THe Branch Davidians
Officially named the Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, this seemingly normal community was initiated by Victor Houteff, a Bulgarian immigrant, in 1935 just west of Waco, Texas, a town he decided to name Mount Carmel Center. He based his new religion off of his belief that the apocalypse was upon them as soon Jesus comes back to the mortal world. Since then there have been a couple different Presidents including George Roden and the most notorious, David Koresh (birth name Vernon Howell). They each added their own beliefs to the ones established before them. These beliefs were split up into what they called “Doctrines.” They included but were not limited to the following philosophies:
-Vegetarianism.
-Self-restraint from alcohol, tobacco, and non-medicinal drugs.
-Obsessive preoccupation with prophets and prophecies (more of a mindset.)
-Believed the Holy Spirit is female.
-Lois Roden was the incarnation of the Holy Spirit.
-The interpretation of the Bible can only be done by Koresh.
-Koresh is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.
It is to no surprise that the Doctrines become progressively more unusual during Koresh’s rein, seeing that many believe he was a psychopath. But his rein didn’t only affect their belief system. Koresh promoted and condoned abuse of all kinds. Under his rein children were beaten, members were punished if they didn’t obey by food deprivation, members were forced to cut ties with family members and anyone outside of their branch, ex-members were isolated, and there were many cases of sexual and emotional abuse accompanied by mental torture.
The FBI was notified of this abuse and the fact that they were hoarding illegal arms, these included mass amounts of illegal weapons, grenade castings, and black powder. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) launched an investigation against them. One of the ATF’s biggest mistakes was their undercover surveillance. They attempted to seem like college students renting a house across the street, but the agents were thirty years old, had brand new cars, and schedules that didn't reflect a college life or that of an employed individual. After their investigation they wanted to enter the ranch and seize the weapons on February 28, 1993. Another mistake on the ATF’s part was that of accidently telling a reporter of the raid. This reporter then asked a USPS mail carrier where the compound was, this mail carrier was actually Koresh’s brother-in-law and warned them of the raid. Upon their arrival a gunfight broke loose, reports are unclear on who started the fight. It lasted two hours and resulted in the death of four ATF agents and six Davidians. Since the ATF and FBI couldn't seize the weapons they spent fifty-one days negotiating. During this negotiation they committed most of their mistakes and will later be criticized. The tactics they used to negotiate the surrender of the compound and the release of the children and women caused the Davidians to believe that the event was part of the end of the world. This fed into their belief that Koresh was the second coming of Jesus. Because of their unwillingness to surrender the ATF drilled a hole into many portions of the compound and leaked tear gas in order to force them out. However, the gas didn't drive them out, it forced them to retaliate in more gunfire. About an hour later, a fire broke out; it is not known if the Davidians started the fire on purpose or if it sparked because of other factors. Seventy-five Davidians died because of gunfire and the fire, David Koresh was found dead with a gunshot to the head, fifteen survived the fire, and thirty-five left during the FBI standoff. The countless amounts of errors committed by both the ATF and the FBI recreated the way they negotiated with cults.
- First Doctrine (established by Victor Houteff) included:
-Vegetarianism.
-Self-restraint from alcohol, tobacco, and non-medicinal drugs.
-Obsessive preoccupation with prophets and prophecies (more of a mindset.)
- Second Doctrine (established by George Roden) included:
-Believed the Holy Spirit is female.
-Lois Roden was the incarnation of the Holy Spirit.
- Third Doctrine (established by Koresh) included:
-The interpretation of the Bible can only be done by Koresh.
-Koresh is the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.
It is to no surprise that the Doctrines become progressively more unusual during Koresh’s rein, seeing that many believe he was a psychopath. But his rein didn’t only affect their belief system. Koresh promoted and condoned abuse of all kinds. Under his rein children were beaten, members were punished if they didn’t obey by food deprivation, members were forced to cut ties with family members and anyone outside of their branch, ex-members were isolated, and there were many cases of sexual and emotional abuse accompanied by mental torture.
The FBI was notified of this abuse and the fact that they were hoarding illegal arms, these included mass amounts of illegal weapons, grenade castings, and black powder. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) launched an investigation against them. One of the ATF’s biggest mistakes was their undercover surveillance. They attempted to seem like college students renting a house across the street, but the agents were thirty years old, had brand new cars, and schedules that didn't reflect a college life or that of an employed individual. After their investigation they wanted to enter the ranch and seize the weapons on February 28, 1993. Another mistake on the ATF’s part was that of accidently telling a reporter of the raid. This reporter then asked a USPS mail carrier where the compound was, this mail carrier was actually Koresh’s brother-in-law and warned them of the raid. Upon their arrival a gunfight broke loose, reports are unclear on who started the fight. It lasted two hours and resulted in the death of four ATF agents and six Davidians. Since the ATF and FBI couldn't seize the weapons they spent fifty-one days negotiating. During this negotiation they committed most of their mistakes and will later be criticized. The tactics they used to negotiate the surrender of the compound and the release of the children and women caused the Davidians to believe that the event was part of the end of the world. This fed into their belief that Koresh was the second coming of Jesus. Because of their unwillingness to surrender the ATF drilled a hole into many portions of the compound and leaked tear gas in order to force them out. However, the gas didn't drive them out, it forced them to retaliate in more gunfire. About an hour later, a fire broke out; it is not known if the Davidians started the fire on purpose or if it sparked because of other factors. Seventy-five Davidians died because of gunfire and the fire, David Koresh was found dead with a gunshot to the head, fifteen survived the fire, and thirty-five left during the FBI standoff. The countless amounts of errors committed by both the ATF and the FBI recreated the way they negotiated with cults.