Waco, TX: A tense stand off between David Koresh’s Branch Davidians and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms began in early 1993 at the Branch Davidian ranch, Mount Carmel, outside of Waco, Texas. The Davidians, a millenarian religious group, were eventually defeated by the ATF, but the siege ended tragically with a fire killing 76 people inside the compound. Autopsy records suggest that many of these people had died from gunshot wounds prior to the fire. While the exact sequence of events at Waco are controversial, Mt. Carmel has remained in the hands of the group’s survivors, who have constructed a memorial to those who perished there. A plaque of names is featured prominently, and while the church itself has been rebuilt, many of the original compound buildings remain, a testament to the violence of the past. The Branch Davidians also run a small museum which documents their version of the events and features material objects retained from the ruins.
