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Branch Davidianmember of an offshoot group of the Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church that made headlines on February 28,when its Mount Carmel headquarters near WacoTexaswas raided by the U. A lengthy standoff between the group and government agents then followed. It ended on April 19, after some 80 members of the group, including their leader David Koreshdied when the Mount Carmel complex was burned to the ground following an attempted entrance by Federal Bureau of Investigation FBI agents.
Having been rebuffed by Adventist leaders, Houteff and his original followers settled near Waco in and began to prepare for what they believed was the imminent return of Jesuscomplaining that the Adventists had abandoned this task in favour of worldly pursuits.
They lived a simple life and avoided most commercial forms of entertainment. The hardworking community became self-sustaining, and its literature circulated to a growing group of believers across the country.
David koresh and the atf raid
Houteff died in and was succeeded by his wife, Florence. Beginning in Marchhundreds of believers gathered at the Texas centre. The failure of the prediction led to the splintering of the movement into several factions.
In Florence announced that she had erred, disbanded her following, and sold Mount Carmel. See also millennialism.
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He called his members to a purer life and promised that Christ would return soon after the members reached a state of moral maturity. When Roden died inmembers were torn between allegiance to his wife, Lois, and his son, George. Lois found an ally in a young convert, Vernon Howell —but her death in left George in control. Within a year, however, Howell had asserted his leadership and become the head of the Mount Carmel community. Howell moved quickly to assert his spiritual authority, and one of his first acts was the adoption of a new name, David Koresh.
This name suggested that he was a spiritual heir of the biblical King David and that he, like Koresh Hebrew for Cyrusthe ancient Persian kingwas a messianic figure—though not the MessiahJesus. Cyrus is the only non-Jew to whom the title messiahor "anointed one," is given in Scripture. And the answer remains—a Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass.
Those allegations were aired in a trial in which an ex-member sought custody of his daughter. Investigators, unsophisticated in the apocalyptic language of the Bible adopted by the group, also worried that the Branch Davidians might attack their neighbours or even Waco while fulfilling an imagined endtime scenario.
Early in ATF agents in Texas requested a search warrant for Mount Carmel but decided to make a surprise forced entry rather than serve the warrant. House of Representatives and the Senate. The agency reports and hearings sought to place blame for the deaths, and several agents were disciplined for improper actions.
In August the U. The U. In July Danforth issued a preliminary report that absolved the U. A few survivors of the raid were tried in court. They were found not guilty of the murder of the ATF agents but received lengthy jail sentences for their actions during and after the raid.
Basic organization
The remaining survivors some 25 in reorganized, published the writing of Koresh, and began the process of rebuilding the movement. By the end of the s it had more than doubled in size, though no clear leadership had emerged.
Branch Davidian. Additional Info. Print print Print.
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