Posted on 02/19/2023 6:00:41 AM PST by fruser1
US government agents had been tipped off about the cult by a postal driver alarmed by the number of guns he had been delivering to the group's headquarters.
Special agent Davy Aguilera had concluded that the Branch Davidians had been illegally converting AR-15 rifles from semi-automatic to automatic weapons, without applying for the required licences or paying the taxes due.
Spooked by rumours that cult members were planning a mass suicide at Passover, amid reports of child abuse against under-age girls, ATF agents began in July 1992 to lay the groundwork for the biggest operation in the agency's history.
The ATF agents even tipped off TV reporters, leading to near-disaster when a cameraman who asked a Davidian for directions to the compound let slip that he was in town to film an imminent raid on the cult.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Yet another example of what happens when fovernmwnr is given too much power.
2nd amendment ping and it is well past time to repeal the NFA of 1934.
“They could have arrested Koresh anytime when he went into to town.”
Yup. That would have been how it would have been done in the pre Clinton days.
All the Feds had to do was keep a low profile and be patient.
One of the trademarks of dumb moves is the failure to differentiate between urgent and important.
The gun violations might be important (debatable but possible) but they were definitely not urgent.
GHWB was no better than Clinton in that department.
This all started under Lincoln when individual and states rights were trampled by the war of northern aggression.
Yep, and agent Bill Bufford (spelling) and his men shot each other up on the roof and tried to blame the Davidians.
I suspect that what they were getting were 80% lowers.
The government pumped CS powder in to the building which is against the Geneva Convention and cannot be used on opposing troops but the used that fateful day. It was widely known the the CS powder was highly flammable, so when government fired flash bangs inside the powder on the floor and in the air ignited. But most were already unconscious because the powder causes your airway to close and you suffocate to dearg.
***by a postal driver alarmed by the number of guns he had been delivering***
Since when has the postal service started delivering guns to homes? That was stopped back before 1968.
Bkmrk
Good question. I have no idea. Something doesn’t seem right about the claim of deliveries for sure
What I heard from LEO friends at the time was that the ATF was in need of a “high profile raid” because it was time for authorizing their annual budget in Congress. Of possible targets, the Davidians were chosen in the mistaken belief that they would be a soft target of individuals including women and children that would or could not resist. The ATF quickly found out that their agents equipped with 9mm MP-5 submachine guns and body armor, coupled with the loss of surprise, were no match for motivated individuals that were proficient with their semi-automatic 7.62 X 39 SKS rifles.
Had the ATF not raided the Waco compound would the OKC bombing have ever taken place?
I still remember the news telling people to be on the lookout for “six men in blue running suits, of swarthy Middle Eastern complexion seen running from the area” just before the OKC blast.
They harassed me once at Barton arena, wrote down my license plate, got in my face over it...my only gripe was more were not taken out...
At about that time I found in the post office here some pamphlets on religion. I read them and realized they were from a Missouri sect of the Branch Davidians.
There was nothing in all that writing about committing suicide or violence, just a call for people to return to their religious doctrines of the Seventh Day Adventist church of which the Davidians were an offshoot.
Actually it was a box of inert practice grenades that broke open.
This is what sealed their fate. After the feds were driven off on the initial assault, they could not allow a peaceful resolution. They could not allow them to surrender peacefully and have a trial where they could make an argument of "self defense", and potentially be acquitted by a Texas jury.
The Mt. Carmel assault and resulting murders of innocent Americans was a solution looking for a problem. And a big splash for federal law enforcement.
“”leading to near-disaster””
If that was “near disaster”, I’d hate to see what “real disaster” looks like.
Truth be told, I had little sympathy stemming from an event in 1995.
I don’t think the concept of 80% lowers had been ‘invented’ yet.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.