Reforme

2000 · 39579 — Washington DC: U. S. Government Printing Office 2000. Presumed First Edition First printing. Wraps. good. 24 cm 1723 wraps illus. footnotes tables. House Report 106-1037. From July 26 through August 1 1995 this committee's Subcommittee on National Security International Affairs and Criminal Justice and the Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Crime held joint hearings on all aspects of the Federal Government's role in the 1993 tragedy at the Mt. Carmel Center a religious community about 10 miles northeast of Waco TX. This is one of several reports produced. The committee has reached the following conclusions as a result of its investigation: THE EVENTS OF APRIL 19 1993: Aerial Forward-Looking Infrared videos filmed on April 19 1993 include flashes around the Mt. Carmel Center that at first blush resemble muzzle blasts. Careful scientific analysis of the flashes does not however appear to support allegations that these flashes are the result of gunfire. Analysts who submitted reports to both this committee and the Office of Special Counsel reached similar conclusions: that the <br /> flashes they were asked to examine appeared to be solar or other thermal reflections emanating from debris. However the analyst retained by this committee reported that an overhead FLIR camera of the type used by the FBI on April 19 1993 would not record every muzzle flash occurring within its field of view. Therefore while the flashes that have generated such controversy do not appear to represent gunshots it is within the range of possibility that gunshots may have occurred that were not captured by the FLIR camera. This conclusion is bolstered by the March 21 2000 FLIR reenactment performed at Ft. Hood TX. Every FBI agent interviewed by the committee has denied discharging any weapons other than for the delivery of CS gas on April 19 1993 or knowing of any gunfire from <br /> government sources. This committee has uncovered no evidence to contradict these claims. There is no evidence that HRT snipers stationed at a house designated the Sierra One sniper position across the Double EE Ranch Road from the compound fired shots on April 19 1993. Shell casings recovered at the house by the Texas Rangers have been tested by the Office of Special Counsel and matched weapons used by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms on February 28 1993. The operations plan approved by Attorney General <br /> Janet Reno called for a gradual section-by-section insertion of CS gas over the course of 2 days followed by ``deconstruction'' of the building if the Branch Davidians had not surrendered after 48 hours. Nonetheless on the morning of April 19 1993 the HRT punched large holes in the walls of the building drove M-728 Combat Engineering Vehicles deep into the building and destroyed one-half of the gymnasium on the side of the building. At approximately 8 a.m. on April 19 1993 HRT member David Corderman after obtaining authorization from HRT commander Richard Rogers fired either two or three pyrotechnic M-651 rounds in an attempt to insert gas in an underground tornado shelter on the Green side of the Center. Corderman had fired non-pyrotechnic ferret rounds at the shelter's tarpaper and plywood roof but they had failed to penetrate it. Although HRT leadership was aware of the possibility that HRT personnel might need to use M-651 rounds they failed to include the contingent use of M-651 rounds in the operations plan they sent for approval to the Attorney General. They also failed on April 19 1993 to obtain authorization for this deviation from higher up the chain of command. U. S. Government Printing Office paperback