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Nosathro -> RE: "Stand Your Ground" law under attack.... (5/11/2012 7:52:59 AM)
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quote:
ORIGINAL: BamaD
That flies in the face of all logic. The ATF comand post was 1/4 mile from the compound. For a person with a Barrett that is like a 3 in putt. Texas rangers were not invoved in Waco. The survivors were aquitted of all gun charges for lack of evidence. Bradly fighting vehicles were not involved they would be army and the army did not participate. If the Brady people issued that report it is a flat out lie.
Wrong again
The Waco Davidian Standoff
September 1999
By Rick Ross
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That standoff began February 28th when agents of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) attempted to serve Koresh with a warrant at his Davidian compound outside Waco, Texas. This effort erupted in gunfire. Heavily armed Davidians fired upon federal agents killing four and wounding 16 BATF officers.
Mt. Carmel Burning
After the shootout Koresh refused to leave the enclosure often called "Ranch Apocalypse." The FBI assumed control of the perimeter and conducted negotiations. David Koresh repeatedly broke his promises to come out peacefully. A frustrated and exhausted FBI subsequently attempted to end the standoff by gassing the compound. Koresh, then forced to choose between his compound Kingdom and certain criminal prosecution, opted to end not only of his own life, but that of his followers as well.
This was the tragic end of Koresh's six-year-rule over the once benign Davidian sect, originally founded by an officially excommunicated Seventh Day Adventist named Victor Houteff who died in 1955. David Koresh was a man many mental health experts were inclined to describe as a likely "psychopath."
Koresh's leadership of the Davidians began with violence. A gun battle in 1987 between Koresh (assisted by 7 heavily armed followers) and a rival leader George Roden Jr. led to his trial for attempted murder. But the jury deadlocked and prosecutors chose not to retry Koresh. Texas prosecutor Denise Wilkerson observed at the time that David Koresh "was building an arsenal" and "preparing for a battle with someone."
According to financial records Koresh spent $199,715.00 on weapons and ammunition in the 17 months immediately proceeding the BATF raid on his compound.
The remnants of a huge arsenal was later found after the fire amidst the ruins of the Davidian compound. This stockpile included grenades, gas masks, more than a million rounds of ammunition and at least 40 submachine guns.
Amongst the more than 200 weapons catalogued were:
19 SGW CAR-AR assault submachine guns (three fitted with silencers), nine other silencers
8 hand grenades and at least 31 other grenade parts and fragments, more than 20 pieces and fragments of rockets (apparently used to make rocket-propelled grenades) along with 1 sight for a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
3 Israeli-made IMI Galil assault rifles
10 Ruger Mini-14 assault rifles (one with a mounted scope)
A barrel for a M60 machine gun
1 30 mm rocket shell
9 FAL assault rifles (three mounted on bipods)
At least 54 AK-47 or AKS assault rifles (some converted to fully automatic submachine guns)
11 .12-gauge shotguns (one with a sawed-off barrel)
Dozens of pistols
Dozens of barrels for M-16s, AR-15s and other weapons
Gas masks and one chemical warfare suit
Several Kevlar tactical vests and other body armor and eight Kevlar helmets.
Also found were lathes, milling equipment and other tooling machinery, which essentially substantiated the suspicions of authorities, who believed that Koresh and the Davidians were engaged in the illegal conversion of assault rifles to automatic weapons and the manufacture of crude "grease guns."
Six surviving Branch Davidians were subsequently convicted of voluntary manslaughter and/or using a firearm in a violent crime. Two Davidians were also convicted on related weapons charges.
Four Davidians were sentenced to 10 years for voluntary manslaughter, one to 30 years for using a firearm in a violent crime. A sentence of 20 years was given to another Davidian for possessing a grenade and using a firearm in a violent crime. And one Davidian was sentenced to 15 years for possessing and conspiring to possess machine guns.
Six Davidians were ordered to pay fines and $1.3 million in restitution to the slain BATF agents' families and the government.
In 1997 the Supreme Court rejected the appeals of six Davidians, effectively ending their appeal process
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