Branch Davidians
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Some people believe that David Koresh's main cause was a refusal to pay income taxes, thus making him a hero to the right-wing loony fringe. | Some people believe that David Koresh's main cause was a refusal to pay income taxes, thus making him a hero to the right-wing loony fringe. | ||
| − | The incident | + | The incident was one of the influences that inspired the rabid anti-government philosophy of [[Timothy McVeigh]] and Terry Nichols which led to their bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, resulting in the deaths of 168 people. McVeigh had visited Waco during the standoff and spoken out in anger at the government siege. |
==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
Revision as of 03:53, 1 March 2009
Waco is a city in Texas famous for a bungled arrest, a seige, and a subsequent disastrous fire. These events centered around David Koresh and his followers, who lived on a fortified ranch near the town.
Koresh, a self-styled messiah, led a smallish cult called the Branch Davidians. He was in many ways a quintessential American: a slightly over-the-edge Christian, an anti-government gun nut, and set on going his own way.
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The crime
Unfortunately for him and his followers, Koresh's weapon of gun collection overstepped the bounds of what is legal to own, even in the U.S. (meaning he was probably into machine guns). This brought the attention, ire, and wrath of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (what a great combination!) down on him.
The bungled arrest, followed by more crime
The ATF made a terrible tactical error, and instead of asking the local Sheriff what supermarket they could probably pick Koresh up at, they stealthily sneaked up onto the roof of the compound one night. Koresh and his buddies did the natural thing when encountering nighttime intruders on private property in Texas: they shot them. Precisely why isn't known, Koresh did not answer calls for an interview, but it can be assumed that it was a case of mistaken identity. Now that there were dead cops in the story, things spiraled out of control.
The standoff
For days, while the nation was transfixed by the story of this cop-killing monster, the feds set up various attempts to drive Koresh and his followers out of the compound. Loud music was blared at them. Bad movies saturated their cable stations. [OK, I made that one up. -Ed.] Demands for surrender were blared through loudhailers.
Finally, the government forces stormed the compound with a tank-mounted battering ram, and shot tear gas inside.[1] A fire started, which disastrously consumed the compound and all the people inside. An official investigation by a Republican Congressman found that it was most likely that someone inside the compound, possibly Koresh himself, set the place on fire.[2] This also made Koresh a baby-killer, because it was all his fault that the children in the compound, well, died.
Jack-booted thugs
At the time, the attorney general was Janet Reno (named for the "biggest little city in America"). Since right wingers hated anything Clinton, and anything gun control, she was demonized for bungling the confrontation, and the term "jack-booted thug" became popular with some talk radio hosts to refer to government employees. While they may not have been willing to actually side with Koresh, they sure weren't on Reno's (the AG, not the city) or the federal government's side.
Rationalizations
Loony ultra-right-wing pro-militant organizations like to believe that the government purposely caused the disaster that led to every cult member being killed.
Some people believe that David Koresh's main cause was a refusal to pay income taxes, thus making him a hero to the right-wing loony fringe.
The incident was one of the influences that inspired the rabid anti-government philosophy of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols which led to their bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City, resulting in the deaths of 168 people. McVeigh had visited Waco during the standoff and spoken out in anger at the government siege.
Trivia
- Waco is where the Dr. Pepper soda company was founded
- Waco is home to Baylor University.