-Caveat Lector-
Ex-agent says device fired at Waco compound
Justice Department denies item used
http://dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/0824tsw1teargas.htm
08/24/99
By Lee Hancock / The Dallas Morning News
©1999, The Dallas Morning News
A former senior FBI official has said that the agency fired two pyrotechnic
tear gas grenades on the last day of the 1993 Branch Davidian siege, a day
on which federal authorities have long insisted they used nothing capable of
starting a fire.
The former official, Danny O. Coulson, said in an interview that two devices
known as M651 CS tear gas grenades were fired from FBI grenade launchers
hours before the compound erupted in flames April 19, 1993. He said that
they were used with permission from FBI supervisors but that they played no
role in starting the fire.
The federal government has consistently disputed accusations that the FBI
started the fire that consumed the Branch Davidian compound with David
Koresh and more than 80 followers inside. Government officials have
maintained that the FBI used only nonburning devices to insert tear gas into
the compound on April 19 because of fears that pyrotechnic tear gas might
spark a fire in the flimsy wooden structure.
The statement by Mr. Coulson, founding commander of the FBI's hostage rescue
team and a deputy assistant FBI director at the time of the incident near
Waco, marks the first time that any government official has publicly
contradicted those assertions.
On Monday, a spokesman with the U.S. Justice Department again denied that
any pyrotechnic devices were used.
"We are aware of no evidence to support the notion that any pyrotechnic
devices were used by the federal government on April 19," Justice Department
spokesman Myron Marlin said. "We've said that all along."
Mr. Coulson said the pyrotechnic grenades played no role in starting the
fire.
Even if the devices played no role in the final fire, however, a former
Texas Ranger captain who headed the investigation of the 1993 tragedy said
Mr. Coulson's statement is "mind-boggling."
"The stance has always been that they used no pyrotechnics out there that
day," said David Byrne, who retired from the agency in August 1996. "There
are some serious criminal violations if they did. They have testified. They
have done it before Congress. They've done it in court. They've caused other
people to testify that there were no pyrotechnics used.
"If that turns out not to be right, then somebody will have some serious
problems on a federal level," Capt. Byrne said.
The issue of whether pyrotechnic devices were used by the FBI on April 19 is
a major focus of an ongoing inquiry by the Texas Rangers and a key
allegation in a pending federal wrongful-death lawsuit filed against the
government by surviving Davidians and families of those who died.
The issue was also a factor in a decision by the Texas Department of Public
Safety to persuade a federal judge in Waco to take control of all the
evidence in the case. In response to a DPS motion, U.S. District Judge
Walter Smith issued a sweeping order Aug. 8 requiring the federal government
to turn over all physical evidence, documents, recordings and photographs
related to the Davidian tragedy.
James B. Francis, chairman of the commission that oversees DPS, said Monday
that Mr. Coulson's statement heightens his concern that evidence gathered by
Texas Rangers immediately after the 1993 tragedy contradicts the federal
government's account of what happened.
"It goes a long way toward confirming why I say that some of the evidence
that DPS has or had in its possession is problematical and needs to be
evaluated by independent experts," he said.
"A fair-minded person who looks at this evidence would see that there is a
problem with some of the things that the federal government has said
happened that day," Mr. Francis said.
The Texas Rangers have had custody of key evidence from the Davidian
investigation since 1993, when they were assigned to investigate the Feb.
28, 1993, shootout that began the tragedy.
The standoff
Four federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms died
when a shootout erupted as they tried to search the compound and arrest sect
leader Koresh.
The ensuing 51-day standoff ended when FBI agents used tanks to spray CS
tear gas and launch nonburning CS "Ferret' rounds into the compound to try
to force the sect's surrender. Ever since, Justice Department officials
ranging from Attorney General Janet Reno to the FBI's chief spokesman in
Waco repeatedly insisted to the media, Congress and the courts that all of
the CS tear gas used was nonpyrotechnic.
But Mr. Coulson, then a deputy assistant director of the FBI's criminal
investigative division, said two M651 CS cartridges were fired at an area
known as "the pit," an underground structure that led to tunnels that opened
into the compound.
"There were at least two pyrotechnic devices used that day," said Mr.
Coulson, who helped supervise the government's handling of the siege.
He said members of the FBI's hostage rescue team asked to use the
pyrotechnic devices because the "Ferret" rounds they had been issued did not
adequately penetrate the pit.
He said two devices were fired after the request was approved by FBI
supervisors, including rescue unit Commander Richard Rogers. Mr. Rogers, who
has since retired, could not be reached for comment Monday.
Mr. Coulson said that the devices are military ordnance not commonly used or
kept by the hostage unit.
A military manual produced by the U.S. Army describes the M651 as
"pyrotechnic," with a burning time of 20 to 30 seconds. The manual also
warns that while not explosive, malfunctioning M651 canisters have been
known to explode on impact.
A CBS television camera recorded footage of white smoke billowing from the
pit area between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m., and Mr. Coulson said that smoke
probably came from the two pyrotechnic grenades.
"The fire did not start there. That's a lot of nothing," he said, noting
that the fire erupted shortly after noon. Independent arson investigators
concluded it began simultaneously in three separate places inside the
compound.
Fire plans
FBI bugs picked up voices of Davidians discussing spreading fuel and
planning a fire hours before the compound burned. Arson investigators also
found evidence that five different accelerants, including gasoline, charcoal
lighter fluid and camp stove fuel, had been poured inside the compound.
Arson investigators have said their conclusion that the FBI's tear gas
played no role in the fire was partially based on the agency's assurance
that it used no pyrotechnic devices on April 19.
Mr. Coulson said he had no idea why FBI officials did not acknowledge the
use of the pyrotechnic devices in their statements to Congress and to
investigators who conducted a lengthy Justice Department Review of FBI
actions in Waco.
"The first thing they should've said, if we knew, they should've said we
fired," said Mr. Coulson, who now lives in North Texas. "That's a problem."
The evidence in custody of the Texas Rangers includes one crime-scene
photograph taken just after the compound fire that shows what arms experts
say is a spent M651 CS canister, a projectile that delivers gas. The device
was found in a pool of water outside the compound.
A small-arms and ammunition expert with Jane's Defense Information who
examined a crime-scene photograph of the device for The Dallas Morning News
said its distinctive design - a two-toned, gray-and-gun-metal canister
ringed with a bright red band - is unique to U.S. military pyrotechnic tear
gas grenades.
"The color coding is indicative of a 40 mm CS grenade," said the expert,
Charles Cutshaw.
Evidence questions
Rangers began trying to find the device in their evidence lockers after the
photograph was brought to their attention by an independent researcher long
critical of the government's action's in Waco.
The researcher, Mike McNulty, was allowed to view evidence in DPS custody
last fall and this spring when a U.S. Justice Department official reversed
the agency's long-standing policy barring all public access.
After Mr. McNulty asked to see the device in the crime-scene photograph, the
Rangers could not find it in their evidence lockers. They also learned from
Mr. McNulty that other evidence in their custody had been mislabeled.
Mr. McNulty's questions about evidence unleashed an uproar in the Justice
Department earlier this summer, federal officials have said. Lawyers
defending the government against the Davidian's wrongful-death lawsuit did
not learn he had been allowed to view the evidence until his visits were
mentioned in pleadings by the Davidians' lawyers.
The matter then came to the attention of Mr. Francis, chairman of the DPS
commission, who asked Judge Smith to take control of the evidence to
safeguard it. Mr. Francis also ordered the Rangers' inquiry. Federal
prosecutor Bill Johnston in Waco acknowledged Monday that he is assisting in
the inquiry, but he declined further comment.
"I wouldn't want to comment on the specifics, but I am confident that the
Rangers will get to the bottom of this," he said.
If the Rangers confirm Mr. Coulson's assertion, former Ranger Capt. Byrne
said, it could "open the floodgates" in what is already among the most
troubling failures for U.S. law enforcement.
"Then we're going to say, 'Wait. Did they fire something more? Some other
kind that was consumed by the fire or was not recognized?' I see where this
is going to be an endless thing," he said.
"This affects the credibility of law enforcement. Not only the FBI, but it
puts all law enforcement in question," he said.
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic
screeds are not allowed. Substance—not soapboxing! These are sordid matters
and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright
frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects
spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL
gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers;
be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and
nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
