America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s

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Strawser, Justin (April 6, 2020). "Graffiti Highway to be closed by owners". The Daily Item. Archived from the original on April 6, 2020 . Retrieved April 6, 2020. A fire was ignited to clean the dump on May 27, 1962, and water was used to douse the visible flames that night. However, flames were seen once more on May 29. Using hoses hooked up from Locust Avenue, another attempt was made to douse the fire that night. Another flare-up in the following week (June 4) caused the Centralia Fire Company to once again douse it with hoses. A bulldozer stirred up the garbage so that firemen could douse concealed layers of the burning waste. A few days later, a hole as wide as 15ft (4.6m) and several feet high was found in the base of the north wall of the pit. Garbage had concealed the hole and prevented it from being filled with incombustible material. It is possible that this hole led to the mine fire, as it provided a pathway to the labyrinth of old mines under the borough. Evidence indicates that, despite these efforts to douse the fire, the landfill continued to burn; on July 2, Monsignor William J. Burke complained about foul odors from the smoldering trash and coal reaching St. Ignatius Church. Even then, the Centralia council still allowed the dumping of garbage into the pit. [7] The next film was Day 51: The True Story of Waco, produced in 1995 by Richard Mosley and featuring Ron Cole, a self-proclaimed militia member from Colorado who was later prosecuted for weapons violations. [157] Thompson's and Mosley's films, along with extensive coverage given to the Waco siege on some talk radio shows, galvanized support for the Branch Davidians among some sections of the right, including the nascent militia movement, while critics on the left also denounced the government siege on civil liberties grounds. Radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones made his documentary film, America Wake Up (Or Waco), in 2000. [ citation needed] Tanks, chemicals couldn't break resolve of cultists", Associated Press, Washington Times, April 23, 1993. The Branch Davidians (also known as "The Branch") were a religious group that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Shepherd's Rod (Davidians) following the death of the Shepherd's Rod founder Victor Houteff. Houteff founded the Davidians based on his prophecy of an imminent apocalypse involving the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the defeat of the evil armies of Babylon. [23] As the original Davidian group gained members, its leadership moved the church to a hilltop several miles east of Waco, Texas, which they named Mount Carmel, after a mountain in Israel mentioned in Joshua 19:26 in the Bible's Old Testament. [24]

The press coverage of the Waco siege was criticized by some [ who?] for its sensationalism and for providing a platform for David Koresh and his followers. Some journalists were accused of glamorizing Koresh and his beliefs, leading to concerns that the media attention may have unintentionally fueled the cult leader's messianic complex and prolonged the standoff. The legal proceedings that followed were complex and involved charges ranging from firearms violations to conspiracy to commit murder. Several surviving Branch Davidians faced trial, and some were convicted and sentenced to lengthy prison terms. [ citation needed]However, the trials themselves were also criticized by some [ who?] who believed that the defendants that were fueled by the media did not receive a fair trial or that the government failed to fully investigate its own actions during the siege. [ citation needed] [107] Waco and its influence on the people [ edit ] Bill Clinton, My Life, Alfred A. Knopf, Vintage Books (Random House), ISBN 1-4000-3003-X, 2005. pp. 497–99. The Special Counsel considered whether the use of active-duty military at Waco violated the Posse Comitatus Act or the Military Assistance to Law Enforcement Act. These statutes generally prohibit direct military participation in law enforcement functions but do not preclude indirect support such as lending equipment, training in the use of equipment, offering expert advice, and providing equipment maintenance. The Special Counsel noted that the military provided "extensive" loans of equipment to the ATF and FBI, including—among other things—two tanks, the offensive capability of which had been disabled. Additionally, the military provided limited advice, training, and medical support. The Special Counsel concluded that these actions amounted to indirect military assistance within the bounds of applicable law. The Texas National Guard, in its state status, also provided substantial loans of military equipment, as well as performing reconnaissance flights over the Branch Davidian complex. Because the Posse Comitatus Act does not apply to the National Guard in its state status, the Special Counsel determined that the National Guard lawfully provided its assistance. The National Wildland Fire Preparedness Level, a five-point measure of wildfires burning and resources devoted to wildfire fighting, increased from a two to a three this month. At a level three, multiple areas require remote support to aid in firefighting. Niebuhr, Gustav (April 26, 1995). "Terror in Oklahoma: Religion; Assault on Waco Sect Fuels Extremists' Rage". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 18, 2018 . Retrieved August 18, 2018.

Eric Christensen (June 18, 2001). "Reno's halfway house". Insight on the News. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009 . Retrieved March 30, 2008– via FindArticles.

While there was some merit to Trump’s complaints (which had been made less vociferously by previous administrations), it’s also true that NATO doesn’t function that well without the active participation of Europe’s largest country. Germany’s geographic position alone makes it a linchpin in the alliance.

That should worry Washington. For all the talk of the need to concentrate on China, Europe — with Germany as its fulcrum — remains essential to America’s continued prosperity. On March 7, the FBI began consulting with Bible scholars Phillip Arnold and James Tabor, who studied a transcript of Koresh's radio broadcast to try to understand Koresh's theology. That week, Arnold and Tabor were guests on talk radio programs on Dallas radio stations KRLB and KGBS. Koresh heard the programs on a battery powered radio. On March 16, he asked the FBI for permission to discuss the Bible with Arnold directly. The FBI denied this request. [72] So what’s Berlin’s plan? Germany’s big idea for resolving the Ukraine crisis is to revive a dormant diplomatic process known as the Normandy Format that includes Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine but, notably, not the U.S. (That same gathering came up with the so-called Minsk accords, a failed effort to halt the fighting in eastern Ukraine.) Out of sync Even with all the effort to bring the casket to court, the standing judge refused to use it as evidence for the case. [30] Judge Herman Fitts ruled that the courtroom is no place for a casket when defense attorney Gary Coker requested it be used as evidence for the case. During questions about the casket, Roden admitted to attempting to resurrect Anne Hughes on three occasions. The Rodenville Eight were forced to carry the casket down the street to a van awaiting the body. [ citation needed] a b FBI. "Report to the Deputy Attorney General on the Events at Waco, Texas/Child Abuse". Archived from the original on August 17, 2009 . Retrieved January 8, 2009.

a b Aguilera, Davy; Green, Dennis G. (February 25, 1993). "The Waco Affidavit". US District Court for the Western District of Texas - Waco. Archived from the original on October 2, 2019 . Retrieved October 2, 2019– via Constitution Society. On FBI tapes of agents recorded during the siege, an FBI Hostage Rescue Team agent requests permission to fire military tear gas rounds to break through an underground concrete bunker. This permission is granted. [92] :118–119 Higgins, Steve (July 2, 1995). "The Waco Dispute – Why the ATF Had to Act". The Washington Post . Retrieved September 11, 2023.The events at Mount Carmel spurred both criminal prosecution and civil litigation. On August 3, 1993, a federal grand jury returned a superseding ten-count indictment against 12 of the surviving Branch Davidians. The grand jury charged, among other things, that the Branch Davidians had conspired to, and aided and abetted in, the murder of federal officers, and had unlawfully possessed and used various firearms. The government dismissed the charges against one of the 12 Branch Davidians according to a plea bargain. CEV2, with battering ram, rips a hole into second floor of compound; minutes later another hole is punched into the rear of one of the buildings of the compound. The vehicles then withdraw. [93] Richard Scruggs; Steven Zipperstein; Robert Lyon (October 8, 1993). Report to the Deputy Attorney General on the Events at Waco, Texas (Report). The United States Department of Justice. p.Chapter VII, Section A . Retrieved January 29, 2023. The FBI did not exaggerate the child abuse issue when it presented the tear gas option to the Attorney General. The FBI did not try to "sell" the tear gas plan to the Attorney General as a way to save the children. While one of the FBI representatives made one misstatement indicating that Koresh was continuing to beat children during the standoff, that misstatement did not materially influence the Attorney General's decision. Indeed, the FBI included virtually no mention of child abuse in its initial briefing book for the Attorney General. In the final briefing book, prepared on the weekend before April 19, the FBI included the historical evidence of child abuse and in no way indicated that it had any evidence of continuing abuse. a b c "Report and Recommendations. Concerning the Handling of Incidents Such As the Branch Davidian Standoff in Waco Texas". PBS. October 10, 1993. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017 . Retrieved April 1, 2008. a b Witherspoon, Tormy. "District judge throws out Roden's leadership lawsuit". WacoTrib.com. Archived from the original on November 1, 2019 . Retrieved November 1, 2019.

After the death of Lois Roden in November 1986 and probate of her estate in January 1987, Howell attempted to gain control of Mount Carmel Center by force. [28] George Roden had dug up the casket of Anna Hughes from the Davidian cemetery and had challenged Howell to a resurrection contest to prove who was the rightful heir to the leadership. Howell instead went to the police and claimed Roden was guilty of corpse abuse, but the county prosecutors refused to file charges without proof. [29] Vernon Howell (later David Koresh) in a 1987 mug shot On May 7, 1962, the Centralia Council met to discuss the approaching Memorial Day and how the town would go about cleaning up the Centralia landfill, which was introduced earlier that year. The 300-foot-wide, 75-foot-long (91m ×23m) pit was made up of a 50-foot-deep (15m) strip mine that had been cleared by Edward Whitney [ clarification needed] in 1935, and came very close to the northeast corner of Odd Fellows Cemetery. There were eight illegal dumps spread about Centralia, and the council's intention in creating the landfill was to stop the illegal dumping, as new state regulations had forced the town to close an earlier dump west of St. Ignatius Cemetery. Trustees at the cemetery were opposed to the landfill's proximity to the cemetery but recognized the illegal dumping elsewhere as a serious problem and envisioned that the new pit would resolve it. [7]Agent Denies ATF Fired First at Waco, Surrender Offer Called Ruse". AP NEWS . Retrieved April 16, 2023. a b " "Info from listening device, experts weighed, officials say" ". The Galveston Daily News. April 21, 1993 . Retrieved May 22, 2023. As the siege wore on, two factions developed within the FBI, [41] one believing negotiation to be the answer, the other, force. Increasingly aggressive techniques were used to try to force the Branch Davidians out. For instance, sleep deprivation of the inhabitants through all-night broadcasts of recordings of jet planes, pop music, Buddhist chanting, and the screams of rabbits being slaughtered. Outside the compound, nine Bradley Fighting Vehicles carrying M651 CS tear gas grenades and Ferret rounds and five M728 Combat Engineer Vehicles obtained from the U.S. Army began patrolling. [41] The armored vehicles were used to destroy perimeter fencing and outbuildings and crush cars belonging to the Branch Davidians. Armored vehicles repeatedly drove over the grave of Branch Davidian Peter Gent despite protests by the Branch Davidians and the negotiators. [41] Gans, Christophe (2006-03-15). " 'Silent Hill Production Diary: On Adapting Silent Hill Lore, The Red Pyramid, and Using "Centralia" as a Temp Film Title". Sony Pictures. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18 . Retrieved 2023-07-07. While the Wisconsin fire was overshadowed by the Chicago fire, it is still studied by forest managers and firefighters, who use it as an example of bad forestry practices and the power of unpredictable wildfires.