This day, April 19th, was also the day that the Federal Government ended the siege near Waco Texas.

The Branch Davidians, a group of people simply wanting to be left alone, were attacked on Feb 28th 1993 by the BATF….and they defended themselves.

This, of course, led to the FBI and the US Marshalls service getting involved (happens a lot with the ATF, doesn’t it?)

Eventually, on April 19th, the Feds, under the guidance of Janet Reno The Federal agents decided to “Launch a  teargas attack”  (and, oddly, starting fires in 4 separate places in the compound….) that ultimately burned down the compound, resulting in the deaths of 78 residents, including 25 children. It did appear that the time that the fire fighting apparatus was prevented from entering the compound to fight the fire, but this cannot be proven.

It is believed that the entire raid, and the subsequent deaths, were intended to send a message to a segment of the citizens that did not like the government. Instead it galvanized the citizenry against it.

Ultimately, what happened was that the ATF launched a raid on a bunch of people that just wanted to be left alone to worship and live in peace. They could have handled this in many ways, but they chose brute force and were repelled.

This was, of course, during a time when most Federal agencies were trying to increase their power, backed by a government that was inclined to let them: they were becoming the Jackbooted thugs that many people feared a government could morph into….

The Waco Raid had many issues, and should never have happened, But the final moments of the raid galvanized a nation and caused change….not by revolution but rather by the return of the rule of law. Overreach and ham handedness will do that. Media coverage of atrocities against American citizens will do that.    After the fact, the coverups included allegations that there was Child Abuse and other such complaints, and that the raids were in response to that….but the ATF was the raiding agency….No one bought the story, despite the media pushing it.

However, none of the Law Enforcement people involved in the deaths of those 78 people were ever punished for their participation in the raid or the subsequent deaths.

But this too, on April 19th, helped change the nation and protect freedoms.