Waco Part 1: The "Bad” Guys
On February 28th, 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms attempted to serve a warrant on a religious group at their compound outside of Waco, Texas. Known as the Branch Davidians, the group was an offshoot of the Seventh Day Adventists who had left the organization and banded together under the leadership of a Bulgarian immigrant named Victor Houteff in 1930. Through a series of intrigues and internal battles, control of the group landed with Vernon Howell, the young man who would become known to the world as David Koresh. When the ATF raided the compound looking for illegal weapons, it kicked off a 51 day standoff that would leave four ATF agents and 76 Branch Davidians dead. Where is the line that separates a group of religious believers and a cult? How do cult leaders persuade people to believe in them in the face of immoral and even illegal behavior? Does labeling a group as a cult serve to stigmatize people with beliefs outside of the religious mainstream?