I am making available these writings by Amo Roden: four chapters of her autobiography about the 1987-88 showdown between David Koresh and George Roden, another except dealing with a 1994 incident with Ron Cole, and a brief tract on the latest developments in the legal battle for Mt. Carmel.

Amo Roden is the ex-wife of George Roden, David's rival for leadership of the Branch. About June 1993, she noticed that authorities were no longer guarding the site, and moved onto Mt. Carmel to begin a one-woman occupation, to the consternation of the survivors. However, she believed that she was now the legitimate leader, not George. Her up-and-down battle to remain on Mt. Carmel will not be detailed here, but she is still fighting up to this point.

Those who have been following Waco are split on Amo. Some take the side of the survivors in this matter, just as they do in the battle with the government. They regard her as a parasite living off visitors to Mt. Carmel, and- since those visitors would not be coming if it were not for the tragedy- a vulture feeding off the deaths of women and children. Others sympathize with her dedication and tenacity, seeing in her quixotic battle a microcosm of the clash between David's students and the federal government. Indeed, many of those who have helped her have also helped the survivors.

Amo has told the story of her life, and her battle to stay on Mt. Carmel, in a series of self-published books. Cracking the Coverup relates her story from the early 1980s to late 1994, shortly before a dustup with Ron Cole. Although she has reused the title for some of her tracts, as a book it was largely superceded by The Second Standoff. It revises some of the material in her earlier book, and extends her story in both directions, telling more about her earlier life and updating her struggle for the property, as well as reprinting many of her religious pamphlets. On my latest anniversary trip, I learned of two more books: Babylon Is Fallen: The Legacy of David Koresh, which I have not had the opportunity to see, and her latest work, Scrapbook of a Protest. Throughout these last years, she has also been writing several pamphlets and tracts.

At the end of Standoff, Amo writes, "I don't mind if this book is bootlegged, because it's important that Americans see it... If you don't come by this book in an authorized way, I hope you'll send a dollar or so to me or my church." Thus, I felt free to post excerpts from her book, dealing with the crucial time in 1987-1988 when the struggle between George Roden and Vernon Howell (David Koresh) came to a head.

Amo Roden did me a favor on my 2001 trip, so in return I will be posting information on her Scrapbook. Also, Ron Cole brought his website back online, including his account of the 1994 incident with Amo. Since she doesn't have her own website, I let her give her side of things by posting another excerpt from The Second Standoff. In the future, I may post more of her book, but I doubt I will post all of it. This will give those who want to read her full story an incentive to buy her book.

Unfortunately, she no longer has copies of the book, and has doubts about whether she will reprint it. She does have many tracts, that cover much of the ground in her book, but you will have to go to Mt. Carmel to get them!

I have added one of her tracts briefly discussing the court battle for the Mt. Carmel property. Again, I feel the survivors have been able to get their side of the story out, and posting Amo's paper is in the interests of fairness.

For those who may wish to write her, the address is:
 

BY POSTING HER ACCOUNT, I AM IN NO WAY ENDORSING IT AS THE "TRUE" STORY.

This is the table of contents from The Second Standoff. There is also a large appendix featuring religious writings.

TABLE OF CONTENTS WHAT'S IN THIS BOOK EAGER MAINE BOSTON LANDED IMMIGRANT STATUS DIVORCE TEXAS JEFFREY STANLEY COMES HOME JOHN TIMOTHY BAILEY GEORGE RODEN Meeting, and marrying, George THE BRANCH DAVIDIAN WARS, PART 1 Davidian history according to Amo THE BRANCH DAVIDIAN WARS, PART 2 Shootout! TWO TRIALS AND A TAKEOVER Vernon Howell seizes Mt. Carmel ZELLA AMO MORE TRIALS TOM DRAKE BACK IN THE WAR DUE PROCESS OF LAW STANDOFF TO THE STREETS BACK IN THE COURTS JOHN ELLIS JAMES RAY WELCOME TO THE REAL AMERICA HOLD THE LINE, ONE MORE TIME FRIENDS AND ENEMIES THE CONCERT MR. HOOD'S CHRISTIAN CHURCH ALLIGATOR SMILE BETRAYAL A TALENT OF LEAD POLITICAL PRISONERS THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY DRIVING MISS AMO ANOTHER DAY IN COURT SOME BRANCH DAVIDIANS RETURN I WAS FRAMED The Ron Cole standoff HOOD STRIKES AGAIN FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM THE LOUD CRY MUSEUM THE OKLAHOMA BOMBING TAKING TOURS POLITICAL PRISONER PROTEST DAY WELCOME HOME, TOM DRAKE THE SECOND STANDOFF MUSEUM THE FIRES

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version:9/11/05