> APPOINTMENT WITH THE APOCALYPSE > by Steven Hager and Preston Peet > > On April 19, 1993, 74 people died defending a church near Waco, Texas. > Last > summer, the Waco survivors lost a $675 million civil suit. Then the > federal > government decided to punish the one whistleblower who came forward > with > evidence of a Waco cover-up. One thing is clear: the whitewash started > long > before the embers of Waco cooled. What really happened, and will > America ever > learn the truth? > > Morale at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) was > reaching an > all-time low early in 1993. The previous summer, the agency had > botched a > case against Randy Weaver in Idaho by killing Weaver's wife and son. > (Weaver > later collected $3.1 million in restitution.) Then came widespread > accusations of sexual harassment inside the agency. 60 Minutes, the > most-watched news show in the country, jumped all over that one. > > The ATF brass wanted something to turn around the bad publicity, and > they > wanted it fast. In March, they were scheduled to appear before > Congress to > defend their annual budget. The solution? They began planning the > biggest, > most elaborate raid in ATF history. On February 28, a mile-long, > 80-vehicle > caravan pulled out of Fort Hood, Texas and headed 50 miles northeast > for an > appointment with the Apocalypse near Waco. > > "Raiding is the expertise of the ATF, and statistically, it's not as > dangerous as one might think," writes Dick J. Reavis in The Ashes of > Waco. > "In 36 months, the agency had called out its SRT or SWAT teams 578 > times, > executed 603 search warrants, mostly against dope dealers, and had > seized > some 1,500 weapons. It had encountered gunfire on only two of its > raids, and > the only fatalities (three of them) had been among suspects." > > > The ATF videotaped the planning sessions, as well as the training > maneuvers > at Fort Hood. Many agents carried cameras along with their flash-bang > grenades, nylon handcuffs and assault rifles. A video camera was > mounted on > one of the three helicopters that were scheduled to arrive with the > raiding > party. > > Unfortunately, there were serious problems with the raid's planning > and > execution. The search warrant contained inflammatory and prejudicial > comments. Legal citations were incorrect. It did not allow for a > "no-knock" > entry. It contained blatantly false information about a > methamphetamine lab, > info that had been fabricated to obtain free military assistance. > Two-thirds > of the warrant involved charges of child abuse, a crime for which the > ATF had > no jurisdiction. Many consultants had urged the ATF to conduct the > raid > before sunrise, but the designated time had been moved to 9:30 AM. The > plan > involved multiple "dynamic entries," which meant forced entry from > numerous > sides and levels simultaneously--the equivalent of serving several > "no-knocks" at once. > > The planning was shoddy because the ATF needed the raid to happen > fast, and > they expected a cakewalk. The target, a religious community called > Mount > Carmel, had been under observation for over a month. It housed about > 130 > people, of which two-thirds were women and children. The occupants > ranged > from very elderly to babies and included two pregnant women. An > undercover > agent who'd penetrated the community reported endless hours of Bible > study, > with two communion services daily. The last thing the ATF expected was > armed > resistance in the face of their overwhelming firepower. Had they a > better > understanding of the Students of the Seven Seals who lived at Mount > Carmel, > the ATF would have realized they were about to stick their nose into a > > hornet's nest. > > The Search for a Living Prophet > The Romans threw John the Apostle into a pot of boiling oil as > punishment for > spreading Christianity; but he survived and eventually was banished to > the > Greek isle of Patmos, where, around 90 AD, he wrote the Book of > Revelation, a > violent prophesy in which the unbelievers (read: Romans) are subjected > to > horrible tortures while the true followers of Christ are lifted into a > golden > city in heaven. Think of it as the original vengeance drama. Written > before > much of the New Testament, Revelation was placed at the end of the > Bible. > Martin Luther warned excessive study of it could lead to insanity. It > ends > with a plea for the Apocalypse to come quickly. > > In 1831, William Miller launched the Second Advent Awakening, the > biggest > American-born religious movement in history. According to Miller's > calculations, the end of the world was due on Oct. 22, 1844. Miller > attracted > a huge following of doomsday advocates, the survivalists of their > time. When > Jesus and the Apocalypse failed to appear at the appointed hour, the > devotees > had to recover from what they dubbed the "great disappointment." > Miller's > followers eventually blossomed into 84 groups of churches with over 10 > > million members worldwide, the largest of which is the Seventh Day > Adventist > Church, with about 750,000 members in the United States. Adventists > believe > the Second Coming is imminent, and that the power of prophecy will > flourish > in the final days. Despite this, only one person since Miller has > ascended to > official "living prophet" status. > > In 1935, Bulgarian immigrant Victor Houteff declared himself a living > prophet > and was promptly banished from the church. He assembled a large band > of > devotees at Mount Carmel Center in Texas. Upon his death in 1955, his > widow > took over, and announced the Second Coming was due April 22, 1959. But > when > the date came and passed without an Apocalypse, 10,000 members were > left in > disarray. Most stopped sending in contributions, leaving > self-proclaimed > prophet Ben Roden and about 50 "Branch Davidians," as they called > themselves, > in charge of the once- prosperous Mount Carmel. > > Following Roden's death in 1978, his widow, Lois, took over the > church. Lois > not only proclaimed herself a prophetess, she attracted a lot of > attention in > Adventist circles by declaring the Holy Spirit was feminine. > > Vernon Wayne Howell joined the congregation in 1981. Born in Texas to > a > 15-year-old single mother, Howell had been passed between family > members and > physically and sexually abused during childhood. Due to dyslexia, he > was held > back many times in school, earning the nickname "Mr. Retardo." At age > nine, > he became a devout Seventh Day Adventist. By age 12, he'd memorized > large > tracts of the King James Bible. > > When Howell arrived at Mount Carmel, he was a stuttering, insecure boy > given > to fits of self-pity. More than anything, he wanted contact with a > living > prophet. He formed a secret sexual liaison with Lois Roden, then in > her late > sixties. With his encyclopedic command of the Bible, Howell became an > inspirational figure whose "visions" were taken seriously, despite his > > ninth-grade education. This angered George Roden, Lois' son, who saw > himself > as the future leader of the group. George suffered from Tourette's > syndrome > and frequently exploded with uncontrollable rage and inappropriate > behavior. > When Howell took a 14-year-old member of the congregation as his wife, > Lois > acted the jilted lover and confessed her secret affair during Bible > study > class. George expelled Howell and his bride from Mount Carmel at the > point of > an Uzi. Most of the congregation followed Howell to East Texas, where > they > lived communally in wretched conditions. Thus began his conversion > from > inspirational figure to actual living prophet. In 1987, Marc Breault > joined > the East Texas enclave and became Howell's right-hand man, helping > recruit > dozens of new members to the community. > > After his mother died, George Roden became completely unglued. > Determined to > wrest back his congregation, he dug up a corpse and challenged Howell > to see > who could raise the dead. Instead, Howell reported the corpse to the > local > sheriff. The sheriff wanted evidence, so Howell and several armed > followers > crept back to Mount Carmel under cover of night with a camera. Before > they > embarked on the mission, however, Howell outfitted everyone with > identical > camouflage fatigues and armed them with AR-15 assault rifles. > > A gun battle ensued and Roden was wounded. He would have likely been > killed, > except the neighbors called the police, who broke up the gunfight and > arrested Howell and his men for attempted murder. During the trial, > Roden > wrote angry letters to the judge, threatening to reign down a pox of > AIDS and > herpes on him. The judge sentenced him to six months in jail for > contempt. > The trial ended in a hung jury. Two years later, Roden was convicted > of an ax > murder and locked in an insane asylum. > > Meanwhile, Howell and his followers rebuilt Mount Carmel, which had > fallen > into disrepair. They maintained a 24-hour armed vigil against possible > > retribution from Roden, who'd briefly escaped from the mental > institution and > continued to assert his ownership of the property. By paying back > taxes and > occupying the site, Howell hoped to gain full legal ownership within > five > years. In 1990, he changed his name to David Koresh and announced the > Apocalypse was commencing in five years. > > His group called themselves "Students of the Seven Seals," not "Branch > > Davidians," as they would later be known by the news media. Koresh > yearned > for recognition as a living prophet from the Adventist Church. His > group > lived a happy and communal life. They were an eclectic group of races, > > cultures and nationalities, some with advanced degrees in theology. > One was > the first black graduate of Harvard Law School. > > Koresh formed a rock band, and the elders viewed him as a possible > MTV-style > prophet who could breathe life into a dying religious movement. He > drove a > souped-up Camaro and enjoyed target practice with semiautomatic > assault > weapons. He believed guns would come in handy during the 1995 > Apocalypse. > "What are you going to do when the tanks are surrounding us?" he'd ask > his > congregation. > > Adventists believe the Bible contains clues concerning the date and > nature of > Judgment Day. They also have a religious obligation to take claims of > prophecy seriously. By creating down-home explanations for many > confusing > passages in Revelation, and by memorizing all 150 Psalms and treating > them as > prophecy, Koresh created a fresh take on doomsday Christianity that > was > irresistible to some Adventists. His congregation was not a collection > of > brainwashed zombies, but an educated and highly spiritual community. > Koresh > frequently came to Bible class straight from work, his hands soiled > with axle > grease, the tones of his voice always conversational, never bombastic > like a > typical Southern Baptist. > > Life at Mount Carmel was spartan, but people stayed because it was > spiritually charged. One never knew what outlandish prophecy Koresh > might > spout next. He had a knack for constantly topping himself, like Jackie > Chan > dreaming up new stunts. Serious problems began, however, soon after > Breault > left the community and moved back to Australia, a split that coincided > with > Koresh's celibacy prophecy, which he called "The New Light." "At the > time of > the end, those who have wives should live as they have none," said > Koresh, > quoting the Bible to support the new policy. It was time for male > members at > Mount Carmel to become celibate, except for Koresh, who was obligated > to sire > 24 children by 1995. He already had several wives at Mount Carmel, one > of > whom he'd seduced when she was 12. (Koresh later admitted it was > difficult > keeping former couples from getting it on once in a while, just as it > was > difficult keeping his harem satisfied.) > > It wasn't your typical American family, but the children were Koresh's > > jewels. They were reportedly extremely well mannered, quiet, obedient > and > showered with love. They'd never seen a television, never eaten junk > food, > never been to a public school. Their welfare had been monitored by the > Texas > Department of Human Services. The children showed no signs of physical > or > emotional abuse. > > The community sincerely believed Koresh's interpretations of the > Bible, and > accepted him as "The Lamb," the only person capable of opening the > Seven > Seals that would bring about the Apocalypse. His matings with > teenagers were > unlawful, but they were conducted with parental approval. It was > considered a > sacred honor to bear his child. "It's not like I really want to do > this," > Koresh would always explain. "The Lord is telling me I have to." > > But instead of turning his newlywed wife over to "The House of David," > > Breault embarked on a vendetta to expose Koresh. He hired a private > investigator to document Koresh's history of statutory rape. When he > couldn't > get the press or authorities interested in the story, he began mixing > exaggerations with real facts to produce a tantalizing stew of tabloid > > sensationalism. Eventually, he gave the story to an Australian TV show > and > began working on a book deal. Meanwhile, based on his evidence, the > ATF > elevated Koresh to "ZBO." > > > Zee Big One > Zee Big One (ZBO) is "a press-drawing stunt that when shown to > Congress at > budget time justifies more funding," wrote investigative reporter > Carol > Vinzant in Spy. "The attack on the Branch Davidians' complex was, in > the eyes > of some of the agents, the ultimate ZBO." In the spring of 1992, a > United > Parcel Service driver opened a box of grenade hulls being shipped to > Mount > Carmel and reported it to the local sheriff, who alerted the ATF. A > member of > Koresh's community was developing a profitable and entirely legal > business > selling firearms and survivalist fashion wear at gun shows. The empty > grenade > hulls were sewn into ammo vests, part of the official David Koresh > survival > gear. > > On July 30, 1992, gun dealer Henry McMahon called Koresh, saying ATF > agents > were at his home asking questions about him. "Tell them to come out > here," > replied Koresh. "If they want to see my guns, they are more than > welcome." > The agents responded by motioning silently, "no, no," and getting > McMahon to > hang up. In January 1993, three undercover ATF agents occupied the > house > across the street from Mount Carmel and b
