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                     NRA-ILA Special Report
                   THE WACO HEARINGS: DAY FIVE

            "Who Fired First?" - The Question Remains

Despite claims by New York Congressman Charles Schumer that the
issue has been put to rest, the question of who fired first was
raised yet again in Congressional hearings into Waco.  Today, the
fifth day of the House Waco Hearings, was slated to investigate the
role of the FBI and the Justice Department during the 51-day siege. 
But the first panel, comprised of Dick DeGuerin and Jack Zimmerman,
attorneys for David Koresh and Branch Davidian Steve Schneider,
went straight to challenging the conventional wisdom on the
shooting incident and attacked "some desk-bound bureaucrat" for
giving the April 19 raid the go-ahead.

DeGuerin and Zimmerman became involved in the negotiations between
the FBI and the Davidians 30 days after the initial BATF raid on
the Mt. Carmel center.  As attorneys for the Davidians, both men
made repeated visits inside the Mt. Carmel center to speak with
Koresh, Schneider and the other Davidians.  They testified that the
Davidians believed that, during the initial raid,  it was BATF who
fired the first shots and that the helicopters which participated
in the raid also fired at the center.

Zimmerman: "If the Branch Davidians intended to ambush those people
with 48 machine guns and .50 caliber machine guns, and they came up
in unprotected cattle cars with nothing but tarps on them, they
would have blown them away."

DeGuerin: "And what I saw and what I was told was very compelling,
that the ATF fired first."

Referring to the two front doors that led to the Center, DeGuerin
said, "I went in and out of that door ten times.  And I saw the
bullet holes on (sic) the door, on the right side.  Almost every
bullet hole was an incoming round.  And what I mean by that, its
a metal door.  You could easily tell that the bullets were incoming
rounds.  They were punched in."

Predictably, U.S. Rep. Charles Schumer objected: "Of course the
majority of bullet holes would be through -- would be going in that
direction, because the Davidians are not going to keep the door
closed and shoot through it."

Not according to the Treasury Report on the raid. "Koresh slammed
the door before the agents could reach it.  Gunfire from inside the
Compound burst through the door.  The force of the gun fire was so
great that the door bowed outward."(page 96)
DeGuerin and Zimmerman suggested two scenarios in which BATF fired
the first shots.  Zimmerman stated that he was told by someone in
the media who had inside contacts with BATF that, during the
initial stages of the raid, at least one BATF agent had an
accidental discharge of their firearm while exiting the vehicle. 
"That was information that was given to us by someone in the press
who had a confidential source within the ATF who indicated that
someone said that he was coming out of the back of that [vehicle]. 
He tripped, his weapon wasn't on safe, and it discharged."

DeGuerin testified that the Davidians told him that BATF agents
fired upon and killed the Davidian's dogs at the start of the raid. 
He further indicated that killing the dogs was a part of the BATF
raid plan.

In either case, both DeGuerin and Zimmerman were convinced by the
words of the Davidians themselves and the evidence they observed
during the siege -- bullet holes in the doors, walls and ceilings
of the Mt. Carmel center, comments by a journalist with a
confidential BATF source -- and, after the fateful gas attack on
the center on April 19th, photographs taken of the complex during
and after the initial raid -- that it was BATF who fired first.

              Deal Made, And Broken, By Gas Attack.

Perhaps the most disturbing testimony today from Zimmerman and
DeGuerin was their assertion that on April 14th they were assured
by FBI Special Agents Jeffrey Jamar and Byron Sage that they had
"quote all the time in the world," according to Zimmerman.

The attorneys stated that this information was a great relief to
them, because they felt they had just made a breakthrough with
David Koresh.  At this time, Koresh indicated that he and the other
Davidians would come out after he had finish writing his
interpretation of the "Seven Seals."  Since Koresh had finished
writing the first seal in two days, DeGuerin and Zimmerman were
hopeful that they could negotiate a surrender by the Davidians
within two weeks.

DeGuerin and Zimmerman believed that a peaceful resolution to the
siege was at hand.  The first they heard of the April 19th gas
attack on the Mt. Carmel center was 6 a.m. the morning of the
attack when their telephones started ringing off the hook.  "I felt
betrayed," said Zimmerman.  "I was clearing my schedule.  I thought
they'd be out within another ten days, and I could not believe that
the FBI or the Justice Department or whoever it was would undertake
such a dangerous operation knowing that there were old men and
pregnant women and children in there.  I just couldn't believe that
they would do that."

          "Waco News Shifts from Politics to Substance"

After focusing mainly on the politics behind the Waco hearings,
media accounts have shifted abruptly to the events actually being
debated on Capitol Hill, according to a new study by the Center for
Media and Public Affairs (CMPA).  The study pointed out that
today's Washington Post ran the first news story on civil liberties
issues raised by the Waco hearings, while the television networks
continued to downplay the story.

According to CMPA, coverage of (Day 4 -- Monday July 24, 1995)
examined reasons for the failure of the BATF raid on the Branch
Davidian compound, in contrast to previous news accounts that
stressed partisan squabbling between the GOP-led House
investigative committee and the Clinton Administration.

CMPA found that among the major newspapers, the Washington Post
continued to lead the Waco coverage with 4 stories and 88 column
inches of text, compared to one brief story  apiece in the New York
Times (26 inches) and USA Today (14 inches).

According to CMPA, anticipating today's hearings, the Post
published a lengthy story by religion reporter Laurie Goodstein on
the religious freedoms of unconventional sects.  CMPA points out
that this is the only major media story to date that focuses on
civil liberties issues raised by the hearings.

CMPA stated in its report on Day 4 that the commercial broadcast
networks continued to downplay the hearings in their evening news
shows, airing only one two minute story apiece.  Once again, CMPA
points out PBS's MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour devoted more airtime (over
8 minutes) to this story than ABC, CBS, and NBC combined, including
lengthy snatches of unedited testimony from the hearings.

According to CMPA, the BATF's decision to stage its ill-fated
February 28 raid dominated the news, getting extensive play in 8 of
the day's 11 Waco-related stories.  For the first time since the
hearings began last Wednesday, NRA involvement and other motives
for the hearings played little role in the coverage, found CMPA in
its daily report. 

CMPA's also reported that BATF undercover agent Robert Rodriguez
and raid supervisor Chuck Sarabyn became the first witnesses to
receive more sustained media discussion than Kiri Jewell attracted
with her charges of sexual abuse by David Koresh.

CMPA's research also found that the news featured heavy criticism
of BATF actions in planning and carrying out the February 28 raid. 
Of the statements logged by CMPA of sources and reporters that
evaluated BATF, 75% were critical of the agency.  By contrast, CMPA
found that only two statements criticized the Congressional
committee.  Prior coverage had criticized Congress and its
investigation as frequently as the executive branch agencies whose
actions and decisions at Waco are being investigated.

Tomorrow: The Gas Attack

In a brief comment, U.S. Rep. Schumer took exception to
DeGuerin's and Zimmerman's use of the term CS gas.  "Mr. DeGuerin
said not tear gas but CS gas," an agent Schumer described as "the
mildest form of tear gas."  Tomorrow, the hearing will focus on
the planning and approval of the CS gas attack -- and whether
that gas was mild indeed.

           EVEN LOWER MEMBER DISCOUNT ON TRANSCRIPTS!!

Complete transcripts of the hearings are available to NRA members
for an even LOWER DISCOUNT RATE of $9.95 a day!!  Call Jack
Graeme at the Federal News Service at 1-800-969-3677 to receive a
daily transcript.  Be sure to mention that you're an NRA member
to secure the incredible discount rate. Hearing quotes excerpted
from Federal News Service transcripts. 

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