I just finished a book on Waco by Kopel and Blackman. Extensive factual and legal analyses made it dry reading but very comprehensive. Some details I picked up from the book that were not known or disclosed at the time:
- The US Gov siege of Waco lasted 51 days. The Davidian families who chose to remain returned to normal routines (school, meals, etc.) shortly after the siege started. So when the final Gov invasion occurred, the families were doing typical life routines. They were not hunkered down in shelters or firing positions, for example.
- Gov had good intelligence on the Davidian building layouts and had a number of electronic bugs because they had planted a mole agent pretending to be a Davidian convert. The Davidians were aware the man was an agent, by they did not restrict him. The point is, Gov knew all the building layouts and room uses, and had electronic surveillance even during the siege and attacks. The Gov attacked women, children and other noncombatants, either to cause panic and evacuations, or simply as collateral damage from attacking armed residents.
- ATF/FBI lied to Army (saying the Davidians ran a meth lab) to use a federal loophole allowing US military to support the Waco invasion as a "drug interdiction" with tanks, FLIR spy planes, helicopter gun ships, a Waco site mock-up located on a US army base for pre-attack training, Army special forces trainers and attack planners, and possibly other classified support
- Compelling evidence that helicopter gunships strafed the roofs of Davidian buildings to clear the second floors so attack forces could enter the buildings via 2nd floor - second floors were primary living areas for the children and mothers
- During the final attack, Gov forces pumped unprecedented amounts of CS chemical (tear gas) in dry powder form into the building interiors. Delivered to interior spaces in this form and quantity, the CS will blind, immobilize, poison and asphyxiate humans, and that is why CS in those forms is now classified as a banned military weapon under international treaties. This chemical was pumped into buildings full of families in the midst of their daily routines.
- Prior to the CS chemical weapon attacks, ATF/FBI agents in an Army tanks blocked access to the Davidian's underground tornado shelter, so any residents who were able to flee the CS chemical and subsequent fires would not be able to get to the safe haven. Post attack, when Gov unblocked the access, the tornado shelter was found cool and empty, so it could have saved countless lives from the gas and inferno.
- Most other locations on site were subject to fire temperatures at cremation levels, making autopsy cause of death determinations impossible or speculative at best.
- The only other safe haven on site was a reinforced concrete interior room. The bodies/ashes of many of the women and children were found in this room. During the final invasion, Gov had breached this room and pumped in CS gas/powder in immobilizing quantities.
- Post attack, FBI/ATF restricted site access and evidence collection and banned post-event investigations and interviews of actors/survivors by other LE agencies, especially the TX agencies involved in the attacks. They made it clear that under Brady and other laws, evidence collected would have to be turned over to the defense, so they preferred not to gather evidence.
Waco and the immediately preceding Ruby Ridge attacks by ATF/FBI were examples of military invasions by US federal forces on the residences of US citizens who happened to have conservative political leanings including 2nd amendment support. These occurred under Clinton.
Congressional hearings on Waco curbed many of the military ambush abuses, but that did not stop the same federal agencies, in addition to IRS and CIA, from continuing to be to foot soldiers of liberal executives and deep state bureaucrats in harassing and abusing conservative Americans, and supporting glaring "Clinton Foundation"-type graft projects by highly placed federal officials.