Originally posted by: Lemon law
If nothing else, one has to link both Ruby Ridge and Waco to law enforcement over reaction. And for that matter, both incidents inspired Tim McVeigh's bombing of Federal Courthouse. And sadly, the American people were never informed of what was really going on. But this is somewhat the version I have heard and seems supported by the facts.
The same cowboy law enforcement that infected the relatively few agents involved in Ruby Ridge had pretty well infected all of ATF. And the Alcohol Tobacco and firearms initials pretty well summed up the mission, and there was serious talk about merging the into the FBI. And since busting moonshine stills was somewhat a vanishing need, tobacco was not as politically incorrect as it is now, the main agency mission by insiders was seen as gun control. Which given the NRA, was none too popular either. But to prevent being submerged into the FBI, the ATF needed some good positive publicity. And then they got wind of the Branch Dividians as an answer to that prayer. But ATF did put a agent inside and they learned that they were armed to the teeth with LEGAL WEAPONS. And the rub being semiautomatic equal legal and fully automatic is illegal. And the version I heard was that Korsesh, if nothing else, was acquiring these guns as an investment. And also using Dividian labor to somewhat customize and sporterise to increase resale value. And had ordered some parts---and somehow someone at the ATF mis-copied a few part numbers and suddenly thought Korsesh was ordering illegal parts that would make the guns fully automatic. That and the fact that Korsesh was an accused child molester made ole Dave the guy people would love to hate. But one more deception remained---the ATF could borrow all sorts of army equipment but only if drugs were involved---so they phonied up an affidavit that some of the Davidians were using drugs. But had one snag. The Texas child welfare authorities, the people with the jurisdiction would not act on what they had. And child molesting is not a Federal beef. But guns sure were.
Now anyone with a lick of sense would know that with cults like this, you bust the leader and the rest collapses into nothing. And Korsesh was known to jog up and down the streets of Waco on a daily basis. And with no armed guards. So it would have been child play to arrest Korsesh while jogging, toss him in jail using the warrant they already had, and everything would have sorted itself out in court.
But No NO NO. The ATF needed big splashy publicity. And with little advance planning the ATF swooped down. Their local intel was so poor they didn't even know where Mt Carmel was. And once they came into Waco with their army vehicles, they split forces. One part was dispatched to alert local media so the television footage would be there for the national media. And the other proceeded to MT. Carmel and asking directions from a helpful local mailman. And the mailman was a branch davidian who scurried to warn the Davidians. And after being delayed by getting the local media, the ATF arrived. And instead of just serving the warrant peacefully, the ATF provoked the fight expecting to swiftly overwhelm the shocked Davidians, and instead the ATF ended up being on the wrong end of well dug in defenders.
After that, the authorities could not let the truth emerge. And Korsesh didn't help matters either. And it ended with a Oh What A Cookout. But the investigation was a white wash.
It certainly could have been handled differently. And the big dividian front door is missing from what I hear. It could have answered the question of who fired first and from which side of the door. And if you listen to the counterfire from the davidians, it does not take a trained ear to know one is hearing semiautomatic legal weapons.
But its all cleaned by fire now---and the truth---burned with it--and who know if what I have is true or not---its somewhat testable even at this date---but its apparent that the priority is burying and not finding the truth.