SAN ANTONIO: A newspaper reporter testified yesterday that cult
members fired first during a raid by federal agents on the Branch
Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, last February, undermining the claim
of self-defence by the 11 accused. Marc Masferrer of the Waco
Tribune-Herald said that on the night federal agents raided the
compound, ''whoever was inside the building fired first'', starting a
45-minute gunbattle which killed four agents and six Branch Davidians.
The raid led to a 51-day siege that ended in a conflagration in which at
least 80 cult members perished, including their leader, self-styled
messiah David Koresh.
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