AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN WEDNESDAY APRIL 20 PG B1 & B5


PROTESTS MARK "CULT" ANNIVERSARY

'We Can't Let It Go,' Austin Demonstrator Says Amid Calls For A
New Investigation

Groups Seek Investigation of Waco Events


From Staff and Wire Reports

Washington - One year after a deadly fire ended the standoff 
between federal agents and "cult" leader David Koresh near 
Waco, lawyers and civil libertarians called Tuesday for an 
independent probe of the tragedy.

The investigation is needed because the 51-day Waco drama, in 
which about 90 people died, is part of "a systematic problem of 
abuse by federal law enforcement agencies," warned Gene 
Guerrero, field director of the Washington office of the 
American Civil Liberties Union.

Congress will have to create an independent investigatory 
commission "if people really want to know what happened in 
Waco," said Michael Bernard, attorney for Norman Bernard, a 
member of Koresh's Branch Davidian congregation.

The call for an independent commission came at a news 
conference commemorating the first anniversary of the tragic 
conclusion of the federal siege of the Branch Davidian compound.

In Austin, 14 people held signs in front of the Capitol 
protesting the the government's actions at Mount Carmel and 
demanding an independent investigation. The two-hour vigil was 
organized by the Libertarian Party and the Texas Independent 
Party.

"Most people don't know that the government ordered tank 
drivers to drive tanks into a residence that was occupied by 
men, women and children," said Terry Liberty Parker, 49, a 
salesman and member of the Libertarian Party. "We can't let
it go."

Sara Ronder, 11, was holding a sign that said, "Save the 
children. Don't burn them."

"The reason I made this sign is that it's ridiculous that they 
said it was for the children when they were crushing them," 
Sara said.

Linda Curtis, an Austin secretary who is a member of the 
national committee of the New Alliance Party, drew a parallel 
between the FBI's treatment of the Branch Davidians and its 
investigation of the New Alliance Party.

Recently released documents show the FBI investigated the New 
Alliance Party as a "political 'cult,'" Curtis said. "We want 
to know why the hell the FBI has gotten into the 'cult' 
business," she said. "They are supposed to be protecting our 
constitutional rights, not violating them."

Terry Moser, the chairman of the Texas Independent Party, said 
Mount Carmel was an example of the federal government's running 
roughshod over citizens' rights.

"We've got a situation where the servants rule the masters," 
Moser said. "We, the people, have let them do that to us."

ACLU member Ken Loveless, a retired Federal Aviation 
Administration airway facilities technician, said the raid on 
the Branch Davidians was an "atrocious" violation of the Fourth 
Amendment protection against unreasonable search and seizure.

On April 19, 1993, the FBI used tanks to poke holes in the 
walls of the Branch Davidians' Mount Carmel compound and then 
pumped in tear gas. A fire soon began -- a blaze that 
authorities have said was started by the Branch Davidians. 
Koresh was among the 79 men, women and children who died in the 
blaze; many were found to have been shot to death.

The FBI's actions were pre-approved by Attorney General Janet 
Reno, who marked the anniversary with a demonstration of her 
determination to better handle such future showdowns.

On Monday, Reno took part in a crisis response training session 
at the FBI's Academy in Quantico, Va. The session was 
recommended as part of the Justice Department's review last 
year of the raid on Koresh and his followers. Four agents of 
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms were killed (by
"friendly fire") in the initial assault on the compound.

FBI Director Louis Freeh said his agency had taken other steps 
to be better prepared for hostage incidents. Freeh and other 
FBI officials also are receiving the crisis training. The 
agency has created a new post of special agent in charge for 
critical incident response, who will command the on-site 
command post in future such crises.

But critics who gathered at the ACLU Washington office said 
more must be done and that an independent assessment is needed.

-END-

Staff writer Rebecca Thatcher and Cox News Service contributed 
to this report.