A 93,000 lb. military tank equipped with a battering ram crushes the front entry of the Mt. Carmel Center, creating another vent hole for the fire. (Source: CBS News: 48 Hours, Dec. 29, 2017, "Secrets of Waco" @ 42:25.)

"Fire is so efficient at erasing things, it is very popular as a means of hiding the evidence of murder …" —Douglas Ubelaker, Curator of Anthropology, Smithsonian Institute, a top consultant to the FBI in Waco (Bones, A Forensic Detective's Casebook, pgs. 140-141).

In criminology, a suspect may protest his innocence a hundred times to a dozen people, then confess his guilt casually to a cell-mate. At his trial, the court will permit only one of those statements into evidence: the confession of guilt. That principle is called "admission against interest," a special exception to the hear-say rule in the Federal Rules of Evidence.

So it is with government reports. Despite scrubbing, redactions, euphemisms, and carefully hedged statements, a rigorous reading may reveal the truth. This narration of the events of April 19, 1993 relies primarily on statements by the Dept. of Justice. (Source: Report to the Deputy Attorney General on the Events at Waco, Texas February 28 to April 19, 1993, Redacted version, October 8, 1993 ["Dept. of Justice"], WWW, archived, cached) — except as noted.

And what does the FBI confess to the careful reader? Burning Mt. Carmel was weeks in preparation, in both logistics and psyops.

In the First Week, the FBI Planned the Full Sequence

The official record shows the plan to attack the Center with tanks was in place from the beginning.

The plan was contemporaneously reported by the press, without criticism or question.

The plan included nine (9) Bradley fighting vehicles, two (2) Abrams (M1A1) tanks, and five (5) M72S Combat Engineer Vehicles ("CEVs") (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 123-124; also Appendix B).

Contemporaneous news coverage shows that preparations for the "assault plan" (pg. 122) were already in motion on March 1, the day after the raid. But April 19 was not an "emergency," as defined on pg. 122 ("homicide or combined homicide-suicide"). Moreover, none of the alleged purposes for smashing holes in the building were legitimate. Quoting from the Dept. of Justice, above:

1. To "provide additional avenues of escape." Holes on the second story, as shown in the previous exhibit, would not be "avenues of escape."

2. To "create a diversion" — but from what? The tanks were armored and had nothing to fear from rifle fire. From what action were the tanks diverting attention?

3. To "insert [tear] gas." But the tear gas was delivered with powerful ferret rounds designed to punch through doors and windows. Photos show the Center was amply equipped with windows, and additional holes for inserting tear gas would not be necessary.

Smashing large holes in the outer walls had no obvious purpose until we consider the ventilation they would provide to a fire—particularly in the brisk prairie wind of April 19, 1993.

Even the government admitted the effect.

Second, the arson team attributed the rapid spread of the fire to the strong winds prevailing on April 19. Third, the arson team found that the openings created in the building's structure by the FBI during the six hours of the tear gas operatlon also helped vent the fire. (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 332)

FBI Released 2,000 Gallons of Diesel Fuel

The FBI ruptured four 500 gallon tanks of diesel fuel in the Center courtyard on March 18, a fact of which the Dept. of Justice makes a less than forthright mention:

Those diesel storage tanks are depicted in a diagram from U.S. News & World Report, labeled "Fuel storage tanks" (Source: Figure W5-4).

"Removing" a 500 gallon tank of diesel fuel, weighing as much as 4,000 lbs., is not practical, particularly with "armored vehicles." Large fuel tanks are robust only when properly mounted and supported, and never moved when full. To move an empty tank without damage requires careful placement of slings, straps, cables, etc. Given the orders forbidding the agents to approach the building on foot, manual care would be impossible.

A contemporaneous account in the Austin American-Statesman reveals that the storage tanks were deliberately ruptured, not "removed."

The soil had also been soaked with 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel, which was spilled when agents ruptured 500-gallon tanks to deprive the Branch Davidians of their generators. (Source: House Beautiful, April 19, 2023, "The Bizarre History of the Branch Davidian Headquarters in Waco, Texas", cached, citing to Austin American-Statesman, March 19, 1993: archived; cited in Yahoo!Life, April 19, 2023, "The Horrifying True Story Behind the Waco Cult Compound", cached)

And the result of that destruction? The area was saturated with diesel fuel, which may have been preparation for burning the building and the bodies therein. Since publishing that article cited by House Beautiful, the Austin American-Statesman has apparently attempted to bury that bit of history. Even the newspaper archiving service (Source: newspapers.com) has clammed up.

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April 19: Military Tanks Smashed Walls and Sprayed CS Tear Gas

And now the events of that fateful day, chosen perhaps by the arrival of a brisk prairie wind, gusting at times to 40 mph (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 292)

Tear gas works best in closed spaces, of course, without dispersion by wind through gaping breaches in the walls. The decision to procede on windy April 19 and the odd tactic of breaching the walls should raise questions about the true intentions of the FBI commanders—if they intended to drive living people from the building. But if their purpose was to erase with fire the crime scene evidence of a building full of corpses, the tactics and choice of day make sense.

At 5:55 a.m. on April 19, 1993, the FBI attacked the Center with two military tanks ("combat engineering vehicles" or CEVs). Simultaneously, FBI loudspeakers pleaded with the Davidians not to shoot at the amored engines of destruction: "This is not an assault!" said the loudspeakers (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 286, 285-6). No one noticed that the FBI managers called it an "assault" in their own plans (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 122, quoted above).

The tanks tore great holes in the outer walls and sprayed tear gas into the building, as planned since early March—and maybe before that.

At 6:07 a.m., four Bradley tanks ("fighting vehicles") entered the fray, firing dozens of CS (tear gas)[note 1] "ferret rounds" at the walls and windows. A ferret round is a large missile designed to penetrate doors and windows to deliver the CS into buildings, and can of course cause serious injury to anyone it strikes.

"All the windows" in the Center were punctured (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 290). The aggressive tanks and ferret rounds demonstrated once again that the FBI had no regard for the wellbeing of the dozens of (allegedly) living children in the building (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 289).

At 7:30 a.m., the tanks were redeployed to do the same all over again, but no survivors emerged from the Center (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 290).

The tanks continued to bash holes in the Center, allegedly "to open avenues of escape" (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 293). Imagine women with babies and young children crawling over ruined construction debris—in preference to ordinary staircases and residential doors—it seems highly implausible. Even more implausibly, they punched many of the "exits" in the second story.

Yet the bashing continued with such intensity that one of the exterior walls and the roof of the gym collapsed (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 294). Major destruction (not just "holes") was also part of the initial plan (Source: The Dallas Morning News, March 9, 1993, quoted at the beginning of this exhibit).

By noon, the tanks had completed six deliveries, and still no survivors emerged (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 294). The operation had consumed all the ferret rounds in stock and the agents were "running out" of an additional 48 rounds rushed in from the Houston office (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 292).

FBI Used Incendiary Cartridges

The public Dept. of Justice Report contains mutiple excisions ("redactions") noted in the text. One of those notations appears just before noon (when the fire started) in the Dept. of Justice narrative:

That redacted text might have described an incident mentioned in The Washington Post.

But those [nonincendiary tear gas] cartridges had no effect, and a team member asks a superior for permission to use military tear gas cartridges that are incendiary, the FBI official said. He said that on the tape the superior can be heard "spontaneously" granting permission to do so (Source [emphasis added]: The Washington Post, Thursday, September 2, 1999, pg. A1 [front page], "Marshals Seize Waco Evidence From FBI", cached).

The purpose of incendiary cartridges is to start fires. There is no other definition. Military incendiary devices, such as Thermite, generate extreme heat. Thermite burns 2,500 to 3,000 degrees Celsius (4,500 to 5,400 degrees Fahrenheit).

One might ask why those things were used at Mt. Carmel and who authorized it. And one might also ask why they were even supplied to the forces surrounding Mt. Carmel, who were allegedly attempting to serve a search warrant.

To be brief: The FBI used incendiary weapons on the Mt. Carmel Center, then pretended surprise when the building burst into flame.[note 2]   But when you fire incendiary cartridges into a building swimming in 2,000 gallons of diesel fuel, what result would you expect?

For years, the FBI denied using incendiary cartridges. During that time, one brave US Attorney, Bill Johnston, worked to reveal the ugly truth to America. In retribution, the government prosecuted Johnston for concealing the truth. (Source: TexasMonthly, August 2001, "The Case of the Persecuted Prosecutor.")

However, the truth (or part of the truth) was eventually revealed.

Former HRT Commander Richard Rogers approved the use of pyrotechnic M-651 rounds on April 19, 1993. He sat silently behind Attorney General Reno and former FBI Director William Sessions during the 1993 House Judiciary Committee hearings as they stated under oath that no pyrotechnic device had been used by FBI personnel on April 19, 1993. Rogers claims that he was distracted at the time. (Source: U.S. Congress, "The Tragedy at Waco: New Evidence Examined," December 8, 2000, pg. 5, Cache)

The Fire

At 12:10 p.m., observers noted columns of smoke from the right front corner of the building that a tank had penetrated only minutes before.

At approximately 12:08 p.m., CEV-1 backed away from the front-right side of the building. Two minutes later, at 12:10 p.m., smoke was seen coming from the second floor, on the right side of the building, as well as from the back side of the building near the kitchen. (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 294)

Within minutes, a third fire started in another corner, and still, no one left the building.

From their positions beyond the concertina wire-fringed perimeter of the place that Koresh had christened Ranch Apocalypse, Ricks said, federal agents' reaction was the same as they watch, appalled, as the flames climbed and almost no one inside ran out to safety: "Oh my God, they're killing themselves." (Source [emphasis added]: Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1993, "Waco Cultists Perish in Blaze : FBI Calls It a Mass Suicide", cached,)

[Sheriff Harwell said,] "People weren't talking. They just stood there. The only thing I heard was, 'They've got to come out. Why aren't they coming out? Surely they're going to come out,'" he said. (Source: The Dallas Morning News, April 23, 1993, "Branch Davidian tragedy haunts McLennan sheriff")

The FBI immediately announced the Davidians were setting the fires in an act of mass suicide:

Doomsday cult leader David Koresh's apocalyptic vision came true Monday when fire believed set by his followers destroyed their prairie compound … "I can't tell you the shock and the horror that all of us felt when we saw those flames coming out," FBI spokesman Bob Ricks said in a solemn afternoon news conference. "We thought, 'Oh my God, they are killing themselves.'" … "We can only assume that there was a massive loss of life," Ricks said. "It was truly an inferno of flames." (Source: Associated Press, April 20, 2018, "25 years ago: The fiery end of the standoff in Waco, Texas", cached)

The 51-day standoff with David Koresh and his cult followers culminated today in a fiery spectacle that ended with the apparent deaths of more than 80 men, women and children in what authorities said may have been a mass suicide. "We can only assume that there was a massive loss of life," FBI spokesman Bob Ricks said. … "I cannot tell you the horror of seeing those flames," said Ricks, who had briefed reporters during much of the seven-week standoff. "It was 'Oh my God, they're killing themselves.'" (Source: The Washington Post, April 19, 2023 reprinted from April 20, 1993, pg. A1 [front page], "Davidians set blaze, officials say")

"David Koresh, we believe, gave the order to commit suicide, and they all followed willingly his order," Mr. Ricks said. The Dallas Morning News, April 20, 1993, "Sect members often frustrated agents; Criticism of standoff methods resurfaces")

Mike Capps, a TV anchorman for CNN, was present that morning covering the story in real time.

Mike Capps: They're punching holes in it. You see it right there. See, they made a massive hole in the side of that building. And here come the tanks to punch holes in the walls, and the next thing you know--game on, man … you just saw those holes in the side of the walls, and you thought, nobody's gonna get out of this alive."

Bonnie: … Mike, what else can you see? Any sign of firefighting equipment?

Mike Capps: No, none whatsoever … Apparently, the north side is not involved yet, but it appears the rest of the compound is filled with that orange fire and acrid black smoke. … The fire is completely out of control, and still no indication, no sign, that anybody is coming out.

(Source: KVUE, April 19, 1993, "Waco Mount Carmel Center siege: 30 years later" @ 4:14-5:16/7:04)

At the 1995 Congressional hearing, the government presented a "clarified" audio recording, allegedly from Mt. Carmel bugging devices, allegedly proving the Davidians conspired to start the fires with hay and lantern fuel.

The faux "documentary," Waco: The Rules of Engagement, included that recording with complete credulity. But as though the government were avoiding the subject, the prosecutors did not charge any of the survivors with arson.

No Rescue, No Fire Engines, No Help

While the building was ablaze, the FBI blocked the firemen from reaching it.

Although the fire crews did not approach the burning building until 31 minutes after the fire had first been reported, it would not have been safe for them to do so earlier given the reports of gunfire from inside the compound. (Source: Dept. of Justice, pg. 303)

Twenty-five years later, the Waco Tribune-Herald told the story:

Who were the "six to eight people laying [sic] there face down" in the dirt in handcuffs? In this one and only mention, we are not told. Apparently, no reporters witnessed that pivotal element of history.

Despite the army of news media, no pictures have been published of any of that. The only photographic evidence is the acreage around the Mt. Carmel building with no firetrucks, no firemen, no rescuers, no medical stations, and no survivors. The firefighters' statement about survivors ("six to eight people laying there, face down, in handcuffs") is somewhat at odds with the Dept. of Justice Report (Source: Dept. of Justice, pgs. 298-299).

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Footnotes

Note 1

CS is a common name for the compound 2-chlorobenzalmalononitrile, also called ortho-chlorobenzal malononitrile. It is used as a riot control agent and has similar effects to more conventional tear gas. In the Waco incident, the CS was dissolved in methylene chloride (Source: Dr. Jerry Havens, pg. 7).  Methylene chloride is a volatile solvent that can cause coma and death (Source: NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards, #0414).  Methylene chloride vapor is flammable when mixed with air and heated above 100°C.

CS was banned in warfare under the January 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, to which the U.S. was a signatory (Source: The Washington Post, July 20, 1995, "Taking Waco on its own terms", cached).

High doses of CS can be injurious or lethal.

Technical references on the effects and toxicity of CS:

• CS gas: incident management - GOV.UK
• Tear Gas (CS) - Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals - NCBI
• Exposure to the Riot Control Agent CS and Potential Health Effects: A Systematic Review of the Evidence - MDPI
• Toxicity and Health Effects of Ortho-chloro-benzylidene-malononitrile (CS gas)
• Is CS gas dangerous?: Current evidence suggests not but unanswered questions remain  
• CS Gas Effects and Safety Precautions for Law Enforcement | Ontosight
• CS Gas ("Tear Gas") Decontamination - Cleaning Systems Ltd
• CS gas: general information - GOV.UK
• Safety quality and culture - CS GAS

Note 2

In 1999, John C. Danforth, was commissioned as Special Counsel to investigate that and some other issues. His Report was published in November 2000. Predictably, Danforth equivocated and said no incendiaries were used.