Yahoo News Who was David Koresh? The true story behind Netflix’s documentary series Waco: American Apocalypse
It began on February 28, 1993 with the biggest gunfight on American soil since the Civil War, and ended 51 days later with the deaths of more than 80 people.
The siege at a religious compound near Waco, Texas, is a shocking part of modern American history that has also been linked to the Oklahoma City bombing two years later.
The story behind the events that led to the siege – and what went so horribly wrong – is now the focus of Netflix series Waco: American Apocalypse.
The three-part documentary features interviews with some of those involved, including survivors of the siege, FBI agents, and members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco And Firearms unit (ATF) – who initially arrived at the compound to serve an arrest and search warrant, before any shots were fired. The series pieces together what initially happened to cause the gunfight and the siege that followed, and what led to the horrific final day on April 19, 1993.
But who was the man behind it all, who many hold responsible for the deaths of men, women and children at the Branch Davidian compound?
Read on to find out more about David Koresh and the Waco siege…
What happened at Waco?
From 1955, a religious group known as the Branch Davidians made their home outside the town of Waco, Texas, building a community called the Mount Carmel Center that was the headquarters for the movement.
By 1993, more than 130 Branch Davidians and their children lived there practising their religion under the leadership of a man named David Koresh. However, federal authorities had received reports that he was amassing a large amount of weapons that were being hidden at the compound, including assault rifles, shotguns, pistols, grenades and semi-automatic rifles, so the decision was made that the ATF would serve a warrant to Koresh and search Mount Carmel Center for guns.
What happened next is still debated by people on both sides of the story. The ATF agents arrived at the compound on February 28, 1993 to serve the warrant, but Koresh and his followers had been tipped off that they were on their way. Shots were fired – the ATF claim that the first shots came from the Branch Davidians, whereas survivors say the ATF fired first – and a gun battle took place that left 10 people (four ATF agents and six Branch Davidians) dead.
As press and members of the public descended on the roads around the compound, the siege began, with FBI and ATF agents attempting to negotiate with Koresh and his second in command, Steve Schneider. Over the first few days, progress seemed to be made and 19 children were released to agents (Koresh agreed to this on the condition that a religious message he had recorded was broadcast on national radio) but there were still known to be other children among the 98 people who remained inside.
The siege wore on for weeks, and the FBI became divided as to how to proceed. Some agents wanted to negotiate, while others believed that aggressive techniques were the answer – this led to sleep deprivation tactics (recordings of chanting, the sound of rabbits being slaughtered, the roar of jet engines being played through the night) and Bradley fighting vehicles (a type of tank) being driven over Branch Davidian cars that were parked outside the buildings.
Eventually, the newly appointed US Attorney General, Janet Reno, approved plans for an assault, and on April 19, 1993, tear gas was fired into the compound to force everyone out. No one left, however, and a few hours later at around noon, three fires broke out in different parts of the Mount Carmel Center and quickly spread across the buildings.
Investigations into the fires suggest that they were deliberately started by Branch Davidian members, while survivors maintain they were accidentally or deliberately started by the assault – if shots had been fired by the ATF, they could have ignited the tear gas.
Nine people escaped the fires, but the rest remained.
76 people died inside the compound, either from smoke inhalation or being buried alive in the rubble, and at least 20 – including five children – were shot in what was believed to be mercy killings to save them from being burned alive.
The FBI, as reported by the Washington Post, maintains that Steve Schneider shot and killed David Koresh and then turned the gun on himself.
Timothy McVeigh, the terrorist responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, was in the crowd at the Waco siege, handing out pro-gun rights bumper stickers and material. He later said the Waco siege was his motivation for the Oklahoma bombing that took place on the second anniversary of the final assault at Waco, as reported by CNN.
Who was David Koresh?
The leader of the Branch Davidians, David Koresh, was born Vernon Howell in Houston on August 17, 1959. His mother was just 14 years old when he was born, and he was raised by both her and his grandmother.
Originally a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, he moved to Waco, Texas in 1981 and joined the Branch Davidians, where he played guitar and sang in church services.
At the time, the church at Mount Carmel Center was run by 65-year-old Lois Roden, and it has been claimed (including in the Netflix documentary) that 22-year old Howell had an affair with her. He certainly challenged her son, George Roden, for leadership of the group – a move that led to Howell setting up a rival camp in Palestine, Texas, around 90 miles from Waco.
In 1987, Howell was involved in a gunfight with George Roden – he and his followers were charged with attempted murder but Howell’s case was declared a mistrial. Two years later, Roden murdered a man named Wayman Dale Adair with an axe and was sent to a psychiatric hospital, and Howell and his followers returned to the Mount Carmel Center and took it over in Roden’s absence.
By 1990, Vernon Howell had legally changed his name to David Koresh – David referring to King David from the bible, and Koresh being the biblical name of Cyrus the Great, the ancient Persian king. So David Koresh was now the official leader of the Branch Davidians in Waco.
“Whatever David had must have been pretty good, for people to give up their lives to live on this hill, with its fire ants and inconveniences. They came and stayed because they found answers they couldn’t find anyplace else – answers and knowledge they’d been searching for,” said Clive Doyle, one of the survivors, to Texas Monthly in an interview 10 years after the Waco siege.
Koresh’s time as leader of the Branch Davidians was not without controversy, however. There were allegations of sexual abuse of children, as reported by Newsweek, and Koresh also reportedly annulled the marriages of his followers, demanded all the men were celibate and took the women as his own wives. It is believed at least 14 children who lived at Waco were fathered by Koresh.
Survivors of Waco claim they were not brainwashed by Koresh, nor were they held against their will at the compound. In the book A Journey to Waco: Autobiography of a Branch Davidian, Doyle writes that “Most people think ‘cult’ about us and think we are people who were brainwashed and deceived.”
“If people read this account, they will at least gain a different perspective on who David Koresh was, where he was coming from, who we were and why we believe the way we do.”
Another survivor, David Thibodeau, wrote in his memoir, Waco: A Survivor’s Story, that “so many of the Davidians have been demonised by the media. I felt it my duty to tell the true story of a group of people who were trying to live according to their religious beliefs and the teachings of a man they all considered divinely inspired.”
Koresh died of a gunshot wound during the final day at Waco – authorities believe he was shot by Steve Schneider, although it is possible he died by suicide. He was 33 years old when he died.
Waco: American Apocalypse is on Netflix now.
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