Koresh, page 44
The ATF didn’t hear the conversation: Mark England, “Investigators blast ATF: Five top brass leave after giving go-ahead to raid gone ‘tragically wrong,’” Waco Tribune-Herald, October 1, 1993.
A bullet just missed: Brad Bailey and Bob Darden, Mad Man in Waco (WRS Publishing, 1993), pg. 168.
The pilots turned: Chuck Hustmyre, “Trojan Horse: Inside the ATF raid at Waco, Texas,” undated manuscript. Courtesy of Chuck Hustmyre.
Their job was to control: Mark England, “Investigators blast ATF: Five top brass leave after giving go-ahead to raid gone ‘tragically wrong,’” Waco Tribune-Herald, October 1, 1993; Treasury Report: Section Four: The Assault on the Compound.
Roland was running: Unless otherwise noted, the material in this chapter relating to Ballesteros’s experiences come from an interview with Ballesteros.
A bullet hit the Honda: J. B. Smith, “Branch Davidian tragedy at 25: How the story overtook the storytellers,” Waco Tribune-Herald, February 24, 2018.
Someone in the surveillance house: Ibid.
“We’re going to get blamed”: Ibid.
We don’t have any: Pamela Colloff, “The Fire That Time,” Texas Monthly, April 2008.
“Oh my God”: Interview with Chuck Hustmyre.
The agent and the kid: Lee Hancock, “How the 1993 Waco standoff began with a bloody gun battle that federal agents now regret,” Dallas Morning News, February 25, 2018.
Darlene McCormick, the co-author: BBC Radio 5 Podcast, End of Days, 2018, “Episode Five: Under Siege.”
He was turning the corner: Chuck Hustmyre, “Trojan Horse: Inside the ATF raid at Waco, Texas.”
Sprague grabbed Willis: Teresa Talerico, “Death of agent detailed: Witnesses at cult trial describe ‘eerie’ entry into compound and firefight that followed,” Waco Tribune-Herald, January 22, 1994.
Agent Kevin King was hit: Chuck Hustmyre, “Trojan Horse: Inside the ATF raid at Waco, Texas.”
“If I’m gonna die”: Inside Waco, BBC4 documentary.
“When I start firing”: Agent Keith Constantino interview with Talk 107.3 radio, February 28, 2018.
After gathering his wits: Chuck Hustmyre, “Trojan Horse: Inside the ATF raid at Waco, Texas.”
If he’d had the right gun: Constantino interview with Talk 107.3 radio, February 28, 2018.
He slumped to the ground: Chuck Hustmyre, “Trojan Horse: Inside the ATF raid at Waco, Texas.”
The minute Williams was hit: Pamela Colloff, “The Fire That Time,” Texas Monthly, April 2008.
Before he could get off a shot: Chuck Hustmyre, “Trojan Horse: Inside the ATF raid at Waco, Texas.”
“It’s a war zone”: Pamela Colloff, “The Fire That Time,” Texas Monthly, April 2008.
CHAPTER 37: BYRON
“What are you all doing here?”: Lee Hancock, “How the 1993 Waco standoff began with a bloody gun battle that federal agents now regret,” Dallas Morning News, February 25, 2018.
“Hunting and grunting”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #159, pg. 53.
He jumped back inside: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #137, pg. 41.
She’d helped build the compound: Video interview with Kat Schroeder, May 5, 2015, Part 3. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnl4hgbEdxA
Bullets had cut holes: Susan Aschoff, “After the ‘war’ at Waco,” Tampa Bay Tribune, February 28, 2000.
Her first thought: Pamela Colloff, “The Fire That Time,” Texas Monthly, April 2008.
“He nearly got me”: Teresa Talerico, “Davidian recalls pact for suicide: Cult member says Koresh made plans for mass death after raid,” Waco Tribune-Herald, February 2, 1994.
They would keep fighting: Video interview with Kat Schroeder, May 5, 2015, Part 3.
“They’re breaking more weapons”: Mark England, “Lieutenant coaxed cult cease-fire: Officer a key player in talks between Davidians, ATF,” Waco Tribune-Herald, June 12, 1993.
“If they attack us”: Ibid.
The man never fired: Teresa Talerico, “ATF agent fingers 2nd cult gunman: Defense lawyers argue Branch Davidian never fired his weapon,” Waco Tribune-Herald, January 27, 1994.
“Yeah, this is Lynch”: Mark England, “9–1–1 records panic, horror,” Waco Tribune-Herald, June 10, 1993.
The FBI negotiator Byron Sage: Unless otherwise noted, the material on Byron Sage in this chapter and later ones is drawn from multiple interviews with Sage.
A decade later: Eric Benson, “The FBI Agent Who Can’t Stop Thinking About Waco,” Texas Monthly, April 2018.
One of his supervisors: Interview with Gary Noesner.
He said no: Ashley Fantz, “18 years ago, David Koresh called CNN,” April 19, 2011. https://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/04/19/18-years-ago-david-koresh-called-cnn.
CHAPTER 38: AMBULANCES
Mulloney shoved his camera: Robert Bryce, “The Wounds of Waco,” Texas Observer, December 21, 2001.
“You son of a bitch!”: Pamela Colloff, “The Fire That Time,” Texas Monthly, April 2008.
“I told them!”: Ibid.
The Dallas-Fort Worth all-news station: No author, “Role of Media Raises Questions in Standoff,” Baltimore Sun, March 2, 1993.
“I am going home”: Kenneth G. C. Newport, The Branch Davidians of Waco: The History and Beliefs of an Apocalyptic Sect (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), pg. 253.
“Two-year-old girl”: Tape of KRLD interview, Texas State University, Texas Collection, Box 8, OVZ, Folder 38.
“I just want to say”: Ibid.
“Hello, Momma”: Pamela Colloff, “The Fire That Time,” Texas Monthly, April 2008.
One had a wound: Wilson Mark, “How failures during the Waco siege changed everything for the FBI, ATF,” Austin American-Statesman, April 19, 2018.
Lecour was scared: Interview with Lecour, “Nobody Knows Why I’m Here: The Waco Siege,” 2018. www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjm0sG2YouU.
They kept him there: “25 years later: In-depth look at the 51-day siege at Branch Davidian Compound,” ABC13 Houston.
The children came up: Drew Parma, “Suicide prospect feared from 1st day of standoff,” Waco Tribune-Herald, April 20, 1993.
“I love my rebellious ones”: Interview with Kat Schroeder, May 5, 2019, Part 9.
He was thinking that: Inside Waco, BBC4 documentary.
The women sat: Newport, The Branch Davidians of Waco, pg. 266.
“Everyone wants to go to heaven”: Interview with Kat Schroeder, Part 10.
She issued them the correct ammunition: Teresa Talerico, “Davidian: Holy war a cult intent—Schroeder says Koresh predicted they would lose,” Waco Tribune-Herald, February 3, 1994.
The youngest was twelve: Teresa Talerico, “Cultist says deaths were ‘biblical’: Schroeder says she armed children as young as 12 for apocalyptic ending,” Waco Tribune-Herald, February 4, 1994.
CHAPTER 39: WASHINGTON
“If I had done an operation”: Michael Decorcy Hinds, “U.S. Pleads with Cult Leader to Let His Followers Go,” New York Times, March 7, 1993.
There was talk: Shannon LaFraniere, “Sessions Assails Charges in Ethics Hearing,” Washington Post, January 24, 1993.
Her pioneering work: Paul Anderson, Janet Reno: Doing the Right Thing (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1994), pg. 114.
“They know more”: Natalie Russell, “I’m in Poland, and Waco Is Burning,” UVA Miller Center website, April 19, 2017; interview with Bernard Nussbaum.
The SAC ain’t the Lord: Interview with Bill Johnston.
They sometimes felt: “The Waco Siege - BPR Interviews: Gary Noesner Part 1 - Brown Political Review.”
One FBI agent remarked: Interview with Byron Sage.
Eventually, fifty-two negotiators: Interview with Byron Sage.
He took those: Interview with Gary Noesner.
“Just my feelings”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #1, pg. 5.
“Come on”: Ibid.
“By the time”: Turning Point, Waco: The Untold Story, ABC News special, 1994.
“In that cast of thousands”: FBI negotiation transcript, tapes #4 and #5, pg. 80.
“You all are going to kill us”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #6, pg. 9.
“This is the way”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #90, pg. 47.
“Jim, I’m going to win”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #6, pg. 5.
“He’s asking a question”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #68, pg. 29.
“God promises to wipe away”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #51, pg. 7.
The FBI’s Jamar prepared: Special Counsel John C. Danforth, Final Report to the Deputy Attorney General (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2000), pg. 38. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Danforthreport-final.pdf.
Eventually, 668 federal agents: Malcolm Gladwell, “Sacred And Profane,” New Yorker, March 31, 2014.
Ten soldiers: Special Counsel John C. Danforth, Final Report to the Deputy Attorney General Concerning the 1993 Confrontation at the Mt. Carmel Complex, pg. 37.
“What are we getting”: Interview with Gary Noesner.
“Well, as far as I’m concerned”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #22, pg. 7.
CHAPTER 40: IRRECONCILABLE
“You are full of shit!”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #84, pg. 35.
“No, I do not”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #36, pg. 3.
Noesner would then walk: “The Waco Siege—BPR Interviews: Gary Noesner Part 1—Brown Political Review.”
One issue: Interview with FBI HRT agent Jim McGee.
But word hadn’t gotten down: Interview with Byron Sage.
But the HRT knew: Interview with Jim McGee.
CHAPTER 41: DOUBLE-MINDED
“I mean”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #48, pg. 11.
“It’s against our religion”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #48, pg. 34.
“I’d like to have him”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #62, pg. 29.
HRT operators: David and Steve protested the alleged mooning several times in the negotiation tapes. The contention is also described in Eric Benson, “The FBI Agent Who Can’t Stop Thinking About Waco,” Texas Monthly, April, 2018.
“Let me explain something”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #57, pg. 26.
“Bringing these tanks”: BBC Radio 5 Podcast, End of Days, 2018, “Episode Five: Under Siege.”
“Let’s respect this”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #57, pg. 38.
“You and I both know”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #53, pg. 13.
“Listen, listen”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #65, pg. 4.
“Well, because I believe”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #105, pg. 48.
“damn belligerent bullies”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #66, pg. 32.
“Every one of them”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #92, pg. 25.
“When the Davidians sensed”: Turning Point, Waco: The Untold Story, ABC News special, 1994.
Smerick felt pressure: Lee Hancock, “FBI misled Reno to get tear-gas OK, ex-agent alleged,” Dallas Morning News, March 6, 2000.
“We felt this was an individual”: Sam Howe Verhovek, “Death in Waco; F.B.I. Saw the Ego in Koresh, But Not a Willingness to Die,” New York Times, April 22, 1993.
One bureau official told reporters: Ibid.
“This plan was based”: Dick J. Reavis, The Ashes of Waco (Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1998), pg. 179.
Everybody avoided him: Teresa Talerico, “ATF lied to cover failure, agent says: Superiors said they didn’t know they lost the element of surprise,” Waco Tribune-Herald, January 29, 1994.
ATF administrators ordered: Reavis, The Ashes of Waco, pg. 179.
“John, I want to thank you”: Robert Bryce, “Life After Waco,” Austin Chronicle, June 23, 2000.
“tipped off the sect”: Case outline, “WFAA-TV, Inc vs. McLemore,” June 25, 1998, Texas Court of Appeals.
His wife, who worked as a receptionist: J.B. Smith, “Branch Davidian tragedy at 25: How the story overtook the storytellers,” Waco Tribune-Herald, February 24, 2018.
CHAPTER 42: THE TRILATERAL COMMISSION
“It’s time”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #76, pp. 10-1.
Eventually, the bureau: Lee Hancock, “How the Branch Davidians Set the Fires for a Self-fulfilling Prophecy of their Doomsday,” Dallas Morning News, April 18, 2018.
Maybe light up: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #219, pg. 4.
He also seemed to be making sure: Interview with Jim McGee.
The FBI recounted the story: “The Tragedy at Waco: New Evidence Examined,” Congressional report, December 28, 2000, pg. 881. https://www.congress.gov/106/crpt/hrpt1037/CRPT-106hrpt1037.pdf.
The Davidians angrily disputed: “The Waco Siege—BPR Interviews: David Thibodeau Part 1—Brown Political Review.”
They thought there was a real chance: “The Tragedy at Waco: New Evidence Examined,” pg. 871.
skills were perishable: Interview with Jim McGee.
The same conversation: Interview with Michael Langan.
It was the first time: Interview with Byron Sage.
Someone came up: Interview with Jim Jamar, “Waco: The Inside Story,” Frontline, PBS, August 7, 1995.
Around this time: Interview with Gary Noesner.
“Do you have someone”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #73, pg. 43.
“They’re all extremely sentimental”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #95, pg. 33.
“It’s never changed”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #95, pg. 36.
“There’s got to be some men”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #102, pg. 28.
“All of us”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #104, pg. 31.
“sixteen or eighteen”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #107, pg. 25.
“confirmed his belief”: No author, “What Religion Does Alex Jones Follow?” August 5, 2022. https://www.npr.com.ng/what-religion-does-alex-jones-follow-jewish-or-christian-details-about-the-media-personality/.
“It was warned”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #153, pg. 35.
“You’ve got this maniac organization”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #159, pg. 39.
Oates apparently suggested: David McLemore, “Officials flooded with tips, insights on Koresh, his message,” Dallas Morning News, March 11, 1993.
When the Davidians tried to speak: “The Tragedy at Waco: New Evidence Examined,” pg. 599.
The FBI proposed flying: Rowland Nethaway, “‘Mind control’ machine—FBI so desperate it considered using Russian device on Koresh,” Waco Tribune-Herald, March 4, 1994.
CHAPTER 43: THE HILL
Packs of journalists from Chile: Brad Bailey and Bob Darden, Mad Man in Waco (WRS Publishing, 1993), pg. 179.
Crews from Southwestern Bell: Michael Decorcy Hinds, “U.S. Pleads with Cult Leader to Let His Followers Go,” New York Times, March 7, 1993.
“What is wrong with these people?”: Interview with Mark Potok.
It did cause some amusement: Bailey and Darden, Mad Man in Waco, pg. 211.
“There ain’t been this much”: Paul McKay, “Cult Standoff—Curious Gather on Hill to See, Be Seen,” Houston Chronicle, March 8, 1993.
“That can be checked out”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #117, pg. 12.
If he should die: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #182, pg. 30.
Jeff H. Terrell, thirty-one: Bailey and Darden, Mad Man in Waco, pg. 183.
“Hey, if these people: “The Waco Siege—BPR Interviews: David Thibodeau, Part 2—Brown Political Review.”
“Well, the New World Order”: Bailey and Darden, Mad Man in Waco, pg. 185.
Marian intimidated people: Ibid., pg. 186.
“Brother Dave’s Guns”: Mark England, “Cult, federal officials take Easter vacation: Sightseers take advantage of holiday; hawkers take advantage of sightseers,” Waco Tribune-Herald, April 12, 1993.
“is your church ATF approved?”: Photo, Steven Reece, March 1, 1993. Getty Images.
One who frequented: “Timothy McVeigh at Waco,” American Experience, PBS, 2017.
“It seems the ATF”: Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing (Pennsauken Township: BookBaby, 2015), ebook, pg. 223.
“I really, really need”: Pamela Colloff, “The Fire That Time,” Texas Monthly, April 2008.
Four years before: Oral Memoirs of Donnie Wayne Adair: A Series of Interviews Conducted by Glenn Jonas and Daniel B. McGee, August 20, 1993, Religion and Culture Project, Baylor University Institute for Oral History.
“Johnston? This is George Roden”: Interview with Bill Johnston.
CHAPTER 44: NEBULA
“You, you ready for this?”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #112, pg. 14.
They called up: “The Waco Siege—BPR Interviews: Gary Noesner Part 1—Brown Political Review.”
“It’s moving through our galaxy”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #112, pg. 25.
“Not even close”: “The Waco Siege—BPR Interviews: Gary Noesner Part 1—Brown Political Review.”
Their heart rates: Sara Rimer with Sam Howe Verhovek, “Growing Up Under Koresh: Cult Children Tell of Abuses,” New York Times, May 4, 1993.
They had their first taste: Susan Aschoff, “After the ‘war’ at Waco,” Tampa Bay Tribune, February 28, 2000.
“A permeating and pervasive fear”: Sara Rimer and Sam Howe Verhovek, “Fear Ruled Lives of Cult Children,” Baltimore Sun, May 4, 1993.
Some of the kids: Pamela Colloff, “The Fire That Time,” Texas Monthly, April 2008.
“I’m the new kid”: Paul Anderson, Janet Reno: Doing the Right Thing (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1994), pg. 1.
“There are two documents”: “Waco: The Inside Story,” Frontline, PBS, transcript, October 17, 1995.
“Byron, I liked”: Ibid.
The men went out: Kenneth G. C. Newport, The Branch Davidians of Waco: The History and Beliefs of an Apocalyptic Sect (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), pg. 294.
“Oh really?”: FBI negotiation transcript, tape #193, pg. 16.
