A federal judge acquitted the administration on Wednesday - the judge, Walter Smith, ruled that Koresh, who was killed on the spot, is the only one who should be charged with responsibility for the incident
21/09/2000
A federal judge on Wednesday acquitted the US government of any responsibility for the deaths of 80 members of the Davidic sect, led by David Koresh, in a Texas ranch fire in 1993. The judge, Walter Smith, ruled that Koresh, who was killed on the spot, is the only one who should be accused of responsibility for the incident.
In doing so, the judge rejected the claim of about 100 survivors and relatives of the dead, who claimed that the government was responsible for the death of the cult members.
The prosecutors claimed that the FBI was to blame for the death of the cult members, by causing the fire that led to their deaths and accused it of using excessive force in order to bring the case to an end.
The judge said in the verdict that "the adults kept the children inside the area after the fire broke out, instead of sending them to a safe place". This is another defeat in the seven-year struggle, which the members of the cult are conducting against the administration in the United States for responsibility for the incident in Waco.
In February 1993, cult members barricaded themselves in a ranch in Texas, and refused to allow the FBI to enter. The Davidians fortified the farm for 51 days armed with many weapons. When FBI agents tried to break into the farm, a fire broke out, killing 80 cult members. The FBI admitted a year ago that firecrackers were indeed fired at the ranch, however, from post-mortem examinations it became clear that most of the members of the sect had committed suicide even before the fire broke out.
