The Waco Siege
Getty ImagesDavid Koresh with Branch Davidian members, including one of his wives and children, on the right.
On April 19, 1993, authorities descended upon the Mount Carmel compound in Waco, Texas, where David Koresh and the members of his Branch Davidian sect had been bunkered in with a stockpile of weapons for 51 days.
Because they suspected the cult was hoarding those very weapons, the ATF had tried to execute a search warrant on the compound on Feb. 28. In response, the cult bunkered in and the tense stand-off began.
The roots of the trouble actually date back much earlier. David Koresh was a religious fanatic who’d spent his life hopping from place to place looking for some kind of spiritual connection. When he found one with the Branch Davidians at Mount Carmel, he thought that only the best was ahead. Unfortunately, he couldn’t have been more wrong.
With the Branch Davidians, Koresh got caught up in a relationship with the leader’s wife, who helped him move up the ranks. Before long, he was preaching his own messages, some of which caused conflict within the group.
Wikimedia CommonsMount Carmel on fire, during the Waco Siege.
Koresh was eventually exiled for his divisive comments. He spent a few years traveling before returning to Mount Carmel in full force. During his exile he’d fallen into deep delusions, believing that God spoke to him and that he was connected to King David and the biblical Cyrus the Great.
Fights ultimately broke out within the compound over Koresh’s methods and his teachings. Several exiled or escaped members reported polygamy, drug use, and weapons stockpiling to authorities, who attempted to raid the compound – but Koresh was ready. He’d fortified Mount Carmel and was determined to keep the police out.
For 51 days, the Branch Davidians held Mount Carmel and engaged in gunfire, hostile negotiations and flat-out war with the FBI. Ultimately it was an unexplained fire started from within the compound possibly by the cult members purposefully that ended the Waco siege.
Though people were released to FBI custody, 76 died within the walls (in addition to the six who’d died at the siege’s outset), and much of the information on what happened during the siege (including to what extent they were hostages or willing participants) died with them.
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