Branch Davidians By Ben Gourley Beliefs Branch Davidians

Branch Davidians By: Ben Gourley

Beliefs � 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.

History �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

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, 1978. Vernon Howell took over The Branch

David Koresh � 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

Prelude to The Siege on Mount Carmel �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

Prelude pt. II � 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

Siege of Mt. Carmel � 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

Siege pt. II �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

Controversy �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 � Cyrus Koresh, 8, American � Sonia Murray, 29, American � Jennifer Andrade, 19, American � David Koresh, 33, American � Theresa Nobrega, 48, British � Katherine Andrade, 24, American � Rachel Koresh, 24, American � James Riddle, 32, American � George Bennett, 35, British � Star Koresh, 6, American � Rebecca Saipaia, 24, Filipino � Susan Benta, 31, British � Jeffery Little, 32, American � Judy Schneider, 41, American � Mary Jean Borst, 49, American � Nicole Gent Little, 24, Australian, � Steve Schneider, 43, 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 � 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 Mc. Bean, 27, British Bernadette Monbelly, 31, British Melissa Morrison, 6, British Rosemary Morrison, 29, British � 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

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