The FBI Raid on the Branch Davidian Complex

Paper Summary:

This paper briefly describes the 1993 raid carried out by the FBI on the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, Texas and then discusses the legal suit brought against the U.S. government by family and friends of the Branch Davidian members as a result of the raid. The paper explains that the suit filed against the FBI accused them of acting recklessly and thereby endangering the lives of the people on the Davidian complex. The paper describes the legal issues brought up in the trial, developments in the trial and the final decision that cleared the FBI agents.

From the Paper:

"In 1994, more than 200 family and friends of the men and women killed in the 1993 fire filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. government in the order of $100 million dollars. The plaintiffs claimed that the fires which killed the cult followers were the result of the careless and unprofessional actions of federal agents. The plaintiffs also claimed that when FBI and other agents fired pyrotechnic tear gas into the building, several of the canisters ignited, sparking the fires that killed everyone inside, and that the FBI later blocked fire trucks from the scene. Lawyers who represented various families of the dead alleged that the FBI conduct showed a "reckless disregard for life.""

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