To mark the 30-year anniversary of the tragedy that claimed 86 lives, Netflix is releasing an immersive documentary about the Waco standoff.
On March 22, a documentary titled ‘Waco: American Apocalypse’ will be released. It explores how cult leader David Koresh brainwashed and mistreated his followers before the FBI raided his Texas compound after a bloody 51-day siege.
Waco Massacre
In order to transport viewers to the siege’s front lines, the documentary uses CGI, never-before-seen footage from inside FBI negotiation units, and unseen footage shot by news crews.
Tiller Russell, who also directed the Netflix docuseries Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer, The Last Narc, Silk Road, and Operation Odessa, is the director of Waco.
On Wednesday, the American Apocalypse trailer was made available.
Additionally, Robert Darden, author of ‘Mad Man in Waco’ and professor of journalism at Baylor University, described David Koresh, leader of the Branch Davidian sect, as a fiercely influential and cunning leader who preyed on bewildered followers by using scripture.
Federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives attempted to detain sect leader David Koresh on February 28, 1993, for storing illegal weapons at the Mount Carmel compound of the Branch Davidians, which is located in the community of Elk, about 15 miles outside of Waco. A subsequent gunfight that day resulted in the deaths of four agents and six Davidians.
On April 19, 1993, at around six in the morning, FBI agents broke through the group’s compound with armored vehicles and fired tear gas to end a 51-day standoff with the religious sect. Six hours later, smoke began to emanate from the compound, and a large fire quickly engulfed it.
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Netflix’s ‘Waco: American Apocalypse’
According to a US attorney general’s office report from 2000, the Davidians spread fuel around the compound to fan the flames. Nine people managed to flee the burning structure.
At least 76 people, including about 20 teenagers and children, died on that day, but it was noted that it was impossible to determine the precise number due to the widespread burning and mixing of the dead.
Koresh and a few of the kids were among the at least 20 people who passed away from gunshot wounds. A 3-year-old was fatally stabbed. The Davidians either shot themselves or each other as the fire started, according to the investigators.
He developed solutions using scripture and tested them on people from all over the world, including Australia, the UK, California, Massachusetts, and Hawaii.
Koresh used every chance he could to expand his congregation, even turning to music to draw in new members.
It is believed that Koresh’s expulsion from the Seventh Day Adventist Church in 1981 was due to his obsession with both women and rock and roll, according to those who knew him when he was younger. Koresh, whose real name was Ver, was born in Houston
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