This method was eventually rejected, but the thought had been there nonetheless. Did the fact that the FBI even considered using such a new and unknown field show the disregard and thoughtlessness they had for the Davidians’, their beliefs and their culture, however brainwashed they may or may not have been?
THE SIEGE CONTINUES
Over the weeks, trained FBI negotiators were brought to the scene with the intention of peacefully ending the stand-off whilst at the same time federal commanders worked opposite tactics. On March 7 a memo went out to the FBI agents listing certain ‘tactical activities that might be used to increase the stress and anxiety inside the compound’ such as flooding the Mount Carmel building in lights throughout the night, cutting off all the Davidians’ communications with the media, and hindering the supply of milk to the children inside.
Surely such acts were never going to get a group of people who thought that the end was upon them any closer to coming round to a new way of thinking?
David Koresh asked to speak to somebody who would understand what he had to say, someone with a learned knowledge of the Bible – this request was denied on a number of occasions even though the FBI had many religious and theological contacts that they had been using for translation purposes whenever they entered biblical conversations with Koresh.
Doctor Michael Haynes, who had a PhD in theology and psychology, even suggested that he be allowed to negotiate directly with Koresh. Dr. Haynes thought he may be able to talk Koresh out of the compound by promising to help him spread the message of God. Again this request was denied.
Negotiations were discussed throughout March and people who had voluntarily left the compound were allowed to return in order to tell the remaining Davidians’s that they were being treated well and they should not fear coming out.
By March 19, Koresh was speaking to negotiators, promising that he was not going to commit suicide and neither were any of the other members within the building. He requested that the FBI did not destroy any more Davidian property and that in time they would come out. But accounts of the siege state that released children who were interviewed by a psychiatrist from the University of Baylor suspected that they had heard talk about suicide from the adults.
Each time negotiations broke down the FBI bull-dozed an area of wall or removed property from the grounds, but again this did not help matters as the Davidians were going ‘beyond this world’.
It then became apparent that another reasoning behind the stand-off was the fear of prosecution. Once the members realised that Kathy Schroeder was being charged with murder it made them all believe even more that there was no reason to leave their safe haven, maybe that the final judgement in this crazed situation would come from God?
The final Davidian to exit the compound came out on March 23, 1993. Three days later on March 26, a negotiator told Steven Schneider, a high ranking Davidian, that ten more people must be released by midday. Schneider reportedly got angry at this and said that the remaining Davidians did not care as they only feared God.
GAS, GUNFIRE & INFERNO
A meeting was held on April 7 for all the agencies involved in the Branch Davidian siege. The FBI reported to the Attorney General that they had concluded from the meeting the possibility of using tear gas as a resolution. By April 12 managing attorneys in the Criminal Division received a briefing from the FBI that CS gas would be released into the compound if the Davidians did not come out by the end of passover. This action had been ordered by the Attorney General herself, Janet Reno. It was believed by the agencies that they were at a stale mate with the Branch Davidians and there was no other alternative. Also, if the children inside the complex were getting physically and mentally abused they needed to be removed as soon as possible. But surely gassing these people out was always going to do more harm than good?
As armoured vehicles cleared cars from the front of the property on April 18, Davidian members were reportedly seen holding children up at windows in a tower with a sign saying: ‘Flames await’.
At around 6.00 a.m. on April 19, 1993 the gassing began. A negotiator telephoned the compound and told Schneider what was about to happen. He was informed that the gas was not deadly and they should come out peacefully. Schneider responded by ripping the phone out of the wall. The message was announced again over loud speaker but as the gassing vehicles approached Mount Carmel, gun-shots were fired towards them. The gassing continued for several hours, and at the same time the armoured vehicles began smashing holes in the building to weaken it for entrance and exit purposes. Three hours into the demolition and the main entrance had been broken down.
At noon, several fires started around the compound and shortly after the Davidians fled the building. They were the lucky ones, as rapidly the wooden structure of the building became engulfed in flames and even though openings had been made in the building no one else survived the fire. David Koresh and 76 of his avid followers, including 20 children, died on that grim afternoon.
MYSTERY
To this day so many things related to the Waco disaster remain questionable. It will never be known for certain who fired the first shot on February 28. ATF agents who were part of the raid testified in court that the Branch Davidians had fired first. Immediately after the raid (and off the record) however, one of the ATF agents told an investigator that a fellow agent may have fired the first shot when he killed a dog that was roaming around just outside the compound. The agent later withdrew his statement. Surviving Davidians still maintain that they did not shoot their guns until they were fired at.
It can also be questioned whether negotiations should have continued for longer before resorting to a gas attack. Were Koresh and his followers given the freedom of speech and belief that is meant to be part of the American Dream? Many lives may have been saved if people with more theological and biblical knowledge had been allowed to talk directly to the Davidians as opposed to going through an agency that are more renowned for shooting first and asking questions later. Was it right to use the FBI as a peace-making tool?
It seems more factual and fair-minded to spread the blame between the government agencies and the Branch Davidians, as, with a bit more rationality, maybe events would have turned out differently.
As to who started the fire that was to end the siege, and many lives, again remains to be seen. Independent arson experts concluded that the fire was deliberately set from within the compound and a Texas jury ruled that the US Government were not to blame for the deaths of the 80 Branch Davidians. Jurors heard audio tapes made inside the compound which contained conversations between unidentified Davidians asking incriminating evidence such as ‘Start the fire?’ and ‘Should we light the fire?’.
Even if the Branch Davidians can be seen as responsible for the act of starting the fire maybe the government should be held responsible for not dealing with such a complex situation in a more discerning manner.
The Branch Davidians may not have become aggressive if they had not had a provoking aggressor such as the FBI or the ATF on hand to persecute them but then again it may have become worse if the situation had been left any longer. Only the people who were inside with Koresh really know what went on and if abuse to children really happened.
Maybe if religious groups such as the Branch Davidians were not so taboo and demonized within everyday life then it would have been easier to understand how things had got to this stage and the situation could have been diffused silently and carefully.