Who was David Koresh, the pedophile leader of the sect that caused the Waco Massacre 30 years ago

Thirty years ago, on April 19, 1993, after a 51-day siege by federal agents of USA, the Branch Davidian complex located in Waco, Texas, burst into flames, killing more than 80 people. David Koresh was the guru of the Davidians and is the protagonist of this tragic story that captured world attention and was even broadcast live on American television.

Months before the denouement, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF)attached to the Department of Justice, was investigating the General Conference of the Branch Davidiana of the Seventh-day Adventist Church for suspicions of sale and modification of illegal weapons. Much of this arsenal was made up of long weapons.

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On February 28, 1993, in the first attempt to seize the weapons and arrest david koresh at the mount carmel ranch, A shootout broke out in which four ATF agents and six Davidians were killed.

A cult flag flies over the Davidian compound in Waco on March 8, 1993. (Photo by BOB STRONG / AFP) (BOB STRONG/)

Federal agents had prepared a surprise assault, but there was a leak that ruined the plan.

A journalist was contacted by the agents to cover the assault, since the ATF wanted their actions in the fight against crime to be recorded by the cameras so that it could be disclosed to the entire country, reports the Infobae portal.

But the journalist who was going to cover the assault got lost and did not reach Mount Carmel. So he sought guidance from a postman, not knowing that this person was a member of the sect of the Davidians.

He told him that he needed to get to the location because the ATF is preparing something big there.

Then the postman gave up what he was doing and went in search of david koresh to alert you.

At 9 in the morning on that Sunday, February 28, a convoy of 76 agents with military training headed for the ranch. When they arrived, the sect members were already waiting for them with long weapons.. They had barricaded themselves in all the windows of the house and in other strategic places.

The firefight that they unleashed lasted 90 minutes and forced the agents to back off. Four Federals and six Davidians were killed. Several more were injured, including himself. Koreshalthough he was not incapacitated.

After that, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took charge of the operation, which included its hostage rescue team (HRT) and tactical reinforcements to establish a siege, details BBC Mundo.

Satellite television and media vehicles line the highway on March 12, 1993 near the Branch Davidian religious complex. (Photo by BOB DAEMMRICH / AFP). (BOB DAEMRICH/)

“The FBI has established what is probably the largest military force ever assembled against suspected civilians in US history: 10 Bradley tanks, two Abrams tanks, four combat engineering vehicles, 668 agents plus six Customs, 15 Army personnel, 13 Texas National Guardsmen, 31 Texas Rangers, 131 State Department of Public Safety agents , 17 from the McLennan County Sheriff’s Office and 18 Waco police officers. In total, 899 people”, wrote journalist Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker magazine.

During the siege, FBI negotiators tried to convince David Koresh to leave the compound with his supporters, including there were many women and children.

Koresh he refused to leave even when officers used loud pop music and bright lights day and night to harass them and try to get the cult members out of the building. They also cut power to the complex. In addition, they made shrill sounds like planes taking off or rabbits being slaughtered.

In an interview with CNN, Koresh He warned that many people would “get hurt” if the siege continued.

In response to allegations of possession of illegal firearms, Koresh He told CNN that “it’s not illegal to buy a firearm, it’s not illegal to buy anything at a gun show.”

He also reacted to the use of tanks and other weapons by the authorities: “I am the type of person who will stand in front of the tank. You can run me over and I’ll be fighting, no one will hurt my family […] you could have arrested me any day […] I will never accept someone coming here with two helicopters.”

The siege, broadcast live on television channels, lasted 51 days.

The raid on the ranch. (Public domain).

During the negotiations, Koresh he promised to let the children go free, two by two, if they broadcast a message from him on the radio every day.

A total of 35 people left the ranch, including 21 children. After March 23, no one left.

BBC Mundo recalls that at 6 in the morning on April 19, 1993, the chief negotiator Byron Sage called the Davidians to inform them that they would shortly be preparing to introducing tear gas into the building, but that it would not be robbed. The message was repeated through the loudspeakers. The call was to leave the ranch voluntarily.

“Almost immediately the Davidians began shooting at the FBI vehicles”according to the 1996 report of a congressional committee.

An M-728 tank advanced into the ranch and pierced one of the walls while tear gas grenades were thrown inside.

A US Abrams tank stationed outside the ranch at the time of the fire. (Public domain).

The ranch was gassed for six hours, but no one came out. At noon the fire broke out in three points of the house. The fire was caused by Koresh and his followers, according to a subsequent congressional investigation.

The fire could not be immediately fought because the FBI had turned off the water. The firefighters were able to act only after 45 minutes.

The fire seen from the air. (Public domain).

“Once the flames were put out, the assault group found the corpses – many of them charred – of the members of the sect who had resisted the attack. Minutes later they encountered another horror: in an underground bunker they saw the bodies of 18 children and nine women. They had not died under the attackers’ bullets but had been executed by the Davidians themselves. In total, 82 bodies were found: 59 adults and 23 children. Koresh’s remains were identified without a doubt by forensics,” says Infobae.

Who was David Koresh?

Vernon Howell, which in 1990 changed its name to david koreshwas born in 1959. By the time he was 18, he had already memorized both the New and Old Testaments of the Bible, according to ABC News.

“He claimed that as a child, God had spoken to him and said, ‘You are the chosen one. You are my messiah,'” journalist Mary Garafolo, who covered the tragedy of waco.

While former Davidian David Bunds recounted that when he met Koresh in the summer of 1981, he seemed “lost.”

“He was kind of a bum,” Bunds told ABC News.

“He had a car and he said the man gave it to him.”

“He was a very scruffy guy,” he continued. “He was poor. He had no job, or at least a regular job.

In 1983 Koresh was already part of a religious sect calling itself Branch Davidian, a splinter group from the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

David Koresh. (Public domain).

“One of the things about being a Branch-Davidian … was that you were supposed to separate yourself from the world,” Bunds said. “The world is the sins, the flesh, the desires of the world, and you are supposed to be spiritual.”

After the tragedy, followers of Koresh They said that the ranch had no running water, heat, or electricity, and that there were Bible studies three times a day.

David Koresh had taken over the group in 1992. He encouraged the use of weapons and preached an apocalyptic prophecy. He believed the group would one day be attacked by the US government and began stockpiling weapons and ammunition, according to ABC News.

His former followers said that women had to wear long tops and that they could not put on makeup or wear jewelry. Koresh told them where to sleep and what foods they could eat: sugar, processed flour, and dairy products were off limits.

Joann Vaega, who was 6 when she left the ranch, said she was beaten regularly and that “as a child, being disciplined was something you did 24/7.”

He also remembers that Koresh constantly told them that the end of the world was coming, that they were “the chosen people to survive because David was the son of God.” He taught them to prepare “for war” and insisted that the “end times,” as foretold in the Book of Revelation, were near.

Koresh he also had children. Dana Okimoto, the mother of one of them, told ABC News in a 2003 interview that the children faced severe beatings for minor infractions like spilling a glass of milk. She said she remembered that when she was under Koresh’s control she beat her Sky’s son until it bled.

“I felt like the meanest person in the world for hitting my baby like this. But this was what God wanted and needed from me,” she said.

Former Davidian David Bunds also recounted that Koresh told them that all of the group’s marriages were dissolved and that all women would be his “wives” if he wanted them.

ABC News reports that there were allegations from some of Koresh’s former followers that he was not only targeting adult women, but also pursuing several of their daughters, some of whom were teenagers or even children.

Kiri Jewell told ABC News in a 2003 interview that her mother Sherri was one of Koresh’s wives, but that she also became the cult leader’s youngest “girlfriend” when she was just 10 years old. The woman testified before Congress that Koresh abused her at a motel. She added that Koresh had as many as 20 wives before he died.

“He was sick and perverted…David Koresh was a pedophile… [y] I wish I had done something. I don’t know what he would have done, but I wish he had done something,” Bunds said.

Source: Elcomercio