders several meters apart, giving them access
to the roof. Special agents Conway LeBleu, Todd McKeehan, Kenny King, and David Millen
climbed up to enter Koresh's bedroom. 36-year-old LeBleu made it up there first and held up his shotgun to provide
cover for the others. David Millen approached Koresh's bedroom window using a breaching tool to smash
the glass and clear away the remaining shards. As he did, gunfire exploded from the
room, hitting Kenny King four times. 28-year-old Todd McKeehan was struck in the chest and died immediately.
King tried to reach him, but was hit twice more. He rolled off the roof and landed in a
courtyard near the back of the compound. He would lie there bleeding for nearly 2
hours. Millen rolled away towards LeBleu, and they began returning fire. They tried to provide cover for the
second team of three who were headed for the gun room. Special agents Bill Buford, Keith
Constantino, and Glenn Jordan had successfully entered their window, tossing a destruction device inside
before crawling through. But a Branch Davidian stood in the doorway and fired at them.
The agents shot back and he vanished before more shots peppered the gun room's walls.
Some of the shots passed through to the outside roof area where agent Millen still stood.
He slid down the ladder to the ground to escape. Buford and Jordan were both hit.
They escaped through the window, dove onto the roof, and slid down to the ground.
Buford was struck in the face by a bullet as he lay on the ground. Another agent lay over him for
protection then managed to pull him to safety. Meanwhile, agent Constantino was still
in the gun room where the firing had stopped after his injured colleagues fled. As he tried to decide what to do, a
Branch Davidian appeared and shot at him. Constantino returned fire. The man fell and Constantino ran for the
window, hitting his head on the way out. Dazed, he rolled off the roof and sustained severe injuries to his hip,
leg, and knees. He was dragged out of the line of fire. Agents Millen and LeBleu were still on
the roof. Millen clambered down the ladder, safely reaching the ground as LeBleu provided
cover for him. LeBleu was then shot before he could climb down and his lifeless body fell
near Todd McKeehan's. Special Agent Robert Williams, age 27, had been providing cover from the ground
for his colleagues climbing the roof, but intense gunfire forced him to seek shelter behind a large metal object that
lay on the ground. A few seconds passed with no shooting. Robert Williams held his MP5 up when he
was suddenly struck by a bullet from a high-caliber weapon, dying instantly. People were dying inside the compound,
too. Jaydean Wendell, a 34-year-old former policewoman who joined the Branch Davidians, wrapped her children in
mattresses for protection, then began firing shots down at the ATF agents below.
She kept leaning out of the window to aim at them. The snipers positioned in the undercover
house shot at Jaydean as she leaned out too far, and she fell back to the floor,
dead. Her children stayed hidden beneath the mattresses, too scared to emerge. A 24-year-old Australian Branch Davidian
named Peter Gent had taken up a sniper position in the water tower. He posed the biggest danger to the
agents below, as he was in the perfect position to shoot at them over and over. They fired back at him repeatedly until
he was killed. 28-year-old British national Winston Blake was killed in the kitchen after
being shot in the head. Others were injured. Judy Schneider, the 41-year-old wife of Koresh's
second-in-command, Steve Schneider, and the mother of one of Koresh's children, was shot through her bedroom window.
The bullet struck her right forefinger and shoulder. Koresh's brother-in-law, David Jones,
was also injured, as was Scott Sonobe, the Branch Davidian who'd fired on ATF agents in the gun room.
Peter Hipsman, 28, was struck in his side, which caused major internal damage to his abdomen.
He repeatedly begged for someone to end his suffering, and another Branch Davidian later did as he requested,
shooting him twice in the back of the head. Perry Jones, David Koresh's father-in-law, was also shot in the
abdomen during the beginning of the siege when ATF agents fired at the front double doors.
The 64-year-old was seen crawling on his hands and knees screaming that he had been shot and begging to be killed.
He was also subsequently mercy killed. Despite being the target of the ATF's initial gunfire, David Koresh had
avoided being shot while standing at the double doors. He was wearing a protective vest and
carrying a rifle as he roamed throughout the compound over the course of the siege.
About 45 minutes after the first shots were fired, two ATF agents gained access to the compound entering via the rear
first floor. A lone Branch Davidian fired on them from a catwalk above while shouts of
ceasefire began to ring out through the compound. The ATF agents couldn't say who exactly
was shooting at them, but it was David Koresh. They shot back striking his left hip
bone, left wrist, and thumb. Koresh crawled away badly injured. The calls for a ceasefire had been a
long time coming. The alarm had first been raised just 3 minutes into the siege when Branch
Davidian Wayne Martin ran to his office on the first floor to call 911. A Harvard law graduate and one of
Koresh's inner circle, Wayne sounded distraught as his call was picked up by Lieutenant Larry Lynch of the McLennan
County Sheriff's Department. >> Hello. >> Hello. >> Yeah, this is Lieutenant Lynch. May I
help you? >> Yeah, there's 75 men around our building and they're shooting at us in Mount
Carmel. >> Mount Carmel? >> Yeah, tell them there are children and women in here and to call it off.
>> All right. All right. You know? I hear gunfire. Oh, [ __ ] Hello? >> Who is this?
>> Hello? >> Call it off. >> Upon learning of the gunfire at Mount Carmel, Lieutenant Lynch muttered,
"God almighty, that [ __ ] newspaper." Assuming the issue was connected to the ongoing series by the Waco
Tribune-Herald. Wayne Martin set the phone down and the call ultimately disconnected after about
13 minutes. Lieutenant Lynch was able to call Wayne Martin back, who shouted down the phone,
"Tell them to fall back. We've got women and children in danger. Call them off. We're under fire."
Lieutenant Lynch asked who was firing at them and ordered Wayne not to fire back.
"We haven't been." Wayne said. While keeping the line open with Wayne, Lieutenant Lynch began trying to call
the ATF. The sheriff's department had been aware of the ATF's investigation into the
Branch Davidians and their undercover house across the road. Lieutenant Lynch was able to make
contact with the ATF's operation commander, Phil Wooldridge Woynacki, who had been in one of the helicopters.
He began acting as a messenger between Wayne Martin and the ATF, desperately trying to arrange a ceasefire.
He asked Wayne to stop the Branch Davidians shooting while arranging with Agent Woynacki for the ATF agents to do
the same. At 10:34 a.m., after the shooting had been going on for over 45 minutes, Wayne
Martin told Lynch that someone else wanted to talk to him. David Koresh picked up the phone and
told the lieutenant, "We've known about this. I've been teaching about it for 4 years.
We knew you were coming and everything." When Koresh began quoting the Bible and
discussing his theories about the seven seals, Lynch demanded that he stopped talking about religion and focus on the
urgent matter at hand. He asked Koresh to call a ceasefire, which Koresh said he would consider.
Meanwhile, Agent James Cavanaugh in the undercover house also tried to call the compound.
After the phone rang for a long time without answer, it was picked up by Koresh's second-in-command, Steve
Schneider. Agent Cavanaugh could hear screaming and crying in the background. Steve Schneider was angry and it took
the agent a few minutes to calm him down. When Steve had calmed somewhat, Agent Cavanaugh proposed a ceasefire.
Steve was receptive, given that people inside the compound, including his wife, were wounded.
He began making his way through the building, telling people to stop shooting with shouts of ceasefire
echoing through the halls of Mount Carmel. It took several minutes for the shooting
to ease due to the sprawling layout of the compound and the fact that the Branch Davidians were deafened and
shocked by the almost hour-long shootout. Agent Cavanaugh advised his team leaders
to tell the agents the same thing, but the delay in the message being communicated throughout Mount Carmel
made the agents nervous that the whole thing was a trick. The lack of trust on both sides led to
the shooting resuming. Many of the ATF agents were almost out of ammunition, while the Branch
Davidians had a seemingly endless supply. A second ceasefire was attempted and then a third before the shooting finally
stopped at 11:39 a.m. Rather than being the successful public image boosting operation the ATF had
hoped for, Operation Trojan Horse had been an unmitigated disaster leading to multiple deaths and an ongoing crisis
with no clear resolution in sight. Additional law enforcement agencies would now be drawn into the standoff
including the Texas Rangers and the FBI. Agent Cavanaugh negotiated for the ATF agents to retrieve their fallen comrades
before withdrawing and leaving the compound. This included Agent Kenny King who had
rolled from the roof and lay bleeding in a rear courtyard for two hours. He was carried from the grounds on one
of the ladders. The retreating agents had to raise their hands and slowly begin exiting the
compound without making any sudden movements. Deceased and badly injured agents were
placed into vehicles to be driven from the property while the remaining agents walked away on foot.
A news cameraman who'd filmed part of the botched raid from the front of the compound captured footage of the
defeated agents limping down Mount Carmel's driveway. When he began to film the bodies of
those who had died, some of the ATF agents and members of local law enforcement shouted at him and pushed
him to the ground. ATF agents were subsequently joined by Texas Rangers and highway patrol
officers in setting up perimeters around Mount Carmel. Late in the afternoon, nearly six hours
after the shootout, some ATF agents were sent out to set up a skirmish line around the compound scouting the area.
Several of them were crossing a field about 350 yards behind Mount Carmel when they came across three Branch Davidians
attempting to enter the compound. Mike Schroeder, Norman Allison, and Bob Kendrick lived in the Mag Bag building
several miles away. They'd caught wind of what had been going on at Mount Carmel and wanted to
stand alongside their fellow Branch Davidians. They drove towards a nearby trailer
where several elderly Branch Davidian women lived about 2 miles from the compound, then walked the rest of the
way. Bob Kendrick had heart disease and struggled to keep up, eventually giving up on his mission.
But Mike and Norman carried on. One of the ATF agents said he ordered the men to show their hands, and
29-year-old Mike Schroeder responded by shooting at them. The agents fired back, killing him.
Norman surrendered. The Branch Davidian death toll had increased by one. Inside the compound, there was some
brief celebration when law enforcement initially retreated, followed by anxiety that they would soon return.
The Branch Davidians were also dismayed to discover that their leader had been badly wounded.
David Koresh was lying on blankets in an upstairs hallway, shaking and drifting in and out of consciousness.
His eyes kept rolling back in his head, his skin was deathly pale, and his glasses were fogging up with sweat due
to a fever. Koresh and all of his followers believed that he was about to die. He called his mother to say goodbye,
leaving a message on her answering machine. I'll be back real soon, okay? He said.
I'm sorry you didn't win the seals, but I'll be merciful, okay? I'll see you all in the skies.
However, several hours passed and Koresh remained alive. Ultimately, he decided that God didn't
want any more Branch Davidians to die just yet. They would still have to face off
against the forces of Babylon for the final battle, but Koresh couldn't say exactly when that would be.
The ATF reestablished contact with the compound by the early afternoon after Steve Schneider called officials to
talk. When they learned that David Koresh had been injured, they offered to send in
medical assistance. Koresh refused. The officials tried to find out exactly how many people were inside the compound
and how many were injured. What were their names and ages? But Koresh wouldn't provide that
information. He wanted to broadcast his religious teachings over local radio before he or
anyone else would leave the compound. Negotiators agreed and at 4:00 p.m. Koresh issued a broadcast over the
Dallas radio station KRLD. It was replayed twice over the following hour. The ATF agents continued trying to coax
David Koresh out, but he abruptly cut off communication with them at 6:14 p.m. He then made calls to cable news station
CNN giving an interview about the day's events. The standoff was making news across the
country and public interest was high. They fired on us first, Koresh told CNN. I never planned to use the weapons.
The problem is that people outside don't understand what we believe." He also claimed a 2-year-old child had
been shot and killed, which was not true. Contact with the ATF resumed later that
evening. Though the ATF had no trained negotiators, they did their best to reason with David Koresh, pleading with
him to release the compound's children to relatives or friends on the outside who would take good care of them.
To everyone's surprise, Koresh agreed. By midnight, he sent four children out of the compound with notes pinned to
their clothing detailing contact information for their temporary guardians. The ATF wouldn't be managing the
situation for much longer. The death of four federal agents meant that the FBI would be stepping in,
deploying about 20 highly trained negotiators and their hostage rescue team, an elite tactical unit experienced
in managing hostage crises. At 9:30 a.m. on Monday, March 1, the director of the ATF made the official
decision to hand over the scene to the FBI. Agents from the FBI had started arriving
in Waco the previous night with more arriving throughout the morning. Their leaders and negotiators would be
based at a command post close to Mount Carmel in an airplane hangar about 5 and 1/2 miles from the scene, while other
agents would have boots closer to the ground. Their first priority was to control the
inner perimeter around the compound. Their second was to set up a central negotiation channel.
In order to restrict the Branch Dividians communications to them and them alone, they cut off all but two of
the compound's phone lines and disabled them from calling any number other than theirs.
This would prevent the lines being tied up by media outlets seeking interviews or exclusives from the Branch Dividians.
The FBI negotiation team set up long narrow barracks where they would be working from. A large open space with a
small room where the telephones were set up. The Bureau's chief negotiator, Gary
Nessner, took over from ATF agent James Cavanaugh, who introduced him to Koresh over the phone.
Gary Nessner spoke with Koresh regularly throughout Monday, March 1. The two established a decent rapport,
despite Koresh telling agent Nessner, "We're not ready to come out." However, he did agree to release more
children from the compound. During the course of the day, 10 further children left Mount Carmel, aged between
5 months and 11 years old. None of the children sent out of the compound were David Koresh's offspring.
Agent Gary Nessner could see that Koresh wouldn't agree to an entire surrender, but he hoped that he might be convinced
to keep sending out Branch Dividians in smaller groups. Although Koresh was angry about the
compound's phone lines being cut off to everyone other than the FBI, he continued talking with the authorities.
He repeatedly assured them that the group had no intention of taking their own lives.
In fact, he explained that they needed to stay alive so that they could deliver their message to the outside world.
The FBI negotiators found David Koresh to be a puzzling character. They were accustomed to coaxing out bank
robbers and political terrorists. Koresh's citing of scripture and desire to discuss biblical prophecy was an
entirely new experience for them and one they weren't sure how to take. Byron Sage, one of the chief negotiators
at the scene, would later tell journalists from Frontline, "There had been some question, are we
dealing with a delusional personality or are we dealing with a con man? Does this guy think he's Jesus Christ or
is he just a con man who's using religion to deceive all the rest of the people inside?"
Deciding to take Koresh's proclamations at face value, the FBI continued with the strategy that had shown some
progress thus far. They would offer him more opportunities to broadcast his message in exchange for
more surrenders. Perhaps if he was given a national platform rather than just a local one,
Koresh could be convinced to leave the compound. Shortly after 10:00 p.m. on Monday,
March 1, David Koresh made the FBI an offer. If they allowed him to deliver a nationwide broadcast about the Book of
Revelation, then he and all of his followers would surrender peacefully. Gary Nessner proposed that Koresh record
his message using a tape recorder with a statement at the beginning promising to
leave Mount Carmel after the message was broadcast. After negotiating throughout the night,
Koresh agreed to this proposal early on Tuesday morning. He recorded his message and sent it out
for the FBI to review. It was 57 minutes long, the entirety of which was a sermon about the Book of
Revelation. After some further negotiations and tweaking of Koresh's message, the FBI
gave their approval. They arranged for the tape to be played uncut via the Christian Broadcasting
Network television station at around lunchtime. As a show of good faith, David Koresh
sent out four more children and two women in their 70s who lived in the trailer adjacent to the compound.
Spirits were high. The initially tense and a violent standoff looked to be coming to a peaceful end.
At 1:32 p.m. on Tuesday, March 2, Koresh's sermon was played on the Christian Broadcasting Network.
It began with Koresh stating, "I agree that upon the broadcasting of this tape to come out peacefully with
all the people immediately. My name is David Koresh and I am speaking to you from Mount Carmel
Center." As it was delivered into homes all across the United States, the FBI continued working out the logistics of
the surrender plan with Koresh. They would deliver a stretcher to the compound's front doors so that the
injured Koresh could be stretchered out. He would be the first to leave with four
men carrying him. A number of women and children would follow. Then Steve Schneider would
coordinate for the remaining people to leave, sending out one person every two to three minutes.
By 3:00 p.m., the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team buses were in place, ready to escort the Branch Davidians from the
property. Laboratory personnel stood by preparing to process the crime scene inside the
building. Inside the compound, the Branch Davidians packed their bags in preparation to leave.
Over the next hour and 45 minutes, Koresh and several of his followers repeatedly reassured the FBI that their
surrender was imminent. Steve Schneider explained that they were just trying to stretch the injured
Koresh downstairs to the lower level. "Everyone's lined up with their stuff, ready to go out," he told Gary Nestler
in a relieved-sounding voice. Children were standing near the front doors wearing their coats and holding
prized possessions such as teddy bears. Many members were emotional, exchanging hugs and tears with Koresh as they
braced themselves to leave. A little while later, Agent Nestler spoke to Steve Schneider again.
Steve explained that Koresh just wanted to deliver one final Bible study lesson before they left.
The FBI was reassured as such an action seemed to be consistent with Koresh's character.
It seemed like they were nearly there. At 5:59 p.m., the negotiators called into the compound again.
Steve Schneider answered the phone, and this time his words filled the negotiators with dread.
"The Lord spoke to David," Steve said. "The Lord told David to wait, not to come out."
To be continued next week. >> Mhm.

[Part 2 of 3] In 1992, a chance discovery by a UPS delivery driver would lead to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - commonly known as the ATF - launching an investigation into David Koresh’s activities at Mount Carmel in Waco, Texas. Upon discovering that Koresh’s Branch Davidians were stockpiling illegal weapons, the agency began planning a raid that was also intended to boost their image with the public… but the consequences would be disastrous.

CREDITS Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Erin Munro Production & music – Mike Migas Audio editing – Anthony Telfer

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Brief Summary

The episode covers the Ruby Ridge incident and the ATF raid on the Branch Davidians, detailing the tragic outcomes and public backlash.

Key points

The Tragic Shootout at Ruby Ridge. A confrontation between US Marshals and the Weaver family leads to tragic deaths.
Government Overreach and Standoff. The Weaver family's standoff with federal agents raises questions about state power.
Koresh's Prophetic Warnings. David Koresh predicts an apocalypse and government attack, reflecting his fears.
Koresh's Ominous Warning. David Koresh warned Joyce that his revelation would lead to chaos worse than the LA riots.
The Sinful Messiah. The Waco Tribune-Herald published an article detailing allegations against David Koresh.
Koresh's Warning. David Koresh warns Agent Rodriguez about the impending raid, signaling a shift in tension.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

The Weavers felt like they were being hunted.

The family's perception during the standoff with federal agents.

10:45WatchApr 25, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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