Editing Cult Awareness Network (section)

== Waco siege ==
{{main|Waco siege}}
According to [[Alexander Cockburn]], the role of the Cult Awareness Network and its representatives "may well have been crucial" in the law enforcement actions during the 1993 Waco siege.<ref name=Cockburn1993>{{cite news|last1=Cockburn|first1=Alexander|title=From Salem to Waco, by Way of the Nazis|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-04-27-me-27645-story.html|access-date=22 November 2014|work=Los Angeles Times|date=27 April 1993}}</ref> A series of newspaper articles in the ''[[Waco Tribune-Herald]]'' and allegations of child abuse by CAN Executive Director Priscilla Coates were followed by increasing interest and investigation by law enforcement.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Breault|first1=Marc|last2=King|first2=Martin|title=Inside the cult: a member's chilling, exclusive account of madness and depravity in David Koresh's compound|date=1993|location=New York [u.a.] Penguin|isbn=978-0-451-18029-2 |publisher=Penguin Books |ol=7573506M}}</ref>

On 8 April 1993, during the siege of the [[Branch Davidians]] [[Mount Carmel Center|compound]], CAN president Patricia Ryan (daughter of slain U.S. Representative [[Leo Ryan]]) stated that the [[FBI]] should use any means necessary to arrest [[David Koresh]], including lethal force.<ref>{{citation |first=Steven R. |last=Reed |title=Would-be Messiah gave death, not life |date=April 20, 1993 |publisher=Houston Chronicle}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/waco.massacre.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031204095206/http://www.firearmsandliberty.com/waco.massacre.html |archive-date=December 4, 2003 |title=The Massacre of the Branch Davidians |date=January 28, 1994 |first=Carol |last=Moore |via=firearmsandliberty}}</ref> Throughout the siege, representatives from CAN offered unsolicited assistance to the [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives]] and FBI. Representatives also made numerous media appearances, including making statements that the FBI commander felt "could set back negotiations substantially".<ref>{{cite book|title=Report to the Deputy Attorney General on the Events at Waco, Texas|publisher=U.S. Department of Justice|chapter-url=https://www.justice.gov/publications/waco/report-deputy-attorney-general-events-waco-texas-role-experts-during-standoff|access-date=22 November 2014|chapter=IV. The Role of Experts During the Standoff|archive-date=May 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511015433/https://www.justice.gov/publications/waco/report-deputy-attorney-general-events-waco-texas-role-experts-during-standoff|url-status=dead}}</ref> The siege ultimately ended on April 19 with the death of 76 people, including Koresh.

In a 1996 joint hearing before the [[United States Congress]] on the Waco siege entitled ''Activities of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Toward the Branch Davidians'', it was stated{{Who|date=January 2016}} into the record that publicists for the [[New Alliance Party]] had circulated a report to Congress and the media called "What is the Cult Awareness Network and What Role Did it Play in Waco?"<ref name="congresshearing">{{cite book |title=Activities of Federal Law Enforcement Agencies Toward the Branch Davidians, Joint Hearings before the United States Congress, House |location=Washington DC |publisher=US Government Printing Office | page =256 |isbn=0-16-053425-9 |date=1996}}</ref> Testimony was also entered into the record stating, "Their report relied on [conspiracy theorist] [[Linda Thompson (attorney)|Linda Thompson]], organizations created or funded by the Church of Scientology and the [[Unification Church]], long-time cult apologist [[Dean M. Kelley|Dean Kelley]], and others who would minimize public concern about destructive cult phenomena".<ref name="congresshearing" />