#Waco TX. Branch Davidians

[garudabluffs]

The Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas is engulfed in flames on April 19, 1993 following an FBI raid that planted tear gas in the complex. FBI public domain A new book by Northampton writer Kevin Cook re-examines the 51-day siege in Waco, Texas in 1993 between a Christian sect and various federal forces, including the FBI.

Into the fire: Northampton author’s new book re-examines the 1993 siege in Waco, Texas, that left over 85 people dead

READ MORE https://www.gazettenet.com/Book-Bag-49507719

Kevin Cook will discuss “Waco Rising” in a book launch at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley on Jan. 31 at 7 p.m

30 years after the siege, 'Waco' examines what led to the catastrophe

January 25, 2023

30 years after the siege, 'Waco' examines what led to the catastrophe

January 25, 2023

36-Minute Listen READ MORE https://www.npr.org/2023/01/25/1151283229/waco-branch-davidian-david-koresh-jeff-guinn

[captmccoy]

Let's Discuss Waco

The Branch Davidians and the Siege at Waco, TX began with a firefight in 1993. As stated before they had helped issue the warning in the 4th D about the Beating of Rodney King before it happened. They repeated it from the source (Phil’s son) in Oregon just as the Wheelers at Ruby Ridge had. This greatly angered Phil and Co, they wanted the Beating of Rodney King to kick off their Helter Skelter…

[ccandd96]

Enjoy this YouTube video https://youtu.be/Ou1NnF8gDRQ of Janet Kuypers reading her poems "Genesis Forty-Four", "Genesis Forty-Five", and "Genesis Forty-Nine" from the CyberWit.net Janet Kuypers 2023 book "Testament" live in Mt. Carmel (Waco, TX) at the Branch Davidian Compound, reading her poems based on the Holy Bible verses (read near the remains of their pool), near the 30-year anniversary of the Waco siege by the U.S. Government for the 2023 Poetry Bomb. (This video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera.)

https://youtu.be/Ou1NnF8gDRQ

#janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoetrybomb

[history-today]

Today In History:

A bit of April 19th history… 1770 - British explorer Captain James Cook first sights Australia 1775 - American Revolution begins in Lexington, Massachusetts. “The Shot Heard Round the World” happened in Concord later this day 1927 - Mae West found guilty of “obscenity and corrupting the morals of youth” in a NY play called “Sex”; she was sentenced to 10 days in jail and fined $500 dollars - this launched her Hollywood career 1932 - President Herbert Hoover suggests 5 day work week 1982 - Sally Ride is 1st American Woman astronaut 1993 - After 51 day siege by FBI, 76 Branch Davidians die in a fire near Waco, TX 1995 - Oklahoma City Bombing, Timothy McVeigh sets a truck bomb at Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 and injuring 500 (pictured) 

[xtruss]

A Look Back At Waco — 30 Years After The Siege

— By Gavin Newsham

Charismatic "cult" leader David Koresh was the head of the Branch Davidians, and was killed in April 1993 by government agents during a raid on his Waco, Tx. compound following a 51-day standoff with the FBI and ATF. Three decades after the tragedy, its few survivors -- and those who tried to negotiate their release -- contend the outcome could have been far less deadly. Shutterstock

There was a time when David Thibodeau didn’t think about the events outside of Waco, Texas. back in April 1993.

Now 54 and living in Maine, Thibodeau was too busy drumming in his band to allow himself to relive the horrors of what took place there. “In a way, you start to forget and it kind of goes away,” he tells The New YorkPost.

“But then you turn on the TV and there will be footage of the burning buildings and it all comes flooding back.”

Thibodeau was one of just nine people to leave the blazing Mount Carmel Center alive following a 51-day standoff between the FBI and the center’s residents – the religious community known as Branch Davidians.

The standoff ended in the deaths of 76 people, burned alive as FBI attempts to end the siege failed catastrophically.

Thirty years later, Thibodeau’s almost surreal recollections of what took place typify the experiences of the few who managed to survive – as well as many of the law-enforcement agents and negotiators who attempted to deliver them to safety.

Top: Heather Jones was one of a handful of Branch Davidians to survive the government siege on their compound near Waco, Texas. Bottom: A memorial to those who perished 30 years ago next month at the Mt. Carmel compound run by the Branch Davidian religious group. Photographs New York Post

The saga at Waco began on February 28, 1993, when 75 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms tried to serve an arrest warrant for weapons charges on David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians.

During the fracas, officers shot the group’s dogs, which prompted a gun battle with the compound’s residents that saw Koresh wounded along with four ATF agents and six Branch Davidians killed.

Born Vernon Howell in Houston, Texas, in 1959, Koresh had been a member of the Branch Davidians since 1981, becoming the leader in 1990 and changing his name in the process.

While previous leaders believed they were prophets of God, Koresh maintained he was the son of God – sent to Earth to prepare for the end of days while heading the messianic, apocalyptic Christian movement founded in 1955 as an offshoot of Seventh Day Adventism.

Under “orders” from God, Koresh took as many as 19 wives, reportedly fathering 13 children with them. His only legal wife was Rachel Jones, whom Koresh had married when she was just 14 years old.

Heather Jones was Rachel Jones’s niece, born at the compound in October 1983.

Left: Former FBI agent Gary Noesner attempted to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the Koresh-led standoff but was sent packing after weeks of no action. Jeffery Salter for NY Post. Right: David Koresh — seen here with his wife Rachel, and their son Cyrus — not only believed he was a prophet of God but the son of God. Sygma via Getty Images

Her family’s association with the Davidians dated back to the 1950s when her grandparents became members around the same time the group established their headquarters 13 miles north of Waco.

“Growing up in Mount Carmel was fun at times,” she says. “We had lots of animals. We had a lake and a swimming pool.

“[But] I hated the long church services.”

Jones lost her grandfather, Perry, in the initial ATF raid and, later, her father, David, in the final assault almost two months later.

Her mother, Kathy, survived, having left Mount Carmel in 1990 when she separated from her husband.

Jones also lost her aunt Rachel, who died alongside the three children she had with Koresh, as well as another aunt, Rachel Jones’s sister, Michelle.

She still remembers being woken by the sound of bullets smashing through her bedroom walls and people nearby being wounded or killed when the ATF began the initial raid. “There is not one day that goes by that I don’t think about the events that happened in 1993,” she says.

“I’ll never have any closure.”

There’s widespread suspicion when writers such as myself contact those who were at Mount Carmel — ranks seem to close as word spreads about your interest in what transpired three decades ago.

On the “Branch Davidians Survivors Waco’ group on Facebook,” there are messages warning members to “trust no one.”

Former group member Kat Schroeder, whose husband died in the first ATF raid, is “pretty sure I’ve already answered every question that could be asked.”

Another Branch Davidian, Livingstone Fagan, can’t see the point in discussing Waco any further. “We’ve been down this road many times before,” he messages, before highlighting the “misinterpretation and disinformation” that typically occurs whenever Waco is discussed.

Fagan left the compound with his two children, Renae and Neharah, on March 23, but lost his wife, Evette, and mother, Doris Adina during the raid.

Top: Former Attorney General Janet Wood Reno (Born: July 21, 1938 – Died: November 7, 2016), in Office: (March 12, 1993 – January 20, 2001) testified at a congressional subcommittee in 1995 as part of hearings into the tragedy at Waco. AFP via Getty Images. Bottom: Smoke pours from the headquarters of the Branch Davidians following the FBI siege on their compound in April 1993. Getty Images

Losses endured by folks like Fagan and Jones were not untypical.

Ofelia Santoyo, who left on March 21, had her daughter, Juliette Martinez, 30, and her five grandchildren, aged 3-13, perish at Waco.

Sheila Martin, then 46, also left that day to be reunited with her two children, Kimberly and Daniel, who had been released earlier. But she left behind her husband, Douglas, and her four older children, all of whom died.

Among the dead, meanwhile, were 24 British followers – many recruited when Koresh toured the United Kingdom in the late 1980s looking for new followers.

A few hours after the ATF’s initial raid, FBI negotiator Gary Noesner was on a plane headed for Texas. “I don’t know that anyone can truly be prepared for an event as challenging as Waco,” he tells The Post. “It’s not so easy to come into such a scenario and say, ‘Forgot all the prior stuff, trust me, let’s make a deal and end this peacefully.’ ”

Noesner’s negotiating strategy sought to distance the FBI from the ATF’s more aggressive style and, in doing so, establish a new relationship with the Davidians.

“From the beginning, it was quite clear that Koresh had an inflated sense of self-importance,” he tells The Post. “But I believed he was still someone that we could find a way to work with.

The aftermath of the fiery siege on the Branch Davidians compounds which saw 76 members perish from smoke and fire — including 22 children. Sygma via Getty Images

“We didn’t lecture him. We found we achieved more when we stayed away from religion. “You cannot expect to talk someone out of their core beliefs.”

It seemed to work – at least initially.

In the first week of the standoff, 21 children were allowed to leave, including Heather Jones and her brothers, Kevin, 11, and Mark, 12.

Fourteen adults also left.

But no more.

Top: An aerial view of the Mt. Carmel facility today, where a memorial ground and chapel are open for public visit. New York Post. Bottom: State troopers and members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) stop a motorist during the 51-day standoff in Waco. Corbis via Getty Images

Dick DeGuerin was the lawyer tasked with negotiating on Koresh’s behalf. Based in Houston, he was hired by Koresh’s mother, Bonnie Haldeman, but was initially denied access to his client.

One month after the first raid, however, DeGuerin was granted permission to speak with Koresh. “I made it clear that I was not a shill for the FBI,” DeGuerin tells The Post.

His first face-to-face meeting with Koresh was conducted through the compound’s front door, with DeGuerin sitting on a chair outside.

Later, he was allowed inside. “I found Koresh to be a very intelligent and articulate person,” recalls DeGuerin, now 82 and living in Houston. “He was also dyslexic but had still memorized the whole of the Bible.”

For DeGuerin, there was no problem working with Koresh. As he saw it, the force used by the ATF had initially been excessive, and Koresh’s resistance was understandable.

It’s a view later reinforced by the acquittal of 11 Branch Davidians on murder charges relating to the initial ATF raid in February 1994. “As a lawyer, my job was to defend David Koresh at any trial.

“Yes, he would probably be charged with murder or conspiracy to murder, but I had to convince him that he would be treated fairly under the criminal justice system.

“And I think we did.”

Top: Koresh’s defense attorney Dick DeGuerin in his Houston home this month; the sculpture was made from a burned wheelbarrow and car part that was salvaged from the Waco compound. Scott Dalton for NY Post. Bottom: At its height, almost 650 government personnel were stationed at Waco during the standoff with the Branch Davidians which ended so tragically. Shutterstock

But progress was slow.

As the siege entered its fourth week, Noesner’s bosses began to change tack as a sense of fatigue set in. The FBI had more than 650 personnel at the compound and costs were mounting.

“They felt the best strategy was to ratchet up the pressure to force the Davidians out,” recalls Noesner. “[But] As a negotiator I knew this was not the way to go.”

Thibodeau agrees. “I think a lot of the Feds had never experienced anything like a religious group, committed to the scripture, that put God before everything,” he says.

Noesner left Mount Carmel on March 26, halfway through the siege as pressure mounted for a more aggressive approach. But “nobody came out after I was reassigned,” he says.

Still, by April 14, the situation appeared to be headed toward a nonviolent resolution. DeGuerin brokered a deal with Koresh for his surrender, providing his client was given time to complete his manuscript on the Seven Seals prophecy in the biblical Book of Revelations.

“I’d worked it out with the Texas Rangers that I would go in on the day of the surrender and walk out with Koresh and hand him over,” adds DeGuerin.

“Koresh even put it in writing.”

Thibodeau confirms this chain of events.

“I think a couple of more weeks at most and Koresh would have finished,” he says. “But the FBI thought it was another stalling tactic.” And the groundwork for the final – and fatal – assault began.

The following day, on April 15, FBI Commander Jeff Jamar headed to Washington, DC, to meet newly-appointed Attorney General Janet Reno and seek permission to end the standoff.

Top: Heather Jones gave a tour of Davidian’s former compound earlier this month. New York Post. Bottom: The Mt. Carmel headquarters was initially purchased by the religious sect during the late 1950s. Corbis via Getty Images

Various strategies were discussed, from digging tunnels to drugging the Davidians, but the preferred method – using tear gas and armored vehicles – was signed off on April 17.

Two days later, at around daybreak, the plan was put into action – with devastating consequences.

When the Davidians refused a final opportunity to surrender, the FBI, using tanks and combat vehicles, fired tear gas grenades through the building’s windows and smashed through walls.

A fire eventually broke out inside the compound. Fanned by strong winds, it tore through the large timber buildings.

David Koresh and 75 others died, including 22 children. Thibodeau still faults the government’s heavy-handed tactics.

“Those kids suffered immeasurably – I can’t imagine what they went through,” he says. “And yet the government asked why the kids just didn’t come out of the holes the tanks had made in the building.

“How the f–k do you grab your kids and come out with all that going on? Tell me that.”

Only nine people escaped with their lives, one of whom was Thibodeau. “Right place, right time” he reflects. “I climbed out a window because I didn’t want to burn to death.

“Yes, I thought they were going to shoot me but that’s what I would have preferred to be honest.”

Thirty years on, the blame game continues.

Author and Waco-survivor David Thibodeau says the trauma of what he endured during the siege remains with him “on a cellular level.” WireImage

The FBI and the Justice Department maintain the Branch Davidians started the fire deliberately, while survivors insist it was the FBI’s tear gas that ignited the blaze.

Noesner believes the siege could have ended differently. “We had a chance to get everyone out alive but that’s not the general opinion of the FBI personnel there,” he says.

While some FBI actions were criticized in the official Danforth Investigation into Waco in 2000, federal officials were cleared of any wrongdoing, leading to accusations of a whitewash.

“At every single stage, the government were the aggressors,” says Thibodeau. “They came in with helicopters and tanks. They shot the dogs. Even when the negotiations were working, they increased the pressure.

Noesner, meanwhile, became Chief of the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit and wrote a book about his career, “Stalling For Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator.”

A placard welcomes visitors to the former headquarters of the Branch Davidians known as Mt. Carmel outside of Waco, Texas, USA. New York Post

DeGuerin remains convinced Koresh would have surrendered. “It was just a matter of time,” he says.

While the siege was over, for survivors it was the start of a lifetime of trying to come to terms with events.

Heather Jones, for instance, is now a 39-year-old nurse living just 12 minutes away from Mount Carmel.

She still suffers from severe PTSD and remains angry about the coverup she believes happened. “I still live in fear to this day,” she says. “They will never tell the truth about what they did to us and all the horrible things they did to my family.

Thibodeau also still struggles to process what happened.

“The trauma stays with you on a cellular level,” said the author and musician. “And that’s a very hard way to live your life.”

— The New York Post, April 12, 2023

[johannasachs]

October 30/22

As my last journal entry I wanted to talk about a movie I watched called "Waco". The movie is about the cult The Branch Davidians lead by David Koresh in Waco, TX in 1993. My gut reaction to the religious cult and religious views in this movie were negative as David claimed to be the real Messiah and took "spiritual wives" including children. He had children with multiple women of all ages and that is wrong to many people. It was difficult to watch without judgment because I stand on the opposite side, but it gave me insight into other peoples perspectives, which I can appreciate.

Thought of the day: As difficult as this movie was to watch, I understand some different points of view, and it is very interesting to see.

[whattolearntoday]

A bit of February 28th history...

202 BC - Coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place, initiating 4 centuries of the Han Dynasty’s rule over China

1784 - John Wesley charters Methodist Church

1947 - February 28th Massacre: Anti-government uprising in Taiwan is violently put down by Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang led republic of China government with a loss of 18,000-28,000 lives; marks the beginning of the White Terror (pictured)

1953 - Francis Crick and James Watson discover the chemical structure of DNA molecule (double helix polymer)

1993 - Gun battle erupts near Waco, TX at Branch Davidian compound after FBI attempts a raid

2019 - YouTube announces it will stop all comments on videos featuring children because of pedophiles leaving inappropriate comments

[epitome-of-an-openbook]

What are these branches in your cult leader Deku AU👀

So, in a lot of the larger, widespread cults (especially those in the US) there tend to be multiple base locations. So the cult by the time Denki and Kiri ask about Todoroki's tattoo, has grown from being a cult in the sense of the Branch Davidians with their one major location in Waco, TX and more into a widespread cult across multiple main locations with a trickle down pyramid system of control like you see more with the pre-Guyana move Peoples Temple, or U.N.O.I. and the 12 Tribes Communities. So basically the three branches mentioned are the three base locations. The first and largest of which being the Musutafu Compound Branch, which services most anyone in the cult from the Shizuoka prefecture, I've decided that they don't need any convoluted naming conventions so they are all just numbered by the order in which they pop up - so the Musutafu based one is simply the First Branch. The other two branches that I have mentioned would be The Second Branch, which my original thought was to place nearby to the Shie Hassaikai compound, as such Overhaul can kind of keep an eye on it as one of the bigger cult figureheads, we were never actually given a location for it so I've decided to pick a random point on the map Nighteye uses to show increased Hassaikai activity

and chose to have the second branch located in Osaka prefecture close to the border w/ the Nara prefecture. The Third Branch would be Dabi's main stomping grounds as a high ranking member and as such I figured Hosu would be a good location, since we know from canon that Hosu City is in/near Tokyo, The Third Branch is located somewhere between Tokyo and Chiba prefectures.

As the plot moves forward in the AU i feel that most of Japan's mainland prefectures will have at least one branch but these three will always be the most important.

[cydnotsovicious]

Photos of David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidians (Waco, TX).

[cornerstorebitch]

photos from the branch davidian memorial park in waco TX

[docholt0000]

THE MURDER OF MRS VICKI WEAVER & SON SAMMY WEAVER AT RUBY RIDGE ARE EXAMPLES OF WHY THE FBI AND THE ATF NEED TO BE ABOLISHED!

THESE AGENCIES ARE CORRUPT, INEFFECTUAL AND BREAK THE LAW ON A REGULAR BASIS!!

1YR LATER THE MURDER OF BRANCH DAVIDIAN's WACO TX.

https://youtu.be/PvSzJBn0ixU

[momentsinhistory]

Today In History:

A bit of April 19th history…

1770 - British explorer Captain James Cook first sights Australia

1775 - American Revolution begins in Lexington, Massachusetts. “The Shot Heard Round the World” happened in Concord later this day

1927 - Mae West found guilty of “obscenity and corrupting the morals of youth” in a NY play called “Sex”; she was sentenced to 10 days in jail and fined $500 dollars - this launched her Hollywood career

1932 - President Herbert Hoover suggests 5 day work week

1982 - Sally Ride is 1st American Woman astronaut

1993 - After 51 day siege by FBI, 76 Branch Davidians die in a fire near Waco, TX

1995 - Oklahoma City Bombing, Timothy McVeigh sets a truck bomb at Murrah Federal Building, killing 168 and injuring 500 (pictured) 

[democracyin-news]

Today in History for April 19th

Today in History for April 19th

Highlights of Today in History: Oklahoma City bombing; Battle of Lexington and Concord; Pope Benedict XVI elected; Branch Davidian siege near Waco, TX ends. (April 19)        Source link

[ccandd96]

Enjoy this YouTube video https://youtu.be/tu0rJ2v1oxU of Janet Kuypers reading her poems "Genesis Forty-Four", "Genesis Forty-Five", and "Genesis Forty-Nine" from the CyberWit.net Janet Kuypers 2023 book "Testament" live in Mt. Carmel (Waco, TX) at the Branch Davidian Compound, reading her poems based on the Holy Bible verses (read near the remains of their pool), near the 30-year anniversary of the Waco siege by the U.S. Government for the 2023 Poetry Bomb. (This video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera.)

https://youtu.be/tu0rJ2v1oxU

#janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading #janetkuyperspoetrybomb

[history-today]

Today In History: February 28th

A bit of February 28th history… 202 BC - Coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place, initiating 4 centuries of the Han Dynasty’s rule over China (pictured) 1784 - John Wesley charters Methodist Church 1947 - February 28th Massacre: Anti-government uprising in Taiwan is violently put down by Chiang Kai-shek and his Kuomintang -led republic of China government with a loss of 18,000-28,000 lives; marks the beginning of the White Terror 1953 - Francis Crick and James Watson discover the chemical structure of DNA molecule (double helix polymer) 1993 - Gun battle erupts near Waco, TX at Branch Davidian compound after FBI attempts a raid 2019 - YouTube announces it will stop all comments on videos featuring children because of paedophiles leaving inappropriate comments 

[captmccoy]

GOP Opposes Biden's Nominee to Head the ATF

GOP Opposes Biden’s Nominee to Head the ATF

Republican senators are trying to get fellow senators to oppose President Biden’s nominee to head the Bureau of ATF (Washington Examiner). The nominee, gun control advocate and ATF agent David Chipman, made false claims about the raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco TX (New York Post). The GOP is against the appointment not only because of Chipman’s stance on gun control but his…