Reenactment Planned of Branch Davidian Siege

Eight gunmen firing submachine guns and pistols. Grenades exploding near a debris field of broken glass, aluminum and tubs of water. Men with painted faces running from place to place in camouflaged fatigues alongside three tanks. And pilots from the Royal Navy of Great Britain flying Lynx helicopters overhead with special infrared cameras attached to record the entire event.

U.S. law enforcement officials said Thursday they have agreed to all this and more as part of a reenactment of the final day of the deadly 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Mount Carmel, Texas, that left lingering questions about whether FBI agents--or military officers--fired shots or launched grenades that contributed to the deaths of 74 people.

The reenactment is designed to answer the question of whether flashes visible on videos taken on the day of the siege show gunfire, as plaintiffs in a civil lawsuit argue, or are something else, as the FBI has maintained.

No one knows how high expenses will run, but one official said it will cost about $300,000 just to transport the British equipment and personnel across the Atlantic Ocean to Texas. A government official has estimated that the entire demonstration will cost $750,000.

The re-creation, ordered by U.S. District Judge Walter Smith and being organized by the British firm Vector Data Systems Ltd., is tentatively scheduled for mid-March at Ft. Hood, an Army base south of Waco. The British military is involved in part to provide impartiality.

Former Sen. John C. Danforth (R-Mo.) is overseeing a special investigation to answer the “dark questions” about whether the FBI contributed to the deaths and then engaged, along with Justice Department officials, in a cover-up.

The FBI had maintained a reenactment was impossible because it would expose classified technology. U.S. Atty. Mike Bradford said he has no objection to the media attending the event, although a final decision has not been made.