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[[File: David_koresh.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|David Koresh/Vernon Howell]]

[[File: Flat_of_Branch_Davidians.png|300px|thumbnail|right|The Branch Davidian Flag]]

David Koresh was born Vernon Howell in 1959 to a mother who left him with her parents and a father he never knew. Anecdotal evidence shows that Howell may have suffered from learning disabilities as a child because he had difficulties reading and in generally in school, but excelled in music, mechanics, and above all – reading scriptures. <ref> Reavis, p. 26</ref> Howell’s mother was a member of the SDA church, but he was eventually drawn to the Branch Davidians, who he believed followed the scriptures more closely. As he immersed himself in life at Mount Carmel, the ever fractious Davidians split once again in 1984, which led to violence and eventually Howell’s assumption of the church’s leadership.

During Howell’s exile from Mount Carmel, he visited the Holy Land in 1985, which is where he claimed that he was brought into heaven and given the secrets of the Seven Seals of the Book of Revelation that played such an integral role in his theology. It was also at that time when he came up with the name David Koresh – David for King David and Koresh for the Persian King Cyrus who released the Jews from their Babylonian captivity in 539 BC – which he legally changed his name to in 1990. <ref> Reavis, p. 96</ref> Once he was firmly ensconced as the leader of the Branch Davidians, Koresh wasted no time preaching his millennial prophecies of the Seven Seals. Of particular importance to the 1993 events was his interpretation of the Fourth Seal, which he believed allowed him to “kill with the sword.” Concerning this Seal, Koresh once said, “The Bible is a whole book about nothing but killing.” <ref> Reavis, p. 117</ref> Clearly, Koresh favored the Old Testament god of fire and vengeance. Besides preaching his apocalyptic interpretation of the Bible, Koresh also initiated several changes in the day to day lives of the Branch Davidians. He promoted the idea of polygamy for himself, but he ordered celibacy among all the other male members. By the time of the siege, he fathered seventeen children, two with underage girls and others with women already married. He also lifted the ban on alcohol, although members rarely drank afterwards. <ref> Reavis, pgs. 111-16 </ref>

The reason why the Branch Davidians came to the attention of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms was the combination of a series of newspapers articles about the sect and a random discovery by a postal worker. Mark England and Darlene McCormick, who were local writers for the <i>Waco Tribune-Herald</i>, wrote a seven part series titled “Sinful Messiah,” which focused on some of the more lurid and salacious aspects of life in the compound. The writers interviewed three ATF sources who also happened to be disgruntled former Davidians. One of the sources, Marc Breault, ended up being the key informant who helped get the ATF initiate the investigation of the Davidians. Koresh was never interviewed by England and McCormick. <ref> Reavis, pgs. 40-43</ref> Dovetailing with the “Sinful Messiah” series was the ATF investigation, which officially began in 1992 when a postal worker noticed a number of weapons being mailed to the compound. Although there is nothing inherently illegal about sending guns through the postal service, the ATF believed it warranted an investigation so special agent Robert Rodriguez was tasked with infiltrating the compound. Most of the weapons the agent saw in the compound were legal, but Rodriguez’s reports concluded that the Davidians were manufacturing illegal weapons, which was enough to get a warrant to raid the compound. <ref> Kerksetter, Todd. “‘That’s Just the American Way’: The Branch Davidian Tragedy and Western Religious History.” <i>Western Historical Quarterly.</i> 35 (2004) pgs. 456-7</ref>

[[File: Mountcarmelfirebefore.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|Aerial View of Mount Carmel before the Final FBI Assault on April 19, 1993]]

The ATF seemingly had plenty of time to plan their raid on the Branch Davidians; enough time for them to nickname the operation “Showtime” and to enlist 100 agents and three helicopters for the ill-fated February 28 raid. They believed that by initiating the raid just before ten a.m. they would catch the Davidians off guard and that most of the men would be separated from the women and children. They were tragically wrong. To this day there is still considerable debate concerning which side fired the first shot, but the ensuing firefight resulted in the deaths of four ATF agents and twenty wounded. The Davidians fared a bit better in their casualty count – two of their members were killed and three were wounded. By the afternoon a ceasefire was arranged that allowed the ATF to take their wounded from the scene and several Davidians surrendered and were promptly arrested. But the tragic events of February 28 were only the beginning. <ref> Kerksetter, p. 458</ref>

Finally, with armored vehicles and helicopters, the FBI inserted CS gas and pyrotechnics into the compound at six a.m. on April 19. Although the FBI originally denied the use of pyrotechnics in the final assault, evidence emerged in 1999 that they did in fact use the chemical, which in all likelihood led to the fire that consumed the compound. <ref> Wright, p. 102</ref> A number of the Davidians actually died of gunshots, including Koresh who was shot in the forehead and contrary to initial reports, all of the bodies of the children were discovered in what the Davidians believed was the fireproof section of their compound. A total of sixty-six Davidians died in the fire that day, including twenty-three children. <ref> Wessinger, pgs. 28-32</ref>

[[File: Murrah_overall.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|View of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building after the April 19, 1995 Bombing]]

Scholars of the Waco tragedy and the Critical Incident Analysis Group, which is a group of scholars based at the University of Virginia, argue that it is a prime example of a “critical incident.” A critical incident is defined as an act that erodes the public trust in the government and effectively polarizes the population into factions that either oppose or support the state on a particular issue. As evidence, Jayne Docherty pointed to a 1999 <i>Time</i> magazine poll that stated sixty-one percent of those polled believe that government was responsible for the Waco tragedy. <ref> Docherty, Jayne Seminare. “Why Waco Has Not Gone Away: Critical Incidents and Cultural Trauma” <i>Novo Religio: the Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions.</i> 5 (2001) pgs. 187-189</ref> Beyond the deep seated damage the Waco tragedy had on the American psyche, it also influenced a number of more immediate events.

Finally, the anger, fear, and confusion that many Americans felt after the Waco tragedy was channeled by the far-right militia movement to increase their numbers in the weeks, months, and years following the event. Although most militia members were not inclined to violence, some were willing to avenge the Branch Davidians any way possible. While the siege was taking place, a young army veteran named Timothy McVeigh was posted behind the police line at Mount Carmel giving out bumper stickers that read, “Is Your Church ATF-Approved?” <ref> Kirksetter, p. 470</ref> McVeigh would later go on to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma two years to the day after the Waco siege ended. The FBI and ATF would later change many of their protocols, which has at least been anecdotally successful as their has been no incident of a similar scale since the Waco tragedy. With that said, as Docherty wrote, the tragic events at Waco in 1993 created a massive distrust in the government and a polarization of the population that is obviously apparent today, which is probably the Waco tragedy’s enduring legacy.