— SWP National Committee statement of April 21, 1993, on holocaust in Waco, Texas

 
That statement, published in the Militant at the time, explained how the murderous assault on the Branch Davidians religious sect was organized directly by the White House. It was a harbinger of the brutal anti–working-class policies of Democratic president William Jefferson Clinton, who had been in office less than 100 days at the time.

One of the chief hallmarks of the Clinton administration was exemplified by the events in Waco — taking steps to pave the way for broader use of police force against the working class and trampling on basic democratic rights, such as the right to due process and the presumption of innocence. This erosion of civil liberties goes hand-in-hand with increased use of the death penalty, more restrictions on the rights of inmates, jailing "terrorist" suspects for years based on "secret" evidence, and deeper attacks on immigrant rights.

The U.S. rulers are preparing for broader assaults on working people and their organizations. The establishment of a domestic defense command, a "counterterrorism czar," and mock invasions in U.S. cities foreshadow brutality coming down the road against unionists engaged in battles to defend their jobs, farmers defending their land, and activists protesting cop violence.

Right-wing opponents of the Clinton administration claim the evidence revealing that the FBI lied about launching flammable tear gas canisters into the Waco compound proves a conspiracy was behind the police siege and assault. This demagoguery promotes an anti–working-class rightist agenda. It takes the focus off the fact that any capitalist government will use lies, half-truths, and allegations to justify the brutality of its social system. No conspiracy is needed for that.

In 1985 the mayor's office and Philadelphia cops decided to drop a percussion bomb on a home in a mostly Black neighborhood where members of the group called MOVE were resisting eviction. Eleven of the 13 occupants were murdered in cold blood, and 60 other homes were consumed in flames. The city authorities, like the White House officials, made a calculated decision to use brute force to end a deadlock that had become a political crisis for them.

It is irrelevant what caused the fire that killed 86 people in Waco. The actions by the government using armored vehicles equipped with battering rams to demolish the group's living quarters guaranteed their deaths. Several people who survived the assault insist the fire started as the walls and ceilings collapsed, knocking over kerosene lanterns they had been using for lighting after the FBI had cut off the electricity. This showed the government's contempt and disregard for the lives of the 100 people held under siege by more than 400 federal cops.

Millions of working people were outraged and horrified as they watched the Waco catastrophe on TV. Class-conscious workers must tell the truth about the Waco inquiry: the goal of the Clinton administration is not to get out the facts, but to portray the assault as a police operation that got out of control. After a flurry of testimony, they aim to put this incident in the past and move on. We need to explain how this type of government violence has been used before against unionists, Black rights activists, and others struggling for justice. And it will be used more in the future.  
 
 
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