Predictably, David Koresh and the Branch Davidians had become suspicious of the occupants in the undercover house. David Koresh knew he was under suspicion and surveillance. Hood in a huge caravan. They traveled to the staging area, the Bellmead Civic Center, in an approximately 80-vehicle convoy with a cattle trailer at each end. All the vehicles had their headlights on.
Agents report that, once underway, the convoy stretched at least a mile.
A supervisor become concerned about the visibility of the agents, many of whom wore ATF insignia or were otherwise unmistakably law enforcement personnel. He ordered everyone to go inside and remain in the civic center. The ATF had to know that the Branch Davidians could see out for miles over the prairies, and given the Davidians' alleged proclivity for lookout towers and guards, had to be able to see them coming. The almost treeless terrain of the Mt. Carmel Center provided the ATF with little cover. The noisy cattle cars had to go across a pothole-scarred gravel road outside the Center.