VII. The Attorney General's Decision to End the Stand-off

a. overview of the plan to end the standoff

On April 12, 1993, the FBI presented Attorney General Janet Reno

with a plan to end the standoff with the Branch Davidians. On April 17, 1993, the Attorney General gave her approval for the plan to be implemented on April 19. The stated mission of the plan was to "secure the surrender/arrest of all adult occupants of the residence while providing the maximum possible security for the children within the compound." A key component of the plan was the decision to use CS, a chemical riot control agent, which would be sprayed into the Branch Davidian residence in an attempt to induce the Davidians to leave. The plan was implemented on April 19, but the Davidians did not leave their residence as government officials suggested. Instead, 6 hours after the beginning of the operations, a fire erupted inside the structure, ultimately consuming it and the more than 70 persons inside.

b. the operation plan for april 19, 1993

1. Overview of the written operation plan to end the standoff

As early as March 22, 1993 the FBI began formulating an operation

plan to end the standoff with the Davidians. On April 12, 1993, the

FBI presented its plan to the Attorney General for her approval. According to the Justice Department Report, "Over the next several days the Attorney General and Senior Justice Department and FBI officials discussed, debated and dissected every aspect of the plan."

Activities of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Toward the Branch Davidians/Section 7

The operations plan provided that its mission was to "secure the

surrender/arrest of all adult occupants of the residence while providing

the maximum possible security for the children within the compound." The key component of the plan was the delivery of a chemical riot control agent, known as CS, into the Branch Davidian residence in order to induce the Davidians to leave. While the CS agent was being inserted, FBI officials planned to use a loud speaker system and the telephone to advise the Davidians that tear gas was being inserted into the residence to force them to leave, but that an attack was not underway. The plan also provided for a demand that all subjects leave the building and surrender to authorities.

Activities of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Toward the Branch Davidians/Section 7

The plan provided for the operation to last up to 48 hours or until

all subjects had exited the residence and surrendered. The plan provided

for the first insertion of CS agent to be made into the front/left

portion of the residence. After a period of time, which was to be

dependent on the Davidians' response to the initial delivery of the CS

agent and any subsequent negotiations that were possible, an additional

tear gas delivery was to be made into the back/right portion of the

residence. After a third delivery of CS, into an area not specified in

the plan, all subsequent deliveries of CS agent were to be made into the

upper and lower windows of the residence.

Activities of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Toward the Branch Davidians/Section 7

During the first three insertions, the CS agent was to be delivered

into the residence by two combat engineering vehicles (CEV's), an

armored vehicle similar to the Bradley Fighting Vehicle (Bradley), but

which is unarmed. The CEV's at Waco were mounted with boom-like arms

which were capable of penetrating the walls of the structure. Mounted on

the arms of the CEV's were mechanical devices designed to spray a stream

of CS agent into the holes made by the booms. After the third insertions

of CS agent, the operations plan called for agents located in unarmed

Bradley Fighting Vehicles to maneuver close enough to the residence so

that they could fire Ferret round projectiles through the windows of the

structure. These small non-explosive grenade-like projectiles contained

CS agent which would rise into the air when the projectile broke open

upon impact. The use of Ferret rounds was to be in addition to

continuing insertions of CS by agents in the CEV's.

The plan also provided for specific assignments for the different

HRT and SWAT teams involved in the operation. It specified the maneuvers

to be made by the two CEV's, the nine Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and the

M-88 tank retrieval vehicle, and provided for miscellaneous

administrative and logistical issues such as types of uniforms to be

used and the appropriate manner for handling prisoners.