By: Ben Gourley

Branch Davidians believe that God will always send them a prophet to help guide them especially in the last days because they feel they are God's chosen people for the days close to the end of the world They feel that god is revealing himself as the “New Light” now it is the end times It is believed that God gives revelations to the world. The lamb at the end time will be able to explain the Seven Seals of Revelation. Branch Davidians believe that the U.S government killed the Son of God because David Koresh was believed to be the second messiah because he was able to explain the Seven Seals.

Founded in 1955 Broke off from Davidian Seventh-day Adventists Members were doing aberrant things which resulted in them being kicked out and forming The Branch Davidians also known as “The Branch” First led by Benjamin Lloyd Roden

“One night while I was in bed, the Lord picked me up by the pajama tops and told me to write a letter…” Believed that Judgment Day was soon Taught that a new messiah was coming soon leadership moved the several miles east of Waco, Texas, which they named Mount Carmel, after a mountain in Israel Died October 22, Vernon Howell took over The Branch

Vernon Howell was his original name Took over the branch after Roden’s death Koresh is the Persian name of Cyrus the Great, a Persian king who is named a Messiah for freeing Jews during the Babylonian Captivity An argument with George Roden angered Koresh who forced The Branch to split yet again. Roden’s people were forced off the property

Members of the Waco, Texas newspaper began criticizing Koresh calling him “The Sinful Messiah” Koresh had allegedly committed statutory rape with dozens of children, as low as age 10 Koresh declared he owned at least 140 wives

Roden dug up the body of Anna Hughes and challenged Koresh to a resurrection contest to prove he was the messiah. Koresh reported him to the authorities. 8 armed men entered the Mount Carmel chapel, with the goal of photographing the body in the casket as evidence to incriminate Roden of corpse abuse. Weapons began being stockpiled after this event. This sparked the attention of the ATF

The Texas ATF attempted to negotiate a way out for the hostages After this didn’t work, the FBI and the ATF tried many methods to get people out like sleep deprivation Tanks put holes in the walls of the compound and inserted tear gas. Water and electricity were cut off from the compound Koresh used these assaults to strengthen the “End of Time” idea

A fire starts in 3 places at the exact same time 9 of Koresh’ s followers came out and surrendered Koresh got one of his aid’s to shot him and end his life Many of Koresh’s follower also died from suffocation or being crushed by the compound's walls

The incident was an example of the overreach of government The government issued a search warrant because they had guns Allegations of Koresh’s rape of children ended up being false. He did have 140 wives though After Koresh refused access to the compound, the government brought in tanks that shot tear gas. There were only 9 survivors. 76 people died. Attorney General Janet Reno

Chanel Andrade, 1, American Jennifer Andrade, 19, American Katherine Andrade, 24, American George Bennett, 35, British Susan Benta, 31, British Mary Jean Borst, 49, American Pablo Cohen, 38, Israeli Abedowalo Davies, 30, British Shari Doyle, 18, American Beverly Elliot, 30, British Doris Fagan, 51, British Yvette Fagan, 32, British Lisa Marie Farris, 24, American Raymond Friesen, 76, Canadian Sandra Hardial, 27, British Diana Henry, 28, British Paulina Henry, 24, British Phillip Henry, 22, British Stephen Henry, 26, British Vanessa Henry, 19, British Zilla Henry, 55, British Novellette Hipsman, 36, Canadian Floyd Houtman, 61, American Sherri Jewell, 43, American David M. Jones, 38, American Bobbie Lane Koresh, 2, American Cyrus Koresh, 8, American David Koresh, 33, American Rachel Koresh, 24, American Star Koresh, 6, American Jeffery Little, 32, American Nicole Gent Little, 24, Australian, pregnant Dayland Lord Gent, 3, Australian Paiges Gent, 1, American Livingston Malcolm, 26, British Anita Martin, 18, American Diane Martin, 41, British Lisa Martin, 13, American Sheila Martin, Jr., 15, American Wayne Martin, Jr., 20, American Wayne Martin, Sr., 42, American Abigail Martinez, 11, American Audrey Martinez, 13, American Crystal Martinez, 3, American Isaiah Martinez, 4, American Joseph Martinez, 8, American Julliete Martinez, 30, American John-Mark McBean, 27, British Bernadette Monbelly, 31, British Melissa Morrison, 6, British Rosemary Morrison, 29, British Sonia Murray, 29, American Theresa Nobrega, 48, British James Riddle, 32, American Rebecca Saipaia, 24, Filipino Judy Schneider, 41, American Steve Schneider, 43, American Mayanah Schneider, 2, American Clifford Sellors, 33, British Scott Kojiro Sonobe, 35, American Floracita Sonobe, 34, Filipino Aisha Gyrfas Summers, 17, Australian, pregnant Gregory Summers, 28, American Startle Summers, 1, American Hollywood Sylvia, 1, American Lorraine Sylvia, 40, American Rachel Sylvia, 12, American Chica Jones, 2, American Michelle Jones Thibodeau, 18, American Serenity Jones, 4, American Little One Jones, 2, American Margarida Vaega, 47, New Zealander Neal Vaega, 38, New Zealander Mark H. Wendell, 40, American