This Friday, the official Twitter accounts of the national and regional offices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives released a statement “honoring” the four government agents killed during the siege of David Koresh’s Branch Davidian compound in 1993.
The events in Waco, Texas 27 years ago resulted in the death of 76 men, women, and children, including infants and pregnant mothers who were burned alive by the FBI’s incendiary ammunition.
Despite the massive death toll and near-universal condemnation from all sides of the political spectrum for its handling of the Waco massacre, the ATF has repeatedly cast itself as the victim of the story on social media.
On February 28, 2020, the ATFHQ and ATF Houston Twitter accounts, among others, honored the four federal agents who were shot after attempting to invade the Branch Davidian compound to execute an automatic weapons confiscation warrant.
The official ATF Houston account posted, “27 years ago today, while executing lawful warrants in Waco, Texas, four ATF agents were killed and 28 ATF agents were wounded from gunshots or shrapnel. We will never forget Special Agents Conway LeBleu, Todd McKeehan, Robert Williams, and Steven Willis.”
27 years ago today, while executing lawful warrants in Waco, Texas, four ATF agents were killed and 28 ATF agents were wounded from gunshots or shrapnel. We will never forget Special Agents Conway LeBleu, Todd McKeehan, Robert Williams, and Steven Willis. https://t.co/pl6hlXkSZh pic.twitter.com/6WWHZk3Lfc
— ATF Houston (@ATFHou) February 28, 2020
Twitter users were not amused by the ATF’s failure to mention the names of the 76 people who were incinerated during the joint ATF-FBI siege.
https://twitter.com/PDog119/status/1233439255596130305
https://twitter.com/wojakboomer/status/1233452471210692610
These guys plus Janet Reno are responsible for burning innocent children alive.
— KnottBob (@56chevrolet2dht) February 28, 2020
A few of the accounts mocking the ATF have already been removed for hate speech.
The ATF faced similar backlash last year for tweets praising federal agents on the 26th anniversary of Waco, but appears to have either ignored or forgotten the public response those statements received.
