Raid and Siege By Federal Authorities
On February 28, 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) raided Mount Carmel Center. The raid resulted in the deaths of four agents and six Branch Davidians. Shortly after the initial raid, the FBI HRT (Hostage Rescue Team) took command of the federal operation, since the FBI has jurisdiction over incidents involving the deaths of federal agents. Contact was established with Koresh inside the compound. Communication over the next 51 days included telephone exchanges with various FBI negotiators.
As the standoff continued, Koresh, who was seriously injured by a gunshot wound, along with his closest male leaders negotiated delays, possibly so he could write religious documents he said he needed to complete before he surrendered. His conversations with the negotiators were dense with biblical imagery. The federal negotiators treated the situation as a hostage crisis despite a two-hour video tape sent out by the Branch Davidians in which the adults and older children/teens appeared to explain clearly and confidently why they chose of their own free will to remain with Koresh.
The 51-day siege of Mount Carmel Center ended on April 19 when U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno approved recommendations of veteran FBI officials to proceed with a final assault in which the Branch Davidians were to be removed from their building by force. In the course of the assault, the church building caught on fire in circumstances that are still disputed. Barricaded inside the building, 76 Branch Davidians, including David Koresh, did not survive the fire; seventeen of these victims were children under the age of 17. According to the FBI, Steve Schneider, Koresh's right-hand man who "probably realized he was dealing with a fraud", shot and killed Koresh and then committed suicide with the same gun.
Read more about this topic: David Koresh
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