Former President Donald Trump picking Waco, Texas, for the first rally of his 2024 campaign Saturday will put him in the middle of a big Republican state that has reliably delivered him big crowds.
It will also put him not far from the grassy prairie where a standoff in 1993 between U.S. law enforcement and Branch Davidians infamously resulted in the deaths of more than 80 members of the religious cult and four federal agents.
Trump, who is facing the possibility of becoming the first president in U.S. history to be indicted, hasn’t nodded to Waco’s past since first announcing the rally last week. Campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said the decision to hold the event at Waco’s regional airport was ideal because the city was “centrally located and close” to some of Texas’ largest cities.Federal agents raided the compound about 10 miles east of Waco on Feb. 28, 1993.
A few hours later, flames were seen spreading through the compound. Authorities said the Davidians died by suicide by setting the fire and shooting themselves. Survivors have denied there was a suicide pact, saying military vehicles knocked over lanterns and ignited the blaze. But for some far-right extremists and militia groups, the siege has become a touchstone over the decades, most notably the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that happened on the same day two years after the raid. A Virginia man charged with joining the mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol allegedly told an undercover agent that his property could turn into “Waco 2.0” while expressing concerns over new firearm regulations, according to a federal court filing.
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