As Americans get up in arms over alleged gas attacks in Syria, they are forgetting the time their government used chemical weapons to kill children in Waco.
By: Jack Burns / The Free Thought Project
Americans are up in arms over the alleged gas attack in Syria. Although there was no investigation, and many high-profile individuals have called it a sham, the US has pinned the blame on Syrian president Bashar Al Assad. So, we thought it would be a good idea to remind our fellow Americans of an occasion where the federal government got away with gassing its own people, an action which, consequently, led to the deaths of 86 men, women, and children.
Our source material comes from the FBI’s own vault, which contains two files on the case against Vernon Howell, also known as David Koresh. Koresh was the leader of the “Branch Davidians Seventh Day Adventists.” According to the FBI case file, Koresh was believed to have been holding people against their will at his compound in Waco, Texas, potentially guilty of “involuntary servitude and slavery” charges.
In 1992, Child Protective Services (CPS) was called in to investigate the accusations. After a thorough investigation, CPS concluded no one was being held at the compound against their will, nor any child abuse, and the federal prosecutor, who reviewed the report, saw no reason to prosecute Koresh. On October 16th, 1992, the FBI closed the case against Koresh and the allegations he was abusing children and holding his followers against their will.
Still, however, the FBI proceeded with investigating other allegations the Branch Davidians had converted semi-automatic AR-15 (assault) rifles into fully automatic ones, a violation of federal law. Also alleged was that the group was planning a mass suicide. The FBI concluded, “no information has been developed to verify the accuracy of the allegations.” Still, the FBI put local law enforcement on notice.
Despite having no concrete evidence Koresh, who some have said was delusional, had violated anyone’s civil rights, or abused any children, the investigation into the weapons violations continued. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives pursued the allegations the group was stockpiling weapons and explosives. According to the ATF, the bureau found:
136 FIREARMS, INCLUDING ASSAULT RIFLES AND HANDGUNS
700+ MAGAZINES FOR THOSE FIREARMS
200,000+ ROUNDS OF VARIOUS AMMUNITION
110 UPPER AND LOWER RECEIVERS FOR AR15/M16 RIFLES
GRENADE-LAUNCHER ATTACHMENTS FOR AR15/M16 RIFLES
400+ EMPTY M31 RIFLE GRENADES, ALONG WITH BLACK POWDER AND OTHER
EXPLOSIVE CHEMICALS
Wishing to further investigate the compound’s armory, the ATF secured a search warrant and attempted to raid the compound on February 28th, 1993. The Davidians, possibly feeling they must protect their home, property, and persons from the intruders, opened fire on the federal agents, an action which led to the deaths of several ATF agents and compound members.
FOUR ATF AGENTS (SA TODD MCKEEHAN, SA CONWAY LEBLEU, SA ROBERT WILLIAMS AND SA STEVEN WILLIS) WERE KILLED; 20 ATF AGENTS WOUNDED FROM GUNSHOTS OR SHRAPNEL AND 8 SUFFERED OTHER INJURIES. SIX DAVIDIANS WERE ALSO REPORTEDLY KILLED AND FOUR WOUNDED FROM GUNSHOTS, ALTHOUGH THIS COULD NOT BE FORENSICALLY PROVEN BECAUSE OF THE LATER DESTRUCTION (BY FIRE) OF THE COMPOUND.
The raid initiated a 51-day standoff with the ATF as well as the FBI. Koresh released 24 members from the compound, who were mostly children, and continued the stand-off with authorities which was broadcast daily across the country until day 51 arrived. On that day, the government brought in heavy equipment and penetrated the compound with a tank-like machine which pumped the compound full of CS Gas. What happened next, in the minds of many who saw it, can only be likened to a horror film.
To this day, the ATF maintains the fire was, “set by cult members, as law enforcement attempted to force them out by introducing tear gas into the building.” And for years, following the fiery destruction of the compound, the FBI maintained the same story line. That was until 1999, when then-Attorney General Janet Reno made the following admission,
“I am very, very troubled by the information I received this week suggesting that pyrotechnic devices may have been used in the early morning hours on April the 19th, 1993, at Waco. At this time, all available indications are that the devices were not directed at the main wooden compound, were discharged several hours before the fire started, and were not the cause of the fire. Nonetheless, it is absolutely critical that we do everything humanly possible to learn all the facts as accurately as possible and make them available to the public and Congress.”
Those facts, according to some of the survivors of the fire, who were inside at the time the fire broke out, are undeniable. They are convinced the government used incendiary devices to set ablaze the tear gas which had been pumped into the building.
And they’re not alone. According to CBS News, “Independent filmmaker Michael McNulty came upon some evidence that appeared damaging to the government. He found a shell casing from a certain type of tear gas round that could start a fire – a device the Justice Department had denied using for more than six years – publicly and to Congress.” That shell casing led to Reno’s acknowledgment, but the government still has not taken full responsibility, as Reno denied the devices were used to penetrate the building. Questions still remain as to why they would be used at all.
Even though it was later determined Koresh had, indeed, molested children, and was by all intents and purposes a pedophile of the worst kind, the fact remains. The government used gas on its own people which either directly or indirectly led to the deaths of 76 people. There was no international outcry. Foreign governments did not threaten to retaliate against the ATF and the FBI. Russia did not feel compelled to launch guided missiles into the Waco, TX airport. And neither should the United States.
The U.S. has no business in the affairs of Syrians. And just like in Waco, it may take years to know precisely who was responsible for gassing and killing 83 Syrians in the Idlib Province. But go ahead and believe the official government narrative if you’d like. Here at TFTP, we prefer to deal with the facts.
source: http://www.trueactivist.com/while-u-s-bombs-syria-americans-forget-govt-used-chemical-weapons-to-kill-kids-in-texas/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TrueActivist+%28True+Activist%29
WACO SIEGE EXPOSED: What REALLY Happened and WHY? 20th anniversary of the Branch Davidians MASSACRE!
Published on 21 Apr 2013
WACO SIEGE EXPOSED: What REALLY Happened and WHY? 20th anniversary of the Branch Davidians MASSACRE!
The ground breaking film Waco: A New Revelation is being re-released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Branch Davidians massacre that happened outside of Waco, Texas. This is the film that triggered a new Special Counsel investigation of the Waco tragedy, and caused the Justice Department and the FBI to reverse their long-held position on Waco. It generated a firestorm of events unprecedented in the history of documentary film making. Learn what really happened and why.http://copsproductions.com/
After six years of painstaking investigation, the complete story of the tragedy near Waco is finally coming to light. -----------------
The Waco siege (sometimes called the "Waco massacre") was a siege of a compound belonging to the religious group Branch Davidians by the United States federal and Texas state law enforcement and military between February 28 and April 19, 1993.
The Branch Davidians, a Protestant Christian sect led by David Koresh, lived at Mount Carmel Center ranch in the community of Elk, Texas, nine miles (14 kilometers) east-northeast of Waco. The group was suspected of weapons violations and a search and arrest warrant was obtained.
The incident began when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) attempted to raid the ranch. An intense gun battle erupted, resulting in the deaths of four agents and six Branch Davidians. Upon the ATF's failure to raid the compound, a siege was initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the standoff lasting 51 days. Eventually, the FBI launched an assault and initiated a tear gas attack in an attempt to force the Branch Davidians out. During the attack, a fire engulfed Mount Carmel Center and 76 men, women and children, including David Koresh, died.
Controversy ensued over the origin of the fire; a government investigation concluded in 2000 that sect members themselves had started the fire at the time of the attack. Timothy McVeigh cited the Waco incident as a primary motivation for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. -----------------------
The possibility of intentional causes is not being ruled out at the chemical fertilizer factory in Texas. Until more is known, the town of West is designated as a crime scene.
Given the national mood, there is some unofficial 'reviewing' going on of sinister connections with the past.
The explosion came two days before the 20th anniversary of a fire in nearby Waco that engulfed a compound inhabited by the Branch Davidian sect. This ended a siege by federal agents.
The Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau had attempted to execute a search warrant at a ranch. A gun battle followed, and then the FBI siege, which went on for 50 days. The death toll was more than 80, after the fire, most of those who died men, women and children in the sect.
April 19 was also the date in 1995 of a truck bomb attack that claimed 168 lives at a US government office complex in Oklahoma City.
That was the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in American history. More than 600 people were injured. The main author of the crime, Timothy McVeigh, said the Waco deaths were one reason he did it. He was executed in June 2001.
Other coincidences between 1993 and 2013 are the strong pressures brought by Democrat presidents to legislate to control fire-arms.
Bill Clinton in February 1993 began waging his defence of the Brady Bill against the pro-gun lobby; it was adopted at the end of that year. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act instituted federal background checks on purchasers. The National Rifle Association fought it, and tried to have it ruled unconstitutional.
Twenty years later, opposition to Obama's control campaign has defeated plans to expand background checks to sales made online and at gun shows, and to limit assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. The revived debate had followed the massacre by a gunman in December in Newtown, Connecticut, of 20 children and six adults.
Obama said: "This was a pretty shameful day for Washington. But this effort is not over. I want to make it clear to the American people we can still bring about meaningful changes that reduce gun violence."
Family members of gun violence victims were barely consolable. A few hours after the failure on Wednesday to muster enough votes in the US Senate, West, Texas, exploded.
The ground breaking film Waco: A New Revelation is being re-released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Branch Davidians massacre that happened outside of Waco, Texas. This is the film that triggered a new Special Counsel investigation of the Waco tragedy, and caused the Justice Department and the FBI to reverse their long-held position on Waco. It generated a firestorm of events unprecedented in the history of documentary film making. Learn what really happened and why.http://copsproductions.com/
After six years of painstaking investigation, the complete story of the tragedy near Waco is finally coming to light. -----------------
The Waco siege (sometimes called the "Waco massacre") was a siege of a compound belonging to the religious group Branch Davidians by the United States federal and Texas state law enforcement and military between February 28 and April 19, 1993.
The Branch Davidians, a Protestant Christian sect led by David Koresh, lived at Mount Carmel Center ranch in the community of Elk, Texas, nine miles (14 kilometers) east-northeast of Waco. The group was suspected of weapons violations and a search and arrest warrant was obtained.
The incident began when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) attempted to raid the ranch. An intense gun battle erupted, resulting in the deaths of four agents and six Branch Davidians. Upon the ATF's failure to raid the compound, a siege was initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the standoff lasting 51 days. Eventually, the FBI launched an assault and initiated a tear gas attack in an attempt to force the Branch Davidians out. During the attack, a fire engulfed Mount Carmel Center and 76 men, women and children, including David Koresh, died.
Controversy ensued over the origin of the fire; a government investigation concluded in 2000 that sect members themselves had started the fire at the time of the attack. Timothy McVeigh cited the Waco incident as a primary motivation for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. -----------------------
The possibility of intentional causes is not being ruled out at the chemical fertilizer factory in Texas. Until more is known, the town of West is designated as a crime scene.
Given the national mood, there is some unofficial 'reviewing' going on of sinister connections with the past.
The explosion came two days before the 20th anniversary of a fire in nearby Waco that engulfed a compound inhabited by the Branch Davidian sect. This ended a siege by federal agents.
The Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau had attempted to execute a search warrant at a ranch. A gun battle followed, and then the FBI siege, which went on for 50 days. The death toll was more than 80, after the fire, most of those who died men, women and children in the sect.
April 19 was also the date in 1995 of a truck bomb attack that claimed 168 lives at a US government office complex in Oklahoma City.
That was the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in American history. More than 600 people were injured. The main author of the crime, Timothy McVeigh, said the Waco deaths were one reason he did it. He was executed in June 2001.
Other coincidences between 1993 and 2013 are the strong pressures brought by Democrat presidents to legislate to control fire-arms.
Bill Clinton in February 1993 began waging his defence of the Brady Bill against the pro-gun lobby; it was adopted at the end of that year. The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act instituted federal background checks on purchasers. The National Rifle Association fought it, and tried to have it ruled unconstitutional.
Twenty years later, opposition to Obama's control campaign has defeated plans to expand background checks to sales made online and at gun shows, and to limit assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. The revived debate had followed the massacre by a gunman in December in Newtown, Connecticut, of 20 children and six adults.
Obama said: "This was a pretty shameful day for Washington. But this effort is not over. I want to make it clear to the American people we can still bring about meaningful changes that reduce gun violence."
Family members of gun violence victims were barely consolable. A few hours after the failure on Wednesday to muster enough votes in the US Senate, West, Texas, exploded.
