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The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the siege by U.S. federal government and Texas state law enforcement officials of a compound belonging to the religious cult known as the Branch Davidians between February 28 and April 19, 1993.
Waco siege, a 51-day standoff between Branch Davidians and federal agents that ended on April 19, 1993, when the religious group’s compound near Waco, Texas, was destroyed in a fire. Nearly 80 people were killed.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
- David Koresh
- Branch Davidians
- Koresh and The FBI
- Fire Engulfs Waco Compound
- Legacy of The Waco Siege
- Sources
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On February 28, 1993, some 80 agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) raided a religious compound at Mount Carmel, near Waco, Texas, after receiving reports that the Branch Davidians and their leader, David Koresh, were violating federal firearms regulations. After four ATF agents and six Davidians were killed in the gun ...
In the 1930s, a disgruntled member of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church named Victor Houteff had broken away and founded the Davidian movement. After Houteff’s death, Ben Roden led an offshoot of the movement known as the Branch Davidians, who took control of Houteff’s original settlement at Mount Carmel, near Waco, by 1962. Believing the Bible is l...
In his negotiations with the FBI during the Waco siege, Koresh claimed he was a messianic figure prophesied in the Bible and that God had given him his surname. He threatened violence against those who would attack him and his family, but asserted that the Davidians weren’t planning a mass suicide. To the Branch Davidians, Koresh was “the Lamb,” th...
In mid-April, after religious scholars reached out to Koresh through a radio discussion of the teachings of Revelation, Koresh sent a message through his lawyer announcing he had received word from God and was writing his message on the Seven Seals; he would come out with his followers when he was finished. The FBI, unconvinced, decided to act to e...
From the beginning, the government’s handling of the Waco siege (which played out in the national and international media) was heavily criticized. Reno took responsibility for the botched raid, later admitting there was no evidence of ongoing child abuse within the compound (which had been one of the justifications for ordering the gas attack). Tho...
Waco: The Inside Story, PBS Frontline. James D. Tabor and Eugene V. Gallagher, Why Waco? Cults and the Battle for Religious Freedom in America. Malcolm Gladwell, “Sacred and Profane,” The New Yorker(March 31, 2014).
Learn about the 51-day standoff between federal agents and the Branch Davidians, a millennial Christian sect led by David Koresh, in 1993. Find out how the siege ended in a deadly fire and what were the consequences for the government and the militia movement.
Jan 24, 2018 · The siege left 75 people – including children – dead and changed the way some Americans felt about the federal government.
- 1 min
Mar 22, 2023 · Following a 51-day siege that became the biggest news story in the world, a massive fire engulfed the compound, after which 76 more cult members were dead, including Koresh.
- colin.mcevoy@hearst.com
- 3 min
- Senior News Editor, Biography.Com
Jan 3, 2018 · The siege began on Feb. 28, 1993, when 76 agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms arrived at the Mount Carmel Center compound with a search warrant to look for illegal weapons.
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Apr 19, 2023 · Flames engulf the Branch Davidian compound April 19, 1993 in Waco, Tex. Eighty-one Davidians, including leader David Koresh, perished as federal agents tried to drive them out of the compound.
