In late 1992, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) received information that the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas, was collecting illegal firearms. When the ATF agents arrived at the Davidian compound with a search warrant in February 1993, the cult’s leader, David Koresh, would not comply, and the Davidians opened fire. Six cult members and four ATF agents were killed.

After the failed ATF raid, the FBI took over and for fifty- one days tried several tactics to drive the cult members out of the compound. On the morning of April 19, FBI agents began using tanks to punch holes in the walls of the buildings, and agents inserted tear gas into the compound. Soon after, the buildings went up in flames. When federal agents entered the burned compound, they found that over eighty members of the...