Trump holding his first 2024 campaign rally in Waco on 30th anniversary of the Waco siege is about inciting more terrorism
By: Dean Obeidallah
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
MAGA and the Branch Davidian's are both cults
On Saturday, Donald Trump will hold his first major campaign rally since announcing his 2024 presidential run last November. Obviously, Trump could've held this event in any location, in any state, at any time. But Trump chose to hold this first rally in Waco, Texas, during the 30th anniversary of the government's siege of the Branch Davidian cult there in 1993—an incident that has long been viewed as a rallying cry for anti-government violence.
That's why numerous experts have raised red flags that Trump's choice of Waco is about courting anti-government extremists to his side--especially given that this rally was announced just last Friday as media reports were swirling that the Manhattan District Attorney was likely on the verge of indicting Trump.
The 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian cult's complex in Waco began on February 28, 1993, when officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) sought—by way of a search warrant—to enter the premises given evidence the group was storing a massive stockpile of illegal weapons. That botched initial raid left four ATF agents dead. The FBI then took control of the situation, which led to a 51-day standoff as the FBI attempted to negotiate a peaceful surrender with the cult's leader, David Koresh. Ultimately, however, President Bill Clinton's Attorney General Janet Reno ordered the FBI to enter the compound, which resulted in the deaths of 75 people, including 25 children.
Waco has since become a cause for the far right and "patriot movements" to invoke when committing anti-government violence. As Eric Ward, an expert on extremism who serves as the Executive Vice President of Race Forward and a Senior Advisor to Western States Center, explained via email, the Waco siege has inspired "a trail of bombings, shootouts, murders, and a host of illegal activity. The extremist expert noted, "the most known being the bombing of the Alfred P. Murray Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK two years later where 168 people, including 19 children, were murdered."
In fact, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh cited the Waco incident as the reason he waged his 1995 deadly anti-government attack--which he carried out on the two year anniversary of the FBI's final assault on the Waco compound. As McVeigh stated from prison during a 2001 interview, "Waco started this war. Hopefully, Oklahoma would end it. The only way they're going to feel something, the only way they're going to get the message is, quote, with a body count."
Ward ominously warned, "The founders of the American Militia Movement constructed their popularity by promoting conspiratorial myths built around the standoff at Waco, Texas." He added, "Trump seeks to do the same."
Ward is far from alone in loudly raising these concerns. Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism explained to USA Today about Trump's choice of Waco for his first rally: "There's not really another place in the U.S. that you could pick that would tap into these deep veins of anti-government hatred - Christian nationalist skepticism of the government - and I find it hard to believe that Trump doesn't know that Waco represents all of these things."
That same sentiment was expressed by Oren Segal, vice president of the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, who tied the potential charges against Trump to his choice of Waco for the rally: "If Trump is promoting this idea of government overreach - of targeting him —- it's kind of the perfect place to send a message, and will be understood that way whether he intends it or not."
Will Trump use his rally in Waco on the 30th anniversary of the siege to ratchet up his anti-government attacks directed at federal and state officials prosecuting him?! Knowing Trump, the answer is yes. For example, after his Mar-a-Lago residence was searched in August by the FBI pursuant to search warrant seeking classified documents, Trump declared at a rally the next month that, "The FBI and the justice department have become vicious monsters." That sounds like words you would hear from anti-government extremists—not a former president who is effectively the leader of the Republican party.
Beyond that, Trump has not only shown zero remorse for the vicious Jan 6 attack on our Capitol waged by his supporters to keep him in power despite losing the election, he has also increasingly defended the attackers. Trump has repeatedly claimed those arrested were being treated "unfairly" and has floated pardons for the attackers. Trump is sending a message that if you commit violence to avenge me, I will have your back if I get back in power.
There's something else about the cult at Waco that is relevant to Trump. In the new Netflix three-part documentary series released this week marking the 30th anniversary titled, "Waco: American Apocalypse," you hear how the followers of Branch Davidian leader David Koresh were blindly loyal to him. Some members made it clear they would die for their leader—who they viewed as "The Messiah." And Koresh loved that loyalty, even referring to himself as a prophet.
This type of loyalty to Koresh conjures up what we've seen from some with Trump—and the type of loyalty Trump covets. That's why words of the lead FBI agent in charge during the Waco siege, Bob Ricks, in that Netflix documentary regarding Koresh's hold on his supporters is relevant when you consider Trump's hold on MAGA: "This man has total control over everybody in there. The only will that exists is that of one person."
Ricks noted with that type of blind devotion, it became clear, "We knew this was not going to turn out well."
With Trump, we also know this will not "turn out well." The only question is how much more violence will Trump incite before he finally leaves the national stage.
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and some people say there was no intention for insurrection.
So how many fascist riots will this asshole be allowed to incite?
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Not death wishing, just dreaming about him choking to death.
Call it whatever you like, people are tired of him.
no fascist riots. no melodrama needed, but lessons on how to use Fascist is needed desperately
The people that are tired of him might consider ignoring him rather than follow his every move and dwell on every word he says.
Fascist is the new racist. And soon (or maybe it already has) it will also be so overused it loses all meaning.
Liberals are the reason we can't have nice things in a lot of cases. Nothing is sacred...............not even accurate terminology.
When will you be?
It has. Same with white supremacist, nazi and pretty much every other derogatory names the left call patriotic Americans.
List them.
Sane decent people certainly are.
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On NT, it already has. I just wish the clowns using the word would learn to use it properly.
Or at least I wish they could see how it makes them look.
Unfortunately they just change the definition of the word and believe the rest of the world buys into their new definition.
The seem to think as long as they call you names it puts you on the defensive and therefore makes them right. Pretty sad.
Wonder if our neighbor near Waco will attend. He’ll be sure to have an opinion.
But but but those rainbow flags cause riots......
Seems no matter where he held it somebody would have whined about it.
The Trump continues the grift. Lock him up.
charge him with a crime and convict him first
They’ve tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and ........
And failed.
Probably written by someone who has never even been to Waco. The author is an idiot.
Loads of speculation and short on facts.
I feel confident the same folks would object to ANY rally held by Trump anywhere.
The least the author could do was to be honest about it, but he failed.
Just in case anyone is interested, the day the siege ended was April 19------and Saturday is hardly the 19th of April.
As we see, Timothy McVeigh cited "Waco" as a main reason he blew up a government building and killed a couple hundred people, innocent people.
The connection is neither dim or meaningless. Trump could go anywhere he wanted to have another rally, but he is going to Waco.
He is giving aid and comfort, and to some extent direction, to those who would commit domestic terrorism.
He should have said the Branch Davidians and not Waco. The town wasn't part of this cult or the ATF which conducted the raid.
Hell, the compound wasn't even IN Waco!!
The ATF really screwed the pooch on that whole affair.
Koresh regularly came into Waco and they could have taken him then instead of raiding the place.
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More TDS driven nonsense.
Nothing more .....
Exactly.
So you think it is mere happenstance or coincidence that he is going to Waco?
That is laughable.
Nah but what is laughable is the author seems to have a problem when Trump picks a location for political reasons but not when liberals/progressives do the same thing.
Ergo the assertion of TDS. It’s a perfect example of that malady.
Really? What kind of "political" message does "Waco" convey? Lets see
You do know what happened at Waco right?
Hint, Tim McVeigh didn’t murder any of your fellow Americans there.
Maybe he’s just a fan of Chip and Joanna Gaines? Perhaps he’s trading in gold plating for shiplap. (Sorry for the HGTV humor.)
I guess you missed the McVeigh connection to Waco. Which is weird because he said it in plain English.
Nah, just not a huge fan of TDS driven nonsense.
As noted in #9 above.
I missed nothing.
Especially the hyperbolic nonsense that is, this article.
My favorite is when leftists go to Selma and march across the bridge, then make speeches next to it, as of they marched across it in the 60s....
And probably the first time they had ever been there.
Maybe he'll windup the crowd with his Soros/Braggsville slugger.
"MAGA and the Branch Davidian's are both cults"
No different than the left's climate alarmist and woke cults.
So science and social justice are now cults?
Not what I said.
I said climate alarmists and wokes are cults.
Neither have to do with science or social justice.
Oh, and I forgot...
Those that don't know the meaning of fascism, but use it to describe anyone that does not think like them are cultists.
I hope they aren’t serious about the Trump or death thing, because they will be settling for death. On the other hand, maybe I shouldn’t care.
The Trump rally was an hour, more or less of his grievances. Same old shit, different day.
Hey, his "black" showed up.