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February 19, 1959 - David Koresh

His control over the Branch Davidians combined theological authority with physical coercion, allowing him to maintain dominance over a closed community whose members had few means of exit or recourse. Allegations of polygamy and child sexual abuse preceded the federal attention that culminated in a 51-day armed standoff, ultimately ending in fire and the deaths of more than seventy people inside the compound. The siege at Waco became one of the most scrutinized confrontations between a religious sect and federal law enforcement in American history, raising questions about both the conduct of the government response and the nature of the community Koresh had built.

From Wikipedia

David Koresh

David Koresh (; born Vernon Wayne Howell; August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993) was an American cult leader and preacher who played a central role in the Waco siege of 1993. As the head of the Branch Davidians, a religious sect, Koresh claimed to be its final prophet. His apocalyptic Biblical teachings, including interpretations of the Book of Revelation and the Seven Seals, attracted various followers.

Coming from a dysfunctional background, Koresh was a member and later a leader of the Branch Davidians, a movement originally led by Benjamin Roden, based at the Mount Carmel Center outside Waco, Texas. There, Koresh competed for dominance with another leader, Benjamin Roden's son George, until Koresh and his followers took over Mount Carmel in 1987. In the early 1990s, he became subject to allegations about polygamy and child sexual abuse by former Branch Davidian associates.

Further allegations related to the Branch Davidians' stockpiling of weapons led the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and later the FBI to launch a raid, now known as the Waco siege, on the group's Mount Carmel compound in February 1993. During the 51-day siege and violence that ensued, Koresh was wounded by ATF forces and later died of a gunshot wound in unclear circumstances as the compound was destroyed in a fire.

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