Nov 2, 2018 02:37 AM
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46039014
EXCERPT: The world watched as a compound in Waco, Texas, became a horrific fireball. Inside the burning building were cult leader David Koresh and scores of his followers. Twenty-five years on, relatives of the British victims reflect on what happened.
Koresh became infamous as the self-styled prophet who thought he was the new Christ. His followers were in thrall to him, and remarkably, 30 of them were British. Twenty-four died when a weeks-long siege of the compound ended in tragedy.
They came from the streets of Manchester, London and Nottingham - outwardly ordinary young people in their 20s and 30s. History has largely forgotten them. These are their stories.
[...personal stories...]
Koresh's offer to the Britons was a seductive one. They'd mainly come from traditions well versed in the Bible. So he was pushing at an open door. The Revelation, or the Biblical description of the apocalypse, was at hand, he said. He'd convinced them that he was the next messiah - one sent by God to lead those righteous souls that would be saved, and that would taste eternal life.
He told the Britons that they would be among them. That they should go to lead a frugal life of prayer at his Texas ranch, preparing for the imminent end of days. What he didn't tell them is that his version of the apocalypse would be armed with a massive stockpile of guns and ammunition - and that he was a serial sexual predator.
The FBI's attempt to release the cult members ended in a horrific fireball. In a matter of minutes, 72 people died. Twenty-four were British. They had left cities and towns seeking a simple life, fulfilling Biblical prophecy. "The 'wackos of Waco' were like you and me" says Gail Monbelly as she remembers her sister Bernadette. She wants people to reconsider the memory of the 30 Britons who went there.
As a senior British detective who investigated Waco also remembers, "the problem is that they were all tarred with the same brush. And that was quite wrong. Responsibility for what happened at Waco lies with one man only. And that is David Koresh."
MORE (stories): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46039014
EXCERPT: The world watched as a compound in Waco, Texas, became a horrific fireball. Inside the burning building were cult leader David Koresh and scores of his followers. Twenty-five years on, relatives of the British victims reflect on what happened.
Koresh became infamous as the self-styled prophet who thought he was the new Christ. His followers were in thrall to him, and remarkably, 30 of them were British. Twenty-four died when a weeks-long siege of the compound ended in tragedy.
They came from the streets of Manchester, London and Nottingham - outwardly ordinary young people in their 20s and 30s. History has largely forgotten them. These are their stories.
[...personal stories...]
Koresh's offer to the Britons was a seductive one. They'd mainly come from traditions well versed in the Bible. So he was pushing at an open door. The Revelation, or the Biblical description of the apocalypse, was at hand, he said. He'd convinced them that he was the next messiah - one sent by God to lead those righteous souls that would be saved, and that would taste eternal life.
He told the Britons that they would be among them. That they should go to lead a frugal life of prayer at his Texas ranch, preparing for the imminent end of days. What he didn't tell them is that his version of the apocalypse would be armed with a massive stockpile of guns and ammunition - and that he was a serial sexual predator.
The FBI's attempt to release the cult members ended in a horrific fireball. In a matter of minutes, 72 people died. Twenty-four were British. They had left cities and towns seeking a simple life, fulfilling Biblical prophecy. "The 'wackos of Waco' were like you and me" says Gail Monbelly as she remembers her sister Bernadette. She wants people to reconsider the memory of the 30 Britons who went there.
As a senior British detective who investigated Waco also remembers, "the problem is that they were all tarred with the same brush. And that was quite wrong. Responsibility for what happened at Waco lies with one man only. And that is David Koresh."
MORE (stories): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46039014