Date: Sat, 6 May 1995 19:56:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Carol Moore <[c--oo--e] at [CapAccess.org]> Subject: Comments on Nightline Waco Fire Story (fwd) Capaccess down all day. Try again if your message bounced. ==================================== COMMENTS ON NIGHTLINE 5/5/95 "THE WACO FIRE STORM" Carol Moore, author THE MASSACRE OF THE BRANCH DAVIDIANS (c) 1995 [Book to be published in July 1995 by Gun Owners of America. Book available from Gun Owners 1-800-417-1486 (call in late June.) Disk versions of book (not for distribution on internet :-) will be available from me with graphics June 1, 1995 for $9. (Checks to Carol Moore Box 65518-CM Washington, D.C. 20035 202-986-1847) Feel free to reprint and redistribute or use as basis for articles the below.] Nightline featured the "independent fire investigator" Paul Gray, who tried to debunk the theories of those who assert the government actions started the fire, not those of the Davidians. First let me note that my complete analysis of Paul Gray's lies and errors, enclosed below, *was* sent to Nightline 5 days before the show was aired so they had lots of time to ask the right questions. Shoddy-FCC-terrorized- terrified broadcast journalism at work once again. :-( First, comments on Nightline's coverage of me and my book. Nightline first showed a shot of the on-line version of the Committee for Waco Justice's January, 1994 136 page report version of the Massacre of the Branch Davidians written by me. It contains a shorter and less complete analysis of Paul Gray's lies and errors. And they quoted from my more recent material where I wrote that the tanks "systematically turn Mt. Carmel into a lethal fire trap." That was an accurate quote. (Miracle!) However, as I shall explain, they did mess with the following spoken quote from me (misidentified as representing "Citizens" for Waco Justice instead of Committee--could you see my peace sign necklace?): "the most likely scenario is that it was caused by tanks ramming into different parts of the building and knocking over lanterns . . . once it started accidently, they may have decided to give it a boost." They then show footage from Linda Thompson's WACO, THE BIG LIE CONTINUES where she says, "Shortly afterwards smoke is seen coming from the back wall where a flamethrowing tank had been a few minutes earlier." (I'm sure millions of people now think I'm Linda Thompson, the woman with the flamethrowing tank. ARGH!) I do not subscribe to Linda Thompson's flamethrower tank theory, though they very dishonestly imply that I do. Most of Gray's debunking of Linda Thompson was in fact accurate, which makes him look credible and shows the damage done by erroneous accusations like Thompson's. What I told ABC's Nightline in that soundbite that they took out of context was: I think the first fire started on second floor, rushed in a matter of seconds down the hall and down the stairs (or a tank-created hole in second floor) into the fuel container filled dining room and chapel. It is possible that once FBI agents saw that fire "they" gave it a boost by shooting a pyrotechnic device into the window of the "dog run" at the end of the gymnasium, creating a fire ball that rushed up the dog run and joined the fire that by now had spread to the chapel. (Though a tank-created smoldering fire in the back of the collapsed gym also could have done the same thing. Notice they never mentoned the obvious fact that the gym was totaly collapsed!) And I told them that attorneys at trial had noted the flash in the dog run, as had an FBI agent, but that Paul Gray had withheld this information from other fire investigators. This was the first time I've seen the infrared video film and it only confirmed to me the idea that the wind-pushed fire quickly spread through the building. (Davidian survivor Renos Avraam who was on the second floor said there was a lamp hanging on wall in the second floor room that caught fire right after the tank rammed right below that room.) Nightline did *not* show the later part of the infrared film where the flash in the dog run occurs, of course. Paul Gray would have a lot of trouble explaining that one since there wouldn't be any Davidians starting fires at the back of the collapsed gym roof that tanks had just been rolling over! Mike McNulty definitely did and Jim Pate probably did also mention this well-documented fact, but Nightline gave neither a substantive quote at all. All I can say is that the media in this country can act responsibility and tell the truth or it can promote the government line and increase and inflame the anger and suspicion at the government and the government-controlled broadcast media. Is this coverup a conspiracy? Hey, conspiracy is from conspire, "to breath together." Conspiracy is a natural human tendency--so is the tendency to fight to get out the truth. So let's keep getting out the truth, guys! Below is the analysis of Gray only. I also present before this a whole chapter on how tanks and possibly FBI pyrotechnic devices started the fires and debunking the government's specific accusations Davidians did. (Reno lied when she said, quoted on Nightline, "they were observed setting the fire." At trial the **one** agent who said he saw a Davidian setting the fire admitted he didn't know what the guy was doing and that there was no fire in that area anyway. The words caught on surveillance tapes of Davidians all have innocent interpretations as well as devilish ones the government gives them. Notice they didn't bother to play the tapes.) [Final note at end of footnotes below.] FROM CHAPTER 14: THE WHITE HOUSE-JUSTICE DEPARTMENT-FBI COVERUP FIRE INVESTIGATION COVERUP The Justice report asserts that Texas Rangers assembled a team of "independent" fire investigators to determine the cause of the fire.35/ However, at trial Captain David Byrnes, head of the Texas Rangers investigation, testified that the U.S. Attorneys office, not Texas Rangers, appointed Paul Gray head of fire investigation team.36/ This choice of chief investigator and the team's conclusions provide some of the clearest evidence of the Texas Rangers' collusion with BATF and the FBI. Investigators never interviewed any of the fire survivors, something done routinely in other fires. The Fire Report mentions no such interviews and at trial fire investigator Bill Cass admitted he had not spoken to any survivors, including David Thibodeau or Derek Lovelock, two fire survivors who were not under indictment. However, he did speak to Davidian Donald Bunds, who evidently was cooperating with authorities, but was not at Mount Carmel during the siege or fire. When asked if he had spoken to survivors, investigator James Quintiere said, "absolutely not."37/ ***Head of Team Was BATF Sympathizer The head of the supposedly independent fire investigation team was Paul C. Gray, Assistant Chief of the Houston Fire Department. However, Gray had close ties to BATF. He had served as a member of BATF's National Arson Response Team and taught classes for BATF agents. And his wife was a secretary in BATF's Houston office. Not surprisingly, BATF officials recommended him for the job.38/ At trial fire investigator Bill Cass stated he also had worked with BATF in previous fire investigations.39/ Attorney Jack Zimmermann revealed, ">From 1982 to 1990, [Gray's] office was on Imperial Valley Drive, in the ATF office. . .He carried a card that identified himself as a special agent of ATF. He handed that card out to people when he interviewed witnesses."40/ Finally, Gray had socialized with BATF agent Steve Willis, who was killed February 28th, and attended his funeral.41/ Zimmermann writes that Paul Gray asked Zimmermann and Dick DeGuerin to aid in his investigation. The attorneys told Gray that because of his close ties to BATF they could not participate unless Texas Rangers asked them to do so. Otherwise, "Dick DeGuerin and I would not lend our credibility to the anticipated report." In response, Gray called an unscheduled press conference for that same day and announced that the fire was started by the "cultists."42/ Zimmermann immediately criticized Gray's conclusion that Davidians set the fires. "Until I see the evidence from an independent, impartial expert, I choose to believe the firsthand account of eyewitnesses who were in the center who said there was no fire started by the Branch Davidians."43/ ***Gray Withheld Evidence from Other Investigators At trial Bill Cass, one of the three fire investigators called to the stand, revealed that Paul Gray actually had withheld from other members of the fire investigation team important evidence that a fire started in the gymnasium. Gray showed investigators infrared video taken only from noon on, evidently not showing them the 11:59:16 photograph which displays an obvious heat plume in the gymnasium. Cass acknowledged that he had not noticed--and Gray had not pointed out to other investigators--the 12:08:17 and 12:08:22 flashes in the window of the gymnasium's dog run. Gray also withheld from investigators the fact that the official FBI log entries revealed that FBI observers reported seeing fire at the back of Mount Carmel Center right after tanks collapsed the gymnasium. In addition, Cass revealed that Gray, who took responsibility for investigating the flammability of CS gas, did not tell other investigators that manufacturers warn the gas is flammable. Cass confessed that he personally had not made a time study of the fire's start or progression and relied on Gray's interpretation.44/ Gray's withholding evidence certainly suggests that the government believes it was the action of its tanks that started the fire. Under cross-examination fire investigator Andrew Armstrong conceded that he took Gray's word for it that clothing, wood, carpet and other samples he tested for flammables did in fact come from the area Gray claimed they did.45/ (James Pate claims Gray actually told investigators not to process such fire samples from the gymnasium, effectively withholding it from them.46/) Finally, fire investigator James Quintiere confessed that while he met with other investigators right after the fire in Waco, he did not read any of their reports or use them to draw his conclusions about the spread of the fire. He did not reveal if this was because Gray withheld such information from him.47/ ***Gray Misrepresented Nature and Flammability of Gas The Fire Report, based on Paul Gray's "research," repeatedly mis-identifies the gas used as "CN" gas. However, CN gas is a tear gas (Alphachloroacetenone) less lethal and less flammable than CS gas (Orthochlorobenzyladine Malononitrile). Despite this mis-identification, Gray asserts, "We are of the opinion that this fire was not caused by nor was it intensified by any chemicals present in the tear-gassing operation." He even asserts that the carbon dioxide used as a propellant might have been "an effective extinguishing medium if applied to a fire already in progress."48/ ***Fire Report Asserts Davidians Not Trapped In Building Despite the video footage of the damage to the building done by tanks and the extensive survivor testimony to their attorneys about people being trapped by falling debris, blocked stairways, jammed doors, caved-in walls, rapidly spreading smoke and fire, the Fire Report concludes: "Considering the observable means of exit available, we must assume that many of the occupants were either denied escape from within or refused to leave until escape was not an option."49/ ***Fire Report Implies Flammables Present for Purpose of Arson The Fire Report notes, "the physical evidence collected at the scene included the remains of several metal containers commonly used for the storage of flammable liquids."50/ It does not bother to mention that once the FBI turned off their electricity, the inhabitants of Mount Carmel were totally reliant on coleman and kerosene lanterns, butane gas heaters and propane gas for heat and light. Again, the Fire Report does acknowledge that tanks may have spilled flammables inside the building. The report also exhaustively lists all the flammable materials found on several survivors' shoes and clothes, as if this is evidence of arson. But since investigators did not interview survivors, they did not know that ferret rounds and tanks had knocked over fuel containers and some fuel had been spilled as Davidians moved containers away from tanks. Survivors who exited from the east side of the building also claimed that they stepped in fuel spilled when the tanks moved go-carts away from the east wall.51/ It is interesting to note that the report did not find it noteworthy that several one gallon cans had holes in them, something which could have happened during the destruction of the building. When a Texas Ranger mentioned that fact at trial, a defense attorney quickly objected.52/ Fire investigator Bill Cass testified at trial that Gray told them not to process any fire samples from the gymnasium.53/ It is possible Gray also withheld evidence that some debris contained ethanol or other flammable solvents dispersed by FBI agents. The existence of such evidence might be another reason the government sent tanks in to bulldoze the rubble only three weeks after the fire. According to Newsweek, fire investigators found "metal lantern-fuel containers with what appeared to be deliberate punctures."54/ However, neither the Justice factual report or the Fire Report mentions such punctures in the containers, nor did this come out in the trial. Probably, this was more FBI disinformation. ***Fire Report Asserts Accidental Fire Impossible The Fire Report attempts to debunk what it calls "another theoretical explanation reported by the media," i.e., that tanks rupturing "a propane cylinder or flammable liquid container" started the fire. It does not reveal that this is survivors' testimony. The Fire Report claims, "if this had happened, an immediate vapor air explosion or flash fire would have occurred involving the vehicle itself. It did not happen."55/ However, the report ignores the possibility that tanks smashing down walls and pushing around debris could knock over a lantern without coming into contact with any fire caused by the accident. During the trial fire investigator Bill Cass said, "The possibility of three accidental fires starting simultaneously is just not something that is dealt with in fire investigations."56/ Of course, few fire investigations have to take into consideration the effect of several 50 ton tanks smashing repeatedly into a home within a five minute period. In fact, the Fire Report asserts that "all law enforcement vehicles were well away from the building prior to the start of the fire."57/ ***Fire Report States Separated Points of Origin Mean Arson The report states, "This investigation establishes that these fires occurred in areas significantly distant from each other and in a time frame that precludes any assumption of a single ignition source or accidental cause."58/ In his April 26, 1993 press conference, Gray told reporters, "We believe it was intentionally set by persons inside the compound. . .It is the opinion of the investigative team that this fire started in the interior of the building in at least two separate locations, at approximately the same time." These locations "were significantly distant enough from each other that they couldn't have been set by the same source at the same time."59/ He asserted "evidence showed a time gap between the last battering of the compound by an FBI armored vehicle and the appearance of the blaze."60/ Again, the fire investigator is denying what we can plainly see, that a last barrage of tank attacks occurred in separate locations within the three minute period during which the fires began. He also rejects simple common sense: if even one 50 ton tank smashes deep inside a rickety wooden building filled with dozens of lighted lanterns that one tank alone could start two or three fires in widely separated parts of the buildings. If two or three tanks do so within a short time period, all three could start fires. On the other hand, while fires may have appeared to start within three minutes of each other, common sense tells us that fires could have started five or six minutes apart, but appear to outsiders to start virtually simultaneously, depending on how great the "fire load" of flammable materials in each room. Finally, if FBI agents happened to launch or throw any pyrotechnic devices into the building, these certainly could have started fires in widely separated points of origin. However, this was one scenario never contemplated by fire investigators. ***Fire Report Downplays Breaching's Role in Spreading Fire The Fire Report mentions "breaching operations" as a "contributory factor," stating "the FBI removed several large sections of the building's exterior walls. . .these openings are contributory to the fire's spread." However, it asserts that the "fresh air" the openings let in "while fanning the flames. . .would have also lowered the concentration of carbon monoxide. . .increasing the amount of time a person might have survived if trapped inside." The report ignores the particularly dangerous construction of Mount Carmel with its long hallways and crawl space which made excellent flues or chimneys for spreading fire. This weak apology for the breaching operation's contribution to spreading the fire at least admits that people might have been trapped inside.61/ ***Gray Falsely Claimed Buried Bus Tunnel Was Usable During his press conference Paul Gray claimed, "I do believe that a person could have survived the fire. I could speculate that there was ample room in the open pit area for everybody to have gotten into."62/ However, this statement directly contradicts what Gray put in his own report regarding the buried bus that served as a tunnel to the open pit or tornado shelter: "It is also possible that the escape route planned included the aforementioned tunnel system accessible through an opening in the floor at the west end of the building. A significant amount of structural debris was found in this area indicating that the breaching operations could have caused this route to be blocked."63/ FOOTNOTES 35. Justice Department report, p. 329. 36. Trial transcript, pgs. 5811, 5816, 5834. 37. Trial transcript, pgs. 5951. 38. J. Michael Kennedy, "Waco Cult Set Fire, Texas Officials Say," Los Angeles Times, April 27, 1993, A7; Michael deCourcy Hinds, April 27, 1993. 39. Trial transcript, pgs. 5852-55. 40. James L. Pate, October, 1993, p. 75. 41. James L. Pate, November, 1993, pgs. 74-75. 42. Jack B. Zimmermann paper, Esq., 1993. 43. Associated Press wire story, April 27, 1993, 04:10 EDT. 44. Trial transcript, pgs. 5836-37, 5847, 5859-62, 5869. 45. Trial p. 5748. 46. James L. Pate, private communication, June, 1994. 47. Trial transcript, p. 5932. 48. Justice Department report, Fire Report, p. 8. 49. Ibid. p. 9. 50. Ibid. p. 3. 51. Ken Fawcett, private communication, June, 1994. 52. Trial transcript, pgs. 849-52. 53. James L. Pate, private communication, June, 1994. 54. Newsweek, May 3, 1993, p. 26. 55. Justice Department report, Fire Report, p. 9. 56. Teresa Talerico, February 10, 1994. 57. Justice Department report, Fire Report, p. 9. 58. Ibid. p. 3. 59. Hugh Aynesworth, April 27, 1993. 60. Sue Ann Pressley, "Cultists Started Fire in Waco, Probers Say," Washington Post, April 27, 1993. 61. Justice Department report, Fire Report, p. 6. 62. "Cultists had tunnel to escape fire, arson prober says," Washington Times, May 1, 1993, A5. 63. Justice Department report, Fire Report, p. 10. FINAL NOTE: The Committee for Waco Justice and me want to get at least 20 copies of the near-final draft of my 270 page book to important congressional committee members by 5/22. At $8.00 each, that's tough for our group which now is $150 in debt. I know that some of you have promised contributions and thank you in advance. But others feel free to send more. Almost all contributed money will go into getting out even more copies to more congressional members. The rest into other postage and xeroxing to get out the word. CHECKS TO CAROL MOORE, Box 65518, Washington, DC 20035 202/986-1847 202/797-9877 [c--oo--e] at [capaccess.org] ALSO: McNeil Lehrer filmed our group and interviewed me and another libertarian at length and will present clips in their story about questions that need to be answered about Waco on May 17th, day before Spector's Senate hearings. If it is true he's only going to interview agents and officials, it will be one more whitewash. We shall see. 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