Waco 16 Years Later- A Visit to Mount Carmel in Waco, Texas; May 2008.
All photos copyright Martin Hill

Suggested documentaries: WACO: THE RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
Also: Waco: the Big Lie  and America: WAKE UP or WACO!

youtube: A Visit To Waco, TX- Sixeen Years later

I went to Texas in May 2008 and while there, went to visit the location of the infamous WACO tragedy. When I first arrived in Waco after visiting some friends in Austin, I asked some locals where the Branch Davidian compound was. A few people pointed me in the general direction, but no one had been there or knew exact directions. One guy remarked that "it's sad that is what Waco is known for".

So I stopped by the local 'Texas Ranger Museum' and went into the visitor center. They had hundreds of brochures on tourist spots displayed, but no mention of the Waco slaughter. I asked the lady behind the desk how to get to the Dr. Pepper Museum and then asked her if she knew how to get to the Waco compound. Surprisingly, she went to retrieve a map of directions to Mount Carmel which they kept behind the counter, and gave it to me. Here is a picture of the map she gave me, (courtesy of Texas tourism):
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"MILITARY TRAINING MADE WACO FAMOUS" ironically appears on a state plaque at the Texas Ranger Museum.

DIRECTIONS TO MOUNT CARMEL, BRANCH DAVIDIAN COMPOUND IN WACO TEXAS
TEXT: (Note, we did not see any 'Holiday Inn').
DIRECTIONS TO MOUNT CARMEL:
FROM THE WACO TOURIST INFORMATION CENTER, TAKE 135 NORTH JUST ACROSS THE RIVER TO ML KING BLVD. TURN LEFT ONTO ORCHARD LANE (ACROSS FROM THE HOLIDAY INN).
TAKE ORCHARD LANE TO LOOP 340. TAKE A RIGHT ONTO LOOP 340. GO A SHORT DISTANCE ON LOOP 340, THEN TAKE A LEFT ONTO FM 2491.
YOU WILL COME TO A SPLIT IN THE ROAD, BUT WILL NEED TO STAY ON 2491. ABOUT 5 MILES FROM LOOOP 340 YOU WILL SEE LARGE CORRUGATED TIN GATES ON THE LEFT. TURN LEFT ON THE DOUBLE EE RANCH ROAD, WHICH COMES DIRECTLY AFTER THE GATES. MOUNT CARMEL IS A SHORT DISTANCE ON THE RIGHT.

We then drove to the compound. It struck me as a beautiful and serene area of Texas.
A large sign posted at the fron gate immediately greets visitors, and reads 
No TxDOT Trespassing- The Trans Texas Corridor is unwelcomed on this land - KEEP OFF.
Upon entering the property, there is a house to the right which appears to be either the caretakers house or the preachers house. The church in the background behind the tree is a memorial church built after the tragedy. The house that  burned down on April 19, 1993 was behind and to the left of where the church is. In the foreground is the stone memorials to all of the victims. 

While we were there a local woman drove onto the property with some friends; turns out she was a long time resident and college professor who taught at Baylor college. She said that the stones with the victims names were originally set out in the field towards the memorial church, with a tree being planted for each victim, but were later moved to the front and placed onto each other to form a sort of memorial wall. She said the new leader of the church and self proclaimed 'prophet' is a guy by the name of Charles Pace, and that there has been a lot of division and turmoil among the sect in recent years. She was sympathetic to the victims and disagreed strongly with what the government did. The woman relayed the chilling story of the day of the fire, April 19, 1993; she was teaching at Baylor and saw the fire live on TV in the teachers lounge, and at the same time they saw the fire out their window which was miles away from the compound. She rubbed her arms as she said she still gets chills when she talks about it, the goose bumps visible on her arms as she told the story.

I asked her what the local reaction was at the time; she said it was mixed. some were outraged, others thought the 'cult' 'brought it on themselves' and some kept their opinion to themselves, unlike herself, who she reiterated, was not hesitant to express her disagreement with the government action. I asked her what the current church leadership's position was on visitors to the property and she said they seem to be very open to visitors and she assumed that any visitors to the compound must be viewed as sympathetic by the property owners.

Interestingly, the woman then mentioned that Timothy McVeigh visited the Waco compound and was photographed there before carrying out the OKC bombing, and that it was no accident that that occured on April 19th 2 years later. the poor woman did not even seem to know that OKC was yet another government false flag attack. So even those sympathetic to the victims at Waco do not know the whole truth. Mount Carmel is a somber and quiet place and she was there to grieve and honor the victims with her friends, so I did not feel it was the appropriate time or place to talk to her about it.
I view this Waco atrocity as linked with 9/11 in the sense that it's another in the long history of government terrorism and abuses of the American people.

As we walked up the hill from the front of the property and approached the church, all of the sudden a big black lab started running towards me, chasing me. I ran back towards the car but later ventured back towards the church to take a look at it. There is a portable bathroom that sits next to the church, with a little dog standing around the yard watching visitors. There is a small pond across from the church.

There are memorials to the ATF agents killed at Mount Carmel,as well as to those killed in the Oklahoma City bombing two years later. A 'Don't tread on me' Gadsen flag flies outside the memorial church.

After leaving Mount Carmel we stopped by the Dr. Pepper Museum and then went by the Waco masonic lodge, whic is next door to the police department. Watch the video below and view all the photos from our visit here.

May their souls and all the souls of the faithfully departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.