6. The Charisma of David Koresh
Violence, Conspiracies, and New Religions - A Tribute to James R. Lewis - Margo Kitts
Catherine Wessinger [+]
Loyola University
Description
James R. Lewis has the distinction of publishing the first edited book, From the Ashes: Making Sense of Waco (1994), on the conflict between the Branch Davidians at Mount Carmel Center outside Waco, Texas, and federal agents in 1993. In 2014 Lewis published a chapter titled “The Mount Carmel Holocaust: Suicide or Execution?” He argued that the FBI Hostage Rescue Team’s tank and CS gas assault on the Branch Davidians on April 19, 1993, which culminated in a fire, amounted to the execution of Branch Davidians for the deaths of four Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms agents killed during a shootout on February 28, 1993. On the other hand, FBI agents, Justice Department attorneys, and other government representatives have argued that the deaths of seventy-six Branch Davidians of all ages in the fire were the result of a mass suicide. Based on sources accumulated during thirty years of research, Catherine Wessinger argues that there is evidence supporting both conclusions—mass suicide and massacre. She describes the social construction of the charisma of Vernon Howell/David Koresh (1959-1993), and how his narcissistic attachment to his charisma was an important factor in the interactions between FBI agents and the Branch Davidians. FBI behavioral scientists informed FBI decision-makers about Koresh’s psychopathologies and how he was likely to react to an assault, but FBI officials opted for a tank and CS gas assault that would obviously end in deaths.