to his followers david koresh was a messiah. god speaks to me. manifestation of god in the flesh. we believe this man had the truth. reporter: but to the u.s. government, david koresh was a threat. machine guns and explosive devices. reporter: in 1993, they went to war in waco. this ain t america anymore when the atf has that kind of power. reporter: it ended in catastrophe. 86 people dead. including at least 24 children. there had been nothing like this before. the siege was new and unique in america law enforcement history. if you distrust the government, waco is going to be symbolic to a lot of people of what they really fear. i m talking to you, somebody s going to get hurt.
god speaks to me. manifestation of god in the flesh. we believe this man had the truth. reporter: but to the u.s. government, david koresh was a threat. machine guns and explosive devices. reporter: in 1993, they went to war in waco. this ain t america anymore when the atf has that kind of power. reporter: it ended in catastrophe. 86 people dead. including at least 24 children. there had been nothing like this before. the siege was new and unique in america law enforcement history. if you distrust the government, waco is going to be symbolic to a lot of people of what they really fear. i m talking to you, somebody s going to get hurt.
to israel. he ultimately stayed to study scripture with david koresh. as his message developed, we came to see him as more than just a prophet. reporter: a messiah. right. manifestation of god in the flesh. reporter: koresh added a twist to his message in 1989, declaring only he could have sex. all the other branch davidian men would be celibate, even married men. koresh, however, could have multiple wives. in this home video that he would later send to federal agents during the siege i m not a mean person. no, no. reporter: koresh linked his blend of spirituality and sex with the purity of the garden of eden. he was showing in the bible this, passage would say we were
david koresh. my name is david koresh. to his followers david koresh was a messiah. god speaks to me. manifestation of god in the flesh. we believe this man had the truth. reporter: but to the u.s. government, david koresh was a threat. machine guns and explosive devices. reporter: in 1993, they went to war in waco. this ain t america anymore when the atf has that kind of power. reporter: it ended in catastrophe. 86 people dead. including at least 24 children. there had been nothing like this before. the siege was new and unique in america law enforcement history.
he ultimately stayed to study scripture with david koresh. as his message developed, we came to see him as more than just a prophet. reporter: a messiah. right. manifestation of god in the flesh. reporter: koresh added a twist to his message in 1989, declaring only he could have sex. all the other branch davidian men would be celibate, even married men. koresh, however, could have multiple wives. in this home video that he would later send to federal agents during the siege am i a mean person? no, no. reporter: koresh linked his blend of spirituality and sex with the purity of the garden of eden. he was showing in the bible this, passage would say we were just loaned to each other. beautiful custom work.