The United States of Amnesia pt. 2

CNN, April 19, 1995
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the attack on the Murrah Building

I can recall watching television coverage of the rescue effort and seeing medical workers running away from the building when other bombs were discovered.  It was terrible to imagine that a survivor in the wreckage could die because help was delayed.  It was even more terrible to think that other bombs had been set to target rescue workers.

But as it turned out, there were no other bombs.  The only bomb involved was the one that had been sitting in a truck parked in front of the building.  I guess in Oklahoma back then, the Department of Justice; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; and the Oklahoma City bomb squad didn’t know much about bombs.

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The Ice Man

It’s a long story, but I’ll try to make it quick. According to The Observer, December 3, 2006 (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1962643,00.html) —

The Immigration and Customs Executive, part of the Department of Homeland Security, hired an informant for an operation against a group of traffickers. The informant, Guillermo Ramirez Peyro, aka Lalo, was a former Mexican police officer who left the force to deal cocaine. He started working for us, so to speak, in 2000; and he gave information to the I.C.E., the D.E.A., the F.B.I., and the B.A.T.F. He successfully infiltrated the drug ring. His drug bosses enlisted him for the murder of a lawyer, and Lalo was wearing a wire. It was first degree murder, and the I.C.E. could hear the victim pleading for his life.

That information eventually reached the U.S. Deputy Assistant Attorney General. I.C.E. continued using Lalo, but the other agencies didn’t know that. Over the course of his work, Lalo was paid $220,000. And he killed a dozen more people. In 2004, in a case of mistaken identity, Lalo killed Luis Padilla, a U.S. citizen unconnected to the dealers; and I.C.E. had recordings of the event.

The drug bosses tried and failed to kill a D.E.A. agent; and Lalo was in contact with the would-be killers as the attempt unfolded. I.C.E. debriefed Lalo but wouldn’t allow the D.E.A. to question him. Sandy Gonzalez, the D.E.A. agent in charge of the El Paso office, wrote a letter to I.C.E. holding them responsible for Lalo’s murder spree. Gonzalez noted that I.C.E. had gone to “extreme lengths” to protect a “homicidal maniac.”

I.C.E. and the Department of Justice wanted to keep a lid on the story. Gonzalez, a 30-year veteran of the D.E.A., was told he would be downgraded. If he retired quickly and quietly, he would be given a positive reference for future employers. Otherwise, things might not be so positive. He resigned and then filed a lawsuit.

A gunman in El Paso tried to murder Lalo but missed and killed an innocent bystander instead. Lalo was taken into protective custody; and then I.C.E. began deportation proceedings against their valued informant to send him to Mexico, where he would certainly be killed. For now, he is in prison fighting to stay in the U.S. The drug boss he killed for cut a deal with the feds. He pleaded quilty to trafficking and all of the murder charges against him were dropped.

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The Sinful Messiah

They were Christians in the ordinary sense. They believed that Jesus is the son of god and he is in heaven. They believed in Biblical prophecies concerning end times and salvation. In particular, they studied Revelations, which tells of a great book at the hand of god, bound with seven seals. Only the Lamb of God can open the last seal.

They believed that seven messiahs would come before the end of the world, and the last would be the sinful messiah. That did not mean he would deliberately sin. It simply meant that, unlike Jesus, the seventh messiah would not be without sin. He would be an ordinary man, born into sin as we all are. He will father twenty-four children who will fall to the armies of Babylon. They will be killed by fire and will preside as angels in heaven.

I don’t hold any of those beliefs; I think they’re all nonsense. But the Branch Davidians had a right to their beliefs.

Like thousands of people in Texas, they bought and sold guns. There’s a lot of money to be made buying weapons which appreciate in value; and there are a lot of gun dealers in Texas. All gun dealers “stockpile” weapons; that stockpile is called an inventory. Many of the Davidian neighbors owned multiple weapons. Furthermore, when Jesus was arrested, he told his followers not to resist. But he also said that henceforth, he who was without a sword should take up a sword.

I think that story is ridiculous. But under the Constitution, Davidians had the right to believe it; and they had the right to keep and bear arms.

Congressional budget hearings were approaching. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms was planning a dramatic raid to demonstrate how vital the Bureau was to the security of the nation. They were investigating a Christian commune in Texas that sold firearms. On February 28, 1993, the B.A.T.F. was not outgunned. They had three helicopters carrying armed men; they had nearly eighty men armed and armored. They had video cameras and fax machines. They had media contact phone numbers. They were ready.

Incredibly, however, they didn’t have contact information for ambulances or hospitals. When the B.A.T.F. took casualties, they had to ask a reporter to call for help. They simply never imagined they would meet resistance. After all, they were only serving a search warrant. There were no charges at that point, and the Bureau had already avoided an opportunity to inspect the suspect premises. They were going to search Mount Carmel, and they were going to get it on tape.

The Davidians had lived at Mount Carmel for decades; some had been born and raised there. Some had left home, as children do, and some had returned. Some were white; some were black. Wayne Martin, one of the first black graduates of Harvard law school, lived at Mount Carmel. A family of six had moved from England to Waco to learn about the seven seals. There were grandmothers and grandfathers at Mount Carmel. As a “branch” of Seventh Day Adventists (“advent” meaning the second coming of Christ), the Davidians didn’t feed their children junk food or sit around the tv. When lots of people live together, they need a big kitchen; they have to do laundry. The Davidians recycled material from old 1950s cottages on the site and built a large home. They added a small gymnasium which did additional duty as a church and a rehearsal space. On February 28, approximately 130 Davidians lived at Mount Carmel. When the B.A.T.F. attacked, Wayne Martin called 9-1-1.

Vernon Howell, also known as David Koresh, was the spiritual leader of the Davidians. The B.A.T.F. could have detained him on one of his trips into town, but they didn’t. For that matter, a Davidian neighbor who seemed to have an interest in Davidian beliefs was, in fact, an undercover B.A.T.F. agent named Robert Rodriguez. He was at Mount Carmel on February 28, and he left shortly before the raid in an effort to stop it.

Four agents and two Davidians were killed outright in the raid. Another died of his wounds; another was later killed in a field some distance from the home. The Davidians were charged with the murder of federal agents. The F.B.I. took over the investigation and the crime scene. Some Davidians surrendered to authorities, or surrendered their children to safe care. Others did not.

On April 19, 1993, fire consumed Mount Carmel. Nine Davidians escaped the flames. Seventy-six others, including a score of children, did not.



Eleven Davidians were subsequently tried and acquitted of murder and conspiracy to commit murder. If you don’t recall the blaring headlines — “Davidians not guilty!” — that could be because there were no such headlines. The acquittals seemingly didn’t merit much coverage.

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