Branch Davidians


The Branch Davidians are a religious sect which was founded in 1955 by Benjamin Roden. They are an offshoot of the General Association of Davidian Seventh-Day Adventists, established by Victor Houteff in 1935.
Houteff, a Bulgarian immigrant and a Seventh-day Adventist, wrote a series of tracts which were titled the "Shepherd's Rod." The tracts called for the reform of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. In 1935, after his ideas were rejected by Adventist leaders, Houteff and his followers settled on a tract of land on the western outskirts of Waco, Texas, where they built a compound called the Mount Carmel Center and began preparing for the Second Coming. After Houteff's death in 1955, his wife Florence became the leader of the Davidians. That same year, Roden, a former follower of Houteff who called himself "the Branch", called for Davidians to come to Mount Carmel Center to hear his message. This was the beginning of the group that would be popularly known as the General Association of Davidian Seventh-day Adventists.
In 1957, Florence Houteff sold the old Mount Carmel Center and purchased 941 acres near Elk, Texas, thirteen miles northeast of Waco, naming the property New Mount Carmel Center. After the failure of Florence's prophecy of apocalyptic events on or near April 22, 1959, she dissolved the General Association of Davidian Seventh-day Adventists in 1962 and sold all but 77.86 acres of the New Mount Carmel property. Roden took possession of New Mount Carmel in 1962 and began his efforts to purchase the remaining 77.86 acres. On February 27, 1973, New Mount Carmel was sold to "Benjamin Roden, Lois Roden, and George Roden, Trustees for the General Association of Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists." From this point on, the property was simply known as Mount Carmel. Upon the death of Roden in 1978, his wife Lois became the next Branch Davidian prophet at the compound.
In 1981, a young man named Vernon Howell, later known as David Koresh, came to Mount Carmel and studied biblical prophecy under Lois Roden. By 1984 the core group of Branch Davidians shifted their allegiance from Lois' son George to Koresh.
The Branch Davidians are most associated with the Waco siege of 1993, a 51-day standoff between members of the sect and federal agents. The conflict ended when Mount Carmel was destroyed in a fire. Ten people were killed during the initial raid by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents on February 28, 1993, and 76 Branch Davidians of all ages died in the fire that was the culmination of an FBI tank and CS gas assault on April 19, 1993.

Early history

In 1929, Victor Houteff, a Bulgarian immigrant and a Seventh-day Adventist Sabbath School teacher in a local church in Southern California, claimed that he had a new message for the entire church. He presented his views in a book, The Shepherd's Rod: The 144,000—A Call for Reformation. The Adventist leadership rejected Houteff's views as contrary to the Adventists' basic teachings and local church congregations disfellowshipped Houteff and his followers.
In 1934, Houteff established his headquarters to the west of Waco, Texas and his group became known as The Davidians. In 1942, he renamed the group the General Association of Davidian Seventh-day Adventists, 'Davidian' indicating the belief in the restoration of the Davidic Kingdom of Israel. Following Houteff's death in 1955, the segment of the group loyal to Houteff continued as the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists, led by his wife Florence. Convinced of an imminent apocalypse, in a time frame announced by Florence Houteff which was not found in the original writings of her husband Victor, Florence and her council gathered hundreds of faithful followers together at their Mount Carmel Center near Waco in 1959 for the fulfillment of Ezekiel 9.
The anticipated events did not occur, and following this disappointment, Benjamin Roden formed another group called the Branch Davidians and succeeded in taking control of Mount Carmel. This name is an allusion to the anointed 'Branch'. When Benjamin Roden died in 1978, he was succeeded by his wife Lois Roden. Members of the Branch Davidians were torn between allegiance to Ben's wife, Lois Roden, and his son, George. After Lois Roden died, George Roden assumed the right to the Presidency. But less than a year later, Vernon Howell rose to power and became the leader over those in the group who sympathized with him.

Rise of David Koresh

's arrival on the Waco compound in 1981 was well received by nearly everyone at the Davidian commune. Howell had an affair with the then-prophet of the Branch Davidians, Lois Roden, while he was in his late 20s and she was in her late 60s. Howell wanted a child with her, who, according to his understanding, would be the Chosen One. When she died, her son George Roden inherited the positions of prophet and leader of the commune. However, George Roden and Howell began to clash. Howell soon enjoyed the loyalty of the majority of the Branch Davidian community.
As an attempt to regain support, George Roden challenged Howell to raise the dead, going so far as to exhume a corpse in order to demonstrate his spiritual supremacy. This illegal act gave Howell an opportunity to attempt to file charges against Roden, but he was told he needed evidence. This led to the raid on November 3, 1987, of the Mount Carmel Center by Howell and 7 of his followers equipped with five.223 caliber semiautomatic rifles, two.22 caliber rifles, two 12-gauge shotguns and nearly 400 rounds of ammunition. Their objective seemed to be to retake the land that Howell had left three years earlier. Although they claimed to have been trying to obtain evidence of Roden's illegal activity, they did not take a camera.
The trial ended with the jury finding the followers of Howell not guilty, but the jury members were unable to agree on a verdict for Howell. After his followers were found not guilty, Howell invited the prosecutors to Mount Carmel for ice cream.
It is claimed that Howell was never authorized to name his breakaway sect the "Branch Davidians", and the church which bears that name continues to represent the members of the Branch church who did not follow him.

As a spiritual leader

Howell, who acquired the position of spiritual leader from Roden, asserted it by changing his name to David Koresh, suggesting that he had ties to the biblical King David and Cyrus the Great. He wanted to create a new lineage of world leaders. This practice later served as the basis for allegations that Koresh was committing child abuse, which contributed to the siege by the ATF.
Interpreting Revelation 5:2, Koresh identified himself with the Lamb mentioned therein. This is traditionally believed to symbolize Jesus Christ, however, Koresh suggested that the Lamb would come before Jesus and pave the way for his Second Coming.
By the time of the 1993 Waco siege, Koresh had encouraged his followers to think of themselves as "students of the Seven Seals," rather than as "Branch Davidians." During the standoff, one of his followers publicly announced that he wanted them to thereafter be identified by the name "Koreshians".

Waco siege

On February 28, at 4:20 AM, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms attempted to execute a search warrant relating to alleged sexual abuse charges and illegal weapons violations. The ATF attempted to breach the compound for approximately two hours until their ammunition ran low. Four ATF agents were killed and another 16 agents were wounded during the raid. The five Branch Davidians killed in the 9:45 AM raid were Winston Blake, Peter Gent, Peter Hipsman, Perry Jones, and Jaydean Wendell; two were killed by the Branch Davidians. Almost six hours after the ceasefire, Michael Schroeder was shot dead by ATF agents who alleged he fired a pistol at agents as he attempted to re-enter the compound with Woodrow Kendrick and Norman Allison. His wife claimed that he was merely returning from work and had not participated in the day's earlier altercation. Schroeder had been shot once in the eye, once in the heart, and five times in the back.
After the raid, ATF agents established contact with Koresh and others inside of the compound. The FBI took command after the deaths of federal agents, and managed to facilitate the release of 19 children relatively early into the negotiations. The children were then interviewed by the FBI and the Texas Rangers. Allegedly, the children had been physically and sexually abused long before the raid.
engulfed in flames
On April 19, 1993, the FBI moved for a final siege of the compound using large weaponry such as.50 caliber rifles and armored Combat Engineering Vehicles to combat the heavily armed Branch Davidians. The FBI attempted to use tear gas to flush out the Branch Davidians. Officially, FBI agents were only permitted to return any incoming fire, not to actively assault the Branch Davidians. When several Branch Davidians opened fire, the FBI's response was to increase the amount of gas being used. Around noon, three fires broke out simultaneously in different parts of the building. The government maintains that the fires were deliberately started by Branch Davidians. Some Branch Davidian survivors maintain that the fires were started either accidentally or deliberately by the assault. Of the 85 Branch Davidians in the compound when the final siege began, 76 died on April 19 in various ways, from falling rubble to suffocating effects of the fire, or by gunshot from fellow Branch Davidians. The siege lasted 51 days.

Aftermath

In all, four ATF agents were killed, 16 were wounded, and six Branch Davidians died in the initial raid on February 28. Seventy-six more died in the final assault on April 19. The events at Waco spurred criminal prosecution and civil litigation. A federal grand jury indicted 12 of the surviving Branch Davidians charging them with aiding and abetting in murder of federal officers, and unlawful possession and use of various firearms. Eight Branch Davidians were convicted on firearms charges, five convicted of voluntary manslaughter, and four were acquitted of all charges. As of July 2007, all Branch Davidians had been released from prison.
Several civil suits were brought against the United States government, federal officials, former governor of Texas Ann Richards, and members of the Texas Army National Guard. The bulk of these claims were dismissed because they were insufficient as a matter of law or because the plaintiffs could advance no material evidence in support of them. One case, Andrade v. Chojnacki made it to the Fifth Circuit, which upheld a previous ruling of "take-nothing, denied".

Branch Davidians after Waco

One modern incarnation of the Branch Davidians exists under the leadership of Charles Pace, a follower of Ben and Lois Roden, who was a member of the Branch Davidians from the mid-1970s. The Branch, The Lord Our Righteousness is a legally recognized denomination with 1200 members. Pace claims that Koresh twisted the Bible's teachings by fathering more than a dozen children with members' wives. Pace believes that the Lord "has anointed me and appointed me to be the leader," but he claims that he is "not a prophet" but "a teacher of righteousness". Other Branch Davidians, led by Clive Doyle, continue to believe Koresh was a prophet and await his resurrection, along with the followers who were killed. Both incarnations are still waiting for the end of times.

Relationship with Seventh-Day Adventists

The Seventh-day Adventist Church, the main church in the Adventist tradition, rejected Victor Houteff's teachings and revoked his membership in 1930. Houteff went on to found the Davidians. Branch Davidians are considered a splinter group from that dissenting group and the product of a schism among the Davidians/Shepherd's Rod initiated by Benjamin Roden.
Branch Davidian leaders, while still formally members in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, pushed for a reform of the church and when this was met with opposition, they decided to leave that denomination while at the same time widely distancing themselves from the Davidians/Shepherd's Rod. The Seventh-day Adventist Church deprived both the Branch Davidians and the Davidians of their membership in the denomination, but in spite of this fact the Branch Davidians actively continued to "hunt" members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, encouraging them to leave it and join their group instead. The Seventh-day Adventists were reportedly "apprehensive" about the group's views as Branch Davidians claimed to be the "only rightful continuation of the Adventist message", based on the idea that Victor Houteff was the divinely selected prophet and successor to Ellen G. White. Both the Davidians/Shepherd's Rod and the Branch Davidians claimed Houteff as their spiritual inspiration, although he was the founder of the Davidians/Shepherd's Rod. The Seventh-day Adventist Church issued warnings about the Branch Davidian views to its members on a regular basis.

Schisms within the Branch Davidian sect

There is documented evidence that David Koresh and his followers did not call themselves Branch Davidians. In addition, David Koresh, through forgery, stole the identity of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists for the purpose of obtaining the Mount Carmel Center property.
The doctrinal beliefs of the Branch Davidians differ on teachings such as the Holy Spirit and his nature, and the feast days and their requirements. Both groups have disputed the relevance of the other's spiritual authority based on the proceedings following Victor Houteff's death. From its inception in 1930, the Davidians/Shepherd's Rod group believed themselves to be living in a time when Biblical prophecies of a Last Judgment were coming to pass as a prelude to Christ's Second Coming.
In the late 1980s, Koresh and his followers abandoned many Branch Davidian teachings. Koresh became the group's self-proclaimed final prophet. "Koreshians" were the majority resulting from the schism among the Branch Davidians, but some of the Branch Davidians did not join Koresh's group and instead gathered around George Roden or became independent. Following a series of violent shootouts between Roden's and Koresh's group, the Mount Carmel compound was eventually taken over by the "Koreshians".