For 51 days in 1993, the FBI and ATF were in an increasingly tense standoff with David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, an extreme far-right religious sect, outside of Waco, Texas. After a search and arrest warrant led to a gunfight leaving 10 dead, negotiators and tactical teams squared off about how to get the Branch Davidians out safely for nearly two months.
Ultimately, the Waco siege culminated in tragedy, reframing how America looks at paramilitary responses from the government and reinforcing the distrust of government in far-right groups, and we are still dealing with both of these realities almost 30 years later.
This week, we are covering the siege at Waco.
CW: Cults, physical and sexual abuse, violence, suicide, death, drugs, gun violence.
SOURCES
https://www.history.com/topics/1990s/waco-siege
https://www.vox.com/2016/1/5/10714746/waco-ruby-ridge-oregon
https://abcnews.go.com/US/survivors-1993-waco-siege-describe-happened-fire-ended/story?id=52034435
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-waco-review-20180124-story.html
