The Branch Davidians

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a look at the events leading up to the standoff between the FBI and the Branch Davidians and the ensuing confrontation. The paper also describes the crimes the Branch Davidian's were suspected of committing that gave the FBI the authority to go after the Branch Davidians, the aftermath of the confrontation and the criticisms leveled at the FBI for the way they handled the entire episode.

Introduction
The Immediate History
The Crime
The Confrontation
Aftermath
Excesses

From the Paper:

"On April 19th, 1993, the standoff between the FBI and associated agencies and the Branch Davidians, in their compound and led by their religious head David Koresh, cam to end when the wooden compound containing the Branch Davidians burned to the ground in a spectacular fire. 72 men, women and children died in the confrontation that had started the previous February 28th (Barrie-Anthony, 2002). Since then, a continuing debate considers whether the government, especially as represented by the FBI and AFT (the Department of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco) used excessive force: whether the situation could have possibly ended without such tremendous loss of life, which included over 20 children (Stone, 1993). The subject is a difficult one to sort out because the events are so recent and so emotional that it is hard to find reports of the incident that have been presented in an unbiased way (Ramsland, 2005)."

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