wrapped up in his right hand a book sealed with -- >> the seven seals. >> by the early 1990s, the branch davidiansmore violent side to the group is about to be revealed. >> i was the chief of the public affairs branch of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco and firearms. we received information that they were engaged in buying and stockpiling firearms, converting weapons to machine guns. so we began an investigation and determined in fact they were doing exactly that. people do, in fact, have a right to bear arms. that's not the business of atf. we have no issue with that. however, there are laws. to take a semi automatic weapon and convert it to be a machine gun, you have to have the prior permission of the united states government. >> david koresh and the group at mt. carmel did increasingly believe, as the years went by, that at the end of time, they would be called upon to fight on the side of righteousness. and they read the bible fairly literally. >> there will be no excuse. >> i never saw any sign of the illegal weapons. him and the other guys started buying weapons at gun shows legally and kept

carmel, five branch davidians are mortally wounded and several are injured. including david koresh. >> his blood pressure was terribly low because of the loss of blood. he refused medication, antibiotics, aspirin, anything. he said, the lord is going to decide this. >> so you can know -- >> koresh doesn't die. he treats the wound himself and makes the decision that he and his followers will remain inside the compound. >> no one is going to expect me, when they come busting in on my door with guns drawn and pointed in the air and someone fire at me that i'm going to lay down and die for anybody. it just ain't going to happen in this country. >> in just a few hours, the raid that was supposed to go off without incident, is deemed a complete disaster. >> there was an absolute lack of plan b, and all the team leaders i talked to say my only regret in my career in my life was that i didn't stop it. >> by the early afternoon, the atf calls in the fbi to handle negotiations. marking the beginning of what will become one of the longest standoffs in law enforcement hi

and of these branch davidian including david koresh seventy four people killed in this massive blaze there show i would just stop you there it is fascinating let's hear now from a life press conference being given at the moment free fire fight is in the town of west i believe we can listen in oh we lost fire but i think that there may be firefighters that are really valid or potentially along or. are still trying to turn mean obviously they were there on the right side of the fighting the fire and they'll be like the way we feel we don't know what hard numbers. how we feel we think you. might. be. we're still pulling people out of some of the homes yes people were trapped are they still for finding them i don't know we did find some earlier they still are going from house to house i guess find some people . but. i know that they should. be killing hours off not only the media. but other areas that may be affected or keep from additional and hard. a lot of it is ongoing and there is a process. amount of resources for him for. not only those who don't know where about a hundred. or a v

we had waco ridge and ruby ridge and waco branch davidian. then but what did happen in the two thousand is that some of the. is that feelings surrounding what had happened in two thousand and one and the rise in islamophobia and fear of foreigners got mixed then to a certain degree to the right wing. homegrown if you well. movements here in the united states and what is driving it now because there's a huge political ration of groups real fast extreme right wing groups have always been with us of course we had slavery for a hundred years then we had white supremacy and the terribly repressive system of jim crow in the south in the one nine hundred twenty s. the ku klux klan had three to five million members in the one nine hundred thirty s. of course we had numerous groups modeling themselves on the fascists in europe so this is not new but there has been an upsurge in recent years i think it is absolutely tied if not entirely due to the election of an afro-american president many of these groups i would say most of them are teenaged with rac

>> after camping in his car outside the branch davidian compound for a few days, mcveigh drives to terryichols' farm in northern michigan. >> in less than an hour, the compound that had fascinated the world for 51 days was a raging inferno. >> on april 19th, 1993, mcveigh and nichols watched the violent end of the waco siege on television. >> watching flames lick out windows, and i'm watching tanks ram walls, and my eyes just welled up in tears, and tears started coming down my cheeks, and i'm watching this scene unfold, just stood there in stunned silence. what is this? what has america become? i just remember that scene. it burned into my memory. i'm emotional right now as i talk about it. you know, i felt absolute rage. >> tim saw this as an act of war against the people. >> the rules of engagement if not written down are defined by the acts of the aggressor. now, what rules of engagement would you interpret in examining waco? kids are fair game? women are fair game? >> i think that that was the final moment for mcveigh, and he says so himself, right? after waco, now is the time for a

another six branch davidians and four federal agents died in a bun embattle head by david koresh who refused to surrender. >> abc7 news reporter is headed to west, texas, to bring us live coverage of the explosion with reports later today on abc7 news. she will tweet updates for us, as well. we will have continued you abc7news.com and you can f u on twitter@abcnewsbayarea. with breaking news developments they will be there several law enforcement agencies could be looking at two potential suspects in the boston bombings, one at each blast site. president obama visited boston for an enter faith service to pay tribute to the victims of the bombings. today, a grieving city is trying to he. president obama and the first lady joined in an interfaith service dedicated to the victims of the bombing and offered support and encourage m our prayers are with the injured. we will be with you as you learn to stand, walk, and, yes, run again. >> the cathedral was packed with victims, first responders, government officials and members of the community. there were prayers for those recovering from i

the in history on april the sandoff between federal agents, atf and a religious cult known as branch davidians ended in a deadly fire in waco, texas. 76 emwere killed. two years later oklahoma city bombing killed 168 people. april 20th, columbin columbine -- columbine shootings. two students involved there committed suicide. and on april 16th, 2007, 32 people killed in a school shooting in virginia tech. april 20th, 2010, 11 people killed when the deep water horizon oil rig exploded. >> biggest disaster to hit san francisco 1906 backpack and fire. police hoped off the area until explosive experts determined that bag was harmless, still, the ceremony was moved to union square. today, it was the first time that no 2006 survivors took part in the festivities. they just wanted to sleep in. >> red cross wants to remind th all to be ready to deal disasters qite a mood today and look who is there. jerry rice. joining olympic champ kristi yamaguchi to bust a move. officials cannot stress how important it is to have a family plan fr a disaster. >> loved ones know you're okay whether through going to a

nearly 20 years to the day the branch davidian compound in waco came to a fiery end after federal agentsw destruction again in america's heartland. this time of a different kind. the blast knocked this man on to his living room floor, his windows blown out. his metal garage door twisted. >> oh, my gosh. all of this from that blast. broken glass everywhere. windows busted. everything on the floor. >> tonight, it's not just the streets of west, texas, that are battered and bruised. so, too, are its residents. >> this morning when you look around at all this glass and your store and your mom's house and your car, what do you make of all this? >> a devastation. we've got to rebuild. we're a community of czech and german. and we'll rebuild. we'll go on. >> reporter: for "nightline" i'm see cecilia vega in west texas. >>> wrongly accused. why this 17-year-old said that people looking for the boston bomber almost ruined his life. almost ruined his life. more... step! [ mom ] my little girl...she loves to help out on big jobs. good thing there's bounty select-a-size. it's the smaller powerful sh

. >>> we should know that friday mark the 20th anniversary of the deadly siege at the branch davidianund in nearby waco. at this point, there is nothing to suggest that the two events are in any way connected. >>> to boston now where investigators believe they are making solid progress in the hunt for the marathon bomber. they are zeroing in on at least one possible suspect thanks to surveillance video and cell phone records. the guy was seen dropping a bag near the site of the second blast and then running away after the first bomb went off. we have also learned the taste third victim killed in the attack. she was 23-year-old boston university graduate student ling zi lu of cheap a we have new details. >> reporter: early morning here in boston right now. as you can see behind me, no let-up on security. police are still patrolling the downtown area as well as members of the national guard and the military. there have been progressions in terms of the investigation. the federal investigators telling us they have a person of interest. they believe they see a person on surveillance video

. >> also the same week as the waco, texas, branch davidian situation. waco is about 20 minutes from west texas. some interesting, strange coincidences. >> coincidences right now. nothing that we can say is connected and hundreds of first responders from all over texas did rush to help, and we have abc's jim ryan among the first to arrive at the scene. jim, describe what you're seeing. >> reporter: well, it's obviously dark and it's dusty and it's not smoky anymore. it was smoky earlier. of course, the wind is blowing in the opposite direction toward the plant and that's good news. it's blowing north, which is away from populated areas. if it shifts around to the south, as forecasters say it might, then that could cause problems down south of here, but the hope is that the flames inside the factory will die down and up and the firefighters can get in there. so far they haven't been able to because of concerns of a tank inside there containing ammonia that could still erupt. >> now, jim, you talk about getting inside the actual fertilizer factory. what ab

agents and the branch davidian david koresh he set the complex on fire killing himself and these seventy three others to end of that that was twenty years ago almost to the day one day shy of that then two years later so eighteen years ago in oklahoma city bombing the federal building the murrayfield are building there also happened on this date and kind of eerie as well the sixty sixth anniversary exactly to the day of the texas city texas fire and explosion which killed twelve hundred people that was at a month's santo chemical plant that was in a town very near to houston so very significant timing and very eerie as well when it comes to the day. and we've been getting some sciences views on what could have caused the explosion at the fets lies a plant in texas professor christopher busby from the european community under radiation says there's more behind this blast. and hydrocele monia on its own would not be able to produce the kind of devastation that we hear is occurring over there it seems much more likely to me that like the other money i'm not great plant explosions in history

agents and the branch davidian david koresh he set the complex on fire killing himself and these seventy three others too and that that was twenty years ago almost to the day one day shy of that then two years later so eighteen years ago in oklahoma city bombing the federal building the murrayfield you're building there also happened on this date and kind of eerie as well the sixty sixth anniversary exactly to the day of the texas city texas fire and. which killed twelve hundred people that was at eight months santo chemical plant and that was in a town very near to houston so very significant timing and very eerie as well when it comes to the day we heard from the people that we've spoken to tonight about how these are their friends their colleagues the people they know they've grown up with it's a town of less than three thousand people and a very strong spirit and this is when things like this happen these people rally together so that they can help each other get through this area my colleague andrew fama spoke to world affairs analyst professors three round child they believe that t

agents and the branch davidian david koresh he set the complex on fire killing himself and these seventy three others to that was twenty years ago almost to the day one day shy of that then two years later so eighteen years ago in oklahoma city bombing the federal building the murrayfield you're building there also happened on this date and kind of eerie as well the sixty sixth anniversary exactly to the day of the texas city texas fire and explosion which killed twelve hundred people that was at a month santo chemical plant that was in a town very near to houston so very significant timing and very eerie as well when it comes to the day whether this has any significance into the investigation who knows but certainly interesting to point out to say the least and in terms of the community you know texas very well this is a very small town isn't it but collectively what the community be feeling we have seen sainz of people rallying strikes their way to try and help and then we're told by an agency officials actually please don't you know helping but what do you think will be the failing th

armed forces seized a compound housing the religious group the branch davidian started off with an intent to carry out a search warrant based on a tip of the group.

agents and the branch davidian david koresh he set the complex on fire killing himself and these seventy three others to end of that that was twenty years ago almost to the day one day shy of that then two years later so eighteen years ago in oklahoma city bombing the federal building the murrayfield are building there also happened on this date and kind of eerie as well the sixty sixth anniversary exactly to the day of the texas city texas fire and explosion which killed twelve hundred people that was at eight months santo chemical plant that was in a town very near to houston so very significant timing and very eerie as well when it comes to the day. online team have been closely following the tragedies since the beginning lining up footage from eyewitnesses gauging twitter reaction and pictures of from the scene had to come to keep across as developments minute by minute. with more reaction to the taxes in a couple of minutes plus when we come back the letters that lays with the toxic ricin the which was sent to president obama and to all the officials just the country it was still re

armed forces seized a compound housing the religious group the branch davidian started off with an intent to carry out a search warrant based on a tip of the group having a stockpile of illegal weapons. into a fifty one day standoff eventually federal agents used tanks to bust holes in the compound and pump and tear gas shortly after a mysterious fire ensued on the building when dozens of men women and children burned the lives of the time the d.o.j. told the public that the fire was a result of a mass suicide and it took six years for the f.b.i. to admit that they were the ones who started the fire. but to this day however no members of law enforcement ever been held accountable for this massacre and on this same day two years later with the oklahoma city bombing on wednesday april nineteenth one thousand nine hundred five at nine am a massive explosion went off in the alford humor.

armed forces seized a compound housing the religious group the branch davidian started off with an intent to carry out a search warrant based on a tip of the group having a stockpile of illegal weapons as plated into a fifty one day standoff eventually federal agents used tanks to bust holes in the compound and pump and tear gas shortly after a mysterious fire ensued on the build.

reporter: but the timing of the disaster is haunting. 20 years ago this week, the compound of the branch davidian cult in nearby waco, came to a fiery end after a showdown with federal agents. in west tonight, 160 people are recovering from their injuries. the mayor says up to 45 people are still missing as people search the rubble for survivors. late today authorities released the name of the first casualty in this explosion. captain kenny harris, who actually worked for the dallas fire department, but lived in west, responded to the call. tonight they're hailing him as a hero. diane? >> again, steve, thank you. and as you said, they've said it's still too early to come up with any cause or any motive in what happened. what we do know is that the little texas town is a kind of texas version of a norman rockwell painting. just a few thousand people, as you heard. and cecilia vega spent the day with people who told her every rescuer, every person rescued, was someone you know. >> reporter: shattered and broken. >> oh, my god. >> a war zone. every window is out. and the house, the whole ceiling, it

in the end of february one thousand nine hundred three david koresh and his cult basically a branch davidian got into a firefight a standoff with a.t.f. federal agents that standoff became known as the siege of waco it lasted for fifty days and then on april nineteenth they had enough of the standoff and david koresh set his compound on fire killing seventy four people including himself in the incident very high profile incident drew a lot of fire at the time and in fact a lot of people criticize the federal government in how they handled the situation because it had such a large loss of life at the time but brilliant images and what i mean i'm not talking in a good way but of massive flames coming out of that the situation as well so it's easy given the timing and the date and the types of images that we're getting to draw parallels but of course you know we can't say that this is terrorism we can't say that this is. you know faulty safety regulations we're going to wait until that investigation plays out before we can actually have any insight to what just happened here and what you think

armed forces seized a compound housing the religious group the branch davidian it started off as an attempt to carry out a search warrant based on a tip of the group having a stockpile of illegal weapons as into a fifty one day standoff eventually federal agents used tanks to bust holes of the compound and pump and tear gas shortly after a mysterious fire ensued on the building leaving dozens of men women and children burned alive at the time the d.o.j. told the public that the fire was a result of a mass suicide and it took six years for the f.b.i. to admit that they are the ones who started the fire but to this day however no members of the law enforcement have ever been held accountable for this massacre and on this same day two years later for the oklahoma city bombing on wednesday april nineteenth one thousand nine hundred five at nine am a massive explosion went off in the alfred p. murrah federal building which left a hundred sixty eight people dead nineteen of which were children and over six hundred injured the man behind the rest a terrorist attack was timothy mcveigh revealed tha

waco and this is in close proximity that's what they think of they think of the david koresh branch davidian complex going up in flames and so that will be an element i'm sure of the investigation but if you look at the climate in the united states immediately at this very moment we're coming off of the boston tragedy two explosions twelve seconds apart from each other at the boston marathon if you look at what else has happened this week we've had the rice in letters sent to obama and the two senators as well so right now there is a heightened level of attentiveness if you will in the country. so. while we can't say definitively i mean this could have very well been someone putting their cigarette in the wrong place when they shouldn't have the smoking but i think you're going to find an extra level of attention to detail that investigators are going to put considering the heightened level of tension in the united states right now ok well danny is now back with us i understand. can you hear us danny. yes i can enter thank you we've just been talking to shawn there about potential causes and

in is my 10th one and i ran in 93 and i think the branch davidian branch fire occurred that day. day i ran in '95 and the next day the borough building had the explosion. bad things to seem to happen onn this time and day.y. >> here is the concern now.now. we know there's been multiple explosions. we know that two explosive expls devices have been detonated, dismantled. we know that two went up. up. we keep showing you the video of that.that. that brings up a whole bunch of questions, our security expert,e tom mcgee says maria we're under attack. attack. todd, those are pretty frightening words. >> absolutely, and just to shedd some clarification. something that you brought up earlier erred d ratherring thege bomregarding thebomb technician. you have to think about the the crime scene now. now. where the bombs went off, that is going to be a crime scene. now the problem that they have e to figure out is all of the the additional backpacks and items that the people carried into the area have now contaminated thect crime scene. so now they have to treat everything that is left behi

speculation that there maybe was connection between those two events, that maybe it had been branch davidians survivors who carried that out. that was not correct. it turns out the guy who was responsible tor that attack, tim think mcvey was already sitting in a jail cell about 80 miles from the attack. he'd left the scene of the attack. he'd been pulled over by a police officer because the vehicle he was driving was missing a license plate. police officer arrested him for carrying a concealed weapon and ultimately he was arrested for killing 16 8 people. 1995, the unabomber struck again. it was another year before the fbi finally arrested ted kaczynski. it took years for them to identify and catch him. 1996, the olympic games in atlanta. a security guard at the park saw the bag and started clearing the area when the bomb went off. a woman was killed by the bomb. another man had a heart attack as a result of it. more than a hundred people were wounded. the security guard in this case, a man named richard jewel went from hero to suspect and became suspected in that crime, although he was never

carmel with the branch davidians. >> this fire is really rolling now. >> -- and that it was necessary back in, say, the fashion of john brown and harper's ferry. >> he had to know that there were children in that building, and i cannot imagine anybody committing that kind of act against another human being. >> at times, he said he knew there was a day care center there. at other times, he appeared to avoid that. i think that the death of the children was very uncomfortable for him. on one hand, he sought to rationalize it. on the other hand, it was beyond rationalization, and even tim mcveigh knew that. i think the first time he said he just looked at me and he said, children also died at waco. he assigned almost all responsibility to himself. i did this, i did that. terry nichols helped me with this or that, but he played down the role of terry, played down the role of anyone else. i think he expected to be found guilty. >> we got him. >> he was not surprised by the return of the verdict finding him guilty, nor was he surprised that the jury voted death. as i recall, we simply exchan

. >> and it's also by waco, texas, 20 miles away, where the branch davidian thing happened >>> this morningw," breaking news. the giant explosion at a west texas fertilizer plant. >> the blast was so intense, it could be felt miles away. the victims, the mayhem, the heart break, and now the search for answers. it's thursday, april 18th. >> announcer: from abc news, this is "world news now" with john muller and diana perez. >>> good morning, everybody. in a week of so much news, we have a truly disastrous situation unfolding this morning. >> that's right. we want to begin this half hour with that breaking news from texas. it is a fatal explosion that happened at a fertilizer plant. this is the kind of news that nobody wants to hear, especially those who live so close. there is a lot of news to get to this morning about this. >> massive evacuations, massive amounts of injuries, fatalities confirmed. this happened about 8:00 last night. this blaze sent a wave of explosion across this small texas town of west. again, almost 100 people injured. >> reporter: the explosion at the fertilizer plant

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in 1993, a 51-day standoff between federal law enforcement and branch davidian leader david koresh ended 80 dead including 25 children when koresh refused to surrender peacefully. on the same day two years later, timothy mcveigh bombed the alfred murrah federal building in oklahoma city killing 168 including 19 children in the building's day care center. >> that attack was specifically designed as payback for the government's role in waco two years earlier. >> reporter: for those who hate america and know something of its history, monday had particular meaning. in massachusetts monday was a state holiday. patriots day, commemorating the first shots fired in the american revolution. during the battles of lexington and concord fought near boston in 1775. >> the real patriots day is april 19th. that is the date that counts for people on the extreme right in the united states. as it happens, massachusetts celebrates patriots' day on the third monday of every -- of the month. >> reporter: but for every conspiracy theory about domestic extremists or international terrorists, there is this fact

armed forces seized a compound housing the religious group the branch davidian started off with an intent to carry out a search warrant based on a tip of the group having a stockpile of illegal.