Branch Davidians and David Koresh's End of the World

Koresh (born Vernon Wayne Howell) was originally a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, whose members lived simply and anticipated the return of Christ.

But Koresh pursued a romantic relationship with a church leader's 15-year-old daughter, and church leaders were generally concerned about the way Koresh's charisma drew younger members to him. Before long, church leaders expelled him.

At age 22, he joined the Branch Davidian Seventh Day Adventists, a splinter group. When Branch Davidian leader Lois Roden died, Koresh waged a battle with Lois' son George for control of the group.

Early Violence Among Branch Davidians

Koresh eventually gathered seven camouflaged (and heavily armed) followers and headed to the Branch Davidians' Mount Carmel complex in Waco. Gunfire broke out, George Roden was shot, and Koresh and his followers were tried for attempted murder. But a mistrial was declared, and they all went free.

Koresh ultimately took over the Branch Davidians, claiming that God had chosen him to usher in the end of the world. Then he remade the sect. He told his followers that they were God's chosen people and needed to isolate themselves from the outside world and its sins.

Koresh's male followers were expected to practice celibacy. Koresh himself engaged in polygamy, marrying several teen daughters of his followers, who then bore his children.

He explained to his followers that he was simply acting in response to messages he'd received from God, called "lights."

A couple of aggrieved Branch Davidians who had left the compound filed a complaint with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF).

They claimed that David Koresh was illegally stockpiling weapons and training his followers to use them, possibly to attack civilians in the Waco area or commit mass suicide, as cult leader Jim Jones had orchestrated at Jonestown.

So on February 28, 1993, ATF agents showed up at Mount Carmel with a search warrant and an arrest warrant for Koresh. But the group didn't intend to cooperate. Gunfire broke out, and after a three-hour gunfight, four ATF agents and six Branch Davidians were dead, with many more injured.

The unexpected bloodbath prompted the FBI to swing into action. Before long, 900 law enforcement agents — from the Army, National Guard and Texas Rangers — flooded into the compound.

More than 50 hostage negotiators spent 60 hours trying to persuade David Koresh and his "lieutenant" Steven Schneider to surrender. At one point, Koresh promised to surrender if one of his sermons was played on the radio. The sermon was broadcast, but Koresh reneged on his promise.

Law enforcement agents also used controversial tactics like blasting loud music through speakers around the clock so the Branch Davidians couldn't sleep. The agents managed to obtain the release of 35 Branch Davidians, including 21 children.

The Bible's Book of Revelation was core to the group's beliefs. As the world ended, they believed God would reward the good and punish the sinners. Koresh may have persuaded his followers that the raid was the kickoff to the final battle.

On March 5, a 9-year-old girl named Heather Jones emerged from the compound with a note pinned to her clothing. It stated that once the children had all been released, the adults would die, but Koresh denied any plans for a mass suicide.

Weeks had passed, with events at a standstill. So on April 19, attorney general Janet Reno gave FBI officials the go-ahead to raid Mount Carmel. Hoping to force an evacuation, FBI agents drove tanks into the building, ramming its side, and unleashed 400 canisters of tear-gas into it.

Hours later, the building burst into flame. The fire destroyed the Branch Davidian compound and killed 76 people, including 28 children. David Koresh was found with a bullet wound in his head, and at least 20 of his followers had also been shot.

Only nine Branch Davidians managed to flee the fire and survive. (Thirty-five Branch Davidians — 14 adults and 21 children — left the building before the fire.)

Law enforcement's goal was to evacuate the building with no loss of life. Years after the siege, FBI negotiator Byron Sage would remain haunted by the event.

The word "cult" was once just a synonym for a sect or religious group, according to Adam Scott Kunz, PhD, assistant professor of political philosophy and constitutional law at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. But the word is now an academic term used to describe a specific type of organization.

For a group to be a cult, it needs to meets specific criteria.

Charisma

"At the bare minimum, you need some kind of charismatic figure or charismatic leader," says Dr. Kunz, who is a former member of the Mormon Church. "That charismatic leader has to have some kind of transcendental ideology that the leader is sharing with his or her followers that's giving them a worldview that's different from everybody else."

Control

Another key ingredient is the way that leader puts that ideology into practice in the lives of the people following it. This is partly done through systems of control.

"Systems of control are the written down or verbal history and rules of the group," Dr. Kunz says. They might be specific, like dietary rules or restrictions about who members can associate with, or they might be more vague.

Enforcement

Leaders also use systems of influence, which Dr. Kunz says really tips the scales. "A cult basically becomes self-fulfilling, like a machine that's got its own engine running," he explains. They may police one another, disown family members who fall away from the group, and even be violent with people who they perceive as being an enemy to the group.

"So at least on the definition I've given, it's pretty easy to call the Branch Davidians under David Koresh a cult," Dr. Kunz says.

In the aftermath of the Waco raid, Janet Reno tasked independent counsel John Danforth with conducting an investigation. Danforth determined that the Branch Davidians set the fire and shot themselves to fulfill their own end-of-the-world prophecy.

In hopes of preventing future tragedies, the United States government took various steps.

The FBI created a critical incident response group trained to deal with crisis situations, for example. The agency also established relationships with crisis resolution centers at Michigan State University and George Mason University to gain insights from their behavioral science experts during a crisis.

As news reports rolled out, many people were critical of the federal law enforcement agencies' methods and blamed them for the tragic outcome. The Waco raid reminded some of the controversial tactics used by law enforcement at Ruby Ridge, less than a year earlier.

One critic was Timothy McVeigh, who — incensed by what he perceived as more evidence of a tyrannical federal government — used 5,000 pounds of explosives to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people including 19 children.

In McVeigh's writings, he mentioned both Ruby Ridge and Waco. Meanwhile, some believe that Waco helped spur conspiracy-fueled, anti-government militant groups that were popping up.