DATE=7/21/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=WACO INVESTIGATION (L)
NUMBER=2-264668
BYLINE=MICHAEL LELAND
DATELINE=CHICAGO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: An investigation has declared the United
States government did nothing wrong when it took
action in 1993 to end a standoff in Waco, Texas,
headquarters of a religious sect known as the Branch
Davidians. Authorities surrounded the sect members'
compound in Waco for 51 days. As they tried to move
in, a fire destroyed the site and left 80 members of
the group dead. VOA's Michael Leland has more.
TEXT: A report by the government's special counsel in
the case, former U-S Senator John Danforth, sought to
answer what Mr. Danforth called "four dark questions":
Did U-S government agents start the fire that killed
the Davidians? Did government agents shoot at
Davidians on the day of the fire? Was the U-S
military improperly used in ending the standoff? And
did the U-S government engage in a major cover-up
afterwards? Mr. Danforth says he has concluded with
100-percent certainty that the answer to all of those
questions is "no."
/// DANFORTH ACT ///
Responsibility for the tragedy at Waco rests
with certain of the Branch Davidians and their
leader, David Koresh, who shot and killed four
[gopvernment] A-T-F agents, wounded 20 others,
shot at F-B-I agents trying to insert tear gas
into the complex, burned down the complex and
shot at least 20 of their own people, including
five children.
/// END ACT ///
Mr. Danforth released his preliminary findings Friday
in (the Midwest city of) St. Louis. It is the result
of hundreds of interviews, a review of one-and-one-
half-million pages of documents, and the results of a
reenactment of events on the final day of the siege.
The firm that conducted the simulation, Vector Data
Systems of Great Britain, says it compared results of
its reenactment with videotape taken during the final
hours of the standoff. It says it was unable to
detect any gunfire from either federal agents or
Branch Davidian members. Davidian attorneys have
called Vector's conclusions "fatally flawed."
It is the second time in a week the U-S government has
been cleared of wrongdoing in ending the Waco siege.
Last week, an advisory jury in a civil trial ruled the
government was not negligent in trying to end the
matter. The judge in that case has yet to deliver his
final ruling.
The 51-day standoff at the Davidian compound began
February 28th, 1993, when a gunfight erupted as
federal agents attempted to serve the Davidians with
search and arrest warrants for possible weapons
charges. Four federal agents and six Davidians died
in the fight. (Signed)
NEB/MJL/WTW
21-Jul-2000 16:06 PM EDT (21-Jul-2000 2006 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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