The Branch Davidians were founded in 1959 as a religious community and branch of the Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist Church. From its very beginning the Branch Davidians believed that Jesus wasn’t the Christian messiah and that the real messiah was still to come. So when the branch’s leader was imprisoned for murder and David Koresh stepped up claiming to be the real messiah, many were ready to take his word as law. Some members of the religion didn’t believe or follow him, but those that did are the ones who made history darker. While attempting to raid the ranch a gunfight between the bureau and religious members started, leading to the deaths of four government agents and six Branch Davidians. From late February to mid-April of 1993, American federal authorities, Texas state law authorities, and the U.S. military battled the cult. A total of 86 people was killed, only four of which were government officials. Roughly a third of those deaths were the result of a tear-gas attacks orchestrated by the FBI that turned into a fire. That fire was responsible for 76 deaths, including 25 children, two pregnant women, and David Koresh.
Frank Crescentini PI
