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- Within weeks of her confirmation as attorney general, Reno led the Clinton administration’s confrontation of the Branch Davidians, a cult that had walled itself up in a compound in Waco, Texas. After a 51-day standoff, Reno ordered the FBI to raid the compound, resulting in the deaths of at least 74 cult members, including 25 children.
Mar 22, 2023 · After being told conditions were deteriorating, then–U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno approved the use of tear gas to flush the Branch Davidians from their compound. On April 19, the FBI ...
- colin.mcevoy@hearst.com
- 3 min
- Senior News Editor, Biography.Com
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The Waco siege, also known as the Waco massacre, was the siege by U.S. federal government and Texas state law enforcement officials of a compound belonging to the religious cult known as the Branch Davidians between February 28 and April 19, 1993.
Dec 19, 2017 · Though initially reluctant, Attorney General Janet Reno ended up approving a plan to fire CS gas (a form of tear gas) into the Mount Carmel compound to try and force out the Davidians. Just...
- Jesse Greenspan
- David Koresh. Born Vernon Wayne Howell, he changed his name to David Koresh in 1990 after becoming leader of the Branch Davidians, an offshoot of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
- Janet Reno. The Waco standoff had already begun by the time Janet Reno became the first female attorney general on March 12, 1993. She approved the FBI’s tear gas plan the following month, explaining that negotiations with the Branch Davidians had stalemated and that the children inside the compound were at risk.
- Bill Clinton. Newly inaugurated President Bill Clinton closely followed the events at Waco but apparently left the final decision-making to Reno. In a statement, he recalled that he had asked Reno several questions about the tear gas plan prior to concluding that “if she thought it was the right thing to do, she should proceed.”
- Robert Rodriguez. After being leaked to the media, word of the February 28 raid reached the Branch Davidians when a local cameraman unwittingly asked Koresh’s brother-in-law for directions.
Jan 25, 2023 · In the winter and spring of 1993, more than 80 people, including four federal agents and at least 20 children, died in two violent confrontations between federal law enforcement and the Branch Davidian Christian sect near Waco, Texas.
Convinced that Koresh would not surrender, U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno gave permission for the FBI to raid the compound. At approximately 6:00 am on April 19, 1993, the FBI began spraying tear gas into the complex. Soon thereafter, the Branch Davidians began firing weapons.
Apr 2, 2014 · Janet Reno died at her home in Miami-Dade County, Florida on November 7, 2016, at the age of 78. The cause of her death was complications from Parkinson's disease, which she had battled...
