Six days ago marked the thirty second anniversary of one of the most disgusting abuses of government power in American history. Waco was not a tragic accident. It was cold-blooded murder carried out by federal agencies against civilians, twenty five of them children. It was a flex of unchecked authority against the most vulnerable. Seventy six Americans died because government agents decided that saving face was more important than saving lives. No one paid the price. Instead, the agencies responsible were rewarded and expanded.
False Accusations and First Blood
The ATF needed a high-profile win to justify its bloated budget and fading reputation. They launched a raid under false claims that the Branch Davidians were stockpiling illegal machine guns. No such weapons were ever found. This was not law enforcement. It was a premeditated attack.
Federal agents fired the first shots—not at armed men, but at penned dogs in the kennel. The sounds of gunfire triggered a firefight that never had to happen. ATF gunmen then opened fire on the building itself. Court evidence showed bullets hitting the front door from the outside. That front door, entered into evidence, somehow “disappeared” while in government custody, conveniently preventing a full accounting of who shot first.
This was not a misunderstanding. It was an ambush. It was violence chosen over restraint.
Fifty One Days of Torture
When the initial assault failed, the FBI took command and escalated the war against civilians. They cut off water and power. They blasted recordings of screaming rabbits and deafening noise through the nights. They moved tanks around the compound to terrorize the people inside, many of whom were women, children, and unarmed civilians.
The psychological abuse was not an accident. It was deliberate. The goal was to break the people inside, to humiliate them, to make an example of them for the nation to see.
On April 19, the government made its final move. Tanks punched holes into the building and pumped in CS gas mixed with methylene chloride—a chemical banned in warfare for its lethal effects in confined spaces. They knew the risks. They did it anyway.
Fire, Death, and the Massacre of Innocents
Shortly after the gas assault began, fires broke out across the compound. Government agents immediately blamed the Davidians. Yet infrared footage captured gunfire directed into the buildings. Audio recordings caught FBI agents discussing the use of pyrotechnic rounds.
Seventy six people were killed.
Twenty five of them were children.
Children died from suffocation. Children were crushed when tanks collapsed the walls. Children burned alive because the FBI created a chemical furnace and locked the doors behind them. They had no chance. They were sacrificed to preserve federal pride.
Suppression of Evidence and Official Lies
Key evidence disappeared.
The front door.
Shell casings.
Sections of FBI surveillance tapes.
All conveniently lost, destroyed, or sealed away from public view.
The same agencies that murdered children then declared themselves innocent, and the media parroted every word without question. No serious prosecutions ever took place. No real reforms ever followed. The government closed ranks to protect itself, not the people it serves.
Congressional Hearings: Protecting the Murderers
In 1995, Congress pretended to investigate Waco.
Chuck Schumer, then a House Representative, defended the actions of the ATF and FBI and mocked demands for accountability. Today he is the Senate Majority Leader.
Charles Grassley, a rare voice demanding real answers, remains a Senator but was drowned out at the time by political cover-ups.
Joe Biden, then a Senator, fully backed the federal assault and blamed the victims for their own deaths.
The hearings were nothing but political theater to shield the guilty. Those who demanded justice were sidelined. Those who covered it up rose to the highest offices in the land.
Koresh’s Crimes Do Not Excuse Mass Murder
David Koresh was a tyrant inside the compound. He committed statutory rape and controlled his followers with cult tactics. But Koresh’s crimes were no justification for the mass extermination of everyone living under his roof. That is not how justice works. That is not how free nations treat their citizens.
The Branch Davidians were not a violent army. They were a community of families, veterans, workers, and believers. They were racially diverse, welcoming Black, white, Asian, and Hispanic members. Many stayed because they believed surrender meant death. They were right.
What Waco Really Means
Waco showed the world that American citizens can be gassed, crushed, and burned alive by their own government with total impunity. It showed that federal agencies can destroy evidence, lie to the public, and still be praised and funded.
It showed that the murder of twenty five children does not spark mass resignations, arrests, or shame in Washington. It showed that government will always protect itself before it ever protects you.
Waco was not an accident. Waco was not an unfortunate mistake.
Waco was the state flexing its power by killing the weak to send a message to everyone else.
Thirty two years later, the blood of seventy six innocent Americans still stains the hands of the ATF, the FBI, and every politician who helped bury the truth.
And we have not forgotten.
Sources
- U.S. House of Representatives Hearings on Waco, 1995 – Committee on Government Reform and Oversight
- Department of Justice Report on the Events at Waco, 1993
- “Why the Waco Siege Ended in Disaster” – Time, March 2018
- “Waco: The Rules of Engagement” – Oscar-nominated documentary, 1997
- U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Statements by Charles Grassley, 1995
- “The Waco Siege” – History Channel, digital archive
- “The Missing Front Door” – Dallas Morning News, 1995
- United Nations Convention on Chemical Weapons, 1993
- “The Branch Davidians Were Not All White” – Texas Monthly, April 2018
- “ATF Budget Justification and Congressional Testimony” – National Archives