Waco siege, a 51-day standoff between Branch Davidians and federal agents that ended on April 19, 1993, when the religious group’s compound near Waco, Texas, was destroyed in a fire. Nearly 80 people were killed. The Branch Davidians were founded by Ben Roden in 1959 as an offshoot of the Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which had been established by Victor Houteff several decades earlier. Houteff’s group eventually moved to a farm some 10 miles east of Waco, Texas, but by 1962 Roden and his followers had taken possession of the settlement, which was known as Mt. Carmel. There the Branch
Susan Weems/AP Images
The Branch Davidians were founded by Ben Roden in 1959 as an offshoot of the Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist Church, which had been established by Victor Houteff several decades earlier. Houteff’s group eventually moved to a farm some 10 miles east of Waco, Texas, but by 1962 Roden and his followers had taken possession of the settlement, which was known as Mt. Carmel. There the Branch Davidians lived a simple life, preparing for the imminent return of Jesus. However, in the mid-1980s the group became embroiled in a power struggle, and by the end of the decade Vernon Howell (later called David Koresh) had become head of the Mt. Carmel community. He soon began taking “spiritual wives,” several of whom were reportedly as young as 11. Allegations of child abuse and Koresh’s launch of a retail gun business attracted the attention of legal authorities.