Waco Witness Recalls Arsenal

W A C O, Texas, July 6 -- About 300 machine guns, assault rifles andpistols were found in the charred remains of the Branch Davidiancompound hours after the structure burned to the ground in 1993, aTexas ranger testified today.

Government attorneys presented jurors with five burned weaponsrecovered at the site outside Waco, called Mount Carmel. Some ofthe guns, charred black with smoke soot, appeared melted.

The presentation was made in the government’s defense of a $675million lawsuit filed by Branch Davidian survivors and relatives ofthose who died in the government’s standoff with the cult.

About 80 Davidians died from either fire or gunshots on thefinal day of the 51-day standoff; six Davidians and four agentsalso were killed the day the standoff began, when agents tried tosearch for illegal weapons and arrest cult leader David Koresh.

Plaintiffs say the government helped cause at least some of thethree fires that engulfed the compound at the end of the siege; thegovernment says Branch Davidians started the fires.

The plaintiffs also say the agents fired indiscriminately intothe building during the raid, while agents claim they were ambushedby heavily armed cult members and were defending their lives.

Government’s Case Winding DownLt. James Miller, who helped collect and examine evidence fromthe site, said the recovered weaponry included 60 M-16 machineguns, 60 AK-47 assault rifles, about 30 AR-15 assault rifles andnumerous smaller pistols and unused bullets following the April 19,1993, blazes.

Miller said 85 weapons, including a .50 caliber rifle andseveral AK-47 assault rifles were found along the front area of thecomplex. Another 144 guns were found in a concrete vault builtinside the building.

Lead government attorney Michael Bradford predicted he couldwrap up his side of the case by next Wednesday.

The five-member jury will act as an advisory panel to U.S.District Judge Walter Smith, who will deliver the verdict.