Sumith Prasad
The second episode of Showtime’s crime series ‘Waco: The Aftermath,’ titled ‘A Common Enemy,’ follows the trial of the Waco survivors. The prosecution tries to establish that the Branch Davidians fired the first shot at the FBI rather than the federal officials who arrived at the Mount Carmel Center with a warrant. Gary Noesner continues his investigation into the Aryan Republican group and comes to know about the reach and influence of the same. He tries to make progress in the investigation but his superiors don’t share his concern. The enthralling episode ends with Gary’s efforts to unravel the mystery behind the Aryan Republican group. If you are intrigued by the same, you are at the right place! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Waco: The Aftermath Episode 2 Recap
‘A Common Enemy’ begins with Bill Johnston trying to establish that the Branch Davidians fired at the FBI officials before the latter started firing at the religious group. FBI officer Roland Ballesteros testifies that the religious group shot several federal officials to kickstart the attack. Ruth Riddle recollects Vernon Howell and Lois Roden’s return from Israel. Lois informed her followers that Vernon had started to have visions from God. Ruth then accidentally saw Vernon sharing intimacy with Lois, making her suspicious about the attachment between the two. Lois then asked Vernon to conduct a sermon, which indicated his growing prominence among the group.
After the sermon, Vernon announced that he should take Rachel as his wife as per a new vision he received from God, only for Lois to feel that she got betrayed. George Roden failed to tolerate Vernon and Lois’ scheme, which made him start firing at them. Vernon eloped from the place with Clive Doyle while Ruth stayed back to help Lois. Dan Cogdell asks questions to Ballesteros about what happened in the Mount Carmel Center. The attorney establishes that the FBI treated the assignment as an opportunity to showcase their ruthlessness since they unofficially named their intervention “Operation Showtime.”
Dan encounters a private investigator named Gordon Novel, who has valuable information concerning the siege to bring down the prosecution. He tells the attorney that he should look more into the metal door of the building where firings started to establish that the FBI shot first. Dan dismisses Gordon thinking that the door was wooden, only for Clive to correct the attorney by revealing that the door was in fact metal. Gary Noesner makes progress in his investigation into the Aryan Republican group that is based in Elohim City. He finds a newsletter and copies of ‘The Turner Diaries’ at the house of someone associated with the group.
Waco: The Aftermath Episode 2 Ending: Will Carol Go to Elohim City?
When Gary gets convinced about the Aryan Republican group’s reach and potency, he tries to proceed with a formal investigation. However, Alan Sanborn asks him to move on from the case, which leaves Gary no choice but to investigate the group on his own. He asks Carol to go to Elohim City as an informant to find out what exactly the heads of the community are planning as “payback.” In reality, Carol did end up in Elohim City as the informant for the ATF. Under the code number CI-183, she reached out to her ATF handler Agent Angela “Angie” Finley-Graham to provide information concerning the occurrences that had been happening within the Elohim City compound.
Carol went to Elohim City with Dennis Mahon, one of the leaders of a white separatist group named White Aryan Resistance. According to reports, Carol warned Angela about Elohim City founder Robert Millar’s call ”to take whatever action necessary against the U.S. Government.” In early 1995, Carol’s mental health reportedly got deteriorated, forcing the ATF to drop her as an informant. According to reports, Carol warned the authorities that the federal building in Oklahoma was a potential target of the extremist groups apparently way before the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
The FBI denied Carol’s claim by revealing that Carol was “non-specific” about potential attacks since she didn’t either specifically mention the federal building in Oklahoma City or identify Tim McVeigh.
Why Does Terry Nichols Join Tim McVeigh?
While the Waco siege has been happening, Tim McVeigh plots an attack against the federal government. He reaches out to Terry Nichols and watches the broadcast of the siege with the latter. Tim tells Terry that people like them are getting burnt down in Waco due to the federal intervention. Terry then promises his allegiance to Tim to do anything the latter wants to do. In reality, Terry and McVeigh became friends when they were serving in the U.S. Army together. Even after his release from the Army, Terry maintained his contact with McVeigh. During the same time, Terry had radical political views that were against the federal government.
Terry joined McVeigh since they both shared radical anti-government views. He attended monthly meetings of an anti-government group and even renounced his US citizenship by signing a “declaration of independence.” When he was asked to appear before a court for not paying his credit card bills, Terry told the judge that the government didn’t have any “jurisdiction” over him to make him appear before a judicial system. He also renounced his driver’s license to display his stand against the federal government. According to reports, watching the Waco siege motivated Terry to be a part of the conspiracy to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.
According to Dan Herbeck and Lou Michel’s ‘American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing,’ Terry bought a substantial amount of ammonium nitrate, which was allegedly used to make the bomb that exploded at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
Read More: Where Was Waco: The Aftermath Filmed?
