Waco siege

The Branch Davidians were a religious group headquartered at Mount Carmel Center, a compound in unincorporated McLennan County, Texas, about 13 miles northeast of Waco. The group traced its origins to a 1955 schism within the Shepherd's Rod (Davidians) movement. By the late 1980s, leadership had passed to Vernon Wayne Howell, who legally changed his name to David Koresh in 1990.

In 1992, local authorities received reports raising concern about weapons at the compound, including a UPS driver's report of grenades found in a damaged package and a farmer's report of suspected automatic-weapons fire. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) opened a formal investigation on June 9, 1992. An affidavit filed by ATF Special Agent David Aguilera on February 25, 1993, became the basis for search and arrest warrants against Koresh and other group members on federal weapons charges. On February 27, 1993, the Waco Tribune-Herald began publishing "The Sinful Messiah," a series alleging Koresh had physically and sexually abused children in the compound and taken multiple underage brides.

The ATF attempted to execute the warrants on February 28, 1993. A reporter tipped off about the raid inadvertently alerted a mail carrier who was Koresh's brother-in-law, tipping off the Branch Davidians before agents arrived. A gunfight broke out that killed four ATF agents — Steve Willis, Robert Williams, Todd McKeehan, and Conway Charles LeBleu — and five Branch Davidians: Winston Blake, Peter Gent, Peter Hipsman, Perry Jones, and Jaydean Wendell. Koresh was shot in the hand and stomach. About six hours after a ceasefire was negotiated, ATF agents shot and killed Michael Schroeder, a Branch Davidian who allegedly fired on agents as he tried to re-enter the compound.

The FBI took command of the standoff, led on-site by Jeff Jamar with the Hostage Rescue Team under Commander Richard Rogers. Over the next 51 days, negotiators kept telephone contact with those inside; 19 children were released without their parents early on, though 98 people remained in the compound. Negotiations stalled as Koresh repeatedly delayed, citing religious writings he said he needed to finish, and the FBI applied increasingly aggressive pressure, including sleep-disrupting broadcasts and armored vehicles that breached perimeter fencing. Koresh at one point ordered a group of followers to leave; eleven departed and were arrested as material witnesses, one of them on a charge of conspiracy to murder.

Attorney General Janet Reno approved an FBI plan to pump CS gas into the buildings, citing deteriorating conditions and reports of child abuse inside the compound. On April 19, 1993, the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team used armored vehicles to breach the buildings' walls and insert the gas. By around noon, fires broke out simultaneously in multiple parts of the building and spread quickly. Nine people escaped; 76 Branch Davidians died, including 20 to 28 children and Koresh, who according to the FBI was shot by an aide before the aide killed himself. Autopsies found that at least 20 of the dead, including Koresh, had been shot.

The origin of the fire remains disputed. Department of Justice reports from October 1993 and July 2000 concluded the Branch Davidians started the fire, citing surveillance audio of discussions about spreading fuel on hay and aerial footage showing multiple simultaneous ignition points. The FBI has stated none of its agents fired live rounds that day; critics dispute this and suggest gunfire combined with flammable CS gas may have caused or contributed to the blaze. An independent university investigation concluded occupants had sufficient time to escape the fire had they chosen to.