The Waco Massacre

The activities of cults are a fascinating topic that penetrates the deepest abysses of the human psyche, into the dynamics of conscious action, into the dark corners of the subconscious - sects are a kind of microcosm, a system within a system where on a small sample of paradise one can diagnose very large problems that plague a society.

If Aum Shinrikyo is the most runaway cult in the history of sectarianism, then the Davidians are certainly the bravest. The Davidian Branch was a faction of some faction of the Adventist sect faction, which unlike mainstream Adventism, preached millenarianism, i.e. the end of the world. And what is the end of the world without the second coming of Jesus? It's like a bean without ribs, an engine without oil, Yin without Yang, such a thing cannot exist and therefore, very naturally, the sect leader David Koresh himself declared himself not exactly the second coming of Jesus but the `Last Prophet`, the next best thing to a Messiah.

A classic image of a charismatic sect leader (a spitting image of Dennis Hopper) with a Bible in one hand and an AK-47 in the other. Perhaps not so classic and perhaps a little `slandered` by the media that later went after David, an unsuccessful Heavy Metal bassist and an even less successful producer, who changed his disreputable real name Vernon Howell to David Koresh for marketing reasons.

The cults headquarters were near the city of Waco, Texas, USA, where a series of facilities had been built to accommodate the sect members since the 1920s. At the end of the eighties, an internal struggle for supremacy began within the sect. Two of the three candidates for the vacant position of `Prophet`, David and George Roden, decided on a fair competition in Necromancy, the winner of which would prove that he was on a divine mission. However, David, as a particularly cunning person, took advantage of George's digging up the corpse of a woman from the local cemetery to arrange for the competitor's arrest for desecration of a corpse.

After George was released from prison after a few months, the first thing he did was to eliminate the third competitor, a certain Wayman Ader, with an axe blow to the head after a fierce theological argument, an act for which he was imprisoned in an insane asylum that paved the way for David to become the head of the sect.

David was a hardworking man, he immediately rolled up his sleeves and threw himself into work, his interpretations of the Holy Scriptures spoke of the start of the `last days`, a time in which the world would face doom and only the `chosen ones` would survive. The popular theme of the Russian mythology known as the `Seven Seals` was also at play, passages from `Revelation` (the most popular part of the Bible for generations and generations of sectarians) that say that the End of the World will come after the opening of the last, seventh seal. As David claimed, the seals were almost over, there was still the last one left, which meant that Judgment Day was almost at the door. That's why David was in a hurry to have as many children as possible with the female members of the cult, to bring into the world a new generation of sectarians. Or maybe he was just constantly horny...

To save themselves from the apocalypse, the sectarians decided that prayer was not enough, and God forbid, neither was a hoe. Cash was needed. That's why they started trading weapons in bulk, semi-automatic rifles that they converted into full automatics, heavy machine guns, hand grenades and even the occasional stray hand-held rocket launcher were on offer. Such purchases could not remain anonymous, and the US Bureau of Firearms, Tobacco and Alcohol (!?) began an investigation into the sectarian activities. The investigation resulted in a search warrant for the sectarian facilities and 76 armed members of this federal service rushed to conduct a search. The long column of law enforcement officers aroused interest among local television, which set up cameras for a ``live broadcast`` of the arrest of the sectarians, the agents ``posed`` like peacocks in front of the cameras, and the sectarians, who numbered at least 150 in the facilities, could see on TV that a raid was being prepared...

The law enforcement officers, underestimating the hard-core armed cultists, tried to enter the facilities, whereupon the sectarians opened fire, a real battle ensued in which the Federal Bureau of Firearms was completely defeated and forced to retreat with several dead and about twenty wounded members. The sectarians even showed mercy because when the agents withdrew, they could have completely wiped them out, something David did not allow. After it became clear that the service and the local police would not be able to deal with the sect, the FBI got involved in the story, sending special forces, surrounding the sect and starting a siege that would last 51 days and in which tanks, armored personnel carriers, psychological weapons and helicopters would be used.

They expected that in a few days the sectarians would run out of food and water and would surrender whimpering, but that was a naive expectation, the sectarians had huge supplies of food, water and ammunition that they had prepared in anticipation of the apocalypse. And it somehow arrived...

After several failed attempts to break in (in which the sect leader was wounded), the FBI decided to negotiate. In the meantime, FBI agents killed a sect member who tried to break into the building from the outside. The FBI constantly played unpleasant sounds from huge speakers around the buildings in order to keep the sect members from sleeping, including retro hits by Nancy Sinatra. Bright lights were also used to constantly blind the Davidians.

The negotiations were unsuccessful and on the 51st day, a mysterious fire began to spread through the sect buildings. To this day, it is not known who started the fire, the surviving sect members claim that it was the FBI's oil (the pun is strong here) and the FBI claims that the sect members themselves decided to sacrifice themselves in a fit of apocalyptic madness. In the chaos and fire, at least 80 sectarians died, including the leader and his assistants, and the siege was ended. To make the tragedy even greater, many children who were hiding in an underground shelter whose exit was `accidentally` blocked by a parked tank were also burned. The controversies surrounding this event never subsided, the state services were seriously embarrassed, first the special forces being defeated by a group of sectarians, then the FBI who, with teams of psychologists, negotiators and a total siege using all available means, failed to force the sectarians to surrender, the media fiasco and unnecessary victims.

Most likely, the state armed services decided to show ``who's who'' through a bloody feast that would send a ``message'' to the then wave of sects and various secessionist militias and to liquidate the sect with the help of fire, trampling children with tanks and shooting people trying to get out of the hellish fires. Despite their relative remoteness, the members of the cult did nothing to deserve such an end and such torment. Their incredible courage in the almost two-month armed resistance against an incomparably stronger and better equipped opponent must be recognized.

It is only a pity that they did not manage to drag more members of the state services with them to the other world.

(Roger Mortis, 078)