{"id":18179,"date":"2023-04-18T08:14:48","date_gmt":"2023-04-18T12:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?p=18179"},"modified":"2025-07-13T22:18:39","modified_gmt":"2025-07-14T02:18:39","slug":"30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/","title":{"rendered":"30 Years Later, Waco is Still Damning"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

30 Years Later, Waco is Still Damning<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/h1>\n

by Jim Bovard<\/a><\/span> | Apr 18, 2023<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n

Thirty years ago, FBI tanks smashed into the ramshackle home of the Branch Davidians outside Waco, Texas. After the FBI collapsed much of the building atop the residents, a fire erupted and 76 corpses were dug out of the rubble<\/span><\/a>. Unfortunately, the American political system and media have never honestly portrayed the federal abuses and political deceit that led to that carnage.<\/p>\n

What lessons can today\u2019s Americans draw from the FBI showdown on the Texas plains 30 years ago?<\/p>\n

Purported Good Intentions Absolve Real Deadly Force<\/b><\/h4>\n

Janet Reno, the nation\u2019s first female attorney general, approved the FBI\u2019s assault on the Davidians. Previously, she had zealously prosecuted child abuse cases<\/span><\/a> in Dade County, Florida, though many of her high-profile convictions were later overturned because of gross violations of due process<\/span><\/a>. Reno approved the FBI assault after being told \u201cbabies were being beaten<\/span><\/a>.\u201d It is not known who told her about the false claims of child abuse; Reno claimed she couldn\u2019t remember. Her<\/span>\u00a0sterling reputation helped the government avoid any apparent culpability for the deaths of 27 children<\/span><\/a> on April 19, 1993. After Reno publicly promised to take responsibility for the outcome at Waco, the media conferred instant sainthood upon her. At a press conference the day after the fire, President Bill Clinton declared, \u201cI was frankly\u2014surprised would be a mild word\u2014to say that anyone that would suggest that the Attorney General should resign because some religious fanatics<\/span><\/a> murdered themselves.\u201d According to a Federal News Service transcript, the White House press corps applauded Clinton\u2019s comment on Reno.<\/p>\n

It Is Not an Atrocity If the U.S. Government Does It<\/b><\/h4>\n

Shortly before the Waco showdown, U.S. government officials signed an international Chemical Weapons Convention Treaty pledging<\/span><\/a> never to use nerve agents, mustard gas, and other compounds (including tear gas) against enemy soldiers. But the treaty contained a loophole permitting governments to gas their own people. On April 19, 1993, the FBI pumped CS gas and methyl chloride, a potentially lethal, flammable combination, into the Davidians\u2019 residence for six hours, disregarding explicit warnings that CS gas should not be used indoors<\/span><\/a>. Benjamin Garrett, executive director the Chemical and Biological Arms Control Institute in Alexandria, Virginia, observed that the CS gas \u201cwould have panicked the children. Their eyes would have involuntarily shut. Their skin would have been burning. They would have been gasping for air and coughing wildly. Eventually, they would have been overcome with vomiting in a final hell.\u201d A 1975 U.S. Army publication on the effects of CS gas noted, \u201cGenerally, persons reacting to CS are incapable of executing organized and concerted actions and excessive exposure to CS may make them incapable of vacating the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rep. Steven Schiff (R-NM) declared that \u201cthe deaths of dozens of men, women and children can be directly and indirectly<\/span><\/a> attributable to the use of this gas in the way it was injected by the FBI.\u201d Chemistry professor George Uhlig testified to Congress in 1995 that the FBI gas attack probably \u201csuffocated the children early on\u201d and may have converted their poorly ventilated bunker into an area \u201csimilar to one of the gas chambers used by the Nazis at Auschwitz<\/span><\/a>.\u201d But during those 1995 hearings, congressional Democrats portrayed the CS gas as innocuous as a Flintstone vitamin.<\/p>\n

Orwellian Language Will Vaporize Federal Aggression<\/b><\/h4>\n

As Abrams tanks driven by FBI agents continually battered the Davidian\u2019s home, FBI loudspeakers broadcasted endlessly: \u201cThis is not an assault<\/span><\/a>.\u201d According to FBI apologists in the media, that proved the feds did not assault the Davidians. Prior to the fire, the tanks had collapsed 20 percent of the building<\/span><\/a> atop its residents and the FBI planned to totally demolish the home<\/span><\/a>. Grenade launchers on the tanks and other armored vehicles fired almost 400 ferret rounds of CS gas through<\/span><\/a> the thin wooden walls and the windows of the building. Yet Attorney General Reno later insisted: \u201cWe didn\u2019t attack. We tried to exercise every restraint possible to avoid violence<\/span><\/a>.\u201d Demolishing someone\u2019s home was supposedly no more bothersome than leaving a Federal Express package on their doorstep. A 1993 Justice Department investigation<\/span><\/a> was so shoddy that even The New York Times<\/em> denounced the \u201cWaco whitewash<\/span><\/a>.\u201d But that blunt condemnation was soon memory-holed in the rush to absolve the feds.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t Trust Congress to Expose Federal Misconduct<\/b><\/h4>\n

A few days after the conflagration, Reno was heartily praised at a Senate committee hearing<\/span><\/a> and the media made her a national hero. There was little or no sympathy on Capitol Hill for those who died during the final FBI assault. Rep. Jack Brooks (D-TX), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, commented that the Davidians were \u201chorrible people. Despicable people. Burning to death was too good for them<\/span><\/a>.\u201d If Republicans had not captured control of Congress in 1994, there would have been no substantive hearings on Waco. And even those hearings faltered badly at times because so many Republican congressmen wasted their time boasting of their love of law enforcement rather than seeking the truth.<\/p>\n

Media Favorites Can Perform Rhetorical Magic Tricks <\/b><\/h4>\n

When Attorney General Reno testified to the House Waco hearing on August 1, 1995, she was challenged on the FBI\u2019s use of 54-ton tanks to assail the Davidians. Reno replied that the tanks were \u201cnot military weapons\u2026 I mean, it was like a good rent-a-car<\/span><\/a>.\u201d When Rep. Bill Zeliff (R-NH) challenged her, Reno hectored: \u201cI think it is important, Mr. Chairman, as you deal with this issue, not to make statements like that can cause the confusion.\u201d This is the high-toned DC version of the old saying: \u201cWho are you going to believe\u2014me or your lying eyes?\u201d Media coverage of Reno\u2019s showdown with congressional Republicans ignored her rent-a-tank absurdity, and instead praised her toughness and demeanor. (My article in The Wall Street Journal<\/span><\/a><\/em> on the day after the hearings was practically the only place Reno got thumped for her \u201crent-a-car\u201d line.)<\/p>\n

Bad Attitudes, Not Federal Atrocities, Are the Real Problem<\/b><\/h4>\n

Waco illustrates how \u201ctruth will out\u201d is Washington\u2019s biggest fairy tal<\/strong>e. <\/b>The FBI speedily asserted that the Davidians ignited the fire that consumed their dwelling but never provided convincing evidence on that score. Six years later, independent investigator Michael McNulty found pyrotechnic ferret rounds the FBI fired at<\/span><\/a> the scene prior to the flames erupting in a Texas government evidence warehouse. Attorney General Reno lashed out at the FBI for destroying her credibility<\/span><\/a> but neither she nor FBI officials suffered any consequences from the collapse of the official narrative.<\/p>\n

Reno could have recused herself from any role in choosing a new person to reinvestigate Waco. Instead, she personally chose John Danforth, a former Republican senator and a golfing buddy of Clinton\u2019s, to be in charge of the reinvestigation. Danforth, an ordained Episcopal priest whose piety earned him the derisive nickname \u201cSaint Jack<\/span><\/a>,\u201d was one of Washington\u2019s favorite useful idiots of Leviathan.<\/p>\n

In lieu of investigating Waco carnage, Danforth appointed himself as the nation\u2019s political faith healer. His investigation found that numerous federal officials had lied about Waco but thankfully it wasn\u2019t their fault. Instead, the culprit was the American people\u2019s distrust of federal agencies. Danforth defended federal deceivers:<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cIn today\u2019s world, it is perhaps understandable<\/span><\/a> that government officials are reluctant to make full disclosures of information for fear that the result of candor will be personal or professional ruin.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

(Danforth did not specify the provision of federal law that absolves government agents from candor when it is not in their self-interest.)<\/p>\n

Danforth\u2019s bizarre downplaying of federal aggression could only have passed the laugh test in Washington. At a Senate hearing on his report, he was asked about the flash-bang grenades the FBI threw at Davidians who tried to escape and may have thrown inside the Davidians\u2019 residence. Danforth claimed that flash-bangs were little more than \u201cfirecrackers. They make a flash and they make a bang. And they don\u2019t cause injury, as a general rule.\u201d In 2020, the North Carolina Supreme Court labeled flash bangs as \u201cweapons of mass destruction<\/span><\/a>.\u201d A 2019 federal appeals court decision noted that flash-bang grenades are \u201cfour times louder than a 12-gauge shotgun blast\u201d with \u201ca powerful enough concussive effect to break windows and put holes in walls.\u201d Flash-bangs burn hotter than lava and have started more than a hundred fires across the nation.<\/p>\n

But the real WMD was Americans\u2019 bad attitudes<\/strong>. When Danforth released his whitewash report, he hoped his findings would \u201cbegin the process of restoring the faith of the people in their government and the faith of the government in the people.\u201d Danforth declared that the\u00a0 <\/span>burden is on \u201call of us\u201d to \u201cbe more skeptical of those who make sensational accusations of evil acts by government.\u201d No wonder PBS NewsHour<\/em> host Jim Lehrer responded by gushing over Danforth on national television, \u201cYou did tremendous investigating.\u201d Danforth became a hero in DC for championing <\/b>a \u201cmove along, nothing to see here<\/span><\/a>\u201d version of \u201cconsent of the governed\u201d in which citizens are obliged to swallow unlimited federal malarkey.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, that same storyline still prevails in much of the nation\u2019s media. Last month, a Houston Chronicle<\/em> editorial declared, \u201c\u2019Waco\u2019 has become an Alamo of sorts<\/span><\/a>, a shrine for\u2026anti-government extremists and conspiracists.\u201d <\/b>Waco should have taught the disastrous consequences of unleashing government agencies from the law and the Constitution. Thirty years after the FBI\u2019s final assault, millions of Americans still refuse to recognize tanks and flash-bang grenades as federal paternalism at its best.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

30 Years Later, Waco is Still Damning by Jim Bovard | Apr 18, 2023 Thirty years ago, FBI tanks smashed into the ramshackle home of the Branch Davidians outside Waco, Texas. After the FBI collapsed much of the building atop the residents, a fire erupted and 76 corpses were dug out of the rubble. Unfortunately, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3684,51,1438,3683,3570,47,565,1566,946,2229,3685,102,472],"class_list":["post-18179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-branch","tag-clinton","tag-cs-gas","tag-danforth","tag-davidians","tag-fbi","tag-janet-reno","tag-jim-lehrer","tag-media","tag-pbs","tag-rent-a-car","tag-waco","tag-whitewash"],"yoast_head":"\n30 Years Later, Waco is Still Damning - James Bovard<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"30 years after the final FBI tank assault, Waco is still damning.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"30 Years Later, Waco is Still Damning - James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"30 years after the final FBI tank assault, Waco is still damning.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"James Bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-04-18T12:14:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-07-14T02:18:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screenshot-2022-10-24-at-12-13-36-The-Libertarian-Institute.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"312\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"139\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@jimbovard\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jim\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/18\\\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/18\\\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jim\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"headline\":\"30 Years Later, Waco is Still Damning\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-18T12:14:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-14T02:18:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/18\\\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1586,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/18\\\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/Screenshot-2022-10-24-at-12-13-36-The-Libertarian-Institute.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Branch\",\"Clinton\",\"CS gas\",\"Danforth\",\"Davidians\",\"FBI\",\"Janet Reno\",\"Jim Lehrer\",\"media\",\"PBS\",\"rent-a-car\",\"Waco\",\"whitewash\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/18\\\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/18\\\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/18\\\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\\\/\",\"name\":\"30 Years Later, Waco is Still Damning - James Bovard\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/18\\\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/18\\\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/Screenshot-2022-10-24-at-12-13-36-The-Libertarian-Institute.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-04-18T12:14:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-14T02:18:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\"},\"description\":\"30 years after the final FBI tank assault, Waco is still damning.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/18\\\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/18\\\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/18\\\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/Screenshot-2022-10-24-at-12-13-36-The-Libertarian-Institute.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/10\\\/Screenshot-2022-10-24-at-12-13-36-The-Libertarian-Institute.png\",\"width\":312,\"height\":139},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/2023\\\/04\\\/18\\\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"30 Years Later, Waco is Still Damning\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Bovard\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f\",\"name\":\"Jim\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r\",\"caption\":\"Jim\"},\"description\":\"Bovard's homepage is at http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \\\"the roving inspector general of the modern state\\\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \\\"one-man truth squad.\\\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \\\"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\\\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.jimbovard.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/jim.bovard\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/jimbovard\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jimbovard.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"30 Years Later, Waco is Still Damning - James Bovard","description":"30 years after the final FBI tank assault, Waco is still damning.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"30 Years Later, Waco is Still Damning - James Bovard","og_description":"30 years after the final FBI tank assault, Waco is still damning.","og_url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/","og_site_name":"James Bovard","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","article_published_time":"2023-04-18T12:14:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-07-14T02:18:39+00:00","og_image":[{"width":312,"height":139,"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screenshot-2022-10-24-at-12-13-36-The-Libertarian-Institute.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Jim","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@jimbovard","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jim","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/"},"author":{"name":"Jim","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"headline":"30 Years Later, Waco is Still Damning","datePublished":"2023-04-18T12:14:48+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-14T02:18:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/"},"wordCount":1586,"commentCount":2,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screenshot-2022-10-24-at-12-13-36-The-Libertarian-Institute.png","keywords":["Branch","Clinton","CS gas","Danforth","Davidians","FBI","Janet Reno","Jim Lehrer","media","PBS","rent-a-car","Waco","whitewash"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/","name":"30 Years Later, Waco is Still Damning - James Bovard","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screenshot-2022-10-24-at-12-13-36-The-Libertarian-Institute.png","datePublished":"2023-04-18T12:14:48+00:00","dateModified":"2025-07-14T02:18:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f"},"description":"30 years after the final FBI tank assault, Waco is still damning.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screenshot-2022-10-24-at-12-13-36-The-Libertarian-Institute.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screenshot-2022-10-24-at-12-13-36-The-Libertarian-Institute.png","width":312,"height":139},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/18\/30-years-later-waco-is-still-damning\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"30 Years Later, Waco is Still Damning"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/","name":"James Bovard","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/79550830ad81c14be529a2c37469974f","name":"Jim","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d95466cfd0934e38803c5035629df727ae4ec1f3f96c6883c05b5c52e2044505?s=96&d=mm&r=r","caption":"Jim"},"description":"Bovard's homepage is at http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com He can be contacted at jim@jimbovard.com James Bovard is the author of ten books. The Wall Street Journal called Bovard \"the roving inspector general of the modern state\" and Washington Post columnist George Will called him a \"one-man truth squad.\" His 1994 book, Lost Rights: The Destruction of American Liberty, received the Free Press Association\u2019s Mencken Award as Book of the Year. His Terrorism & Tyranny won the Lysander Spooner \"Best Book on Liberty in 2003\" award. He received the Thomas Szasz Award for Civil Liberties work, awarded by the Center for Independent Thought and the Freedom Fund Award from the Firearms Civil Rights Defense Fund of the National Rifle Association. Bovard\u2019s writings have been publicly denounced by FBI director Louis Freeh, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Postmaster General, and the chiefs of the U.S. International Trade Commission, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, as well as by many congressmen and other malcontents.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.jimbovard.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/jim.bovard","https:\/\/x.com\/jimbovard"],"url":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18179"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21778,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18179\/revisions\/21778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimbovard.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}