To remember those killed here and to love their survivors

To remember those survivors who are unjustly imprisoned and are the objects of continued persecution, and to act to improve their lot.

To renew our determination that our government must obey the constitution.

We have come here to remember the innocent persons who died here. There is little we can say or do that will make their surviving family members feel better-- yet, surely, this must be our first purpose. Let's do our best to show God's love for them.

At the end of the Book of Ecclesiastes, which was the wisdom of Solomon, it says, "To fear God, and keep His commandments; This is the whole duty of man". Those we have come to honor and remember today feared God; and there is no question but that they wished to keep His commandments. They gave up their possessions and lost their lives in their quest to fulfill the whole duty of man. They did not want their children to be molded by school systems run by the survivors of Sodom and Gomorra. Their purpose was to follow the Biblical injunction to "come out from among them and be separate." They did not seek to impose their beliefs on the rest of society, yet our president continues to impose his fictionional beliefs on us -- that they committed suicide - (among many other fictions).

Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul and all your strength". He said, "That is the First Commandment". (Those who died here seemed to understood that well - perhaps better than many of us do.) Then Jesus said, "And the second Commandment is not much different: Love your neighbor as yourself". The Lord Jesus Christ said that there was not much of a difference between loving God, The Father, Creator of all mankind, and loving our neighbors. I hope that this is the first reason why we are all here, to love our neighbors who have lost loved ones.

We, the people, are responsible for our government. Because of that we share its guilt. We are shamed and saddened by what happened here, but our coming here today is not to tell our government that we are ready to revolt. Our forefathers' Declaration of Independence pronounced to King George, the legitimate reasons for the American Revolution. and that message is still clear and pungent and potent.

We have a common bond with those who died here, and with those who remain. "

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that we were all endowed by our Creator, (Who, the Bible tells us, created man in His own image) with certain inalienable rights; that among those rights, God-given human rights, are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. As these innocent men and women are now in eternity, committed to the God who created them, let us give meaning to their deaths by pledging our own lives and sacred honor; let us honor their sacrifice with our own vow that such an injustice shall never again be imposed by our disobedient servant, the government, on any person while we have the breath to stop it.

Let this pledge be our tribute to the dead we honor and the friends we would console.

And now, secondly, let us do what is left for us to do. Let us honor those who even now suffer persecution for righteousness sake. The prisoners whose lives have been taken from them and from their families.

Let me call the roll of those still in prison:

Renos Avraam
Brad Branch
Jaime Castillo
Graeme Craddock
Livingston Fagan
Paul Fatta
Kevin Whitecliff

On August 4, last year in the federal court house in Waco, Texas, Judge Walter S. Smith, Jr., who was also the judge at the San Antonio Trial, proved himself to be a master of the whitewash and Prosecutor William Johnston continued his crusade against the Branch Davidians prisoners.

U.S. Marshals swarmed all over the federal building and the courtroom during this hearing. A number of attorneys and government agents were there as spectators. (Attending were Whitewater prosecutors Ray Jahn and his wife LeRoy. This couple together with William Johnston were lead prosecutors during the l994 trial in San Antonio. The Justice department guests were in the courtroom by 8:30a.m. but the few Branch Davidian survivors and supporters who were able to attend were not admitted until about 8:50a.m. The courtroom was probably about half full with 40 spectators when all were in.

The prisoners Renos Avraam, Brad Branch, Jaime Castillo, Graeme Craddock and Kevin Whitecliff, were shackled with one wrist chained to their waists and were bound with leg irons. (Livingston Fagan was not present because he had declined to join in the appeal and I'm not sure why Paul Fatta was not included) They were attired in khaki colored pajama bottoms and T-shirts. All of them appeared to have aged more than the three years which had passed since I had last seen them. Kevin Whitcliff had written that he was growing fat and flabby from his work with food in the kitchen, but on that day he looked reasonably trim and healthy.

The Branch Davidian appeals team was made up mostly of the attorneys who had represented them since before the San Antonio trial back in 1994. One new lawyer, Steve Holbrook from South Carolina, represented Brad Branch.

The hearing commenced promptly at 9:00 a.m. with a short statement by William Johnston. He alleged that the defendants all used enhanced weapons of some sort and that the sentences originally imposed should be upheld.

Each of the defense attorneys rose in turn and asked that his client's sentence be reduced to five years. Their primary arguments in each case was that no evidence had been introduced that proved that their particular man had been involved in the crime of which they were convicted with any enhanced weapon or explosive device. Furthermore, COUNT THREE of the indictment and instructions to the jury did not have an instruction which required a finding of conspiracy, hence, the jury did not find any conspiracy. Only COUNT ONE, the murder count of the jury instructions allowed for a finding of conspiracy and since no conspiracy was found there and the defendants were not found guilty of that count there was consequently no conspiracy found by the jury.

The judge, however, found that by a preponderance of the evidence there had been a conspiracy despite the findings of the jury and he re-sentenced each of the prisoners to the very same sentence which he had originally given them.

The allocution portion of this sentencing hearing provided each prisoner an opportunity to speak for himself before his sentence was pronounced. This did provide some fireworks and food for thought. Brad Branch, Kevin Whitecliff, and Jaime Castillo chose not to attempt any allocution. Graeme Craddock seemed by far the most peaceful man that has ever been locked up. He made a real effort to clear up some flaws in the record. He was particularly disturbed by the official record which indicated that he had thrown the telephone out the front door of Mt. Carmel during the final assault by the FBI on April 19, 1993. Even in the trial Craddock was proven to be the most passive of the Branch Davidian defenders and his job on the day of the final assault was simply to try to establish communications with Special Agent Byron Sage, the FBI negotiator who kept calling on him to come out and hook up the line, a command which he couldn't comply with because the huge tank that was tearing the building down had torn that line up.

When Craddock finished it was Renos Avraam's turn for allocution. Renos was not intimidated by the judge. He spoke for about 15 minutes repeatedly accused Judge Smith of acting on his personal feelings and ignoring the law. He said, "This nation is supposed to run under laws, not personal feelings. When you ignore the law you sow the seeds of terrorism."

"Why wasn't the law applied? Because you didn't want to apply it. You are busy protecting this government by tiptoeing around the law. You apply it only when it works for you and you ignore it when it works for us."

His soliloquy was finally stopped by his attorney, but he had clearly made the judge uneasy as he kept turning a ball point pen around in his right hand.

Prosecutor William Johnston arose and was outraged at the very idea that Avraam had suggested that terrorism might be caused by the government's injustice.

After a couple of hours the court was recessed. The judge reaffirmed his original sentence -- nothing has changed. It appears that the instructions of the appeals court were simply ignored

NOW
I would like for you to examine for a moment the pack of lies that has been fed to the people of this nation. How many of you were here on April 19, 1995, the day of the tragic bombing in Oklahoma City?

On April 22,1995, the Sunday following the tragic bombing in Oklahoma City, Lesley Stahl questioned President Bill Clinton on CBS's "60 Minutes." The following exchange took place.

STAHL: "Mr. President, what I kept hearing from the militiamen there -- and I gather this is true among all these so-called patriots -- is the Waco incident. It seems to be their battle cry --it's their cause. They say that the feds went into a religious compound to take peoples' guns away; they say no federal official was ever punished -- no one was ever brought to trial. I'm just wondering if you have any second thoughts about the way that raid was carried out."

CLINTON: "Let me remind you what happened at Waco -- and before that raid was carried out. Before that raid was carried out those people murdered a bunch of innocent law enforcement officials who work for the federal government. Before there was any raid there were dead federal law enforcement officials on the ground, and when that raid occurred it was the people who ran their cult compound at Waco who murdered their own children -- not the federal officials. They made the decision to destroy all those children that were there, and I think that to make those people heroes after what they did, killing our innocent federal officials and then killing their own children is evidence of what is wrong.
"People should not be able to violate the law and then say that if federal law enforcement officials come on my land to arrest me for violating the law, or because I'm suspected of a crime I have a right to kill them and then turn around and kill the people who live there. I cannot believe that any serious patriotic American believes that the conduct of these people at Waco justifies the kind of outrageous behavior we've seen here at Oklahoma City, or the kind of inflammatory rhetoric that we're hearing all across this country today. It's wrong."

On the next Sunday, April 30, 1995, one week after the President's lies, Attorney General Janet Reno was Tim Russert's guest on NBC's "Meet the Press." She repeated the same old FBI lies and deceptions, as follows:

RUSSERT: "Let me talk about some of the rhetoric that has been used over the last couple of months about your agency. The head of the NRA, (Wayne LaPierre) who will be our guest later in the program, has said the following:

"'You can see it when jack-booted government thugs wearing black, -- armed to the teeth, break down the door, open fire with an automatic weapon and kill or maim law-abiding citizens. In Clinton's administration if you have a badge you have the government's     go-ahead to harass, intimidate, even murder, law-abiding citizens. What is your reaction?"

RENO: "I think the best reaction is to say give us the specifics; let us look at it, because what we want to do is make sure that law enforcement holds people accountable when they commit a crime -- when they have engaged in violent acts. But we want to do so according to the Constitution -- according to principles of due process, without rhetoric. I think the most damaging thing we can do in the country is to talk in generalities or in picturesque terms. I think it is important that we talk based on the evidence and the law and that we enforce the law the right way, firmly, fairly, holding people accountable."

ROBERT NOVAK (Chicago Sun Times): "Madam Attorney General, the bombing in Oklahoma City came on the second anniversary of the burning of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas. Timothy McVeigh, the suspect, was apparently enraged by Waco -- visited Waco. In the aftermath of the bombing it turns out there are a lot of people in this country who are still simmering over -- burning over -- the attack on Waco. Do you think now, inn the interest of a national reconciliation it is time for you, for the first time, to admit that you made a mistake in ordering the federal assault at Waco?"

RENO: "First of all, I think to link Waco with what happened in Oklahoma City is wrong because there is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for what happened in Oklahoma City.

Let us address Waco separately. In any situation where the lives of officers who are executing a lawful warrant were taken -- four officers, four agents were killed, sixteen were wounded in a 45 minute gun battle. That's when I came in. We didn't attack. We tried to exercise every restraint possible to avoid the violence. We tried -- based on what we knew at the time -- to negotiate -- to work through-- to try to understand what we could do to resolve that situation short of violence. When the decision was made that something had to be done because it was going to go on and it could not be peacefully resolved. We tried to do everything we could -- not one FBI shot was fired."
       "In the end independent people came in -- independent fire experts came in and concluded that that fire was not set by the government. It was set by David Koresh and his followers."

'The important thing, Mr. Novak, is that we hold people accountable for their violence."

"But law enforcement work with everybody concerned to do everything they can to bring people who are violent to account, but that we do so, trying to learn from every experience we can, how we can do so without violence to those who are not responsible."

NOVAK: "But since there are other people, Madam Attorney General, who disagree with that interpretation of what happened at Waco, would you welcome a Congressional investigation by the House, the Senate, or both, to finally answer the unanswered questions about Waco?"

RENO: "What we have said from the beginning and as you know I have testified and I have said that we welcome every effort imaginable to figure out how we hold people accountable for their violent acts. You cannot walk away from the death of four agents and sixteen people wounded and say, "Too bad, we're not going to go after them.' We've got to do it in a fair and thoughtful way and I would welcome, as I have, every effort to understand how we can hold people accountable while minimizing the violence."

NOVAK: "Let me ask you one unanswered question, and that is -- that you have never answered -- and that is; for your decision that led to the death of eighty-one people at Waco, who told you that there was sexual molestation going on there which you now say was incorrect information? A lot of people want to know. Where did you get that information?"

RENO: "Sir, one of the problems is.... What I will do -- I do not have the Waco files with me, but we will get that information to you to show you the evidence of sexual molestation that was available to us -- and it is important that we review Waco -- that particularly all of you in the media as we review Waco, review it carefully, based on the evidence, based on the record, so that we do not contribute to the misinformation that so obscures the issues that we've got to confront in this nation."

And what has happened? Our Congressmen have believed the Lies

When the House held 10 days of hearings on Waco in the Summer of 1995, some of the congressmen seemed understand the problem, but one of the co-chairmen of the committee was predisposed to believe those who were protecting their jobs and their agencies. The Senate followed in the Fall with a token six hour hearing by Senator Hatch's Judiciary Committee.

Both of these hearings revealed that government employees have lied to us. Even though the lies seemed to satisfy most congressmen, they failed to appease those of who know the story better. This festering unrest will only be resolved by justice.

The following letter from Congressman Bill McCollum, Co-chairman of the House Joint subcommittee investigating Waco, indicates how well the liars sold their snow job to the Congress.
 

October 2, 1995

Dear (Constituent, name withheld)

Thank you for contacting my office regarding the recently held Waco hearings.

The hearings were held jointly by the Subcommittee on Crime and the Subcommittee on National Security, International Affairs, and Criminal Justice, the two subcommittees that have jurisdiction and oversight over federal law enforcement agencies involved in the events at Waco.

A primary purpose of the hearings was to simply let the American people learn the full details of Waco -- the who, what, where, when and why of how more than 90 Americans died. Another was to examine the mistakes made at Waco and learn from them.

ATF agents conducting the initial raid acted with courage and honest convictions that what they were doing was right. We may never know with certainty who shot first. Theories concerning ATF agents shooting Branch Davidian dogs or accidentally discharging their weapons are plausible. But all ATF agents at the scene, in interviews with the Texas Rangers, stated that the first shots came from inside the Davidian compound.

None of this, of course, excuses the incredible mistakes made by the ATF raid planners, the raid commanders and those overseeing them in Washington at ATF and the Treasury Department.

The raid plan was flawed in concept. David Koresh should have been arrested away from the Davidian compound, allowing a less confrontational search to proceed at the compound. A critical fact revealed for the first time during these hearings is that at least 10 days to two weeks prior to the Feb.28 raid, ATF abandoned the idea of capturing Koresh outside the compound. ATF officials decided to make a "dynamic entry" to search the premises with Koresh present. This decision was based on flawed intelligence and demonstrated the ATF's lack of appreciation of the beliefs of the Davidians and Koresh's hold on them.

The undercover operation was amateurish. Intelligence was poor. ATF never know enough about what was going on inside the compound to make many of the crucial judgment calls which were made. As an example, an assumption from those at the top was that if the element of surprise was lost, the raid would not go forward. But, there was no written plan containing this provision nor any explicit instruction to the raid commanders from Treasury officials or ATF Director Steve Higgins or Deputy Director Dan Hartnett.

And, one cannot understate the tragic mistake of officers Chuck Sarabyn and Philip Chojnacki in disregarding the frantic warning by undercover agent Robert Rodriguez the morning of the raid that the Davldians knew the ATF was on its way. Despite their denials during the hearings, the evidence clearly points to their understanding of Rodriguez' warning.

Finally, the failure of Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd Bentsen and his Deputy Secretary Roger Altman to meet with ATF Director Higgins during the 30 days or so they had been in office preceding this raid cannot go unmentioned. One cannot help but believe that a more thorough review by Treasury officials superior to the ATF would have prevented some of the tragic mistakes that led up to this raid.

The detailed investigation and Treasury report were reasonably good, but not as perfect as the Under-secretary of The Treasury for Law Enforcement, Ron Noble, wanted us to believe. Clearly Noble and some others at Treasury tried to distance Treasury officials and the new administration from the decision-making process and any blame.

Now we come to the conduct of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the 51-day siege and the CS gas assault. Institutional pride appears to have prevented the FBI from using local law enforcement to assist in the negotiations or in the tactical response.

Also, the FBI negotiators did not recognize the benefit of using religious experts in working with Koresh. In addition, they did not give any credence to the efforts of Koresh's attorney in the final days to draw Koresh out by appealing to his desire to be the messenger of God rather than a martyr. They believed negotiations had reached an impasse and Koresh would never come out. They came up with all kinds of reasons why it was dangerous to wait any longer and pressed the Attorney General relentlessly to approve a CS gas assault.

As for the Attorney General's involvement, there is doubt whether she acted as

a reasonably prudent man or woman would have under the circumstances. Had she personally involved herself with the negotiations rather than accepting the characterization given her by the Justice Department and FBI officials, we may have seen different results. Had she fully appreciated the religious tenets of the Davidians and their total subservience to Koresh, surely she would have concluded it highly unlikely they would respond to the CS gas assault by simply bringing the children out.

In my judgement, under the circumstances the prudent thing would have been for the Attorney General to have delayed the carrying out of the plan, at least long enough to have personally talked with all the key players at Waco involved in the negotiations and the standoff. She did not do this.

The FBI and the Attorney General said the CS gas plan was designed to get the women in the compound to bring the children out unharmed. The plan called for the gradual insertion of the gas, room by room, over 48 hours. But, if the vehicles were fired upon it called for the gas insertion to be accelerated and the compound torn down. All those involved admitted that they expected the vehicles to be fired upon by the Davidians, so, they must have understood that the slow insertion/save-the-children plan would not happen. Of course, it did not; the vehicles were fired upon and the gas insertion was accelerated rapidly. Furthermore, the deputy director of the FBI who had overall control testified that he always thought if there was accelerated gas insertion the women and children would not come out. Consequently, one can only conclude that the FBI and the Attorney General never really believed anyone would come out. They were just determined to have a confrontation and end the siege, whatever the consequences for those inside.

No testimony convinced me that there was any necessity to end the siege at the time of the CS gas assault. We will never know if the FBI and the Attorney General had not lost patience whether the stand-off could have ended peacefully.

         ---

For the most part, their agents performed in their usual competent manner. Further, I am convinced that there was not an FBI conspiracy or plot. The evidence clearly showed the fire was started inside the compound by some of the Davidians. The mistakes which were made by the FBI can be attributable to the failures of human nature which one might expect under the extreme stress of these circumstances.

A final written report of the subcommittee willnbe issued by year's end. In addition, the Crime Subcommittee which I chair will begin hearings on the reauthorization of much of Federal law enforcement including the FBI and the ATF this fall. Knowledge learned from these hearings will be invaluable in these considerations.

Thank you again for contacting me. I look forward to hearing from you on other matters of interest or concern.

Sincerely,

Bill McCollum

Member of Congress, 8th District, Florida

Chairman, Subcommitee On Crime and Criminal Justice.

1. Were federal officers killed by Branch Davidians before the attack?

President Clinton claims that the Branch Davidians had murdered federal agents before the raid took place. Four ATF agents were killed during the February 28, 1993, raid. They were Conway LeBleu, Todd McKeehan, Robert Williams, and Steven Willis. According to every account they were killed during their assault on the Branch Davidians in Mt. Carmel. No agents had been killed by the Branch Davidians prior to that time. Neither the Treasury Depart-ment's 521 page investigation report nor the equally thick report of the Department of Justice has documented any other attacks on federal agents. The trial transcript does not mention any such killing.

2. Was the ATF attack timed to catch the men out of the "compound", away from their guns, as the ATF claimed?

It is much easier to take good pictures in daylight. Most raids on dangerous criminals are conducted at late night or early morning under the cover of darkness and sleepiness. The unanimous speculation is that there would be better light for the video cameras at mid-morning. At the House Waco Hearing in July, 1995, ATF agent Sharon Wheeler, who was assigned to public relations for the raid, testified that there was no "leak" to the media. She admitted , however, that she had established contact with Dallas TV stations to make sure that she could find a media contact the following day when the raid came down. Video cameras were in position, both those of the ATF, whose pictures have never been released, and those of a commercial TV station

3. Were ATF agents simply trying to serve an arrest warrant on David Koresh and a search warrant for Mt. Carmel?

Government spokesmen have asserted again and again that the raid was to serve two warrants, an arrest warrant against David Koresh, and a search warrant which would allow them to examine the Mt. Carmel arms locker. Yet, under oath, none of the agents who were rushing the front door of Mt. Carmel had a warrant in his possession -- indeed none of them had ever seen the waarrants that they were supposed to be serving. ATF Special Agent, Chuck Sarabyn, one of the leaders of the raid, testified before the House joint sub-committees investigating Waco, that he had been in possession of a warrant for David Koresh. None of the agents who were assigned to rush the front door had seen any such warrant, much less did any of them have it with them to serve it.

No original arrest warrant was ever produced. Sarabyn testified that it probably was lost in the chaos. He testified that he thinks he left it on the seat of the truck that he was driving. The "duplicate" warrant, presented as evidence and widely circulated, was produced in the days following the raid. It was a "Knock and Announce" warrant.

ATF Special Agent Kenny King, was seriously wounded in the raid when he led a team onto the roof to break in, throw concussion grenades and enter to shoot anyone in sight with a weapon. King testified at the trial that his assault team would have performed exactly the same even if David Koresh had come to the front door with his hands in the air, and invited the agents inside before any shots were fired there.

There was no warrant at any time for the arrest of any of the other 127 persons in Mt. Carmel. Why, then, does the sworn testimony from the San Antonio trial show that the agents were carrying with them 150 sets of plastic handcuffs?

4. Who fired the first shot?

This question was asked repeatedly at the San Antonio trial and no consistent answer was provided. Although some of the ATF agents said that they thought the came from the building, others said the sound seemed to come from the area where the dogs were kept; that they assumed the shots might have been to kill the dogs. All of the Branch Davidians have asserted without hesitation that the first shots came from the ATF raiders.

The transcript of the 911 call made by Wayne Martin twice makes at least two references to the effect that agents fired first, and even though Judge Smith deleted those statements from the jury's transcript in the San Antonio trial their findings indicated that the returned fire from the Branch Davidians was in self defense.

Attorney Jack Zimmerman, who visited the Mt. Carmel complex twice during the siege, testified that the front door, which was conveniently missing from the tons of evidence brought to the trial, was riddled with bullet holes and that most of them appeared to be from incoming rounds. We could decide this matter based on our confidence in the credibility of these two divergent voices. But it may be more fruitful to discard all the testimony of any of those actually involved which might be biased and self serving. Let's look to other indicators to try to make a judgement.

Testimony of the ATF agents and others confirmed that David Koresh came to the front door as they were rushing the house. Koresh, unarmed, steps out, holds up his hand and says words like these, "Stop. Let's talk, There are women and children in here."

Now, think this situation through carefully. Eighty men in black ninja outfits, armed to the teeth, have been primed for weeks to get ready for this important and dangerous mission. They have been told that Koresh knows they are coming, so there could be an ambush. Military helicopters are thump-thumping overhead as the attackers jump out of their camouflaged cattle trailers and rush toward the house. Then David Koresh, unarmed steps out so as to be visible to the advancing hoard and asks them to stop their military-style assault when a shot rings out. Koresh is hit and ducks back inside the building and an exchange of gunfire erupts. Here is a house full of people who would follow their leader to the death. He has instructed them to be calm and not to "do anything foolish."

Ask yourself now, "What person might be most likely to have pulled the trigger for that first shot?"5. Did the military helicopters fire at Mt. Carmel?

The ATF scoffed at accusations that its agents in the borrowed military helicopters had fired into the building. In fact, press releases at first claimed that there were no agents in the "choppers." Unfortunately for the federal agents, the evidence shows they were lying.

The testimony of attorney Jack Zimmerman at the San Antonio trial was that the holes in the roof of Mt. Carmel were caused by incoming rounds. Dick DeGuerin, who was the other attorney who went into Mt. Cannel during the siege, confirmed and supported Zimmerman's testimony when the two of them testified in Washington before the House Waco Subcommittees in July, 1995.

Marjorie Thomas, who was in Mt. Carmel when the raiders came, testified in the San Antonio trial by means of a videotaped deposition. In this videotape she described the raid as she experienced it. She said that she was in her room, in the third story dormitory loft at the north end of the building and that the first indication that she had of an attack was when she looked out the window and saw a helicopter approaching from the north, with its door open and a man sitting in the door. Then she said a shot came through her window -- the first shot of any kind that she hearrd.

During the House Waco hearings ATF Special Agent Davy Aguilera testified that he was in one of the helicopters that day, and that he was armed. Previous testimony had indicated that no one in any of the helicopters was armed.

6. Was military equipment used against civilians because Koresh operated a drug lab?

More deceit and fraud. There was no drug lab and the ATF knew it. They also knew that the only way to get free military equipment and train_ing was to certify that there was a drug connection.

Three military helicopters were used in the initial ATF raid against Mt. Carmel. Additionally, the ATF raiding parry received military training at Ft. Hood, Texas. Using the Urban Warfare Training Area, active duty soldiers from the U.S. Army Special Forces provided instruction in the coordinated assault of a building. Later, when the FBI wanted tanks, some nineteen armored tracked vehicles were loaned to them by Governor Ann Richards from the resources of the Texas National Guard. Aerial photography was provided by the Alabama Air National Guard which dispatched an F-4 photo reconnaissance aircraft.

Perhaps this use for idle military forces has come to seem like a reasonable use of our military power, but it would have frightened and angered George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, William Penn and the other founding fathers. These men feared the very existence of a standing army because in peacetime it might be used against the nation's own citizens and lend power to the central government, power which was rightly reserved to the people and to the states under Article X of the Bill of Rights.

'The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people."

Use of the military violates the intent of the Posse Comitatus Act, U.S. Code Title 18, Section 1385, which reads as follows:

"Whoever, except in cases and under circumstances expressly authorized by the Constitution or Act of Congress, willfully uses any part of the Army or Air Force as a posse Comitatus or otherwise to execute the laws shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned for two years, or both."

This is for good reason. It should seem immoral on its face to bring the overpowering force of battle tanks against frail citizens. This lapse has insidiously crept in because the Congress has allowed an exception to the rule. They decided that the threat to our nation from illegal narcotics was sufficient to permit our armed forces to join in the "War On Drugs". This was the subterfuge by which the ATF secured the training and helicopter support from Ft. Hood. The government police agencies knew perfectly well that the excuse they offered to get the Army's help was not valid, but they lied.

Far more important than this bit of criminal fraud is the very idea that tanks and grenades are acceptable police weapons against civilians. Now even more military might is available to the ATF as they have acquired 28 OV-10 tactical airplanes designed to carry such weapons as bombs, air-to-ground rockets, and high performance Gatling-style machine guns. The Congress has taken no action to stem the tide of the growing national Gestapo.

7. Was Michael Schroeder killed in a gun battle with ATF snipers or was he simply murdered?

Although the first press releases said that Michael Schroeder was killed in a gun battle on February 28th as he tried to escape from Mt. Carmel, this was proven to be another federal lie. On the evening of the ATF raid Michael Schroeder and two other men attempted to enter their Mt. Carmel home. They had been worklng at the shop about six miles away when they heard about the attack on the radio. Schroeder was eager to go home to check on his wife and children. As the three approached the property one of the men was captured. Another, following behind, heard the gunfire and retreated. It has not been determined that Schroeder fired a weapon at anyone, but what is known is that a party of Ghilly-suited ATF snipers met him as he was trying to stip in the back way. His body was left lying in the field and the FBI refused to allow Texas Rangers to go pick it up or investigate the site for several days. His body was finally recovered and an autopsy found six bullet wounds, any one of five of them would have been a serious knockdown injury. The two head wounds were less than two inches apart striking him near the ear.

These head wounds might have been passed off as the chance result of a dusk skirmish between federal police and a desperate criminal except for a bit of tell-tale evidence which the ATF agents failed to destroy. A picture of Schroeder's dead body was taken by a federal agent before it was picked up and taken to the morgue several days later. In that picture he was wearing a navy blue watch cap (the February weather was cold and windy). It is both standard procedure and a scientific requirement that all items of clothing and other personal property accompany a corpse for medical examination. This is because the clothing is vital evidence. For example, by the powder traces on the clothing, it is determined whether a gunshot wound was inflicted at close range or from a distance. If a bullet from close range penetrated the watch cap but no watch cap was examined by the medical examiner for evidence of gunpowder to indicate a close-up shot, then the conclusion would be that the shot came from afar, as in a sniper exchange. In the case of Michael Schroeder the watch cap was removed and did not accompany the corpse. Therefore, the medical examiner assumed that the two bullets through the head came from a distant rifleman rather than from an executioner standing over a seriously wounded man who needed immediate medical attention.

You know the old saying, "dead men tell no tales."

8. Is CS gas a non-lethal riot control agent which can be safely used inside buildings where children are present?

What do we know about CS Gas? We know that its use is supposed to be restricted to riot control. We know that it is lethal with prolonged exposure. We know that it is instantly incapacitating. We know that upon exposure the eyes close involuntarily within two seconds and the subject become disoriented and falls to the ground. We know that the police manuals dictate that it be used only in open areas. The manufacturer' instruction is said to carry the warning,

"Use of this product may cause death or serious bodily harm in situations of prolonged exposure."

It was widely known that the CS gas had caused a number of deaths in Israel where the police had routinely used it in raids against terrorist strongholds. Some forty cases of wrongful death have been charged against the government of Israel and the American manufacturer due to these deaths attributed to the use of CS gas.

If the FBI had gone to the public library they would have found ample information:

TEAR GAS Alphachloroacetenone (C6H5COCHCl) is widely used in riot control, known to the U.S. Army by its code name CN ... Another tear gas developed by the U.S. Army, orthochlorobenzalmalonitrile, with the code name CS, produces almost immediate incapacitation upon inhalation. More rapidly acting than CN, it causes severe burning of the upper respiratory passages, pain, and involuntary inability to open the eyes.

Army Field Manual 19-15

Here's another one:

Crowd control agent dispensers are not designed for the direct introduction of a crowd control agent into barricaded buildings. Care must also be exercised in their use in confined areas and against target areas with restricted avenues of escape. . .

...Do not use around hospitals or other places where innocent persons may be affected... Do not use where fires may start or asphyxiation may occur.

NOTE: DO NOT FIRE A DISPENSER INDOORS WHEN USING DRY RIOT CONTROL AGENTS (CS GAS). OPEN FLAME OR A SPARK CAN CAUSE A DUST EXPLOSION."

Manual for Civil Disturbance Operations
ARMY INSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

What did Janet Reno know about CS gas? Based on her testimony before the Joint House Subcommittees investigating Waco, she believed that it was the best possible way for her "to save the children's lives." She relied exclusively on the advice of Dr. Harry Salem, the only person she consulted, if we are to believe her testimony.

9. Was the FBI still trying to negotiate with the Davidians on the day of the fire?

'This is not an assault! We will not enter the building. This is FBI Special Agent Byron Sage speaking. I want to help you negotiate a surrender. Let's talk about this, David. The tanks are not attacking your building. Put down your weapons and come out with your hands above your heads."

There had been almost continuous telephone discussions between FBI negotiators and the Branch Davidians until the day of the final assault. But when the tanks began circling the building to insert gas on that Monday morning, April 19th, they broke the phone line that was the only communications link that the trapped Branch Davidians had with the outside world -- the outside world being the FBI.

After that link was broken Byron Sage's bull horn calls about the tanks not attacking the building and his pleadings to establish a dialog were only eyewash. The Branch Davidians tiring of these pleadings threw out the telephone, which was not functioning anyway. Later Graeme Craddock went out the front door and attempted to show that they had no telephone by holding up the broken wire. But the FBI went on with its assault and made no effort to re-establish two-way communications.

10. Who started the fire? And just how independent were those "independent" arson investigators?

The story that the government has feverishly tried to establish since the very moment of the fire was that it was set by David Koresh and "his henchmen." This was announced from the White House on April l9th, the day of the fire. It was asserted before any investigation could be made into the fire's cause. After all, how could they allow the public to believe otherwise?

The unfiltered truth of the matter is this. The fire's origin was never examined by any independent investigator. The FBI appointed a biased, government-controlled former ATF agent, Paul Gray, as the chief arson investigator. Three additional investigators were also on the official fire investigation team. They were given minor tasks at the fire site and were then presented with Paul Gray's report and were asked to sign of on it without any knowledge of what he had investigated.

That report, written by Gray and published in the Justice Department's report, contained serious factual errors and contradictions. It described the CS gas that was used as CN Gas, a very different weapon. It reported in another place, "The spread of any fire is naturally affected by the wind. This fire was certainly intensified by a very strong wind from the general direction of the south" Then, in the FBI's portion it reported, "The strong winds did not significantly affect the fire growth rates inside the compound." Which of these statements do they really want us to believe. William Cass, the only member of the fire investigation team who testified at the trial, admitted under cross-examination that he had no part in determining the origin of the fire.

Special Agent John Morrison, a sniper with the Hostage Rescue Team, testified under oath at the trial what he saw through his telescope from his sniper position across the road after the tank had knocked down the building's front door. He said he saw through the doorway of Mt. Carmel a person inside making motions with his hands that could very well have been the starting of the fire. This testimony was presented by the prosecutors as evidence, but the defense attorneys in cross-examination showed pictures which confirmed that the fire first appeared at another location 75 feet away several minutes after what Morrison claimed to have seen through the doorway.

Based on the videotape taken by the FLIR (Forward Looking InfraRed) cameral in the aircraft overhead, the fire first appeared in the second floor of the south three-story tower. This is the area that had been attacked just seconds before by a tank which had crushed windows and walls to insert CS gas.

We don't know how the fire started because no eyewitness has survived to tell us, and the evidence was bulldozed as rapidly as it cooled. What we do know is that the government fixed the investigation so that it achieved their desired outcome. Amazing how Clinton announced the cause before anyone else knew, in much the same manner that he announced that his old buddy, poor Vince Foster, had "committed suicide." Is that man clairvoyant, omniscient, or what?

Not only was a negotiated surrender impossible, it was also unthinkable for the Branch Davidians. The FBI agents had managed to fulfill just about every biblical prophecy that Koresh had told the Branch Davidians to expect. While the FBI made public accusations about Koresh's broken promises, they themselves had broken every bit as many of their own promises, and, indeed had fired flash grenades whenever any of the tightly encircled victims ventured outside the Mt. Carmel building without prior coordination.

The much ballyhooed promise to come out the third day if his one hour audio tape was played was violated by the FBI. They had promised him nationwide radio coverage. It was played on two small local stations. FBI negotiators had assured them that the children would be united with their parents when they came out, but instead they would immediately separate the children from the parents and feed them candy (prohibited by the Davidians) and put them under a social worker who provided little discipline. Inside Mt. Carmel they watched the local TV news as harmless elderly women came out and were handcuffed and led away to jail before the cameras -- broken promise after broken promise; deception after deception. Now the loud speaker was urging them to come out.

'This is not an assault," said Byron Sage as the 54-ton tank first collapsed the escape trapdoor, knocked down the front door, and then drove its entire length into the building. The speaker blared as another tank was destroying and collapsing the entire rear of the building and over three hundred gas ferret rounds were fired into the building. These were mortar rounds containing CS gas fired from armored, tracked Bradley vehicles. The FBI had simply fulfilled prophecy with their deceit and treachery. Why would any intelligent human being go out to be mowed down? As you read on you will see that it was not only psychologically unreasonable for them to come out. You will see that it was physically impossible for the women and children to escape.

11. Why did the children die?

The man who was in charge of the FBI tracked vehicle detachment was Special agent R.J. Craig. He was the driver of one of the two massive 54 ton CEVs (Combat Engineering Vehicles) which had been rigged to insert the deadly CS gas by knocking holes directly into the building. On April 19, 1993 about six o'clock in the morning the gassing began. Craig testified at the trial that his instructions were to drive his tank into the north end of the building and collapse the trap-door which led into the school bus buried there. After crushing that access he said he then inserted the first load of CS gas into that area. The FBI wanted to make sure that none of their hostages would escape from the punishment they had in store. With brutal efficiency the FBI plan removed any escape route. These disobedient Branch Davidians were going to be punished for not bowing before "The Beast".

A diagram of Mt. Carmel would be very useful at this point, but let's re-draw the picture in your mind. You may recall that most of building was two stories tall. At each end was a three-story tower, and at the very center was a four story tower. The history of the whole structure would reveal that the base of that four-story tower was a concrete block structure that had been there for 30 years. The rest of Mt. Carmel was built around it starting in 1987 with used lumber, plywood and sheetrock.

That concrete block structure in the very center was like the Rock of Gibraltar in a stormy sea. It was next to the kitchen and it was used as a food locker and cold storage area because it was so well insulated. Naturally, this was where the children and their mothers were sent to ride out the storm. That locker had no outside exit. It had only one door, which opened into the center of the building. Are you beginning to get the picture?

The fragile structure was under attack from every side. Lethal CS gas was inserted from the two invading tanks and three or four circling Bradleys. The only place of safety was the cold storage locker. Any attempt to leave from there would be met with a cloud of disabling CS gas. When the fire started, smoke and heat were added to this only possible escape route. When Byron Sage was asking them to come out as the fire raged it was only for the benefit of the record. They were trapped and death was certain. The nine persons who escaped the fire were all performing duties in the peripheral areas of the building.

Both Jeff Jamar, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's effort in the Waco disaster, and his chief on-site negotiator, Special Agent Byron Sage, testified in Washington at the House Waco Hearings that they had rushed to the underground bus after the fire cooled in hopes of finding that the children had successfully found shelter there.

Such corrupt hypocrisy. These were the men who gave the order to first destroy all access to the underground bus so that no one could get there to safety!

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin, and heal their land."

     II Chronicles 7:14

Our God is ready to do His part. The question is: Are we ready to humble ourselves and pray and seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways?

His word says in Jeremiah "and ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart"

But as much as some of you churchgoers would like it. What I'm talking about is not walking down the isle and shaking hands with the preacher and then getting dunked, joining the Christian coalition and then going on with your search for happiness the same way you did before all that happened. I'm talking about taking up your cross and following Jesus. The scenario I see described in the Bible for us may well include suffering persecution for righteousness sake. Maybe you will have to be known as an outcast right-wing radical extremist Christian militia member.

For those of you who are militia patriots and don't want to talk about this religious stuff, the Book says that you are on the losing side. Even if we get this government straightened out and herded back into its constitutional cage -- you still haven't got the message. Remember what I said back at the beginning.

Fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole duty of man."

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