Can Congress allow federal law enforcement to demonize “suspects,” the way BATF/FBI did the Branch Davidians?
** From the first BATF news conferences, to the Treasury and Justice Department reports, to the closing arguments of the Branch Davidian trial, federal law enforcement have used incomplete, exaggerated or false information about David Koresh and the Branch Davidians to dehumanize them as criminals and fanatics. They harped on the most outrageous claims of former members and anti-cult groups and stifled dissenting voices who pointed out that any crimes allegedly committed by one Davidian did not give the government the right to trample the constitutional rights of all Davidians to freedom of speech and religion, the right to bear arms and freedom from excessive police force. ** FBI lies included asserting Davidians had created tunnels and booby traps on the property, were using illegal drugs, had several years of food stored, and had built an impenetrable “fortress.” The FBI claimed the operation was costing more two million dollars a day, when costs averaged closer to $150,000 a day. *
