The Texas town of Waco has, for many Americans, become synonymous with tragedyβever since the day Waco siege in between the federal government and an extremist religious sect called the Branch Davidians ended in a deadly fire. On February 28, , in response to reports that the Davidians had been stockpiling illegal weapons at their compound, the Mount Carmel Center, in preparation for the end of the world, Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raided the property.
Their goal: to search the premises and arrest Koresh for unlawful weapons possession. But the plan went south fast, with four federal agents and six Branch Davidians dying in a chaotic shootout.
The FBI then became embroiled in a day standoff with Koresh at the compound. During this time, negotiators arranged for the release of 35 Branch Davidians, including 21 children. But on April 19, , in an attempt to lure Koresh and his followers out, agents took decisive action that critics later called extreme or unwarranted: They rammed the building with tanks and launched a tear-gas assault.
The structure caught fire the cause of the fire is still debated , and 76 Branch Davidiansβwhich included 28 childrenβdied in the flames. Sometime during the fire, Koresh, then 33, died of a gunshot wound to the head. It remains unknown whether he killed himself or was shot by someone else. Here are some other debates around and other little-known facts about the Waco siege and Koresh:.
Though the dominant narrative at the time of the siege was that Koresh was a sketchy cult leader, there has never been consensus about whether the group was a legitimate cult. And negative conclusions were already commonplace by then. Steve Eichel, a psychologist and cult specialist. The Branch Davidians were certainly an extreme and problematic religion: Waco survivors reported various forms of insidious child abuse, with girls as young as 11 being forced to have sex with Koresh.
