The Leonard Peltier Defense Committee (LPDC) web site in the section entitled, COUNTER FBI ATTACKS IN THE MEDIA, states:

They (FBI) are also submitting a dear editor letter to numerous papers. In the midst of new revelations about the FBI's shameless efforts to cover up important details regarding the WACO catastrophe, it is no wonder that they are now feeling so threatened as to launch a costly campaign to cover their tracks in regard to Leonard Peltier's case as well.

The incident at WACO was indeed a tragedy, and anyone concerned with researching the true facts about April 19, 1993 will understand that some Branch Davidians were killed at very close range by some of their own numbers and the multiple fires were started within the compound. The FBI's position from the very beginning was that no shots were fired by FBI agents on that day and during the final entry into the compound.

On March 19, 2000, a test was conducted at Ft. Hood, Texas utilizing Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) technology. The tests were ordered by the Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas in order to determine whether flashes that appear on the FBI's video tape from April 19, 1993 could have been caused by government gunfire. The implication by the defense in the wrongful death suit is that government shooting would have prevented Branch Davidians from escaping from the raging inferno. The tests were supervised by an independent company with protocols agreed upon by the Office of Special Counsel, the Department of Justice, and the attorneys representing the Branch Davidians.

Concerned readers should await the final results of those tests and judge for themselves whether the FBI was truthful to the American people in its accounts of that tragic day.

By invoking WACO, without having all the facts at their disposal, the LPDC does itself a DISSERVICE.

Cincinnati Enquirer 4/25/00

WACO Test Suggests Flashes Weren't Gunfire

St. Louis: - A simulation of the 1993 Branch Davidian siege showed that flashes caught on videotape were most likely sunlight reflecting off debris, not government gunfire as claimed in a wrongful death lawsuit, according to a preliminary report. Vector Data Systems, the firm that conducted the March 19 simulation in Texas, submitted its report this month to U.S. District Judge Walter Smith, Jr., who is presiding over the Branch Davidian lawsuit.

July 14, 2000

WACO, Texas (AP) - Five jurors deliberated for 2½ hours in the $67.5 million wrongful-death lawsuit filed by surviving Branch Davidians and relatives of those who were killed. The trial, which lasted nearly a month, brought out emotional testimony recounting the standoff from both sides.

To bolster their defense, government attorneys played audio tapes made inside the compound in which unidentified Branch Davidian's were heard asking "Start the first?" and "Should we light the fire?"

WACO, Texas (CNN) - A five member advisory jury on Friday found the federal government not liable in the deaths of some 80 Branch Davidians in the 1993 seige of the religious sect's compound outside Waco.

The jury found that...and that the FBI agents were not guilty of starting or contributing (to) the fatal fire on April 19, 1993.

Separate from this case, Attorney General Janet Reno last September appointed former Missouri Sen. John Danforth as special counsel to resolve unanswered questions about the final hours of the standoff.

WASHINGTON (AP) - FBI Director Louis Freeh elaborated. Freeh said he considered the loss of life at Waco "tragic." But he also said that "as the jury heard, there were FBI agents who risked their lives to save the life of Branch Davidians."

ST. LOUIS (AP), 7/21/2000 - The blame for the catastrophe at Waco that killed 80 people rests solely with cult leader David Koresh, a former senator said Friday after a 10-month independent investigation. It was the second time in a week that the government was exonerated.

John Danforth concluded "with 100 percent certainty" that federal agents did not start the fire or shoot at members of the Branch Davidian cult during the 1993 inferno. The government also did not improperly use the military, and did not engage in a major cover-up, Danforth said.

"The blame rests squarely on the shoulders of David Koresh," Danforth said. He added, "This is not a close call."

(Senator Danforth's final report is not expected until about November, 2000)

The LPDC is more than guilty of its own rhetoric against others, its tactics and agenda are clearly evident:

Far more important is the fact that many of the statements are false, intentionally misleading, or omit highly relevant information with the intent of deceiving the reader." (LPDC letter of ethics complaint to Attorney General Janet Reno dated 6/26/2000).

The LPDC makes sweeping accusations which are repeatedly based on only partial information and ignore any valid follow-up or intelligent balance of the argument. Through attacks like these, the LPDC arguably becomes more of an anti-government than pro-Peltier cause.