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From February 29, through April 19, 1993 millions of Americans and people from all over the world were glued to their television sets as they watched the violent standoff between an obscure religious sect, known as the Branch Davidians, and the federal government unfold. Most people viewed the events as a curiosity, but some were genuinely worried and afraid that the result would end up similar to what happened months earlier in northern Idaho when a survivalist named Randy Weaver was involved in an armed standoff with federal agents that left his wife and son dead.

====David Koresh and the Branch Davidians====

In order to understand how the Waco tragedy affected American society, a brief background examination of David Koresh and the Branch Davidians is warranted. The Branch Davidian sect was the idea of a Hungarian immigrant named Victor Houteff who converted to the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) church in 1918 and within a few years became one of its major leaders. Believing that his vision of the Bible and the SDA church was the correct one, Houteff took a small group of followers and broke from the main body of the church in 1933, moving to a tract of land outside of Waco, Texas that he christened “Mount Carmel” in reference to the biblical locale in northern Israel.

====The Investigation====

The reason why the Branch Davidians came to the attention of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms was the combination of a series of newspapers articles about the sect and a random discovery by a postal worker. Mark England and Darlene McCormick, who were local writers for the <i>Waco Tribune-Herald</i>, wrote a seven part series titled “Sinful Messiah,” which focused on some of the more lurid and salacious aspects of life in the compound. The writers interviewed three ATF sources who also happened to be disgruntled former Davidians. One of the sources, Marc Breault, ended up being the key informant who helped get the ATF initiate the investigation of the Davidians. Koresh was never interviewed by England and McCormick. <ref> Reavis, pgs. 40-43</ref> Dovetailing with the “Sinful Messiah” series was the ATF investigation, which officially began in 1992 when a postal worker noticed a number of weapons being mailed to the compound. Although there is nothing inherently illegal about sending guns through the postal service, the ATF believed it warranted an investigation so special agent Robert Rodriguez was tasked with infiltrating the compound. Most of the weapons the agent saw in the compound were legal, but Rodriguez’s reports concluded that the Davidians were manufacturing illegal weapons, which was enough to get a warrant to raid the compound. <ref> Kerksetter, Todd. “‘That’s Just the American Way’: The Branch Davidian Tragedy and Western Religious History.” <i>Western Historical Quarterly.</i> 35 (2004) pgs. 456-7</ref>

====The Siege====

The ATF seemingly had plenty of time to plan their raid on the Branch Davidians; enough time for them to nickname the operation “Showtime” and to enlist 100 agents and three helicopters for the ill-fated February 28 raid. They believed that by initiating the raid just before ten a.m. they would catch the Davidians off guard and that most of the men would be separated from the women and children. They were tragically wrong. To this day there is still considerable debate concerning which side fired the first shot, but the ensuing firefight resulted in the deaths of four ATF agents and twenty wounded. The Davidians fared a bit better in their casualty count – two of their members were killed and three were wounded. By the afternoon a ceasefire was arranged that allowed the ATF to take their wounded from the scene and several Davidians surrendered and were promptly arrested. But the tragic events of February 28 were only the beginning. <ref> Kerksetter, p. 458</ref>

Scholars of the Waco tragedy and the Critical Incident Analysis Group, which is a group of scholars based at the University of Virginia, argue that it is a prime example of a “critical incident.” A critical incident is defined as an act that erodes the public trust in the government and effectively polarizes the population into factions that either oppose or support the state on a particular issue. As evidence, Jayne Docherty pointed to a 1999 <i>Time</i> magazine poll that stated sixty-one percent of those polled believe that government was responsible for the Waco tragedy. <ref> Docherty, Jayne Seminare. “Why Waco Has Not Gone Away: Critical Incidents and Cultural Trauma” <i>Novo Religio: the Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions.</i> 5 (2001) pgs. 187-189</ref> Beyond the deep seated damage the Waco tragedy had on the American psyche, it also influenced a number of more immediate events.

There were also two congressional hearings on the siege and standoff, which were summarized in a report by Senator John Danforth. Although the report largely absolved the government of responsibility,<ref> Docherty, p. 192</ref> a joint congressional report by the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight and the Committee on the Judiciary concluded that the April 19 assault was “premature.” <ref> Wright, p. 103</ref>

====References====

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