The 51-Day Siege of the Branch Davidian Compound at Mount Carmel That Ended in Fire on 19 April 1993

Vernon Howell (1959-1993), legally renamed David Koresh in 1990, was the leader of the Branch Davidians — a 1950s schism from the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church that he had taken over after an internal succession struggle in 1987-1990. Koresh preached an apocalyptic interpretation of the Book of Revelation centred on his identity as a messianic figure (the “Sinful Messiah”) whose mission required accumulation of weapons for an imminent end-times confrontation.

The Branch Davidian community at Mount Carmel Center approximately 16 km northeast of Waco, Texas, comprised approximately 130 adults and children by early 1993.

28 February 1993

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had been investigating Davidian weapons stockpiling since June 1992. ATF obtained warrants on 25 February 1993 for Koresh’s arrest and for a search for illegal automatic weapons. The ATF assault plan involved approximately 76 agents in an armed entry described as “dynamic” — dependent on operational surprise.

The element of surprise had been compromised by a Waco Tribune-Herald story scheduled for 28 February 1993 and by a local journalist who had inadvertently warned the Davidians that morning. The ATF command was advised that surprise was lost but executed the raid regardless.

The raid began at approximately 09:48 on 28 February 1993. Davidian gunfire from inside the compound met the ATF approach. The firefight lasted approximately 45 minutes. Four ATF agents were killed (Conway LeBleu, Todd McKeehan, Robert Williams, Steven Willis). Six Davidians were killed. The ATF withdrew and the FBI took operational control.

The siege

The FBI siege began on 1 March 1993 under Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Jamar. Hostage Rescue Team commander Richard Rogers favoured tactical pressure; behavioural-science negotiators favoured continued dialogue. The tactical line progressively dominated.

Across 51 days the FBI:

— Cut power and water to the compound — Played loudspeaker tapes of Tibetan chants, rabbits being slaughtered, and Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” through the nights — Used Bradley armoured vehicles to demolish outbuildings and crush vehicles — Negotiated the release of 35 Davidians (mostly children) across early March

Koresh recorded a 58-minute sermon broadcast on Christian radio on 2 March 1993 and announced that he would surrender once he had completed a written interpretation of the Seven Seals of Revelation. He had completed the First Seal at the time of the 19 April assault.

19 April 1993

Attorney General Janet Reno approved the FBI gas-insertion assault plan on 17 April 1993. The plan called for armoured CS gas insertion via Bradley vehicle booms over approximately 48 hours to force Davidian evacuation.

The assault began at 06:00 on 19 April 1993. Davidians fired on the Bradleys. Gas insertion escalated through the morning. At approximately 12:07 three fires erupted nearly simultaneously at separate compound locations. Fanned by approximately 50 km/h winds, the wood-frame compound burned within approximately 45 minutes.

Nine Davidians escaped the fire. Approximately 76 Davidians died including Koresh (gunshot wound to the head) and approximately 25 children. The cause of the fire was determined by the 2000 Danforth Final Report — a special-counsel reinvestigation — to be Davidian arson lit from inside the compound at three locations. The Davidian survivors maintained the fire had been started by FBI pyrotechnic gas canisters.

What followed

Eleven surviving Davidians were tried on murder and conspiracy charges in San Antonio. The jury acquitted on murder but convicted seven on lesser charges in February 1994.

The Danforth Final Report of 21 July 2000 concluded that the FBI had not started the fire and had not shot at fleeing Davidians, but had concealed the use of pyrotechnic CS gas canisters early in the assault — the canisters had been used hours before the fire and at a location away from the main building, but their existence was denied for six years.

Anti-government militia activist Timothy McVeigh, motivated in part by Waco, detonated a truck bomb at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on 19 April 1995 — the second anniversary of the Mount Carmel fire — killing 168 people.