FAQ

In an attempt to infiltrate far right extremist groups an undercover agent of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) purchased a pair of illegally sawn off shotguns from an ex-US Army combat engineer called Randy Weaver. Rather than arrest Weaver for firearms offences BATF sought to use the threat of prison to force him to become an informant against various extremist and racist groups he was associated with. Weaver refused. Three conflicting court dates were given to him and fearing a conspiracy against he hid in a cabin. After his failure to appear for court a team of US Marshalls was dispatched to arrest him at the remote cabin in Idaho where he lived with his family. A firefight ensued, killing Weaver's teenage son and one of the Marshalls (the Marshalls maintain that they returned fire when fired upon, the Weavers claim the firing started when the Marshalls shot the family dog as it raced towards them). A siege ensued and the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) was brought in to seal off the area. However in an unprecedented move the team commander rewrote the rules of engagement allowing one of his snipers to open fire on any armed persons visible near the cabin rather than only if they posed a threat to life. As a result Weaver and a friend were both wounded and his wife Vicki killed by a stray/over-penetrating bullet. The siege would eventually come to an end when ex-Green Beret Colonel Bo Gritz, a hero to many on the extreme right, was brought in to negotiate with Weaver. The case became a cause celebre for anti-government groups and Weaver and his co-defendants were eventually cleared of all charges. However rather than face censure the HRT was actually given a boost in funding due to the increasing threat of extremist political and religious groups as the millennium approached.

Prosecutors in Idaho would bring charges against the sniper who killed Vicki Weaver who was shot while holding her 10 month old son but government officials later forced them to drop the charges.

Noesner had been one of the negotiators at an incident in the Virginia town of Sperryville where a man called Charlie Leaf had taken his estranged wife and son hostage and demanded a helicopter to fly his family into the wilderness or he would kill them all. When Leaf set a deadline to carry out his threat immediately after breakfast the FBI's negotiation team decided there was no prospect for a peaceful end to the siege and in a highly unusual step recommended a rescue by force instead. Leaf was subsequently lured out to the helicopter by the negotiators, distracted by a planned diversion and shot dead by the FBI, allowing his wife and child to be rescued unharmed.

The ATF said that they believed he never left the compound. That they had to raid the compound as he only sent his followers into town. They also were incorrect that he had a meth operation going on at the compound. There was a lot of conflicting information apparent in regards to the events of 1993.

Because it was impossible for them to prove their case unless they caught him at Mt Carmel in 'collective possession' of the illegal weapons, without that physical evidence there was no prospect of a conviction so one way or the other they had to get into cult's arsenal. Also they feared that he could simply claim his followers had carried out the illegal activity without his knowledge whilst he was under arrest. Plus they had no way of knowing how his followers would react to his arrest, going into armed siege mode, committing mass suicide, destroying evidence or using their powerful weaponry to try to free him.

The initial raid was a massive undertaking for the ATF, one of the largest in their history employing massive resources and if they stood it down they would probably never be able to carry it out again. If they did not go ahead then the cult could go into armed siege mode, commit mass suicide or destroy all the evidence of their crimes. Plus they were suspicious that their undercover agent may have become too sympathetic to the Branch Davidians who had to be expecting some form of action from the authorities so the raid was never expected to achieve total tactical surprise.