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On February 28, 1993, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives tried to serve search and arrest warrants for allegedly illegal weapons at the Branch Davidian Christian compound near Waco, Texas. A gunbattle ensued followed by a seven-week standoff between church followers and FBI agents who had taken over the situation. Branch Davidian leader David Koresh refused to negotiate and when FBI forces moved in on April 19 with tear gas, a fire set the building ablaze. In total, 82 Branch Davidians, including 24 children, and four federal agents died. Above, the compound burns on April 19, 1993, after FBI agents moved in. Time Life Pictures/Fbi/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images/FILE
ATF agents gather near a bomb truck on March 8, 1993, as they search a building for arms near the compound. STRINGER/AFP/Getty Images
Two M1 Abrams tanks sit in the underbrush about 200 yards from the Branch Davidian compound on March 10, 1993. STRinger/AFP/Getty Images/FILE
Supporters of the ATF stand beside the turnoff to the Branch Davidian compound on March 28, 1993. CHRIS WILKINS/AFP/Getty Images
Left to right: Branch Davidian members Kathryn Schroeder, Brad Branch and Kevin Whitecliff are escorted on April 1, 1993, by U.S. Marshals into a federal court to be arraigned on charges stemming from the February 28 shootout at the compound. CHRIS WILKINS/AFP/Getty Images/FILE
FBI agents investigate a bunker that survived the blaze that leveled the rest of the compound on April 23, 1993. J. DAVID AKE/AFP/Getty Images/FILE
Andrew Williams holds up a sign depicting the scene at the Branch Davidian compound during a rally at the FBI Building in Washington on April 19, 1995. The rally was in remembrance of the Branch Davidians killed during the siege. J. DAVID AKE/AFP/Getty Images
Richard DeGuerin, lawyer for the late Koresh gestures as if firing a gun during his testimony before the Congressional panel inquiry into the incident in Texas on July 25, 1995. Harry Hamburg/NY Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Then-Attorney General Janet Reno arrives to speak to a crowd of reporters at the Department of Justice on September 3, 1999, where she announced that she will name an independent investigator outside the Justice Department to look into questions surrounding the FBI's assault on the compound. JOYCE NALTCHAYAN/AFP/Getty Images
A memorial stands at the site of the Branch Davidian compound outside Waco, Texas, on March 14, 2000. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Fire survivor and Branch Davidian Sheila Martin walks away from a federal courthouse in Waco on June 19, 2000, during a break in the proceedings for a lawsuit filed against the government by survivors and family members of victims. Ron T. Ennis/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT/LANDOv
