Waco 26 Year Ago, Like the Gas Chambers at Auschwitz

Twenty-six years removed from the deadly conflagration outside Waco, Texas, controversy surrounding the origins and the cause of the massive fire persist. The 1993 engagement led to the deaths of seventy-six members of the Branch Davidian sect.

In the aftermath of what has been called the worst federal law enforcement disaster in American history, the United States government has steadfastly maintained that the fire was the result of actions by sect members. The claim essentially means that the Davidians committed mass suicide.

David Thibodeau, one of nine Branch Davidian survivors, said in an exclusive interview with The Daily Sheeple that the blame rests squarely on the ATF for the raid and for demonizing those living at Mt. Carmel. “They could have picked David (Koresh) up at any time away from the property, they didn’t need to terrorize the women and children.” When asked about the fire Thibodeau responded, “The plan was never for us to commit suicide. It was totally against our beliefs.”

His contention that the fire was not started by community members is backed up by the research conducted by author Stuart A. Wright, a Professor of Sociology and Chair of the Department of Sociology, Social Work & Criminal Justice at Lamar University.

“The information supplied by the FBI to DOJ was buried and obscured, referring only to “military rounds” or “bubbleheads.” [Assistant United States Attorney] Johnson said he didn’t know what military rounds or bubbleheads were and a number of other experts said they were not familiar with these terms. I think this obfuscation by the FBI was deliberate and tantamount to concealment. Johnson complained that they were punishing him for allowing the plaintiff’s investigator into the storage locker to find the pyrotechnic devices, some of which were mislabeled.”

Questions about April 19th, the final day of the 51-day siege, brings up the anger and PTSD issues that Thibodeau has struggled with for years. “They kept telling us they wanted to protect the children. It was all about the children and then they drove tanks in and gassed the children! It was horrible! They knew that CS could kill the kids and they did it anyway. For years I couldn’t even bring myself to even think about what it must have been like to be trapped in there.” His voice thick with grief and pain he continued softly, “The only image that I keep seeing, what I keep thinking is it must have been like the gas chambers at Auschwitz…”

Thibodeau believes the government used prejudicial language and false claims to “demonize” the people living peacefully outside of Waco. “They kept referring to us as a cult and I don’t think we were.”
When asked if he thought that the group would have stayed together if David had been imprisoned rather than killed, he stated “I think so, if they had allowed any communication. I think Steve or Wayne could have continued as leaders with some direction from David. It was all about his (Koresh) interpretation of Revelations.” He was less certain that the group would have stayed together without at least some form of guidance from David.

Asked why he thought members stayed on during the siege Thibodeau said, “The FBI was bringing to pass what David taught for years. Six months prior to the siege, about the time that Ruby Ridge happened, he asked me ‘what are you going to do when we are surrounded by tanks and helicopters?’ and I told him it would never happen. Yes, we used to talk about what happened at Ruby Ridge a lot,” continued Thibodeau.
“It definitely weighed heavily on David’s mind and he would bring it up and talk about how such an event would be a ‘withering’ and trial of our faith.”
Thibodeau was raised in a non-religious household. When he joined Koresh’s group it was not easy for him to assimilate to the culture and hardship that most there were used to. These days he lives in Maine and travels several times a year to Mt. Caramel to lead tours and tell his story of what happened. He says he sees the site now as more of a historical location than a religious one, He wants people to know what happens “when your own government attacks you.”