April 17, 1994: Dr. James Wood, Baylor University

Ron Engelman: We still have a lot of speakers and, uh, some very distinguished gentlemen, in, uh, not only in the Waco area, but also nationally, that, uh, will be speaking this afternoon. And, uh, we have a gentleman here right now that just cannot be around very much longer. And I'd like to introduce him right now. This gentleman is a Ph.D, he's a professor at Baylor University. He's the director of the JM Dalton Institute. And, uh, he is going to discuss, the religious implications, of the ATF raid. And I think that's something that we all want to know about- please welcome, professor James Wood, from Baylor. [applause]

I'm really pleased to be a part, of the observance of this day. And indeed, the commemoration, if that is such a word, at least a day of remembrance. Of what happened a year ago. Um- there are others here, and I certainly want to respect, some schedule, to permit them. So if I may just immediately, go and, make the, the kind of statement I feel is particularly appropriate for this occasion.

A year ago, as all of us will remember, for fifty-one days, the drama of the Branch Davidians

than one's American jurisprudence vocabulary of any public official. government investigation of cults. serious Constitutional questions against a religious group unpopular Any confrontation history of acts of violence, military action any scale. Use of force as a last resort. conclude my remarks here. carefully, with nonconventional religions. Never, never again. Thank you. [applause]

Ron Engelman: Now during this, uh, fifty-one day siege, I came down here, to do my show, on, uh, March the 10th. Was gonna do it live from what became known as Satellite City. And while I was in there, a couple of the news media people came up to me and said, uh, the ATF are looking for you. And I said, for what? And he said, uh, they're gonna tell you to leave, and if you don't leave they're going to make us all move back another four or five miles. To where no one will have any view whatsoever, of Mt. Carmel or what's going here, regardless what kind of cameras we have. Rather than, allow the government, to, get the media totally out of their sight, to where they would be able to do any and everything they wanted to do, which they ended up doing anyway, I voluntarily left.

The next day, in the newspaper, a TV newsman, that was down here, was quoted in the newspaper. Uh, would, wouldn't allow himself to be identified. Called me a nut, and said that I was going to get people killed. Well as far as I'm concerned, it was the lapdog media that did that. Because all they did, is sit on their butts here, [applause] twenty-four-and-a-half hours a day, and then for thirty minutes, went down to a press conference, in Waco, at the convention center. The FBI and the ATF would get up there, and make their little speeches, and tell you how- what a damned person David Koresh was, and how idiotic his followers were, what his demands were, that he's saying, "Let's get it on, we want a, you want a, you want us, you come and get us-" that was nothing more than one simple thing, that's called siege mentality. It comes upon some people that are, that are under siege within two days, some people two weeks, some people two months. But eventually what happens, is you, if you're in this siege mentality, you realize you're not going to get out of here alive. So what you want to do is get it over with. So if David did in fact make those statements, that's what it was, it was a siege mentality in which he was saying, come on, you want to kill me, you're going to kill me anyway, why don't you start doing it right now and let's get it over with. But the media, sat down there at, at the Waco press center, at the convention center, every day for thirty minutes, and then they'd ask Bob Ricks and Killorian and, and Royster, and the rest of the, uh, ATF and FBI spokesmen- they'd ask 'em, stupid, inane questions, nobody asked any probing questions, nobody but one person, and that person asked, uh, whether, this, type of action was, uh, an indication of the police state that this country is becoming. He was escorted out of there and never allowed back in. The rest of the media sat there, uh, waiting for their little doggie treats every day. Then came back on television and primped themselves up for their, ah, little thirty-minute, uh, uh, piece that they were going to do on the news that evening. And all they did, is sit there and, verbatim, everything that the government said, all of a sudden became fact. They didn't question anything, it was all fact. Nobody believed that there could be two sides to this story. Nobody believed that the government could be lying. I believed that they could be lying, we've proved that they were lying, and they're going to continue to lie. They're not gonna stop. This is just a precursor of things to come. Somebody says, "Well, who's next?" Well, I don't know who's next, but after the botched job they did here, they'd better do a hell of a lot of practicing, before they decide go up to, Montana, and, uh, get Ma, Guru Ma, Clare Prophet? [applause beginning] Church Universal and Triumphant? [applause] Because, I think, personally, that they are on the list. And I think Clare Prophet knows it. And I think everybody up there knows it. And I don't think, the government at this point, if this is an indication of, how good they are at what they do, uh, they're gonna get- go up there and really get their butts beat... [applause]