Outpost of Freedom blog

Waco – A Lesson in History

Part I
Looking Back at Waco

Gary Hunt
Outpost of Freedom
March 4, 2015

On February 28, 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF), raided the Branch Davidians Church, just outside of Waco, Texas. After a firefight lasting about 2 1/2 hours in which the Davidians continue, through 911, to have the firing cease, the BATF finally withdrew, with their tail between their legs. The body count was four dead agents and four dead Davidians (a fifth died within a few days). BATF had far more injuries than the Davidians, and they did not accomplish their mission. Disgraced because of the failure of the ill-conceived plan for the raid, the big brother, the FBI, came in and took charge of the remaining operation.

Mainstream Media began coverage within hours, and would remain for the next 51 days. However, for the most part, the news that they “gathered”, and then fed to the majority of the American people, was nothing more than a rewrite of the daily FBI Press Conference, complete with coffee and donuts.

These events happened before the Internet became readily available, so that alternate media was relegated to fax networking and sympathetic radio talk shows.

Though I arrived in Waco on the evening of March 5, my reports didn’t begin flowing until March 8. Arrangements were made with Ken Varden, who had recently set up operation as the American Patriot Fax Network (APFN), while I continued to write under my recently established Outpost of Freedom. These reports, as well as additional information and pictures taken during and shortly thereafter, see Waco White Papers

Because of limitations (Ken used two fax machines to fax out each report to 800 people, each report), which it took all night to fax out to all recipients, I was limited to one page faxes. As a result, my releases were generally a supplement to the broadcast news, or clarification of MSM reported events.

What we didn’t know then was what the long-term effects of Waco would be, especially to the patriots of this once great nation. Time, however, has provided many answers to many questions, and we can also see that many recent events, such as the shooting, by “law enforcement officers”, of unarmed people, and then cheap rationalizations to justify the “legality” of those actions, has grown far beyond what occurred, over two decades ago.

Many of those currently involved in patriotic activates tend to look at Waco as ancient history, not realizing what we have learned about the misdeeds of government, and how those have expanded into what has become standard operating procedure of the government.

It is well worth your time to set aside a few hours and “bone up” on that travesty of American Justice. Look at what we learned over the next six years as a type of after action report from which we can define the Modus Operandi (method of operation) of government, and where it was born.

Links to the other parts:

Waco A Lesson in History – Part II – Rules of Engagement

Waco A Lesson in History – Part III – A New Revelation

Waco A Lesson in History – Part IV – The FLIR Project