David Koresh

David Koresh, born Vernon Wayne Howell (August 17, 1959 - April 19, 1993) was a self-proclaimed head of the Branch Davidians from 1988 until a raid by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (now BATFE) and subsequent siege by the Federal Bureau of Investigation ended with the burning of Branch Davidian ranch, the Mount Carmel Center.

The raid & siege

For a more complete description of the circumstances surrounding the raid on and siege of Mount Carmel see the Branch Davidian article. This article is concerned solely with the last days and demise of Koresh.

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On Sunday morning, February 28, 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) raided Mount Carmel. The raid resulted in the deaths of 4 agents and 5 Davidians. Shortly after the initial raid, the FBI took command of the scene and contact was established with Koresh inside the compound. Communication over the next 51 days included telephone contacts with various FBI negotiators.

Related Topics:
February 28 - 1993 - FBI

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As the standoff continued, Koresh, seriously injured by a gunshot to his side, and his closest male leaders negotiated delays, possibly so he could write religious documents he said he needed to complete before he surrendered. His conversations, dense with biblical imagery, alienated the federal negotiators who treated the situation as a hostage crisis, despite a two hour video tape sent out by the Davidians with some of the children, 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 David.

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The 51-day siege of Mount Carmel ended 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 compound by force. In the course of the assault, the compound caught fire. The cause of the fire was later determined by The Danforth Report, which was commissioned by The Special Counsel, to be the deliberate actions of some of the Davidians inside the compound. However this theory is disputed both by independant media and others.

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Barricaded into their building, 85 Branch Davidians, including Koresh, were either unable or unwilling to escape the blaze and died. Seventeen of these victims were children under the age of 12.

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