The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the siege by U.S. federal government and Texas state law enforcement officials of a compound belonging to the religious cult known as the Branch Davidians between February 28 and April 19, 1993. The Branch Davidians, led by David Koresh, were headquartered at Mount Carmel Center ranch in unincorporated McLennan County, Texas, 13 miles northeast of Waco. Suspecting the group of stockpiling illegal weapons, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) obtained a search warrant for the compound and arrest warrants for Koresh and several of the group's members.
The Mount Carmel Center engulfed in flames on April 19, 1993
Vernon Howell (later David Koresh) in a 1987 mug shot
The Branch Davidian compound (Mount Carmel Center) photographed during the siege
ATF agents attempting to enter the Branch Davidian compound on February 28, 1993
The Branch Davidians are an apocalyptic cult founded in 1955 by Benjamin Roden. They regard themselves as a continuation of the General Association of Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists, established by Victor Houteff in 1935.
A memorial at the Mount Carmel site identifying leaders of the Adventist movement from Ellen G. White to Vernon Howell
David Koresh in a 1987 mug shot
A memorial to the four ATF agents killed in the February 28 raid on the Mount Carmel Center
FBI photo of the Mount Carmel Center engulfed in flames
