From: Gary Hunt at the Outpost of Freedom in Waco, Texas
Date: APRIL 6, 1993 PHONE: (817) 662-2442, ext 223We have been told over and over how nice the BATF people were in dealing with the Branch Davidians on February 28, and since then. So, let"s take a little look at what we have seen, what we have been told by BATF/FBI and what I have been able to find out from other sources.
Regardless of who fired the first shot, we have been told that the BATF had instructions to discriminate their targets. They were supposed to be sure of their target before firing. This is consistent with government policy which is to fire only at targets that pose a threat to the safety of the officers/agents at the scene. It has become clear that those targets were not necessarily identified during the fire-fight. I have spoken to witnesses who have confirmed that what we have seen and heard on video portions to be true. When we see the officers behind vehicles, and sporadically begin firing, if we listen closely we here the word "window" shouted by one of the officers. It has been confirmed that when anybody, man, woman or child, got near a window inside of the complex that they would immediately hear someone yell "window" and the window would begin receiving massive amounts of fire from outside.
We also know that a cease fire was called. I have been told that some of those inside, at first, continued to fire when they saw agents because the flash-bangs had affected their hearing. Eventually word got around and the cease fire became reality. I am not sure about captives being released. However I have been told that a number of agents were "trapped" in certain locations around the complex. When the cease fire began some were reluctant to leave their cover, and when they were told that they could leave, then they responded, "how can I trust you?" They were then told, "trust us, get out of here". We have again seen that the Branch Davidians were thoughtful enough to let those "brave" agents go in and recover the dead and wounded. Not so for the Davidians. Peter Gent remained on top of the water tower for six or seven days, exposed to the weather, until the BATF/FBI allowed, under careful watch of a sniper, the Branch Davidians to climb the tower to recover and bury the body.
We are told by FBI how cruel the Branch Davidians were to "force" older and female members to bury the body. We are not told that the older and female members could not possibly have climbed the tower to remove the body on their shoulders. This appears to be very consistent with the other efforts of the FBI to paint a tainted picture of the Church members. Remember, these were the people that allowed the BATF to come well within rifle range to recover their dead and wounded.
I have also been told that those inside the complex can see the sniper who constantly lay in wait. They have confirmed that there is one behind sandbags by the barn that they can look right down on. Obviously the Branch Davidians are not the evil villains that we are led to believe they are.
Perhaps they are holding the children up as shields to protect them from those that keep rifles trained on them day and night. They, however, do not keep rifles trained on the agents outside.
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