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© Susan Weems /APFlames engulf the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, on April 20, 1993. A 51-day standoff at the compound ended in a fire and the deaths of about 80 sect members, including two dozen children.
Today is the anniversary of the 1993 incineration of the Branch Davidean church at Waco Texas. The siege began when the BATF decided to raid the church, which supported itself financially with a gun repair and reselling business, to garner some favorable publicity in the wake of several BATF disasters involving raids at the wrong address and the killing of innocent Americans. But Waco turned into another disaster as the BATF invited the media along on the operation.

One of the media was a friend of David Koresh and called him to let him know the raid was on the way. When the BATf arrived, Koresh opened the front door intending to invite the BATF to inspect the dismantled weapons in their workshop (all the functioning weapons were out at a gun show that day). But as soon as Koresh opened the door he was shot in the groin by a BATF sniper and the situation deteriorated from there with BATF accidentally shooting each other (and claiming it was the Branch Davideans).

The FBI was called in to clean up the BATF's mess and found themselves in a dilemma, because if the Branch Davideans were allowed to live to testify, and if examination of the guns on the premises confirmed they were unfirable, it would have been a major scandal for the Clinton administration. So Janet Reno, claiming that the Branch Davideans were abusing their children, ordered an assault using CS tear gas, which is illegal to use on enemy soldiers in time of war. Huge amounts of CS were pumped into the church using methylene chloride as a propellent. Methylene chloride is highly toxic, used to melt plexiglass to bend it into new shapes. It also melts lung tissue.

The official story was that the Branch Davideans had committed mass suicide by setting the fire themselves, but autopsies revealed there was no smoke inhalation damage to their lungs, which means they were dead from the gassing before the fire started.

The remains of the church as well as the top six inches of the soil were bulldozed and buried in a secret location.

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Waco - Who Shot First?

Take a look at the following two photos:

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© Whatreallyhappened.com
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© Whatreallyhappened.com
These two photos, one from a video tape, the other from a film camera, show the first moments of the BATF raid at the Mt. Carmel church. Note the bullet holes in the walls of the church. None of the glass in any of the vehicles the BATF are hiding behind show any signs of being cracked or broken.

Now, examine this photo.
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The wounded BATF man has been tentatively identified as BATF gent who shot himself in the leg while climbing a ladder. Note that he is being assisted from the area in full view of the upper floor windows of the church, apparently unconcerned with the possibility of gunfire from the occupants of the church.

The vehicle at the right is the horse trailer in which the BATF agents arrived for the raid. The top of it is canvas. It also shows no signs of any bullet holes, even though the Branch Davidians, had the been so inclined, would have been well advised to shoot through it to the BATF agents inside, and later, hiding behind.

The public has been told that the members of the church had .50 caliber rifles. Had they used them, the cars and trucks would have not stopped the bullets and there would be bullet holes on the sides of the vehicles facing the cameras where the rounds exited.

In short, there is nothing in these photos to support the suggestion that the members of the church were actually firing on the BATF at this point in the raid, let alone that the members of the church fired first.

The following two photos are closeups of the bullet holes in the front door of the church. Note the smoothness of the edges, indicating that the bullets that made all these holes were traveling from the outside in, i.e. the BATF was shooting into the church but nobody was shooting out.
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© Whatreallyhappened.com
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© Whatreallyhappened.com
One more photo:
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© Whatreallyhappened.com
This is the remains of the inventory of guns kept at the church after the fatal fire. Note that the guns are stacked neatly against the wall, which means they were not being used to shoot at the FBI and BATF.

Contrary to the image of a dangerous gun nut put out in the media in an effort to justify the burning of the church, official BATF records prove that David Koresch was rather harmless, so much so that the BATF agents invited him to go shooting with them just 9 days before they raided the church. Koresch supplied the ammunition. The BATF agents allowed Koresch to try out their weapons.

Here is the official BATF report:
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It turns out that Koresch was not fooled by the undercover BATF. During his 911 phone call as the BATF pumped lead into the church, Koresch referred to one of the men as an agent.

Click for wave file of the 911 call

One of those "dangerous, crazed, gun wielding Christians" who so abused the BATF:
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© Whatreallyhappened.com
Two of the children Janet Reno "saved":

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© Whatreallyhappened.comKathrine Andrade before the government's Mt. Carmel Raid.
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© Whatreallyhappened.com Kathrine Andrade after the government's Mt. Carmel Raid.
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© Whatreallyhappened.com Shari Doyle before the goverment's Mt. Carmel Raid.
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© Whatreallyhappened.com Shari Doyle after the goverment's Mt. Carmel Raid.