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Prayers, song during sect raid
16/04/2008 14:51 - (SA)
San Angelo, Texas - When police officers armed with weapons and protective gear descended on a West Texas ranch owned by a polygamist church, its members responded by going to their knees in prayer.
Images released on Tuesday show police entering the Yearning for Zion ranch on April 3 wearing body armour and carrying automatic weapons, backed by an armoured personnel carrier.
"They responded by singing and praying," said Rod Parker, an attorney from Salt Lake City, Utah, who serves as a spokesperson for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He released four still photos and a slice of video to The Associated Press.
Sect members took the photos and video during the first few days of a seven-day raid that involved police agencies from six counties, the Texas Rangers, the state highway patrol and wildlife officers. Authorities were looking for a teenage girl who had reported being abused by her 50-year-old husband.
Fears
A sect member whose wife shot the video said ranch residents quickly got the impression that state officials "were doing something more than they said they were going to do". The man declined to give his name for fear that speaking out would cause problems for his children, who are in state custody.
Tela Mange, a state Department of Public Safety spokesperson, said officers are trained to protect themselves.
"Whenever we serve a search warrant, no matter where or when, we are always as prepared as possible so we can ensure the operational safety of the officers serving the warrant, as well as the safety of those who are on the property in question," Mange said.
The armoured car was precautionary and designed to remove someone from the property, not to force entry onto the ranch, she said.
While there were hunting rifles at the ranch, search warrants filed in district court in Tom Green County do not show that police seized any weapons.
Memories of Waco
Eldorado is about 320km southeast of Waco, where federal authorities tried to arrest Branch Davidian leader David Koresh for stockpiling guns and explosives in 1993. Four federal agents and six members of Koresh's sect died in the shootout that ensued.
After a 51-day standoff, Koresh and nearly 80 followers died in an inferno that the government says was set by the Davidians but that survivors say started when authorities fired tear gas rounds into their compound.
- AP
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