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03/04/93
FBI: Cult leader said God told him to wait; U.S. agents seem ready for long wait
By George Kuempel, Lee Hancock / The Dallas Morning News
WACO-The leader of a besieged religious sect said he reneged on his pledge to surrender because God told him to stay inside his fortified compound, federal authorities said Wednesday.
David Koresh "said he will keep his promise to come out when he receives further instruction from God,' FBI Agent Jeffrey Jamar said on the fourth day of a standoff with Mr. Koresh's followers.
A small army of agents has surrounded the headquarters of the Branch Davidian sect since a shootout Sunday morning in which four agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and an unknown number of sect members were killed.
FBI and ATF agents, still trying to determine how the Sunday morning arrest raid went haywire, now seem hunkered for a long wait. Mr. Koresh and the 110 disciples he says are with him in the corpse-strewn compound are believed to have food, water, guns and ammunition sufficient for a protracted battle.
On Tuesday, Mr. Koresh told negotiators by telephone that he would give up immediately if they permitted him to broadcast a message on radio. The taped message, a disjointed 58-minute interpretation of apocalyptic Scripture, was carried out of the compound by one of the 18 children Mr. Koresh has freed. The tape was broadcast nationally at 1:30 p.m.
But two hours later, there was no sign of the 33-year-old high school dropout who believes that he is Christ and that the end of the world is nigh.
Right after the broadcast, Mr. Koresh told negotiators that he and his followers were "coming out the door momentarily,' then abruptly severed all communications with federal officials for the next two hours, Agent Jamar said.
"In subsequent contacts with Koresh, he stated that he had received a message from God instructing him to wait,' said Agent Jamar, the FBI official in charge at the scene. He spoke at the federal authorities' first substantive news conference since the shootout.
After informing negotiators of that divine message, Mr. Koresh didn't speak with authorities again until Wednesday morning, said ATF spokeswoman Francesca Perot.
The agents said they have no plans to storm the compound, whose concrete-reinforced buildings are connected by underground passages and protected by a lookout tower.
"The goal is to resolve this situation ultimately in federal court with no further bloodshed,' Agent Jamar said. "It does no good to set deadlines.'
Mr. Koresh, they reported, says he is accompanied by 47 women, 43 men and 20 children, including some British subjects and possibly other foreigners.
By all accounts, the sect members are well-supplied and well-armed.
Lloyd Sandstrom, a bus driver who lives near the compound,
recounted twice seeing sect members stocking up on canned vegetables, canned fruit and dry foodstuffs at the local Sam's Club in the past six months.
"Someone who purchases case lots of nonperishable goods, you're naturally curious,' Mr. Sandstrom, 51, said Wednesday night.
"To me it adds up. They were stockpiling for Armageddon.'
One federal official familiar with the investigation said the
compound is equipped with a water storage tank and enough military rations to last several months.
"The only problem they may face is the bodies-the stench should begin to bother them pretty soon,' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The FBI has confirmed that an undetermined number of sect members were killed in the gunfight.
In what may have been the day's most disturbing disclosure, authorities confirmed that the weekend raid was compromised by a Sunday morning telephone call to the sect members.
The agents believed that they would surprise Mr. Koresh and his followers when they came to arrest him and search for illegal weapons. Instead, they were surprised by a hellish fusillade, much of it from sophisticated and large-caliber weapons.
"It is believed that prior to the execution of the warrant, a phone call was received that placed the occupants on alert. There is no doubt they were expecting our arrival,' said Dan Hartnett, associate director of ATF.
Infiltrated
He said an agent who had infiltrated the compound was present when the call came in. The agent saw the person who took the call stop normal activities and begin reading Scripture, he said.
The agent, unaware that the call may have been a tip, left about 45 minutes before the raid was to begin, thinking the coast was clear, Mr. Hartnett said.
Meanwhile, the sect members apparently armed themselves for religious war.
"When we went into this compound, the element of surprise was essential,' Mr. Hartnett said.
Authorities gave no indication of how they subsequently determined that the call, originally thought to be innocuous, was in fact a tip about the raid.
The Texas Rangers have joined federal authorities in trying to determine whether Mr. Koresh was notified and if so, by whom, an investigator said.
Mr. Hartnett-responding to criticism that his agents tried to capture the compound instead of just seizing Mr. Koresh on the street -- said the sect leader long ago had abandoned his habit of jogging, visiting nearby Waco or otherwise venturing outside his haven.
"He hadn't left in months. He decided God had told him he should stay there, not leave the compound,' he said.
Agent Jamar said negotiators remain in occasional telephone communication with Mr. Koresh and his disciples.
"If they call us, we immediately answer. There've been several instances when we call them and they let it ring,' he said.
Authorities have otherwise cut the group's phone ties to the outside world. In the early hours of the siege, the sect leader freely shared his prophecies in interviews with CNN, KRLD-AM (1080), The Dallas Morning News and others.
The scores of reporters massed behind police lines near the sect's compound viewed with mixed feelings the installation Wednesday of several outdoor toilets. The portable toilets, although an added comfort, are further evidence that authorities are settling in for a long haul.
On Wednesday, the government informed Waco hotel managers by letter that agents might need rooms for 10 more days.
Federal officials said Mr. Koresh spends his days preaching to his flock, monitoring television and radio coverage of the siege-the compound has a satellite dish-and calling negotiators to recite rambling Bible passages.
Tuesday evening, a bus from the compound gave rise to speculation that 20 more children had been freed. The report was first made by a federal agent on duty at a Waco hospital. The agency later retracted the report after state child welfare officials said they had no such information. Authorities did not know Wednesday when more would be released.
Asked whether the talks with Mr. Koresh have been unusual, given the sect leader's erratic temperament and eccentric theology, Agent Jamar replied, "Any time you negotiate with anybody, you have to deal with what's in their minds.'
Negotiators have described Mr. Koresh, who claims to have been wounded Sunday, as relatively lucid. "But his idea of lucidity and ours might be different,' said Ms. Perot of the ATF.
Federal court documents filed Tuesday confirmed what the ATF agents so poignantly learned Sunday morning.
Sect members have at their disposal massive weapon caches that include machine guns and other heavy-caliber weaponry, according to an ATF affidavit. The affidavit was filed in connection with a complaint charging two women from the sect, who were set free by Mr. Koresh on Tuesday, with conspiracy, murder, attempted murder and use of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
On Wednesday, in what could be a negotiating concession to Mr. Koresh, prosecutors moved to dismiss charges against the women, 75-year-old Margaret Lawson and 77-year-old Catherine Mattson. The two, however, remain in custody as material witnesses.
Asked whether Mr. Koresh had made new demands since the tape was aired, Mr. Jamar said the sect has raised concerns about the charges against the elderly women.
The women were taken to court in shackles and handcuffs on Wednesday. When U.S. Magistrate Dennis G. Green dismissed the charges, Ms. Mattson said she appreciated that action but didn't understand being detained as a material witness.
A third sect member, Delroy Nash, 28, who was caught while trying to flee the compound Sunday evening, remains in custody.
In Austin on Wednesday, Gov. Ann Richards said she would consider supporting legislation to ban military-type assault weapons in Texas, in view of the Mount Carmel shootout.
"These weapons aren't for anything but killing people, and the events in Waco heighten our awareness of how deadly' they are, said the governor, who was born near Waco.
"When we have people who own those weapons who are better armed than the protectors of our society, then it's time for us to take a very serious look.'
Staff writers Bruce Tomaso, Victoria Loe, Pete Slover and Nancy St. Pierre contributed to this report.
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