"WACO:" ON HBO
Please Pass the Word
For Immediate Release
COMPELLING OSCAR� NOMINEE WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT REVEALS THE UNTOLD
STORY BEHIND THE GOVERNMENT SIEGE OF THE BRANCH DAVIDIAN COMPOUND WHEN IT
DEBUTS APRIL 19 ON HBO.
Film Airs On Sixth Anniversary Of Controversial Siege
It started with a small botched raid by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms (ATF) on Feb. 28, 1993. The target: The mount Carmel compound
(located just outside of Waco, Texas) of the Branch Davidians, an offshoot
of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church led by the charismatic David Koresh.
The official reason; reports of a huge stockpile of automatic and
semi-automatic weapons, some of them illegal, and possible criminal sexual
practices within the sect.
Four agents and six Branch Davidians died that day, sparking a 51-day
siege, first by the ATF and later the FBI. It ended in an inferno that
killed 76 sect members, including 29 children under age 14. The government
called it mass suicide, but WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT suggests the
truth might be otherwise when it debuts MONDAY, APRIL 19 (6:30-8:00 p.m.
ET) - the sixth anniversary of the deadly fire - on HBO.
Nominated for an Academy Award� in the Documentary Features category last
year, WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT combines archival news footage, video
and audio tapes, testimony from the televised House of Representatives
investigation, and interviews with survivors. The Branch Davidians
originated in California and lived near Waco for 60 years before coming to
the attention of the ATF in the early '90s. The sect had acquired a huge
cache of automatic and semiautomatic weapons, which it maintained were
resold for profit to finance their compound. The government, however,
publicly labeled the sect as a threat to the community and its own members,
while emphasizing their unorthodox lifestyle and alleging sex crimes that
intensified media coverage.
The Feb. 28 raid backfired, and was followed in subsequent weeks by
excruciated negotiations and attempts to root out the besieged with
spotlights, embargoes and all-night blasting of Nancy Sinatra's "These
Boots Are Made for Walking." During one taped conversation heard in the
documentary, a government negotiator promises, "Nobody's comin' in
there...you got my word..." However, on April 19, the FBI went in with
tanks and highly flammable tear gas.
The tanks bored huge holes in the compound's wooden structures, creating a
ventilation system likened to a pot-bellied stove that feeds a fire. One
expert testified that the extreme concentration of tear gas could be
lethal, especially to children. Attempting to escape the gas, sect members
took refuge in a windowless concrete kitchen bunker that shortly became an
oven. Heat-sensitive infrared cameras on reconnaissance aircraft show
suspicious flashes which appear to be coming from the tanks moments before
a series of fireballs ripped through the compound.
Although FBI representatives testified before the House that its agents
never fired a shot, some experts believe those flashes could have been
gunfire that ignited the tear gas. The authorities pointed to gunshot
wounds in some of the charred corpses as evidence of a suicide pact,
although the audio tapes from FBI bugs that are heard in the documentary do
not reveal any discussion of a suicide plan by sect members. Fire and
rescue equipment were not permitted near the inferno for crucial minutes by
FBI agents who cited safety concerns.
Attorney General Janet Reno maintained that law enforcement agents acted
responsibly, and the official House of Representatives investigation
concluded that the fire was started deliberately by the Branch Davidians.
WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT suggests this may not be the case - the truth
may not be what the public was led to believe.
In addition to an Oscar nomination, WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT was
honored with the prestigious International Documentary Association's
Distinguished Documentary Achievement Award in 1997.
The executive producers of WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT are Dan Gifford
and Amy Sommer Gifford; producers and writers, Dan Gifford, William Gazecki
and Michael McNulty; director, William Gazecki. For HBO: executive producer
Sheila Nevins; producer, Nancy Abraham.
Academy Award� and Oscar� are registered trademarks and service marks of
the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
###
CONTACT:
Amy Grey/Katie Lanegran
Dish Communications
818-508-1000 818-508-1193 fax
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
