Latest / The Burros of Berea Podcast / Episode 312- Prophet of Fire- Part 4

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Episode 312- Prophet of Fire- Part 4 · The Burros of Berea Podcast

• 0:09
  Last time, we walked through the inner world
• 0:12
  of Mount Carmel, how David Koresh built an empire
• 0:14
  of belief on the edge of Waco, Texas. We explored
• 0:17
  how scripture, surveillance, and psychological
• 0:20
  control created an obedient community sealed
• 0:22
  off from the outside world. We traced the roots
• 0:24
  of his apocalyptic theology, his manipulation
• 0:27
  of families, and the mind control techniques
• 0:29
  that made him not just a prophet, but a messiah
• 0:32
  to his followers. But in the early morning hours
• 0:35
  of February 28th, 1993, That world collided with
• 0:38
  another. Federal agents, weapons drawn, helicopters
• 0:42
  overhead, news crews standing by. This is the
• 0:46
  story of how the siege began. I'm Rick Welch
• 0:49
  and this is Profit of Fire. The Bureau of Alcohol,
• 0:53
  Tobacco and Firearms, ATF, had spent months preparing
• 0:56
  for what they called Operation Showtime. The
• 1:00
  mission served search and arrest warrants on
• 1:02
  David Koresh and seized illegal weapons reportedly
• 1:05
  stored inside the compound. The plan was built
• 1:08
  on secrecy and speed, but the secrecy didn't
• 1:11
  hold. A local TV news crew trying to get to Mt.
• 1:14
  Carmel ahead of the raid got lost and asked for
• 1:16
  directions from a U .S. Postal Service driver
• 1:18
  who also happened to be David Koresh's brother
• 1:20
  -in -law. Word reached Koresh minutes before
• 1:22
  the agents arrived. According to survivors, Koresh
• 1:25
  gathered his followers and prayed. Some armed
• 1:28
  themselves, others huddled with children. By
• 1:31
  9 .45 a .m., Two cattle trailers full of heavily
• 1:34
  armed ATF agents rolled up the long driveway.
• 1:37
  Inside were elite special response teams from
• 1:39
  the Dallas and New Orleans field offices. Then
• 1:42
  came the first shot. To this day, no one can
• 1:45
  say with certainty who fired it. What followed
• 1:48
  was a chaotic two -hour gun battle. Windows shattered,
• 1:51
  walls splintered. Dozens of agents and Davidians
• 1:54
  exchanged fire. Over 900 rounds were fired in
• 1:57
  the first 20 minutes alone. By the end of that
• 2:00
  morning, four ATF agents were dead. All four
• 2:16
  were shot while attempting to breach the compound's
• 2:18
  second -story windows and front door. They died
• 2:21
  in service to a mission that would change American
• 2:23
  law enforcement forever. Inside the compound,
• 2:26
  the losses were just as real, though rarely mentioned
• 2:28
  in the headlines. Six Branch Davidians were killed
• 2:31
  that day. Peter Jent, Perry Jones, Koresh's father
• 2:35
  -in -law, Winston Blake, Wayne Martin, a Harvard
• 2:38
  -trained lawyer and close associate of Koresh,
• 2:42
  Jimmy Riddle and Jadine Windell. And David Koresh
• 2:45
  himself? Shot twice, once in the wrist and once
• 2:49
  in the side. Survivor David Thibodeau remembers,
• 2:52
  quote, I heard Perry scream. He was hit bad.
• 2:56
  David was bleeding, but still giving orders.
• 2:59
  The shooting didn't stop for what felt like.
• 3:02
  forever." ATF agents pulled back, bloodied and
• 3:05
  shaken. They hadn't brought enough food, water,
• 3:08
  or medical supplies for a siege. They had expected
• 3:11
  arrests, not resistance. Inside Mount Carmel,
• 3:15
  Quresh declared that prophecy was being fulfilled.
• 3:17
  He told his followers they were under attack
• 3:19
  from Babylon, that the fifth seal of revelation
• 3:22
  had been opened, that the end had begun. Phones
• 3:25
  inside the compound still worked. Quresh called
• 3:28
  911. speaking with McClennan County Sheriff Lieutenant
• 3:31
  Larry Lynch. Quote, there are women and children
• 3:34
  in here and you're letting them shoot at us.
• 3:36
  This is not necessary. End quote. But it was
• 3:39
  already too late. The bullets had flown. The
• 3:42
  casualties were real and the eyes of the world
• 3:45
  were now watching Waco, Texas. In the aftermath
• 3:48
  of the firefight, chaos gave way to confusion.
• 3:51
  The ATF pulled back and called in the FBI. Within
• 3:54
  24 hours, the small gravel road leading to Mount
• 3:57
  Carmel was transformed into a full -blown federal
• 3:59
  command post. News helicopters circled overhead.
• 4:03
  Journalists from CNN, ABC, The Dallas Morning
• 4:06
  News all crammed in behind yellow barricades.
• 4:09
  Satellite vans lined the roads. The siege had
• 4:12
  officially begun. Sheila Martin, a Branch Davidian
• 4:15
  survivor says, quote, We were watching the TV
• 4:18
  from inside. We saw ourselves on the news. David
• 4:21
  said, This is it. God's about to make us known
• 4:24
  to the world. End quote. Back inside the compound,
• 4:27
  Quresh was wounded but very much in control.
• 4:30
  Despite his injuries, he held multiple meetings
• 4:32
  a day with his followers, preaching, quoting
• 4:34
  scripture, and shaping what they believed was
• 4:36
  happening. According to his theology, the Book
• 4:39
  of Revelation was unfolding in real time. The
• 4:41
  U .S. government was Babylon. The attack was
• 4:44
  foretold, and now the group was being tested
• 4:47
  before the final judgment. In archival audio,
• 4:51
  we hear Quresh say, quote, God has brought this
• 4:54
  about. You see, they've come to destroy us, but
• 4:56
  the Lamb shall not be overcome." Meanwhile, the
• 5:01
  FBI brought in their hostage rescue team and
• 5:03
  trained negotiators. At first, both sides spoke.
• 5:06
  There were phone lines still working between
• 5:08
  Koresh and federal agents. Lead FBI negotiator
• 5:12
  Brian Sage recalled, quote, He was calm, charismatic,
• 5:16
  engaging, even when wounded. But every conversation
• 5:19
  returned to scripture. Every negotiation had
• 5:21
  to go through his theology. Quresh promised to
• 5:25
  come out if the world would hear his message.
• 5:28
  He agreed to record an audio sermon and said
• 5:30
  he'd surrender after it aired nationally. Surprisingly,
• 5:34
  the FBI let it happen. On March 2nd, his message
• 5:37
  was broadcast on Christian radio nationwide.
• 5:40
  In it, Quresh called himself the lamb, declared
• 5:43
  judgment near, and referenced the seven seals.
• 5:46
  Then, silence. He didn't come out. The FBI was
• 5:51
  furious. Negotiators felt duped, but inside Mt.
• 5:55
  Carmel, Kuresh's prophecy had gained even more
• 5:57
  momentum. To his followers, the delay wasn't
• 6:00
  deception, it was divine timing. Survivor David
• 6:04
  Thibodeau remembers, quote, He told us, God says
• 6:07
  not yet. And we believed him. We thought the
• 6:10
  FBI would eventually see the truth and back off.
• 6:13
  End quote. Over the next few days, the compound
• 6:16
  was plunged into psychological warfare. The FBI
• 6:19
  caught off power. They blasted recordings. Rabbits
• 6:22
  being slaughtered, loud music, even Nancy Sinatra's,
• 6:25
  these boots are made for walking over giant speakers
• 6:28
  through the night. They pointed bright floodlights
• 6:30
  at the windows. Tanks rolled closer by the day.
• 6:33
  But the Davidians didn't break. The more pressure
• 6:36
  the FBI applied, the more Koresh reframed their
• 6:39
  suffering as proof of their righteousness. He
• 6:41
  told them it was all part of the prophecy that
• 6:43
  God was using Babylon to purify the saints. What
• 6:47
  the FBI saw as tactical pressure Koresh turned
• 6:50
  into theological fuel. The standoff would last
• 6:53
  another 44 days. As the standoff stretched into
• 6:56
  its second week, life inside Mount Carmel was
• 6:58
  tense, silent, and terrifying. Over 80 Branch
• 7:02
  Davidians remained inside. Among them, 46 were
• 7:05
  children. Many of the kids were born in the compound.
• 7:08
  Others had been brought by parents who joined
• 7:10
  Koresh's teaching from California, Hawaii, New
• 7:13
  York, even Australia. They lived without electricity
• 7:16
  or running water. Food was dwindling. So was
• 7:19
  medicine. Some of the children were sick, others
• 7:22
  injured in the initial firefight, and yet no
• 7:25
  one left. No parents walked out. Survivor Sheila
• 7:28
  Martin remembers, quote, He told us that if we
• 7:31
  left, we'd be destroyed, that we were chosen,
• 7:34
  that the children were God's army. We believed
• 7:37
  it, end quote. Koresh taught that the children
• 7:40
  of Mount Carmel would play a sacred role in the
• 7:41
  last days. He referred to them as the pure ones,
• 7:45
  untainted by the world, vessels for the future
• 7:47
  kingdom. Letting them leave, he said, would be
• 7:50
  like sacrificing them to Satan. And so the parents
• 7:53
  stayed. Not because they weren't scared, but
• 7:56
  because they believed that obedience was salvation.
• 7:58
  David Thibodeau later said, quote, There were
• 8:01
  mothers who cried every night, but they also
• 8:03
  thought they were doing the right thing. David
• 8:05
  convinced them that this was their trial, end
• 8:08
  quote. One of the few glimpses into life inside
• 8:11
  came from videos recorded by courageous followers
• 8:13
  and released to the media. In one, children smiled
• 8:16
  awkwardly at the camera. others sang hymns. Koresh,
• 8:20
  bandaged and pale, introduced his wives and infants
• 8:23
  like royalty. Quote, This is God's house. These
• 8:27
  are God's children, and I am the messenger. End
• 8:31
  quote. To the public, the footage was disturbing.
• 8:34
  But to the followers inside, it was proof that
• 8:37
  the world didn't understand. They saw themselves
• 8:40
  as the faithful remnant. Everyone else? Agents
• 8:43
  of judgment. Still, the strain began to show.
• 8:46
  Food was rationed. Toilet facilities were overflowing.
• 8:50
  Tensions grew, especially among the few men still
• 8:53
  permitted to carry weapons. And behind closed
• 8:56
  doors, Koresh remained the voice of prophecy
• 8:58
  and control. Former member Dana Okamoto stated,
• 9:03
  I remember him saying, even if the whole world
• 9:05
  comes against us, we will not bow. That kind
• 9:09
  of talk, it kept people there. It made fear feel
• 9:12
  holy. The FBI, meanwhile, was growing impatient.
• 9:17
  They had started letting some children leave,
• 9:19
  21 in total over the course of 10 days. But with
• 9:22
  every small release, they expected more. Instead,
• 9:26
  the doors slammed shut. Koresh claimed he was
• 9:28
  receiving new revelations. He told the FBI he
• 9:31
  would come out once he completed his written
• 9:33
  interpretation of the seven seals. It became
• 9:36
  clear Koresh wasn't stalling. He was stalling
• 9:40
  for God. And the FBI was running out of time.
• 9:43
  and options. By early April, the standoff had
• 9:47
  dragged on for more than five weeks. Over 900
• 9:49
  federal agents surrounded the compound. Military
• 9:52
  equipment rolled in. Negotiators worked in shifts,
• 9:56
  talking to Koresh for hours each day. But there
• 9:58
  was no movement. Koresh had made a promise. He
• 10:02
  would come out once he finished writing his manuscript
• 10:04
  on the seven seals, but the FBI didn't believe
• 10:06
  him anymore. They saw the talks as games, stalls,
• 10:10
  manipulations. They were under pressure from
• 10:13
  Washington, from the media, from the memory of
• 10:15
  four dead agents. And inside the FBI's tactical
• 10:19
  units, the call for action was growing louder.
• 10:22
  The FBI tried escalating pressure again. They
• 10:25
  intensified psychological tactics. More floodlights,
• 10:29
  music, and more recordings of screaming rabbits.
• 10:32
  But still, no surrender. Survivor Sheila Martin
• 10:36
  remembers, quote, We were exhausted, but David
• 10:39
  said we had to endure. that suffering meant we
• 10:41
  were near the end." Every day that passed, Courageous
• 10:45
  Theology deepened. He preached to the group that
• 10:47
  they were now entering the sixth seal. When the
• 10:50
  sun would darken, the moon would turn to blood
• 10:52
  and the heavens would roll back like a scroll.
• 10:55
  They weren't just followers anymore. They were
• 10:58
  martyrs and waiting. The children who had been
• 11:00
  released earlier had told child psychologists
• 11:03
  what life inside was like. They spoke of beatings,
• 11:06
  of food rationing, of spiritual wives and God's
• 11:09
  army. FBI behavioral analysts warned that Koresh
• 11:12
  was showing signs of a classic doomsday prophet,
• 11:15
  one who wouldn't surrender because surrender
• 11:17
  would invalidate his message. FBI negotiator
• 11:20
  Brian Sage remembers, quote, We were starting
• 11:22
  to believe that if we didn't take decisive action,
• 11:25
  those people weren't going to come out at all,
• 11:28
  end quote. On April 17th, Koresh sent word through
• 11:31
  his attorneys that he was ready. He would complete
• 11:33
  his manuscript. He just needed more time. The
• 11:37
  FBI waited. then grew tired of waiting. On April
• 11:41
  18th, the decision was made. Attorney General
• 11:44
  Janet Reno approved a plan to end the siege.
• 11:47
  It was simple. Inject tear gas into the building
• 11:49
  and force the Branch Davidians to come out without
• 11:52
  a firefight. But as history shows, nothing in
• 11:55
  Waco was ever simple. On the morning of April
• 11:58
  19th, 1993 at 6 a .m., tanks began ramming holes
• 12:02
  into the compound's walls. CS gas was pumped
• 12:06
  inside. Koresh's voice, came over the radio,
• 12:09
  quote, We want the press. This is America. You
• 12:13
  have no right to do this. You're breaking the
• 12:15
  law, end quote. For hours, the gas flowed, but
• 12:19
  no one came out. Around noon, smoke was seen
• 12:22
  rising from inside the compound, then fire, then
• 12:26
  collapse. The final judgment, whether divine
• 12:29
  or human, had come. In our next episode, We will
• 12:35
  examine the gripping minute -by -minute account
• 12:37
  of April 19th, 1993, from the moment the FBI
• 12:41
  launched their tear gas operation to the tragic
• 12:44
  inferno that claimed 76 lives. We will comb through
• 12:47
  real -time FBI tactical actions, audio and transcript
• 12:52
  excerpts from negotiators and Koresh, eyewitness
• 12:55
  accounts from survivors, when and how the fire
• 12:57
  started, and the final moments inside Mount Carmel.
• 13:02
  I'm Rick Welch, and this as profit of fire.