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Branch Davidians: The Waco, Texas Massacre

1158 Words5 Pages

Dr Pepper is a carbonated soft drink with a unique flavor made in Waco, Texas in 1885. Along with Dr Pepper, Waco, Texas is also the home of the snickers bar. All good things are happening in Texas, except for the Waco Texas Massacre. The Waco, Texas Massacre occurred on April 19, 1993, but was a long term fight before actually occurring. The massacre all started in February of 1993, when exiled Davidians were reporting their leader to the FBI, for raping their children and having a stockpile of illegal weapons. The FBI was investigating David Koresh, the Davidian leader. This report ended up with the compound burning down and killing many people of the Davidian cult. The Waco Texas Massacre is important because of the events going on at this …show more content…

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
A cult, according to Merriam Webster, is a small religious group that is not part of a larger and more accepted religion and that has beliefs regarded by many people as extreme or dangerous. The Branch Davidians was a cult. It was a spinoff of the Seventh-Day Adventists. The Seventh-Day Adventist church is a church that believes Jesus will come back to earth one day, and they use Saturday as the Sabbath day. The Branch Davidians preached that the end of the world was near. They thought that they were the chosen ones and that their church was the chosen church (Reavis 15). This is why the Davidians thought they had so much power over everyone, including the FBI. Their leaders would preach that God loved their religion more than any other and that the Davidians had power over everything. “Born Vernon Wayne …show more content…

Shootings at schools, movie theatres, concerts and shopping malls. Now, because of the commonality, these things have stopped shocking Generation Z. This was not the case in 1993 when the Waco, Texas massacre occurred. This was something that shocked the whole country. We were riveted to the television as we watched the tragedy unfold. What we saw on TV didn’t show what had lead up to April 19, 1993. It all started in February of 1993. “On February 28, 1993, agents of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) launched a raid against the Branch Davidian compound as part of an investigation into illegal possession of firearms and explosives by the Christian cult.” (Branch 1) The raid ended up as a 45 minute gun battle. It caused the death of four agents and six Branch Davidians. (David 1) The ATF agents withdrew from the shooting after the amount of injuries and they negotiated a ceasefire over the phone (Branch 1). After the ATF has a failed raid, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took over. The standoff lasted for seven weeks with no improvement through over the phone negotiations. The FBI needed a plan that would actually work to get the Branch Davidians to surrender. “On April 18, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno approved a tear-gas assault on the compound, and at approximately 6:00 a.m” (Branch 1). The Branch Davidians were informed about the attack, but refused to

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