“ Unique in Federal law enforcement, the HRT trains 5 days a week, all year in tactics related to its mission to take control of and end hostage and barricade situations without loss of life to any innocent persons who may be involved. Unlike the several FBI SWAT teams or ATF SRT teams, HRT members do not carry an investigative case load in addition to their tactical duties. ”

“ As the subcommittees have concluded that the government should have waited beyond April 19 and continued to negotiate with the Davidians, inherent in that recommendation was that the HRT or some other tactical force should have remained at the residence. The FBI should ensure that the HRT is large enough to maintain a long standoff in the future, should the need arise, while also having the capacity to respond to another hostage or barricade situation elsewhere in the country during the standoff. ”

“ CS riot control agent is capable of causing immediate, acute and severe physical distress to exposed individuals, especially young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions. In some cases, severe or extended exposure can lead to incapacitation. Evidence presented to the subcommittees show that in enclosed spaces, such as the bunker, the use of CS riot control agent significantly increases the possibility that lethal levels will be reached, and the possibility of harm significantly increases. ”

“ While a number of unverified reports of human deaths can be found in the literature, in all of these reports it is unclear precisely whether CS or some other, more toxic, riot control agent was used or whether some other circumstance could have caused the deaths. ”

“ The purported concern over sanitary conditions inside the residence is also exaggerated. Even before the February 28 raid, the Davidians had never had running water or other sanitation inside the residence. Human waste was collected in buckets and other containers each day and taken outside to an designated dumping site for the waste. During the standoff, waste was dumped into the half-finished swimming pool next to the residence. ”

“ Sage then began to broadcast the following message over loudspeakers pointed toward the residence:
We are in the process of placing tear gas into the building. This is not an assault. We are not entering the building. This is not an assault. Do not fire your weapons. If you fire, fire will be returned. Do not shoot. This is not an assault. The gas you smell is a non-lethal tear gas. This gas will temporarily render the building uninhabitable. Exit the residence now and follow instructions. You are not to have anyone in the tower. The tower is off limits. No one is to be in the tower. ”

“ Riot-control munitions can be used tactically to temporarily disable hostile troops, to suppress their fire, or to cause them to abandon their position. Offensively, riot-control agents can be used to "flush out" unprotected enemy troops from concealed positions or to reduce their ability to maneuver or use their weapons. Defensively, riot-control munitions can be integrated into defensive perimeters to provide rapid CS delivery in case of enemy attack. ”

“ If so, perhaps many of the errors made on February 28 and during the standoff could have been avoided.
The subcommittees found troublesome the fact that many of the ATF and FBI officials involved in this matter seemed uninterested in understanding the Davidians' goals and belief system. The views of these officials ranged from assumptions that the Branch Davidian were rational people likely to respond to authorities as would most citizens to a belief that the Davidians were a "cult" which could not be dealt with in any way other than by force. ”

“ In considering the possibility that some methylene chloride was concentrated in certain areas of the residence, rather than being evenly distributed throughout the entire structure, the subcommittees found that it was possible that the levels of methylene chloride reached concentrations that might have caused levels that produced an anaesthetic effects in humans. ”

“ After a experiencing a number of these broken promises, Sage and the other FBI commanders believed that they could not rely on Koresh's assurances.
Another factor that may have affected the FBI commanders' view of the situation, but which was given little emphasis in the Justice Department Report, is mental and emotional fatigue affecting the FBI decisionmakers. Sage was one of the first FBI agents on the scene on February 28. He worked every day, all day, of the 51 day standoff, and only returned to his home in Austin for a short period of time on 1 day to gather more clothes. ”

“ Chest tightness and burning are accompanied by coughing, sneezing, and increased secretions from the respiratory passageways. A burning sensation is felt on the skin, often followed by inflammation and redness, and in some cases, actual burning of the skin occurs. ”

“ For most of these agents, the eye is the most sensitive organ, with pain arising rapidly, accompanied by conjunctivitis, excessive tearing, and uncontrolled blinking. The inside of the mouth and nose experience a stinging or burning sensation, and there is usually excessive discharge of nasal mucus. ”

“ Toxicology 247-256.↑ The first riot-control agent may have been ethyl bromacetate, which was used by the Paris police in a hand grenade to disable criminal gangs. The German chemical industry that produced many lethal chemical weapons during World War I (e.g., nerve gases) also developed new tear gases. ”

“ Ballantyne, supra note 519.↑ Id.↑ 3↑ Headquarters, Departments of the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, Potential Military Chemical/Biological Agents and Compounds 59 (1989) .↑ Himsworth Report, supra note 511, at 23-25.↑ Anderson, supra note 511, at 464-465.↑ Himsworth Report, supra note 511, at 55-56; Ballantyne, supra note 519, at 30.↑ Anderson, supra note 511, at 463-464.↑ Hu, supra note 508, at 280.↑ Id.↑ Id.↑ Ballantyne, supra note 519, at 30.↑ CEV-1 emptied its four 30-gram cylinders while CEV-2 emptied the contents of its two 30-gram cylinders. ”