April 19 was one year since ATF raided David Koresh in Mt. Carmel. I attended two memorial services for the 86 men, women and children who died there.

What is the most shocking is to see how even some church members whom I've spoken to actually believe the media's point of view, and do not understand that by looking at the Davidians, we can see some of the same issues our church faced in the beginning. Like us, they struggled without money or media to defend themselves.

There are now many religious and political leaders and organizations, such as the ACLU, standing up for them, realizing what really happened in Waco. I do some work on the access cable TV in Austin, and decided to get some footage of the event. It was a heartbreaking experience to see how these people were crushed to death by the government and ATF. Practically all the surviving members hate the world and the media now. They only respect one newspaper in the whole world now, The Washington Times, which exposed the fact that the so-called tear gas used by the ATF is poisonous and has been banned by the Geneva Convention.

There are many things to go into here, but the facts now suggest that CAN and AFF (American Family Foundation) were ultimately behind the raid.

Now to some facts: I have a book, From the Ashes: Making Sense of Waco, by James R. Lewis, and a video, Waco: the Big Lie, by the American Justice Federation, which is a video of the raid itself which will make your hair stand on end.

David Koresh was a self-proclaimed prophet like many other prophets, and he was struggling with problems with which we can identify. We both have difficulties especially because of ex-members who spread false rumors and go to the media. Of course, everyone believes these rumors except the current members of the Branches Davidians. All the headlines and rumors come from these apostate members, many of whom have been deprogrammed by CAN. They spread the same rumors True Father dealt with in the earlier days. None of the current members gives such testimonies.

David Koresh did something that I will say was not wise. He dealt in weapons. He did not plan a raid on the city of Waco or anybody else. he made money by buying and selling weapons in accordance with the laws of Texas. However, this was used as an excuse to raid the place.

He had permits and he had a good relationship with the sheriff and marshall in Waco. These people were farmers and made good money buying and selling weapons the way other people sell cars. During the raid David Koresh was shot without any questions asked. The ATF knows how he was shot, because the government men came to the door, David Koresh opened it, and ATF opened fire before any exchange of words could take place. David Koresh slammed the door, and dialed 911. A recording of his call can be heard on the video Waco: the Big Lie. He said that there were 75 (there were actually 100) men surrounding his house. He told them to stop firing because of the women and children. The video clearly shows that all the bullets in the front door were shot from the outside in, contradicting the ATF report which claims that the gunfire from within was os heavy that the door bowed outward under the strain of the fire. The 100 men surrounding the building were special forces agents performing a forced entry. The helicopters overhead, which were reported to be Coast Guard helicopters, were in fact U.S. Army helicopters equipped with machine guns which fired directly onto women and children. It is a bold lie that the ATF, as their spokeswoman claimed, bumbled the raid not due to poor planning or the loss of the element of surprise, but because they were outgunned. There were four ATF agents killed, but the evidence is strong that they were shot by their own men, and not by the Davidians. The tapes released to the press were highly edited and deceiving. These edited tapes are analyzed in The Big Lie, along with several still shots and tapes from unbiased sources.

As law-abiding citizens we question the sanity of anyone who engages in a standoff with the police, but we become more sympathetic when we learn that the accusations of child abuse, fabricated by ex-members and supported by CAN, were used to place any of the children who left the church complex in foster homes.

On the morning of the raid, one member was on the way to work. He heard about what ws happening back home on the radio and returned to the "compound". He was checked by the police for weapons, and then tried to enter the building. On the way in, he was shot in the back. CAN had influenced ATF so badly that David Koresh and his followers had no human value at all in their eyes, and the orders were to shoot to kill. The Mt. Carmel church was surrounded by snipers who shot anyone trying to escape the burning buildings.

Again, we all have heard the ATF claim that the fires were started by Koresh, but again, there is a large body of evidence to the contrary. During the raid, the tanks they used, according to Soldier of Fortune, have a flame-thrower built into the barrel, and we can see clearly on the videotapes that wherever the tank makes a hole in the building, smoke comes from that place within seconds. There is even one shot showing a small flame in the front of the tank. One reporter questioned this at a press conference, and of course no ATF or government spokesperson could explain this mystery. Another mystery is that some agents showed up in fireproof suits before a single strand of smoke was seen that morning.

The ATF targeted the exits and stairwells. It was in these strategic places that the poisonous gas was used. The ATF was not trying to smoke anyone out to force them to leave the complex, but instead used the gas and flames to trap the people inside the buildings.

After everything was burned down, the place got bulldozed, and most of the evidence was destroyed. The Texas Rangers were not allowed to inspect the site, and it is fenced in now, guarded 24 hours a day by security. It is called a contaminated area because of lead poisoning- because of the ammunition used by David Koresh, it is claimed.

Ironically, on the day of the fire, David Koresh made his concluding prophecy on a computer disc which was found with the date on it.

So here you have it, brothers and sisters. At the memorial service, I carried a little cross to hang on the fence while the freedom bell rang. A reporter came to me and asked what I have to do with this. I answered that I could have been in that pile of rubble and ash. I know exactly what they went through, but because of True Parents' hard work and strong foundation, the government is a little more wary of doing things like this to us anymore.

Please write for the video WACO: THE BIG LIE. It costs $20, and you can order it from:

American Justice Federation
3850 S. Emerson Avenue, Suite E
Indianapolis, IN 46203
Ph (317) 780-5204/Fax (317) 780-5209

Also, you can order From the Ashes: Making Sense of Waco for $20 from:

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
4720 Boston Way
Lanham, MD 20706

At the memorial service, I wanted to walk around Mt. Carmel, or rather the rubble left of it, but I hesitated because I'm spiritually sensitive. I was thinking that most likely I would feel the anger and resentment the Davidians had towards humanity, but I went around anyway. Instead I felt a good spirit around the place. I was kind of surprised, and when I thought about it, I think it may have been because we were the only ones helping them when they needed it the most. Another reason may be that it was in parallel with many things in history, such as the holocaust. Interestingly, the opening of the Holocaust memorial museum in Washington was on the very day of the raid.

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