Ī few years later, they moved again to a much larger site east of the city. As the original Davidian group gained members, its leadership moved the church to a hilltop several miles east of Waco, Texas, which they named Mount Carmel, after a mountain in Israel mentioned in Joshua 19:26 in the Bible's Old Testament. Houteff founded the Davidians based on his prophecy of an imminent apocalypse involving the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the defeat of the evil armies of Babylon. The Branch Davidians (also known as "The Branch") were a religious group that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Shepherd's Rod (Davidians) following the death of the Shepherd's Rod founder Victor Houteff. Main articles: Davidian Seventh-day Adventist, Mount Carmel Center, Branch Davidians, and David Koresh The Waco siege was cited by Timothy McVeigh as the main reason for his and Terry Nichols's plan to execute the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, as well as the modern-day American militia movement and a rise in opposition to firearm regulation. Critics contend that live rounds were fired by law enforcement, and suggest that a combination of gunshots and flammable tear gas was the true cause of the fire. The FBI contends that none of their agents fired any live rounds on the day of the fire. Department of Justice reports from October 1993 and July 2000 conclude that although incendiary tear gas canisters were used by the FBI, the Branch Davidians had started the fire, complete with evidence from listening devices recordings of very specific discussions between Koresh and others about pouring more fuel on piles of hay as the fires started, and aerial footage that showed at least three simultaneous ignition points at different locations in the sweeping structure. The events of the siege and attack, particularly the origin of the fire, are disputed by various sources. In total, the 51-day siege resulted in the deaths of four federal agents and 82 Branch Davidians, 28 of whom were children. The fire resulted in the deaths of 76 Branch Davidians, including 25 children, two pregnant women, and David Koresh. Shortly thereafter, the Mount Carmel Center became engulfed in flames. Eventually, the FBI launched a tear gas attack on April 19, 1993, in an attempt to force the Branch Davidians out of the ranch. Upon the ATF's entering of the property and failure to execute the search warrant, a siege lasting 51 days was initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Thus, the group's members were fully armed and prepared an intense gunfight erupted, resulting in the deaths of four ATF agents and six Branch Davidians. Postal Service mail carrier who was coincidentally Koresh's brother-in-law. Any advantage of surprise was lost when a KWTX-TV reporter who had been tipped off about the raid asked for directions from a U.S. The ATF had intended a sudden daylight raid of the ranch in order to serve a search and arrest warrant, with the element of surprise meant to allow for the quick control of the situation, reducing the risk to all parties that would be associated with the group's members using the large cache of modified weapons and explosive devices they had available. Suspecting the group of stockpiling illegal weapons, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) obtained a search warrant for the compound and arrest warrants for Koresh as well as a select few of the group's members. The Branch Davidians were led by David Koresh and were headquartered at Mount Carmel Center ranch in the community of Axtell, Texas, 13 miles (21 kilometers) northeast of Waco. federal government and Texas state law enforcement between February 28 and April 19, 1993. The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the law enforcement siege of the compound that belonged to the religious cult Branch Davidians.
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