‘Waco’ on Netflix: What to Know About David Koresh

When it comes to depicting the tragedy of Mount Carmel, Waco, the latest miniseries to come to Netflix, does a spectacular job. But where it falters is in explaining exactly what the Branch Davidians believed. No individual detail is more instrumental to the story of Waco than understanding its leader, David Koresh.

Though David Koresh is the name most commonly associated with the Branch Davidians, he wasn’t the organization’s founder. The Branch Davidians are a sect of the Davidian Seventh-Day Adventist Church that was founded in 1959 by Ben Roden. Like a more extremist version of the traditional Christian church, Seventh-Day Adventists focus heavily on the Day of Atonement. They believe that before the second coming of Christ there will be a time where the wicked will be separated from the good and the former shall be punished.

Under Ben Roden and he and his wife’s involvement in another religious organization, Shepard’s Rod, that changed. When Roden broke away from the church to form the Branch Davidians he did so claiming that the judgement of the dead had already concluded on October 20, 1955. From then on God’s judgement was targeting the living while preparing for the second coming of Christ. This evolving religion came with intense restraints. Branch Davidians were supposed to almost completely remove themselves from the outside world, live together in the organization’s commune which didn’t have running water, and devoutly study the Bible three times a day.

That’s the organization Vernon Wayne Howell, aka David Koresh, joined in 1981. Koresh had been part of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church and was close with the Rodens before Ben Roden’s death in 1978. When he moved to the Branch Davidians’ compound in Waco, Texas three years later, that’s when Koresh started to claim that he was a prophet. It’s been speculated that Koresh had a sexual relationship with the widowed Louis Roden, which caused tension within the organization. Despite Koresh’s lofty promises, Roden’s son George Roden was the one who was in line to become the next leader of the Branch Davidians. Nevertheless she is the one who allowed Koresh to begin teaching his own message to the cult.

David Koresh didn’t just believe that he was a prophet. He believed that he was the Christian messiah.

Koresh was constantly in a power struggle with George Roden. While battling over the cult, Roden once demanded Koresh and his 25 followers leave Mount Carmel by gunpoint. They were later exiled to the movement’s camp in Palestine. While Koresh was away in Palestine, Roden’s support declined while Koresh’s followers only grew. To prove himself to the Branch Davidians, Roden challenged Koresh to a contest that involved raising the dead and exhumed a corpse for that purpose. But instead of playing along, Koresh went to the authorities, which resulted in a lengthy trial for both men.

Yet Koresh ultimately won control over the cult. In 1989 one of Roden’s followers declared himself the messiah. Roden then promptly killed that follower with an axe. He was judged insane and placed in a psychiatric hospital, allowing Koresh to swoop in and declare himself head of the Branch Davidians.

Not all of Koresh’s followers believed his claims that he was the messiah. Some also didn’t approve of his practices. Koresh, who had a history of relationships with underage girls dating back to when he was 19, declared that no one was to have sex and that most of the women in the commune would have to “marry” him. Koresh claimed that sex was an evil distraction and that he was volunteering to take on its burden for his followers. This also fit in with Koresh’s other claim that he was destined to father 24 children who would then become the world’s elders. At least one of Koresh’s “wives” was 12 years old when they started having sex. That woman was Michele Jones, the sister of his wife Rachel Koresh. To add to laundry list of statutory rape accusations against him, some former Branch Davidians have claimed that Koresh used to molest the commune’s children.

Then there were the weapons. Koresh believed that nonbelievers would riot and attack during the end times. He encouraged his followers to stockpile as many illegal firearms as possible.

Those are what ultimately led to the siege of Waco. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms stormed the Mount Carmel Center in 1993, demanding the cult hand over its illegal weaponry. Over 51 days federal authorities, officers from the state of Texas, and finally the U.S. military battled against the Branch Davidians. Despite all of the gunfire, it was ultimately a tear gas canister that ended the standoff. That gas sparked a fire that destroyed the Mount Carmel commune.

In total 86 people died due David Koresh’s leadership, including Koresh himself and many of his wives and children. Four of those casualties were officers. But the remaining 82 people whose lives were lost were all members of his own cult.

Where to stream Waco