Why The Waco Siege Was MUCH Worse Than You Think!

Why The Waco Siege Was MUCH Worse Than You Think!

The siege at David Koresh’s Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas lasted for 51 days and showed the world just how badly the FBI could mess something up. And with Paramount’s Waco now on Netflix, a new generation is learning about the tragedy. Here’s why the siege was worse than you think.

Every leader has to rise to power, but before David Koresh rose to become the leader of the Branch Davidians, it was George Roden who ruled the cult. According to the New York Times, Koresh wasn’t especially fond of Roden, who he saw as squatting on his property, so he got a bunch of friends together and they invaded the sect commando-style, dressed in camouflage military uniforms and carrying military-style weapons. There was a gun battle, Roden was shot in the hand, and Koresh was able to seize control of the cult.

So how exactly does something like that happen without consequences? Well, there was a trial, but none of the eight attackers was convicted of a crime. David Koresh claimed he’d been aiming at a tree, not at Roden, and the jury believed him, or at least enough of the jury to result in a deadlock. In fact, the jury believed Koresh so much that a few of them actually hugged him at the end of the trial. Now that’s charisma.

And even though authorities found enough guns on the compound to, quote, “hold off the entire…Sheriff’s Department,” no one was convicted of a felony, so Koresh and his cronies got to keep their guns.

So why didn’t the assistant district attorney decide to try David Koresh a second time? He never really said, but he did once complain that he’d been, quote, “a black man trying to prosecute seven white men in a Southern town called Waco.”