From: [h--l] at [vice.ICO.TEK.COM] (Hal F Lillywhite)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,talk.religion.misc,talk.politics.guns
Subject: Re: Religious cult in Waco Texas & one in New york
Date: 9 Mar 93 20:15:11 GMT

The situation near Waco has the appearance of excessive government
force (to say the least).  This perception may or may not be
accurate but I think it should be investigated further.  The
following is a draft of a letter I intend to send to my
representative and senators.  I invite others to join me in calling
for a congressional investigation.  You are welcome to copy my letter,
either verbatim or with whatever modifications you see fit to make.  
If we are very lucky we may get to the bottom of this.

Dear Congressman ...

I am very concerned about what I have heard about the ongoing 
event near Waco, Texas involving David Korash and his "Branch 
Davidian" group.  My concern is with the way federal agents have 
handled this case. I strongly suspect Korash is a first class 
fruitcake and quite likely has broken the law.  However I have
read news of this case which leads me to suspect that the Bureau 
of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms seriously overreacted, causing 
what could have been a routine search to blow up into the circus 
underway at present.  I do not trust the information in the news 
and my suspicions could be quite wrong.  However I believe there 
is enough cause for concern that congress should investigate to
see what really happened.  From what I have read and heard it 
appears that the following occured:

1.  The local sheriff has previously arrested Korash with no 
problems.  He simply served the warrant and Korash went peacefully, 
was tried and acquitted.  There seems to be no evidence that he had 
resisted or would resist a lawful warrant appropriatly served.

2.  Korash had been seen regularly jogging outside his "compound" and 
eating at a restaurant in town.  Some reports place this at only the 
week before the current incident.

3.  BATF officials indicate they had been planning and rehearsing this 
raid for weeks.  This would then include the time Korash was regularly 
appearing outside his compound.  Why not simply serve the warrant when 
he was away from his arsenal?

4.  All reports indicate a raid with no uniformed police.  Apparently 
the raiders jumped out of trailers, surrounded the house and ordered 
the occupants out.  Some reports indicate that the first action of the 
BATF officers was to throw concussion grenades.  There seems to have 
been no indication that these people were serving a warrant.  Indeed I 
see no reason why the occupants would not think they were under attack 
by a group of thugs instead of federal agents.  Did the BATF agents 
properly identify themselves?

5.  Apparently the BATF had a "no-knock" warrant.  Why?  "No-knock" 
warrants may make sense when looking for drugs which can easily be 
flushed down the toilet but how do you quickly dispose of firearms?  
Especially the .50 Cal M2 machine gun they are alleged to have had? 
The "no-knock" approach would enhance the sense that this was a
hostile attack rather than someone serving legal papers.

6.  What was the basis for the warrant?  I understand they were 
looking for illegal firearms especially a .50 Cal M2 heavy machine 
gun.  Yet other reports indicate that in fact this group may have 
had a license to posses such a weapon.  Was there evidence to 
support issuance of this warrant?

7.  Why, with weeks of planning and practice plus an agent inside 
Korash's organization did these agents make such a mess of the 
operation?

8.  There seems to be a lot of secrecy about this affair, including
sealing the warrant.  Why?

I am sorry to say that at present it appears that BATF agents acted 
like a cross between the Gestapo and Keystone Cops rather than what 
I would expect of an agency in a constitutional democracy.  There 
seems to be evidence of a "break down the door" mentality inconsistent 
with what I would expect from agents of the "Land of the Free."   I 
could well be wrong (and hope I am).  However I believe this incident 
is worth a full investigation by congress.   Such an investigation 
should serve either to clear what now appears to be a major stain
on the reputation of the BATF or, if my perception is accurate, to 
show how that agency needs to be cleaned up.