Posted on 02/25/2018 6:40:59 PM PST by Elderberry
On a drizzly February morning 25 years ago, a Waco Tribune-Herald reporter knocked on a door on Double EE Ranch Road, 12 miles east of town.
He was preparing to ask permission to set up to observe “a news story” expected to unfold at a religious commune across the street.
A face appeared in the door, twisted in surprise and anger. The man didn’t let the reporter finish the question.
“Get the f--k out of here,” the man sputtered.
The reporter, Tommy Witherspoon, hurried back to a silver Honda Accord, where a photographer and another reporter waited. The car backed out of the driveway at 9:45 on Sunday morning, Feb. 28, 1993.
Up to this moment it was possible to believe that this was a local story — newsworthy but not world-shaking. Those in the car that day recall thinking of it as a coda to the big story that had started running the day before.
In a seven-part “Sinful Messiah” series, readers were learning about the Branch Davidians and their messianic leader, who had recently changed his name from Vernon Howell to David Koresh. A slew of ex-members accused him of asserting divine mandate to take at least 15 “wives” and to have sex with young girls.
Witherspoon had a tip that that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms might serve a warrant that morning for the possession of illegal automatic weapons. Witherspoon recalls expecting to see Koresh and a crowd of his followers come out with their hands raised.
Reporters from KWTX had gotten a similar tip and were waiting in cars down the road, but the station management hadn’t staffed up for live coverage and was scheduling the story for the 6 p.m. newscast.
For the moment, everything seemed under control. A moment later, nothing did.
(Excerpt) Read more at wacotrib.com ...
Yeah I had her in there at first then saw she/he/it was brought in right afterwards (2 weeks or so).
I guess old Bill knew what he was putting in there....
LOL the whole thing was unethical.
Normally an agency will pour gas in till the perps come out.
So you are saying Koresh was not a child molester, and that he claimed be a (sinful) messiah, with an apocalyptic doctrine that meant he would wage war after the flesh, and was thus heavily armed, and that all the testimony to all this is fake?
I don’t know about Texas, but in California, to do what they did with CS gas, most assuredly was a felony. It is NEVER to be used in a closed area. A way of escape MUST be assured. It was normally to be used almost exclusively outside, not inside. I got exposed to a small amount one time. It was one of the worst experiences I have ever had. People will almost try to run though a brick wall, to get away from it. It’s horrible stuff.
I think someone else copyrighted that tactic back in the 1830's.
I think it might even go back to the Arabian desert!
Oh??
Today; CHOICE will kill about 3,300 future American citizens; just like it did yesterday and like it will do tomorrow.
I think your hyperbole needs a slight adjustment.
Because it was highly explosive and flammable when exposed to a flame...
The gov't did their best to cover it up and lied and claimed it was tear gas they were using...
I will say Daniel that if they wanted koresh, they could of picked him up anytime when he went to town alone.
They wanted to make an example of them.
I don’t know what his beliefs were. They were likely off the reservation, but Waco was a massive crime perpetrated by the federal government.
I am normally a supporter of LEO, and I actually knew someone who was a friend of one of the killed officers, but the fact that no one went to prison over this, and the authorities got off Scot free is awful.
That being said, David Koresh was a paranoid, self serving criminal.
It was a tragic mess, with both sides attempting to deal with the fruit of false doctrine with the arm of the flesh. But it was not enough to arrest Koresh, which that should have been done and which they had done before and brought to trial for the murder of his rival (which “saint” pope Damasus 1 engaged in himself) which resulted in a hung jury, but the problem was the compound, in which child abuse was occurring and had a lot of firearms in expectation for an apocalyptic battle. The ATF actually had an undercover agent who went to a “Bible study” in the compound shortly before the raid.
It seems the media forced the hand of the ATF by exposing the testimony of abuse, and then a photographer tipped off Koresh about the raid by telling a postman who was a member of the clan about the imminent raid, thus losing the element of surprise by the ATF, which resorted to overwhelming force.
That Koresh even gained around 75 followers in tragic, and which should have been confronted by churches before this. Too bad the gov. did not get a sound preacher on loudspeakers to blast the compound with Biblical reproof of both the doctrine of Koresh and his sins, and means of apocalyptic warfare.
“If you can watch “Waco” and the absolute murder of those Christians and children without tears— you have a very serious eternal life problem.”
Tears were shed long ago.... it’s more like anger, disgust, dishonor, pity, etc., etc.
Justice will come in the next life for those responsible.
Yes it will. I think Janet Reno is getting a taste of it right now.
absolutely false. Made up. No proof what so ever.Certainly nothing justifying intentionally burning 27 children alive. EDo you think?
A dividian who came out said that dravidians spread gas though the hall ways. I have trained in and been exposed to CS about 24 times and there is no inherent flammable material. It was used by corrections and police hundreds of times in California and no fires like waco. Never heard of or witnessed an explosion. Can you give other examples?
There were several avenues of escape. The davidians, except for three chose to not come out. Th compound can hardly be called an enclosed area because of the size, the windows and the number of doors to the outside.
If that was true, the Corps would be out of Marines. CS is a solid then is heated usually on the bottom of a pop can inverted over a candle. Last chamber I did it was thicker than fog. The candle flame didn't cause an explosion.
Keep in mind that they WAITED until the windiest day to pull a “gas” attack. That makes no sense.
Fire needs oxygen . It would spread fast after the canisters exploded. One thing is absolute. The Seventh Day Adventist didnt burn themselves alive with their little children like the FIB tried to sell the gullible public
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