Editing David Koresh (section)

==Ascent to leadership of the Branch Davidians==
In 1983, Koresh began claiming the gift of prophecy. {{Citation needed|date=March 2024}} [[David Thibodeau]], in his 1999 book, ''A Place Called Waco'', speculated that he had a sexual relationship with [[Lois Roden]], the widow of Benjamin Roden and leader of the sect, who was then <!--Born August 1916.-->in her late 60s. Koresh eventually began to claim that God had chosen him to father a child by Lois, who would be the [[Messiah|Chosen One]].<ref name="wilson">{{Harvnb|Wilson|2000}}.</ref> In 1983, Lois allowed Koresh to begin teaching his message, "The Serpent's Root", which caused controversy in the group. Lois's son [[George Roden]], intended to be the group's next leader, considered Koresh an interloper. {{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

When Koresh announced that God had instructed him to marry Rachel Jones (who then added Koresh to her name), calm ensued at the Mount Carmel Center, but it proved only temporary. A fire destroyed a $500,000 administration building and press; George Roden said Koresh started the fire, but Koresh replied that "no man set that fire" and that it was a judgment of God.<ref name="wilderness">{{Cite web |url=https://wacotrib.com/news/branch_davidians/crying-in-the-wilderness-a-religious-commune-sets-up-a-dwelling-place-in-the-woods/article_43b35c71-6563-5c45-baea-cfaa2d2e5cd6.html |title=Crying in the wilderness: A religious commune sets up a dwelling place in the woods amid a struggle between rival prophets|date=January 17, 1988 }}</ref> Roden, claiming to have the support of the majority of the sect, forced Koresh and his group off the property at gunpoint. Koresh and around 25 followers set up camp at [[Palestine, Texas]], {{convert|90|mi|km}} from Waco, where they lived under rough conditions in buses and tents for the next two years. During this time, Koresh undertook recruitment of new followers in [[California]], the [[United Kingdom]], [[Israel]], and [[Australia]]. That same year, he traveled to Israel, where he claimed he had a vision that he was the modern-day [[Cyrus the Great|Cyrus]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=McEvoy |first=Colin |date=2023-03-27 |title=David Koresh: Leader of the Branch Davidians |url=https://www.biography.com/crime/david-koresh |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=Biography |language=en-US}}</ref>

The founder of the Davidian movement, [[Victor Houteff]], wanted to be God's implement and establish the Davidic kingdom in Israel. Koresh also wanted to be God's tool and set up the Davidic kingdom in [[Jerusalem]]. At least until 1990, he believed the place of his martyrdom might be in Israel; however, by 1991, he was convinced that his martyrdom would be in the U.S. instead of in Israel. He said the prophecies of [[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]] would be fulfilled in Waco and that the Mount Carmel Center was the Davidic kingdom.<ref name="valentine">{{Citation |surname=Valentine |given=Carol A. |title=David Koresh and The Cuckoo's Egg – pt. 3 |year=2001 |url=http://www.public-action.com/SkyWriter/WacoMuseum/burial/page/b_kce3.html |access-date=September 7, 2006 |archive-date=April 26, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070426061052/http://www.public-action.com/SkyWriter/WacoMuseum/burial/page/b_kce3.html |url-status=usurped }}</ref>

After being exiled to the Palestine camp, Koresh and his followers eked out a primitive existence. When Lois died in 1986, the exiled Branch Davidians wondered if they would ever be able to return to the Mount Carmel Center, but despite the displacement "Koresh now enjoyed the loyalty of the majority of the [Branch Davidian] community".<ref>David G. Bromley and Edward D. Silver, "The Davidian Tradition: From Patronal Clan to Prophetic Movement," p.54 in Stuart A. Wright, Armageddon in Waco: Critical Perspectives on the Branch Davidian Conflict (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1995)</ref> In 1987, George Roden [[exhume]]d at least one body from the community cemetery. Roden said he was just moving the cemetery, while Koresh claimed that Roden had issued a challenge to resurrect the body (and that whoever resurrected the body would be the new leader).<ref name= "wilderness"/> Koresh went to the authorities to file charges against Roden for illegally exhuming a corpse, but was told he would have to show proof (such as a photograph of the corpse).

Koresh seized the opportunity to seek criminal prosecution of Roden by returning to the Mount Carmel Center with seven armed followers, allegedly attempting to get photographic proof of the exhumation. Koresh's group was discovered by Roden, and a gunfight broke out. When the sheriff arrived, Roden had already suffered a minor gunshot wound and was pinned down behind a tree. As a result of the incident, Koresh and his followers were charged with attempted murder. At the trial, Koresh explained that he went to the Mount Carmel Center to uncover evidence of criminal disturbance of a corpse by Roden. Koresh's followers were [[acquittal|acquitted]], and in Koresh's case, a [[Trial (law)|mistrial]] was declared.{{Citation needed|date=August 2023}}

In 1989, Roden murdered Wayman Dale Adair with an axe blow to the skull after Adair stated his belief that he was the true messiah.<ref name="1993book">Marc Breault and Martin King, ''Inside the Cult'', Signet, 1st Printing June 1993. {{ISBN|978-0-451-18029-2}}. (Australian edition entitled ''Preacher of Death'').</ref> Roden claimed the man was sent by Koresh to kill him.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/12/06/us/a-fight-in-texas-for-the-homeland-of-a-sect.html |title=A Fight in Texas for the Homeland of a Sect |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 6, 1994 |last1=Verhovek |first1=Sam Howe}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ird01 |title=Davidians and Branch Davidians |author1=Pitts, William L |publisher=Handbook of Texas – Texas State Historical Association |access-date=November 25, 2012}}</ref> He was [[insanity defense|judged insane]] and confined to a psychiatric hospital at [[Big Spring, Texas]]. Since Roden owed thousands of dollars in unpaid taxes on the Mount Carmel Center, Koresh and his followers were able to raise the money and reclaim the property. Roden continued to harass the Koresh faction by [[vexatious litigation|filing legal papers]] while imprisoned. When Koresh and his followers reclaimed the Mount Carmel Center, they discovered that tenants who had rented from Roden had left behind a [[meth lab]], which Koresh reported to the local police department and asked to have removed.<ref name="thibodeau">{{Citation |surname=Thibodeau |given=David |title=The truth about Waco |year=1999 |url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/09/09/waco/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010428160353/http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1999/09/09/waco/ |archive-date=April 28, 2001 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="lujan">Thomas R. Lujan, [https://web.archive.org/web/20020924201932/http://www.carlisle.army.mil/usawc/parameters/97autumn/lujan.htm "Legal Aspects of Domestic Employment of the Army"], Parameters US Army War College Quarterly, Autumn 1997, Vol. XXVII, No. 3.</ref>

Koresh was infatuated with American singer [[Madonna]]. God, he claimed, had even said to him, "I will give thee Madonna."<ref>{{Harvnb|Breault|King|1993|p=112}}.</ref>