Twenty-five years after the ATF raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, many people still don’t understand what happened. The raid resulted in the deaths of four ATF agents and six Branch Davidian members. During the siege, a fire broke out and a total of 76 people were killed including Branch Davidian leader David Koresh. ABC is airing a two-hour documentary Truth and Lies: Waco, in time for the release of two new important books about the fatal event. Former Branch Davidian member David Thibodeau is interviewed for the documentary; he is the author of Waco: A Survivor’s Story (see link below). There will also be TV mini-series based on Thibodeau’s book, titled WACO. (Trailer below.)
Actor Taylor Kitsch (True Detective, X-Men) plays David Koresh. Two-time Oscar-nominated Michael Shannon (Nocturnal Animals, Revolutionary Road) plays FBI negotiator Gary Noesner, who also wrote a book — Stalling for Time: My Life as an FBI Hostage Negotiator (see link above). Rory Culkin plays Thibodeau, Melissa Benoist (Supergirl) plays young Rachel Koresh.
WACO premieres on January 24 on Paramount Network, which makes its debut on January 18. The Paramount Network is Viacom’s rebranded Spike TV. Full episodes of WACO (plus old Spike TV favorites like Bar Rescue, Lip Sync Battle, Ink Master, Heathers, and Bellator MMA) are available on web, iOS, Android, Apple TV, and Roku through the new Paramount Network. Truth and Lies: Waco will air Thursday, January 4 at 9pm on ABC.
