Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,alt.politics.clinton,talk.politics.guns Path: teetot.acusd.edu!network.ucsd.edu!swrinde!gatech!wa4mei!ke4zv!gary From: [g--y] at [ke4zv.uucp] (Gary Coffman) Subject: Re: BATF and SS : kindred souls Date: Sun, 21 Mar 1993 13:53:26 GMT In article <[C 40 CxK M L q] at [dscomsa.desy.de]> [h--ll--m] at [zeus02.desy.de] writes: > >Koresh amongst his illegal possetion of arms charges is being investigated >for paedophillia. Reports comming out of the Waco compont strongly suggest >that child abuse has been occuring. What reports coming out of the church property are you talking about? The government has sealed off all communications with the church people. They've even gone so far as to install jamming equipment against their CB radios. There are *no* reports of any kind coming from the church people. However, the State of Texas Department of Childrens Services *has* investigated these claims, visiting the church property two weeks before the BATF attack. They reported *no* evidence of any child abuse. >Now this may or may not be true, one cannot prejudge Koresh's guilt. >However nobody has a right to be imune from the law which is what Koresh >has declared himself to be. People are not allowed to arm themselves with >a small personal arsenal because people who do are a danger. The head of the BATF said after being pressed on the news program _48 Hours_ that the church people *may* have a *dozen* or more weapons, including SKS rifles and at least one Glock pistol, in their possession. He was unwilling to say if they had more, or if there were *any* illegal weapons on church property. He admitted, when pressed further, that ownership of SKS and Glock weapons is *not* illegal. >Now how would the "survivalists" on the network suggest that you deal >with someone like Koresh, do you look at the list of explosives and say >"oh lets just send round Bob in a squad car"? It is a hostage situation. It *is* a hostage situation alright. The government is holding the church people, and their children, hostage, after trying unsuccessfully to kill them all. They did manage to kill a 2 year old in their attack. The government has brought forth *no* proof that there are *any* explosives on the farm, though possession of dynamite by farmers is common, and legal. The last time there were legal problems with the church people, the county Sheriff came to the door, knocked, presented an arrest warrant to Koresh for attempted murder, and Koresh surrendered to the Sheriff with no problems. He was later found not guilty of the charge. >|>The U.S. broadcast news media tell us that the Branch Davidians >|>practice contemptible sexual rituals involving young children, so they >|>are an evil religious cult. Nazi news media told the German populace >|>that the Jews practiced contemptible sexual rituals involving >|>children, so they were an evil religion. > >Only in the case of the Branch Davinians the allegations are quite >possibly true. Get the hook out of your mouth. It looks silly. >The Jews in the NAZI ghetto were protecting themselves against a fascist >government that was carrying out methodical extermination of all Jews. >Comparing this to the BATF sttempting to aprehend criminals who actually >do have a huge illegal arsenal and who have committed murder is sick >in the extreeme. The BATF has presented *no* evidence of a "huge illegal arsenal". The most the head of the BATF will admit is that the church members *may* have a dozen perfectly legal weapons. There is also no evidence that the church members have commited murder. Repelling an armed attack is considered self defense in this country. To prove murder, the government is going to have to prove that government agents didn't take the first hostile action. That's going to be hard to do when it's on tape that they threw grenades at the start of their attack, and no shots from the church members occured until two minutes later. >Comparing a police action to aprehend people who are indisputably guilty >of having collected a huge illegal arsenal is not only sick it is dangerous. >By saying that the BATF are as bad as the NAZIs you are also stating that >the NAZIs were no worse than the BATF. Equating the mass murder of >unnarmed innocent civillians with an attempt to arrest people for holding >illegal arms is a monstrous act. It's so generous of you to bring a finding of guilty against people who have not even been tried. I suppose the two year old child of the church members was guilty of the "monsterous" crime of having self defense weapons, huh? In that case, 100 million Americans are "guilty". Can we expect the BATF to be mounting surprise military assaults on the rest of us next? Gary -- Gary Coffman KE4ZV | You make it, | gatech!wa4mei!ke4zv!gary Destructive Testing Systems | we break it. | uunet!rsiatl!ke4zv!gary 534 Shannon Way | Guaranteed! | emory!kd4nc!ke4zv!gary Lawrenceville, GA 30244 | |