THE BRANCH DAVIDIANS. The Branch Davidian cult was an offshot of the Seventh Day Adventist Church (SDA). Like the SDA, Branch Davidians believe in an imminent Second Coming. The credibility of the Seventh Day Adventists was damaged in 1843 when they incorrectly predicted an apocalypse.

In the 1930s, an Seventh Day Adventist, Victor Houteff, claimed that he was God's new prophet for the church. His claims were immediately rejected by the church, and he was forced to leave. Houteff formed the "Davidian Seventh Day Adventists," also known as "The Shepherd's Rod." Houteff died in 1955, and his widow Florence Houteff took over the leadership. She soon was confronted by Ben Roden who claimed that God had chosen him. Just as the Seventh Day Adventists incorrectly predicted an apocalypse at century earlier, she too was devastated when her claim to a Second Coming failed in 1959. The cult was sued by many of their own members who had bought land close to the supposed site of the Visitation.

Roden then formed the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists, recruiting a large number of Davidian Seventh Day Adventists to his cause. He introduced the observance of various Hebrew feast days, including Passover, Pentecost, the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles. In 1978 Roden died, and his widow Lois became president of the cult. She claimed to have been shown by God that the Holy Spirit was the feminine aspect of the trinity.

Branch Davidians believe God is guiding his Church into more and more truth. They constantly expect "New Light" to be shown by God to his or her people. The prophets are the means by which God reveals New Light, but this is always by drawing out the real meaning of texts from the Bible. Branch Davidians believe God has two revelations to humanity -- one in Jesus Christ and one at the end of time. This corresponds to the sacrifices prescribed in the Old Testament. The identity of the lamb at the end of time could be established as the one who is able to explain the Seven Seals of Revelation. Later David Koresh claimed that he was able to explain the Seven Seals, and therefore he claimed that he was the second Messiah.

DAVID KORESH. Vernon Howell was born in 1960. Later in 1990 Howell changed his name to David Koresh. Koresh was the illegitimate son of a 15-year old mother, and he was later abused by a stepfather. He grew up as a Seventh Day Adventist but was evicted from the church in 1979 at the age of 19. Two years later, Koresh joined the Branch Davidians, and in 1983 he claimed that he had his first vision from God. This created a schism between him and Lois's son.

In 1985, Koresh declared himself the "Sinful Messiah," and the next year he made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Upon his return, Koresh challenged Branch Davidian leader George Roden as to who had the greater divine power. In 1986 Koresh persuaded Roden to exhume the body of a Davidian to see whether he could bring him or her back to life. Koresh then had Roden arrested for "corpse abuse," and subsequently he was able to assume the leadership of the cult. Once Koresh seized control, he focused on recruiting new cult members from Great Britain. He also made recruitment trips to Australia and Israel in the early 1990s.

TRAGEDY AT WACO. After a 51 day standoff in 1993, a decision was made on February 28 to raid the Branch Davidians' compound in Waco, Texas. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) led that initial raid. The compound caught fire, and 76 -- including 25 children --- of the cultist members were killed.

Federal officials initially said that most of the tear gas used in the assault was liquid sprayed from the barrels of tank-like vehicles. But at the time -- and in the following six years -- federal officials continued to deny that pyrotechnic tear gas cannisters were used in the raid.

During the seven week standoff, Koresh continued to say that he was waiting for a message from God. He maintained that he would surrender after he received God's message. The FBI claimed that Koresh said he was coming out after the Passover and he lied. The FBI asked him, "Are you coming out before or after the Passover?" Koresh replied, "After, obviously." The FBI interpreted this as a promise to come out immediately afterwards. That is not what Koresh had said.

The FBI had no understanding of the Bible or Koresh's references. They did not know Koresh believed he was living in the "Fifth Seal" and waiting to hear from God. The FBI did not understand any of his Bible quotes which he used to justify his refusal to surrender. Koresh repeatly asked to speak to people who understood the Bible, but this was denied by the FBI.

Eventually, two Biblical scholars were able to communicate with Koresh and they argued for him to write out his explanation in a book after he received his message from God. They showed his was consistent with the "Fifth Seal." After weeks of waiting, Koresh claimed that he finally had a message from God and that he would soon surrender to the federal authorities. Cult members estimated he would have finished he book in 10 days. The manuscript and computer disks of what he had written survived the fire. However, the FBI never tried to comprehend what Koresh was doing and days later agents stormed the compound.

THE 1993 DOJ REPORT ON WACO. After the tragedy at Waco, an investigation was conducted by the Attorney General's office. At first Reno was praised for taking the lead in the probe and for claiming ultimate responsibility for what had occurred. However, the DOJ's final report was seen by many as a whitewash. The investigation was led by Edward S. G. Dennis Jr., and DOJ officials failed to criticize any DOJ or FBI officials. Dennis said, "I find there is no place in the evaluation for blame and no place for fault. ... Mistakes were made." However, Dennis did not say who made them.

The report concluded that the Davidians had set the fire, based on three things:

**An arson report analyzing where the blaze began.

**Infrared pictures taken from an airplane when the fire started that showed intense spots of heat erupting in different spots in the compound at almost the same time.

**The testimony of some surviving Davidians.

However, critics said that the probe was superficial and uncritical. They claimed that the report contradicted major elements of the DOJ's own account of what had occurred. There was only one dissent from the 1993 Justice review. That was by Dr. Alan Stone, a professor at the Harvard law and medical schools who was one of the experts retained by the DOJ. He concluded that the FBI had helped drive cult members to mass suicide and then misled officials in the subsequent review.

On the other hand, others were quite critical of the actions carried out by federal agents at Waco. They said that the decision to attack the compound was unreasonable. Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd Bentsen ordered a more vigorous review which was prepared under the direction of three outisde officials: Edwin Guthman, a former Justice official in the Kennedy Administration; Henry Ruth Jr., a former Watergate prosecutor and another outside expert in involved in the Treasury review; and Willie Williams, the Los Angeles police chief. This probe resulted in a major shakeup at BATF which included the removal of Stephen Higgins as director and the suspension of five other senior and lower level officials.

REPORTS OF A COVER-UP -- SIX YEARS LATER. On August 25, 1999 -- six years later -- Attorney General Reno angrily announced that she had been misled by federal officials. Reno said that she had been given repeated assurances by the FBI that the weapons used in the final assault on the Branch Davidian sect did not include incendiary devices that could have ignited the deadly fire. The attorney general then announced that the FBI acknowledged that at least two pyrotechnic canisters had been used in the raid. The M651 tear gas canisters, which the FBI acknowledged using during the assault, burn for about 30 seconds in the process of releasing their tear gas.

Reno said that "prior to April the 19th (1993), I received assurances that the gas and its means of use were not pyrotechnic. Since then, I have consistently been told that no pyrotechnic devices were used." The attorney general insisted that there was no evidence indicating that law enforcement authorities fired their weapons at the Davidians during the final assault. Federal officials always maintained that federal agents never fired their guns, but a newly discovered videotape of the siege shot by the Texas Department of Public Safety contained footage that some experts maintained appears to show machine gun fire being directed at the compound from an FBI helicopter on the morning of April 19.

The attorney general immediately announced that 40 FBI agents, led by the agency's inspector, would conduct the new inquiry. FBI spokesman John Collingwood said that the agents were to report "within weeks" on all aspects of the use of military-type tear gas and why it took so long to be admitted publicly.

DEFENDING THE RAID. Some investigators involved in the first inquiry 1993 said that these new allegations did not change their hypothesis that Koresh and his followers set the fire. In August 1999, allegations were made that federal agents botched the raid.

Senior FBI official Danny Coulson was a deputy assistant FBI director during the Waco siege. In August 1999 he acknowledged that the agency used the pyrotechnic devices. Coulson said, "I only found out a week ago that these rounds were fired. This is the truth and this is what happened. It's important for the American people to know." Coulson contended that the pyrotechnic gas rounds were not responsible for starting the fire. He estimated that they were fired "no later than 8 a.m." Coulson pointed to news videos from the time, claiming that they showed that the tear gas grenades landed near a storm shelter and emitted smoke -- but they did not ignite any part of the main building.

Arson investigators involved in the DOJ's initial review said the new evidence would not alter their conclusions on the fire. Thomas Hitchings, a member of the arson team, said, "It was started by the people inside the compound at the time. The stuff that was used outside the structure itself had no bearing on what happened inside the wooden structure." Another independent arson expert who said that the canisters were fired too far away and too early to have caused the fire.

In addition, Jeffrey Jamar, the FBI special agent in charge at the siege, said: "The important thing that people have to understand is that we weren't trying to hide anything." Jamar said that he did not remember being asked about the incendiary devices and that he thought probably no one considered them important because they were fired hours before the fire.

WAS THE DELTA FORCE INVOLVED? The Washington Post obtained military records were showed that three members of the Army's Delta Force, an anti-terrorist unit, watched the tank and tear gas assault by the Hostage Rescue Team. The documents also recounted that high ranking Army officers met with Reno on April 14, 1993, primarily to discuss the use of tear gas to end the standoff. When Reno asked the officers for their analysis, they told her -- according to the documents -- that "some people would panic" and that "mothers may run off and leave their infants."

The Pentagon always maintained that all military personnel were lawfully deployed at Waco and acted only as observers or advisers. Any direct military involvement in the Waco siege would have required a presidential waiver since it was a civilian law operation. Officials said that such an order was not sought because it was not necessary given the military's limited role.

In congressional hearings, DOD officials acknowledged providing equipment and personnel to both the BATF -- which conducted the initial raid on Koresh's compound -- and the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team which carried out the final assault. The officers, whose names were deleted from the papers, told Reno that "this was not a military operation and could not be assessed as such." They said that a military operation would have focused on capturing or killing Koresh.

Other memos showed that the military also provided FBI agents training in the use of 40 millimeter grenade launchers, but they indicated that the FBI did not request the training. The memos also indicated that the Pentagon did not supply "incendiaries such as flame-throwers." However, the DOD did provide technological support which included experimental surveillance robots and a television satellite signal jammer. The FBI used a secret Air Force jamming device to shut off the Davidians' access to television. The jammer was provided to assist the FBI in its psychological warfare operation against the cult.

THE INVESTIGATIONS. At hearings in 1993 and in 1995, officials stressed that all forms of tear gas used against the sect were not incendiary. Reno testified in 1993 that she "wanted and received assurances that the gas and its means of use were not pyrotechnic."

The House Government Reform and Oversight subcommittee submitted its final report on the Waco hearings in 1995. Robert Charles, chief counsel for the committee, said that the new information would have changed how Congress probed the incident. He said, "It's just a shock to hear from one of the key players that this fact -- which was obviously material to what we were investigating -- was not volunteered, or was deliberately withheld."

In August 1999, several members of Congress indicated that they were not be satisfied with the conclusions drawn in the 1993 DOJ report. Colorado film-maker Michael McNulty showed portions of his upcoming film, "Waco: A New Revelation," to some members of Congress. After seeing the new footage, Congressman Bob Barr of Georgia asked House Government Reform Committee Chairman Dan Burton to open an investigation. Burton said, "This new information requires a thorough investigation of whether the Justice Department has misled the American people and the Congress about what happened at Waco."

One month before evidence emerged that pyrotechnic cannisters were used in the raid, Texas officials opened an inquiry into the Waco fire after a documentary film producer and plaintiffs' attorneys raised questions about projectiles discovered on the scene. Other evidence -- including videotapes and photographs -- also were discovered in storage in Austin. One photograph showed a military 40 millimeter munition and several "flash bang" grenades found in the compound. Another piece of evidence was a videotape shot by the Texas Department of Public Safety that some experts say appeared to show machine gun fire directed at the compound's occupants from an FBI helicopter the morning of April 19. However, the FBI refuted this assertion, contending that no federal agents ever fired on the cult. The video was obtained by McNulty who helped produce the documentary "Waco: The Rules of Engagement.".

"Waco: A New Revelation," another documentary of which McNulty was the key researcher, revealed that FBI agents opened fire on the Davidian compound during the siege. McNulty discovered a potentially incendiary tear gas canister among thousands of pounds of evidence held in storage lockers. That discovery led FBI and Justice Department officials to recant their original contention that only non-incendiary tear gas was used. In November McNulty showed evidence that federal agents' automatic gunfire pinned down cult members, cutting off their only route of escape, while the compound was inflamed..

"Waco: A New Revelation" included interviews with former FBI, CIA, and military personnel as well as surviving Branch Davidians. They claimed that federal agents planted a powerful explosives charge to blast into a steel-reinforced concrete bunker where Branch Davidian women and children died. Video footage shot later showed a gaping hole in the bunker's roof. Steel rods that reinforced the concrete were bent inward, which the film's analysts say was caused by a blast that would have devastated people inside..

The documentary film also suggested that the FBI used bugging devices and knew that the Davidians had discussed setting the place aflame. Bureau officials have long denied they had advance knowledge of the cult members' intent, saying the transmissions were too garbled to understand. McNulty also pointed out that three hours before the blaze began, federal agents fired from a helicopter at a cult member who walked outside the compound. This was corroborated by Edward Allard, a former Army night vision lab supervisor hired as an expert in the Davidian survivors' wrongful-death lawsuit against the government, who analyzed the night-vision videotapes of the assault. Allard said, "In our opinion, it's clearly machine-gun fire from the helicopter." He said that the infrared surveillance videotape shot by an FBI plane showed two people crawling out from under a tank and firing dozens of rounds of machine-gun fire at the compound. Allard explained that the tape showed federal forces firing into the compound as it burned. According to the videotape, shots were fired into the dining room area, and that is where 15 Davidians with gunshot wounds were found.

At a higher level, once again the schism between Reno and FBI Director Freeh became pronounced over an investigation. Freeh told the attorney general that a new probe into the 51 day siege should be carried out by the FBI -- not by the DOJ. In essence, Freeh was saying that the FBI should investigate itself. FBI spokesman Tron Brekke announced that 40 agents were assigned to conduct such an investigation and "everyone in the bureau feels that we are perfectly capable of doing a complete, impartial, and thorough investigation." But Reno decided upon an independent inquiry. She appointed former Republican Senator John Danforth of Missouri to head an independent inquiry.

In the mean time, the House Government Reform Committee issued subpoenas for documents that related to the use of pyrotechnic tear gas canisters. The committee subpoenaed evidence which the Texas Rangers had accumulated from the Davidian compound. Burton's committee also subpoenaed an assistant United States attorney who prosecuted criminal cases against surviving Branch Davidians.

A Hostage Rescue Team member was taped and heard requesting and being granted permission by a commander to fire potentially flammable military tear gas more than four hours before the Branch Davidian compound burst into flames. However, a member of the Hostage Rescue Team argued that these cartridges had no effect.

Carlos Ghigliotti, an expert witness who testified before the House Government Reform Committee, concluded that the FBI fired shots on the day of the siege of the Branch Davidian compound. This testimony refuted the official FBI report which insisted that agents did not fire ant rounds. Ghigiliotti reached his conclusion after viewing ground level videotapes taken from several angles as well as the overhead thermal tape taken by the Nightstalker surveillance plane. His views corroborated those of a retired DOD thermal imaging analyst who stated two years earlier in 1997 that the infrared surveillance footage taken by an FBI plane offered definitive proof that FBI agents unleashed a large amount of automatic weapon fire on the compound.

Edward Allard, a supervisor at the Army's night vision laboratory in Virginia, also refuted the FBI's contention that they did not fire into the compound. Allard said that the infrared footage reflects "the government pouring machine-gun fire into the building and the Davidians firing here and there." The FBI maintained that the bright bursts on the infrared tape represented solar flashes on shards of glass or other debris around the Branch Davidian compound. But Allard said, "It's impossible for the Waco (forward-looking infrared) to detect solar radiation because the equipment they used is simply no sensitive enough to detect it."

FBI documents subpoenaed by the House panel revealed that the agency's supervisors requested to reward members of the Hostage Rescue Team at Waco. The 13 page memo recommended that the entire Hostage Rescue Team be awarded the Shield of Bravery with individual commendations to the agents who left their armored tanks during the assault. Another document proposed "substantial cash incentive rewards" for "exceptional and exemplary individual efforts." But there was no evidence which suggested that the agency approved the request. Former Deputy Assistant Director Danny Coulson, who oversaw the Hostage Rescue Team, said that neither medals no bonuses were given to his agents at Waco.

The records also outlined the rules under which FBI agents could operate during their assault on the compound. This included the conditions where agents could use deadly force -- if they approached "friendly positions" and failed to respond to agents' commands. The documents also acknowledged that on seven occasions agents threw flash-bang devices at Davidians who were outside in order to force them back inside the compound.

In mid-October, Congressional Republicans indicated that they wanted to terminate the hearings. House Majority Leader Dick Armey said, "I don't know that we will see any compelling need (for hearings). He said that Danworth was a competent independent prosecutor and that he alone should proceed with the investigation. Mark Souder, a Republican on the House panel, said, "There's Waco fatigue. ... There's a feeling that the political risk may be higher than the political gain of pursuing this subject at this time."

According to a Dallas Morning News article, Army Colonel Rodney Rawlings said that he heard Koresh give the order to set the fires through bug transmissions on speakers in the FBI Waco command center's monitoring room. Rawlings said that he heard Koresh's order and then the sound of gunshots within five minutes after the FBI began its assault on the compound. "I heard it. Anyone who says you couldn't at the time is being less than truthful."

However, FBI officials said transmissions from eavesdropping devices inside the compound were too garbled to allow agents to hear discussions. FBI officials testified to congressional committees that it was after the assault that they learned that the Davidians were spreading fuel and preparing to set a fire. They said that had they heard that people in the compound were preparing a fire, they would have stopped the assault.

FBI MEMOS SURFACE. The Dallas Morning News (February 28, 2000) that during the weeks of the standoff, dissent surfaced within the FBI over whether to use tear gas to end the ordeal. A memo dated March 23, 1993, was obtained by the newspaper. Danny Coulson, then deputy assistant FBI director. He wrote that he feared bureau officials in Waco were lobbying to use tear gas against the Davidians because they were frustrated, tired, and under pressure from the agency's hostage rescue team commander, Richard Rogers.

Coulson wrote, "Bottom line, I suggest that it is not time to ask the AG (attorney general) or the president for permission to assault the compound with gas. Progress is still being made." Coulson wrote that negotiations were being hurt by an inconsistent tactical strategy, including repeated punishment of sect members just when they appeared to be cooperating. Coulson also wrote, "In Waco, a lot of pressure (to use tear gas) is coming from Rogers. We had similar problems in Idaho with him (Randy Weaver) and he argued and convinced the SACs (local FBI special agents in charge) that Weaver would not come out. That proved to be wrong. I believe he is a significant part of the problem here."

THE SIMULATION. The FBI conducted a simulation -- complete with aircraft equipped with infrared cameras, soldiers firing weapons, and tanks -- on March 19, 2000, and immediately afterwards lawyers for the government and the Branch Davidians both claimed vindication. Michael Caddell, the chief lawyer for the Davidians, said that the test at Texas' Fort Hood military base "clearly demonstrates that there was government gunfire on the back of Mount Carmel on April 19, 1993." According to the New York Times, he said the demonstration proved what their side alleged all along: that federal operatives fired on the remote side of the Davidians' retreat as it burned.

The government maintained that the tests proved the exact opposite. United States Attorney Mike Bradford said that the test results bolstered the government's longstanding insistence that no shots were fired that day. Bradford said, "We hope that this will put to rest the notion that the FBI was shooting that day."

A handful of survivors and over 120 relatives of the deceased cultists brought a $675 lawsuit against the federal government, claiming that its reckless tactics led to the tragedy. In mid-July a federal jury found that the government bore no blame for the fire. The jury rejected the Davidians' claims across the board, finding that federal agents were liable for neither the initial shootout that started the standoff nor its deadly conclusion. United States Attorney Michael Bradford said, "It's time to put this to rest and move on."

In July, John Danworth, the special counsel appointed by Reno, exonerated federal agents. Coming on the heals of the jury verdict that vindicated the government, Danworth said in the Washington Post (July 22, 2000), that there was no "massive cover-up" by the government, but he did conclude that several federal lawyers and an FBI agent did fail to reveal that four hours before the compound caught fire. Danworth blamed the tragedy on "the Branch Davidians and their leader, David Koresh. This is not a close call." Freeh issued a statement saying that the FBI was gratified at the finding that there were no "ill motives" on the part of agents on the scene.

Danworth said that he was continuing to investigate the government officials who failed to disclose the use of the tear gas canisters. But he stressed that his investigation determined that the canisters were not fired at the compound and did not cause the blaze.