David Koresh & The Branch Davidians

THE SIEGE AT WACO (TEXAS)

On Feb. 28, 1993, federal law enforcement agents came face-to-face with the Branch Davidians, a controversial group whose followers described themselves as “students of the Bible,” outside the Mount Carmel compound, where about 130 of them lived.

The standoff between federal agents and the Branch Davidians outside Waco, Texas, dominated headlines for months. The siege left 75 people – including children – dead and changed the way some Americans felt about the federal government.

The agents were attempting to arrest leader David Koresh and raid the group’s 77-acre complex when they began to exchange heavy gunfire at the site. By the end of the shootout, four agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and six Branch Davidians were dead.

The failed operation then turned into a 51-day standoff. During that time, Koresh and most of his followers had refused to leave the compound, which was surrounded by tanks, armored vehicles and more than 600 federal agents. The standoff ended when a fire engulfed the complex on April 19, 1993. Only nine people inside survived. Critics called what happened a Waco a massacre.