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Waco 'documentary' based on fictionBy Ron Noble
Otherwise credible reviewers of this film have come away from seeing it with erroneous conclusions that prove my point. They call it a fair documentary despite the entire film being premised on falsities. For example, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times stated in a review that “the original raid was staged as a publicity stunt” and that “whatever happened at Waco, these facts remain: It is not illegal to hold and trade firearms. It is legal to defend your own home against armed assault, if that assault is illegal.” Remember, Koresh had machine guns and grenades. Stanley Kauffman in the New Republic makes a similar assertion that Koresh and the Davidians were conducting a legal firearms business to support themselves. Finally, columnist Paul Craig Roberts asks, "How can a warrant to inspect some firearms result in the death of 85 men, women and children?" That question underscores the film's failure to tell the viewers that Koresh and his followers had 30 minutes advance warning of ATF raid, but instead of simply permitting the search to proceed, they prepared for and ambushed about 70 ATF agents. I implore the Academy not to conclude based on viewing this film that U.S. citizens have the right to manufacture machine guns and hand grenades in their homes. They do not. Nor do they have the right to shoot rifles, handguns and machine guns and to throw hand grenades at individuals whom they know to be police officers possessing judicially issued search and arrest warrants. Such a response places the brave men and women of law enforcement as well as ordinary citizens at unnecessary risk. Being mindful of the undisputed facts about Waco that follow may serve to prevent the Academy from inadvertently converting a biased fiction film into a true documentary. First and foremost, neither Koresh nor any other sect member living on the compound had a license to manufacture firearms, to be a firearms dealer or to possess machine guns, silencers and hand grenades. Thus, even if Koresh were conducting a firearms business, it would have been illegal. And to this day, no independent evidence exists to show that Koresh was operating any firearms business. Second, the Treasury Department in its independent review, and Congress in its hearings on Waco. determined that Koresh did illegally manufacture and possess machine guns and explosives. The film offers no physical or testimonial evidence that Koresh possessed or even thought he possessed any type of license to manufacture or sell machine guns, hand grenades and silencers. More important, on Feb. 28, 1994, a federal jury sitting in Texas found various Branch Davidians guilty of using firearms (including machine guns) during a crime of violence, guilty of voluntary manslaughter, guilty of aiding and & abetting Koresh in the illegal manufacture of machine guns and hand grenades, and guilty of possessing machine guns and hand grenades. Specifically, 48 machine guns, 22 silencers and numerous live hand grenades were recovered from Koresh’s compound and introduced at trial. At trial, Kathy Schroeder, a Branch Davidian who was inside the compound before and during ATF's raid, testified about Koresh’s plan to turn his guns on non-believers at a local McDonald's. She also testified about how the Branch Davidians dressed in combat fatigues and armed themselves about 30 minutes before ambushing ATF agents who were executing lawfully and judicially issued arrest and search warrants. On June 18, 1994. US District Court Judge Walter Smith sentenced five of the eight Branch Davidians convicted of firearms-related offenses to the maximum term permissible, 40 years of imprisonment. These are the facts regarding the nature of Koresh’s illegal firearms-related activity and proof that an independent entity found the Davidians conduct criminal, violent and dangerous. I urge Americans and members of the Academy to read the Treasury Department's independent report on Waco for an accurate account of the events leading up to this tragedy. It dishonors the dedicated ATF agents who died or were wounded on Feb. 28, 1993, to misstate, minimize or distort the ATF's valid concerns about Koresh’s illegal firearms activity inside that compound. We owe law enforcement and the American public more facts than this film provides. Ron Noble, a professor of law at New York University served as on assistant treasury secretary for enforcement in the Clinton administration. He led a department investigation of the ATF's role in the Waco Incident.
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Today marks the five-year anniversary of the federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms failed raid on David Koresh’s Branch Davidian
compound near Waco, Texas. One would think that, after five years,
hundreds of news articles, eight congressional hearings, several books
and investigative reports as well as two movies, the American public
would know what went wrong and why on Feb. 28, 1993. Unfortunately, the
voluminous nature of the information and America's preference fur
trusting television and movies to retell history have created a
dangerous outcome. A film titled "Waco! The Rules of Engagement" dressed
up in phony documentary clothes with sensational footage from the raid
and congressional hearings has altered the history of what happened at
Waco. Its interim reward has been a nomination for an Academy Award;
however, unless the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences closely
scrutinizes the true record of Waco, the film may win an Oscar for best
documentary instead of best fiction film.