The Fire That Time: WACO

It's been fifteen years since the 51-day Branch Davidian standoff in Waco. The FBI lead negotiator, Byron Sage, talks to TEXAS MONTHLY about his experiences with David Koresh.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• david
• koresh
• waco
• branch
• davidians
• fbi
• byron
• sage
• pamela
• colloff
• texas
• monthly

[ruler1978]

SHUT UP.

[451mnu]

Horrible job of interviewing, confirming or approving every single sentence with a mind-numbing "ahum", "ok" or "aha". Too busy confirming and too eager to please while she pulls her next marshmellow question out of her a..

[subparcheesy]

this guy should just say "we don't want religious nuts with guns"

is it really a coincidence the siege happened on a pagan sabbath?

[DeniseMatteau]

One of the reasons there could be no trust is that a certain type of anti-religious activist such as you can see over in the so-called "anti-cult" sites are continuously attacking and playing liar games with cult members. They cannot possibly trust anyone when their leaders' lies are small compared to the lies of people like the activists at the "Rick Ross Institute" who attack individuals with lies for the crime of not agreeing with them. Those charlatans exploit the tragedies that result.

[DevilsSummit]

Truly DISGUSTING !!! BOTH of them still lying about what REALLY HAPPENED !!!

Do your OWN research, see Rules Of Engagements or The Big Lie or any OTHER documentary where they let you listen to 911 calls or ALL FBI conversation with Davidians if you want to know and can actually STAND the TRUTH ....

I do hope this female reporter never got her degree in Public Relations.

It make normal people SICK to listen to 1 lie after ANOTHER manufactured by these sick and twisted propaganda people !!!

[RobertMOdell]

The true tradgedy were the 3 children who's skulls were crushed when your tanks ran through the front walls of the building to insert tear gas. The true tradgedy was the explosive charge (of dubious origin) that detonated above their cement bunker storage room where all those dead women and children were found.

[RobertMOdell]

Perhaps your negotiation would have gone better if you had been given some kind of authority in decision making. Obviously, others were deciding on tactics and you were just a waitress and Koresh said. Secondly, your attempts to demonize Koresh are obvious. He didn't claim to be the Messiah. Polygamy and child abuse were not the reasons for the ATF raid and yet you use that to justify your department's violent acts upon what amounted to a wakky church.

[whitfkl318nu]

However you assess their religious rederick, they seemed to know how to treat their young, respect others, and hold a common sensibility with regard to constitutional freedom and citizenship. Most of the neighbors and local community that speak of them did so favorably. Koresh himself invited these guys to come an inspect his weapons, and had been under multiple investigations concerning allegations and cooperated with no incriminating results.

[whitfkl318nu]

The Davidians where told by this very guy at one point, that his bosses order all Davidians to stay away from windows and doors: that if anyone tried to vacate or pass in view of the agents outside, that they will be treated as hostile threats, and forced to retreat. This was obviously done as a means of menacing them with fearful conditions in reprisal for their stubborn will. This news in makes Steve Schneider understandably verbally angry with the negotiator, as it was a step backward.

[whitfkl318nu]

These negotiators no doubt did the same exact thing when conversing amoungst themselves--it's human nature it seems when you don't exactly trust the integrity of an exchange. Call it simple etiquitte vs. ernest.

Another thing is that by this point, the neg team had probably already failed to keep several promises to the Davidians concerning utilities and press coverage, claiming that their bosses reversed them, having reached the limits of their patience. (Not a big confidence builder).