Waco texas
 

Ok remember? A bunch of Branch Davidians resisted the police and were killed after a prolonged seige.

I was reading some articles about it and I found the the facts that are recorded are different from what I remember.

Off the cuff Greekchatters, what do you remember about why the police went in there and ended up killing those people?

Re: Waco texas
 

I understand that they just wanted to end the seige. They used tear gas which ignited and turned the tanks into flamethrowers.

I had an old boss who was watching the raw satellite footage and tells it differently -- that the tanks were blowing flames as they approached the building. I have learned, however, to take what he says with a grain of salt :D

There was evidence
 

There was evidence that the leader (David Koresh) was abusing children, having sex with minors, etc.

The govt. forces (not the army, but armed Alcohol, Tobacco, and Fire Arms agents) attempted to storm the place, and were unsuccessful with a death or two.

After a seige of some 40 days, Janet Reno and Bill Clinton ordered the place to be stormed. They used a tank-like vehicle, equipped with some sort of tear-gas and a long nozzle - hoping to push the nozzle thru the walls and drive out the people with gas.

The tear-gas stuff turned out to be flamable, the whole place caught fire, and all the residents died.

Janet Reno bit the bullet - assuring us that she was totally responsible and Clinton barely knew it was happening.

There was testimony afterwards that Koresh regularly made shopping trips to town, and questions about why he was arrested in town.

Janet Reno violated the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 resulting in the death of seventy-six civilians.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but the Davidians were also in violation of numerous gun-ownership laws.

That was 2 months before i moved to Texas, i remember watching the flaming inferno on TV with my mom in my parents room thinking, God, what are we getting ourselves into.

Fortunately, they were just a bunch of Wackos, and the majority of Texas wasn't like that.

KS 361

I thought the initial raid was due to concerns about turning rifles into automatic weapons. When they first attempted to raid, the Davidians begain firing on them and a handful of each group were killed. The forces retreated and staked out the place for .. 7 or 8 weeks. It came out that there was child molestation going on a cult like atmosphere in the compound. I remember interviews with parents of kids who were there as well as former branch members who described bizarre stuff, such as David Koresh having numerous wives, including at least one who was 13. At the time, they reported that it appeared that the tear gas started the fires, but they speculated too that the Davidians set the fires themselves. As typical, the media expounded a lot of theories while the fire was raging.

The "survivalist" groups were outraged and did the OK City bombing on the anniversary of Waco as revenge and a political statement against it.

That's my memory of it...

I remember seeing a copy of the Weekly World News that showed "devilish faces" in the smoke of the Waco fire.

Everyone pretty much has given account to everything else I remember, but I also remember being told specificially that the Branch Davidians started the fire as suicide. Obviously, that probably wasn't the case.

Re: Waco texas
 

I remember something about the branch davidians firing on them first...and they got in trouble first of all for firearms violations...I think. :confused:

I can go take pictures of the former location of the compound, if you would like. Visiting there was one of the more twilight zone-ish experiences I have ever had in my life.

Wacky little Waco...

The Branch Davidians ran a profitable legal gun business.

However, ATF was acting on a tip through an undercover agent that Koresh and the boys were selling illegal conversion kits to convert semi-auto assault rifles into full auto. When the cover story of the undercover guy started wearing thin, ATF had no choice but to act.

Conversion kits are not illegal.