Waco
Filmmaker finds Satisfaction By C. BRYSON HULL
Associated Press
Writer HOUSTON
(AP) -- For years,
filmmaker Michael McNulty accused
the government of lying about its actions
during the seven-week confrontation with
Branch Davidians that ended in fiery
tragedy in 1993. Finally this week, after years of
denials, the government admitted it did
use pyrotechnic devices the day the
Davidians' Mount Carmel compound burned
down, killing David Koresh and
about 80 followers. But while McNulty said he is gratified
the truth is finally coming out -- he
believes there is more that is yet to be
revealed. "Getting answers is satisfying, but it
will be much more satisfying when the
people who are responsible are in prison,"
he said. "All of this is not about Mike McNulty,
or the films that have been done, or about
selling the films. It's about finding the
truth." McNulty's 1997 film,
"Waco: Rules of
Engagement," is based on
grainy, black and white videotape recorded
by an FBI surveillance aircraft circling
over the compound. It was nominated for an
Oscar in 1998 for Best Documentary
Feature. The film suggests that after Alcohol,
Tobacco and Firearms agents botched the
raid of Koresh's compound 10 miles east of
Waco on Feb. 28, 1993, the FBI recklessly
attacked the religious group 50 days
later, on April 19, with tank-driving
commandos, intent on avenging the death of
four agents. The film cast doubt on Justice
Department claims it used only non-burning
grenades on April 19, 1993. McNulty said
he found physical evidence to that effect
-- one pyrotechnic shell and a photograph
of another shell that had been
misidentified -- more than a year after
the movie's release. The evidence will be included in the
Fort Collins, Colo., resident's second
film, "Waco: A New Revelation," to be
released this fall. Attorney General Janet Reno,
following a former FBI official's
acknowledgment of the devices, said on
Wednesday that the incendiaries were used
and ordered a full investigation. Congress
now says it also will investigate. "The American public has a right to
know the truth," said Danny O.
Coulson, the retired FBI assistant
deputy director whose statements sparked
Reno's admission. "And we have an
obligation to tell the truth." It was Coulson's statements to
The Dallas Morning
News that forced this week's
admissions. The Texas Rangers, custodians of the
evidence through an arrangement with the
federal government, earlier this year
opened an inquiry into evidence identified
by McNulty. David Thibodeau, a former Koresh
follower and one of nine siege survivors,
said Friday that the latest revelations
are "things we were saying for years." "People automatically just did believe
what they were told because the government
and certain members of the press did such
a good job of demonizing the Branch
Davidians," he said. The case has attracted a cadre of
researchers, experts and lawyers who
consider themselves government
watchdogs. Arizona attorney David Hardy has
fought his battles through open records
laws, repeatedly winning Freedom of
Information lawsuits against agencies that
denied him access to documents about the
standoff. In July, Hardy won $32,000 in
attorney's fees -- the only financial
remedy allowable in such suits -- after a
judge ruled the FBI and ATF had
"stonewalled" his requests. "It's exhilarating because I've spent
three years compiling these documents, and
to finally have them all, in the space of
a week, become useful is great," Hardy
said of the new public scrutiny. "We had
to pry those documents away from the
government one at a time." | 
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