They have stained my father's name. I want justice for those who deserve it,'' she said. She added that Davidians were unwilling to flee their compound out of fear of what the FBI outside would do to them. Seven years after the conflagration at Mount Carmel, the lingering questions over what exactly happened at the Branch Davidian compound are about to fall under the national microscope once again. This time, the U.S. government is on trial.
Federal authorities see it differently.
The government's legal team is headed by U.S. Attorney Mike Bradford of Beaumont, chief prosecutor for the eastern district of Texas. It was Koresh, he said, who ambushed the ATF agents during the initial February raid, killing four and wounding more than 20 others. As for the lack of emergency response once the fatal fire broke out 51 days later, Bradford said authorities made the legitimate decision not to send firefighters into a situation that might expose them to gunfire. The prosecutor also noted that opposing attorneys have backed off their earlier claims that federal authorities, in effect, killed the Davidians. After years of congressional hearings, investigations, documentaries and a criminal trial that led to the convictions of eight Davidians on gun charges, interest in the tragedy had largely died down by last year.