I was living in Colorado during the Waco standoff and massacre. I remember watching the Branch Davidians being roasted and murdered by thugs calling themselves "government". On live TV. I told my young son, who was watching with me "See that? That is the government killing people. Never forget this."
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I may have mentioned it before, but maybe not: I once lived in Waco. For about 3 years. It was long before the Davidian massacre, but that connection still added to my anger somewhat.
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After the massacre had ceased to be "national news" some of the surviving Davidians (the ones who weren't home the day of the initial attack?) moved to a ranch just a couple of miles from my house. It was the talk of the town, but no one I knew really seemed bothered by it.
One day maybe a week after they had moved to the area, I was walking through town with members of my family who had come to visit, and I was approached by a TV news crew from Dallas. They asked if any of us were locals, and I said I was. They asked if they could ask me a couple of questions on camera. I consented.
After they got set up they asked what I thought (or more likely, how I felt) about the Davidians moving to the area. I said it didn't bother me at all. They seemed surprised. So I told them that I had lived in Little Rock, Arkansas, and Waco, Texas, and I'd much rather have the Davidians for neighbors than the Clintons.
That was it. They thanked me and shut off the camera and I went on my way. I was always curious whether they aired my clip. I'm betting they didn't.
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Not too long after this happened, the Davidians left the area. I never heard what happened or why they left, although I did hear that some got arrested after returning to Mount Carmel to retrieve some of their property.
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On a side note, I had a strange friend (who lived a thousand miles away from me) who liked to make prank calls. He was very good at impersonating others and disguising his voice. Later the same day I had spoken to the news crew, I got a phone call at the house. The person introduced himself and said he was a member of the Branch Davidians and claimed he had "heard of" me. My mind was racing and I wondered if they somehow already knew of the interview, and how they had gotten my name and number. - Back then I was mostly quiet, except for an occasional letter to the editor in support of someone the local tax thugs were harassing, or some other "freedom issue"- but it was rare for me to speak out on anything; I was just either "the pet store guy" or "the mountainman", depending on where someone knew me from.- Anyway, the person on the phone was inviting me to a cookout at the Davidian ranch. I was as non-social as I was quiet, and although I hated what the government thugs had done, I wasn't interested in getting involved with any cult of any sort. So I kept declining. The guy was very polite and very persistent, but I wouldn't budge. Finally he started laughing and revealed himself as the old friend. He had seen on the news that the Davidians had moved to my area, and wanted to play a trick on me. I fell for it completely..
