Profile:
Name: Branch Davidians, Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists
Founders: Victor Houteff, Ben Roden
Lineage: Proestant > Adventist > Seventh-Day Adventist
History:
Originating from the Seventh-day Adventist tradition, the Branch Davidians are an offshoot of
an offshoot. In the 1930s, Victor Houteff claimed to be the new prophoet of God's for the
Seventh Day Adventist Church; those claims were not accepted by others, so he and some
followers formed a new group, the Davidian Seventh-day Adventists. In
1959, disagreements within the organization lead to another split and this time
the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventists was organized under the leadership of Ben Roden.
In 1990, the Branch Davidians were taken over by Vernon Howell, a young charismatic speaker who adopted the new name of David Koresh. Accusations about guns and child abuse swirled around the church and eventually, on February 28, 1993, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) along with the FBI and other fderal agents staged a raid the Branch Davidian compound at Waco, Texas. A wide variety of mistakes occurred during the raid caused the deaths of 4 agents and 5 Davidians. Both sides settled in for a long siege - a 51 day siege, in fact, which came to an end on April 19 in a new ATF assault during which the compound caught fire, killing 72-86 people, including David Koresh.
Also Known As: none
Alternate Spellings: none
Common Misspellings: none
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