Vernon Howell (later David Koresh) in a 1987 mug shot Howell instead went to the police and claimed Roden was guilty of corpse abuse, but the county prosecutors refused to file charges without proof. George Roden had dug up the casket of Anna Hughes from the Davidian cemetery and had challenged Howell to a resurrection contest to prove who was the rightful heir to the leadership. Īfter the death of Lois Roden and probate of her estate in January 1987, Howell attempted to gain control of Mount Carmel Center by force. Howell and his group relocated to Palestine, Texas. After this split, George Roden ran Howell and his followers off Mount Carmel at gunpoint. In 1984, a meeting led to a division of the group, with Howell leading one faction (calling themselves the Branch Davidians) and George Roden leading the competing faction. Instead, she groomed Vernon Wayne Howell (later known as David Koresh) to be her successor. Lois considered their son, George Roden, unfit to assume the position of prophet. On Roden's death, control of the Branch Davidians fell to his wife, Lois Roden. He promoted different doctrinal beliefs than those of Victor Houteff's original Davidian Seventh-day Adventist organization. įollowing the failure of this prophecy, control of the site (Mount Carmel Center) fell to Benjamin Roden, founder of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association (Branch Davidians). Many of them built houses, others stayed in tents, trucks, or buses, and most of them sold their possessions. In 1959, Victor's widow, Florence Houteff, announced that the expected Armageddon was about to take place, and members were told to gather at the center to await this event. Ī few years later, they moved again to a much larger site east of the city. As the original Davidian group gained members, its leadership moved the church to a hilltop several miles east of Waco, Texas, which they named Mount Carmel, after a mountain in Israel mentioned in Joshua 19:26 in the Bible's Old Testament. Houteff founded the Davidians based on his prophecy of an imminent apocalypse involving the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the defeat of the evil armies of Babylon. The Branch Davidians (also known as "The Branch") are a religious group that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Shepherd's Rod (Davidians) following the death of the Shepherd's Rod founder Victor Houteff. Main articles: Davidian Seventh-day Adventist, Mount Carmel Center, Branch Davidians, and David Koresh The Waco siege and the 1992 standoff at Ruby Ridge have been cited by commentators as catalysts for the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, as well as the modern day American militia movement and a rise in opposition to firearm regulation. Critics contend that live rounds were fired by law enforcement, and suggest that a combination of gunshots and flammable tear gas and live rounds was the true cause for the fire. The FBI contends that none of their agents fired any live rounds on the day of the fire. Department of Justice reports from October 1993 and July 2000 conclude that although incendiary tear gas canisters were used by the FBI, the Branch Davidians had started the fire, based on listening devices overhearing their discussion, and evidence that showed at least three simultaneous ignition points. The events of the siege and attack, particularly the origin of the fire, are disputed by various sources. The fire resulted in the deaths of 76 Branch Davidians, including 25 children, two pregnant women, and David Koresh. Shortly thereafter, the Mount Carmel Center became engulfed in flames. Eventually, the FBI launched an assault and initiated a tear gas attack in an attempt to force the Branch Davidians out of the ranch. Upon the ATF's entering of the property and failure to execute the search warrant, a siege lasting 51 days was initiated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). An intense gunfight erupted, resulting in the deaths of four government agents and six Branch Davidians. The incident began when the ATF attempted to serve a search and arrest warrant on the ranch. Suspecting the group of stockpiling illegal weapons, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) obtained a search warrant for the compound and arrest warrants for Koresh, as well as a select few of the group's members. The Branch Davidians were led by David Koresh and were headquartered at Mount Carmel Center ranch in the community of Axtell, Texas, 13 miles (21 kilometers) northeast of Waco. military, between February 28 and April 19, 1993. federal government, Texas state law enforcement, and the U.S. The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the law enforcement siege of the compound that belonged to the religious sect Branch Davidians.
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