Waco Siege (1993) (1 Viewer)

[Cherub]

I recently watched a TV mini-series of the Waco siege (its the 25 year anniversary this year) and I have to say was excellent, all the actors were superb and the pace and accuracy were very good. It seems safe to say that the producers have worked very hard to portray a historically fair and accurate narrative.

The ATF and FBI it seems handled things badly, the ATF first with their all guns blazing approach. Sadly 76 people (including babies and small children) eventually died.

The happenings at Waco have to this day far-reaching effect within the US far right. As a 2015 New York Times story looking at Waco’s influence wrote:

For right-wing militias and so-called Patriot groups, Waco amounts to evidence of a tyrannical, illegitimate government unblinkingly prepared to kill its own people ... the spectre of Waco has not faded. Right-wing extremists regularly invoke it as a defining moment, proof of Washington’s perfidy. “Waco can happen at any given time,” Mike Vanderboegh, a prominent figure in the Patriot movement, told Retro Report. He added ominously: “But the outcome will be different this time. Of that I can assure you.”

Anyone watched this or got any other material on David Koresh and the Waco siege or similar events?

 

[Sad Professor]

There was a good documentary about the Waco Incident called "Waco: Rules Of Engagement" that came out in the late nineties. It debunked a lot of aspects of the Feds version of what happened and was nominated for an Academy Award. Been a number of years since I've seen it. So I've no idea if critics have soured on the film or if better docs have come out that supplants it.

 

[Fraser]

I recently watched a TV mini-series of the Waco siege (its the 25 year anniversary this year) and I have to say was excellent, all the actors were superb and the pace and accuracy were very good.

I watched this. It was really good. The book "Waco: A Survivor's Story" By David Thibodeau which TV series draws a lot of source from is also a good read.

Also, try doing a Google search for the Jonestown documentaries as well.

Apparently, Timothy McVeigh was at Waco protesting against ATF treatment and said to have inspired him doing the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

 

[Major Tom]

"Oklahoma City" is a good one on Netflix that draws a line between Ruby Ridge, Waco and the Oklahoma bombings.

That Oklahoma happened on the anniversary of Waco and the fact he'd visited there, it's a fairly safe bet to say Timothy McVeigh was "inspired" by it