Davidian Trial, San Antonio, Texas

January 24-28, 1994          Day 11-15                          Post 5

January 25, Bill Johnstone (now one of the prosecuting attorneys), according to the BATF Report was present and recommended a dynamic entry for the initial raid on February 28. He stated that he would not sign the warrant request unless it was agreed to. Agent Buford, one of the planners, testified that Johnstone was not present at the planning meeting in which the decision for dynamic entry was made. The court then stated that no more questions regarding the planning could be made.

January 26, Maloney, TV cameraman, testified that he saw the three helicopters used by the BATF make three "loops’ around the center. The National Guard pilots said that they flew up, received fire and left. Maloney also testified that the video footage entered into evidence was, which was introduced by the prosecution as the complete footage of the day of the raid, had been edited by the BATF prior to submission as evidence. BATF agent Griffin said that agent Cohen was shot and fell into the courtyard. She said that Jaime Castillo was standing in the courtyard with a rifle when this happened and could have shot her but did not. Another agent who saw the same incident but identified another Davidian out of photos followed her.

January 28, Rodriquez, the man on the scene (undercover agent) testified that he requested by phone and in person that the raid should be called off. BATF chose to ignore the advice of the one that was closest and knew that the Davidians knew he BATF was coming. He indicated that David Jones did report that a newsman had told him that something big was going to happen. Testimony regarding the second shooting (Bob Kendrick, Delroy Nash and Mike Schroeder) began. Agents allege that the trio began firing first, however no evidence has been submitted to substantiate this. Delroy was found with 99 rounds of 22 ammunition for his Jennings 22 pistol. Concern whether Delroy could testify to substantiate that Bob Kendrick was not involved was expressed. If Delroy testified he would be open to cross examination and possible self-incrimination. So, again, a request to separate the trials was entered. It is expected that this will be denied as similar requests have in the past.

The conflicting testimony is apparent in the prosecution"s case. It is difficult to determine what is true and what is not when different agents see the same situation differently and other witnesses testify that there are discrepancies in the evidence. Only time will tell how the jury perceives these apparent deviations from truth.

A short commentary on the State of the Union speech by Clinton the other day: We were told that because of the high crime rates Congress should pass the gun control legislation. This will restrict ownership of semi-automatic weapons. This, then, would resolve the less than one percent of crimes committed with assault rifles. Bill’s solution for the remaining 99% of crime - take those trained by the military to KILL and put them on the streets as policemen to use their expertise to control crime, AND, create police youth groups (Clinton Jungen, just like Hitler) to condition our children into a police state mentality.

We already have the black uniforms typical of Nazi Germany. I was having breakfast in Opelika, Alabama the other day and there were seven Customs Service people in black combat fatigues (they used to wear khaki colored uniforms). I also wonder what Customs was doing in Opelika, far away from borders and international entry points.

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