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again, they walked up to the door. The Davidians knew they were ATF Agents. They got into a firefight, anyway.
There is a category of Americans who strongly support the stand the Davidians took against the oppressive actions of the federal law-enforcement bureaucracy. The first thing anyone who takes the time to research the facts in this horrific example of government oppression will learn is there was absolutely
no reason for BATF to conduct that raid. None. The first question that should be asked is what did the Branch Davidians do to call for such a massive paramilitary operation? The answer is,
nothing!
The only valid reason put forth by BATF to obtain a search warrant had to do with the charge that Koresh and the Davidian partners in his firearms business, all of whom were properly licensed, was in possession of and was selling fully automatic firearms. But no automatic firearms were recovered from the ruins at Waco and it was never shown that any such weapon existed or any such sale ever took place. The fact is Koresh was selling
replacement receivers capable of transforming certain semi-automatic rifles into full-auto -- the sale of which, at that time, was
perfectly legal.
That specification was the
only partially valid item put forth in the affidavit submitted by ATF to obtain their warrant -- which was never presented to the Davidians prior to the attempted break-in. In fact it was never determined during the so-called Waco "hearings" which of the agents who arrived at the Davidians' front door, if any, was in possession of the warrant.
Every other specification on that warrant was either patently false or invalid -- such as the charge that Koresh was having sex with children, a complaint which had been thoroughly investigated by the local Sheriff
and the
Texas Department of Social Services and found to be without merit. Further, even if there was some valid basis for that complaint the BATF has as much jurisdiction to act upon such charges as does the Mexican Air Force.
Another bogus charge had to do with an illegal
drug manufacturing operation which had nothing to to with Koresh or any member of the existing Branch Davidian group. It was a manifest example of
mistaken identity which had been cleared by the local Sheriff long before ATF included it in their seriously flawed warrant affidavit.
The bottom line is any legitimate cause the BATF had to investigate Koresh could have been easily implemented by arresting him any Monday to Friday morning when he was known to walk into town and back home. All that was needed was two or three agents and a valid warrant. Instead the entire Davidian group and their children were
attacked by dozens of masked paramilitary raiders in a massive operation which turned out to be one of the most egregious examples of unnecessarily brutal and murderous force perpetrated by the federal government against peaceful American citizens.
Again, the question is what did the Davidians do to provoke what the federal agents did to them? The answer is they defended their rights as peaceful citizens by refusing to submit to improperly imposed federal aggression.
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