The Waco Cover-Up
April 1993: Claiming safety hazards from "millions of rounds of ammunition" stored at the Davidian complex, reporters are kept 3 miles away from the scene. However, on the day of the fire, ATF agents could be seen strolling on the grounds near the fire, apparently unafraid of the "millions of rounds" going off.
August 16, 1993: The Treasury Department places a proposed regulation in the Federal Register (58FR43312) to allow the department to investigate the Waco massacre without making the results of the investigation public as required under the Freedom of Information Act.
January 1994: During jury selection for the Davidians' trial, every attempt is made to limit public access to the proceedings. As reported in the January 11, 1994, Dallas Morning News, p. 10A:
One San Antonio resident, Francis Sommer, was arrested on a criminal trespass charge after repeatedly demanding to be allowed into the courtroom during jury selection.
An Associated Press reporter, Kelley Shannon, was escorted from the courthouse without explanation, and a Houston Chronicle reporter was briefly denied entrance.
Texas AP bureau chief John Lumpkin, in a letter to U.S. District Judge Harry Hudspeth, who presides over the Western District of Texas, said: "Ms. Shannon did not deserve the treatment she received this morning. From the beginning of this case, federal authorities have operated in such a manner to inhibit the free flow of information."
Judge Smith barred all public spectators and allowed only a pool of five reporters into the courtroom Monday, telling security officers that more spectators might intimidate potential jurors, said an official with the U.S. Marshals service.
June 1994: The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Committee and the Texas Water Commission authorize a contractor to excavate 6" to 18" of topsoil from the already burnt-over and bulldozed Mt. Carmel building site and surrounding 7 acres. The government claims the former grounds of the Branch Davidian community is contaminated with lead and human waste and is therefore a health hazard.
Fire investigation: The supposedly independent investigation into the fire was done by someone close to the ATF who did not interview any survivors and withheld evidence that went against the FBI.
July 1995: During a U.S. House hearing on the Waco incident, Capt. David Byrnes, the Texas Rangers' top investigator for the Waco incident, testified that bullet holes in cars parked outside the Davidians' complex could have provided evidence about bullet trajectories, and thus about who shot whom when. But the FBI destroyed the cars.