Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 28, 1993 TAG: 9309280200
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The agents were slain and 16 others wounded in the Feb. 28 raid to which the Branch Davidian group had inadvertently been alerted by a TV cameraman. About a half-dozen cult members also died in the Sunday morning shootout.
In a letter sent to Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen, Stephen E. Higgins, 55, did not specify the recommendations to be made by Treasury officials in the report, but made clear his opposition to them.
"Since I do not agree with all the conclusions reached and actions proposed pursuant to the Waco incident, and since you apparently support the merger of ATF into the FBI as proposed by the reinvention team, I only have two real choices as a career executive where I find myself in serious disagreement with both decisions. I can either ask to be reassigned to another position, or retire.
"This is to advise you that I have decided to retire effective Oct. 30, 1993," Higgins wrote.
Joan Logue-Kinder, a spokeswoman for the Treasury Department, said Bentsen has accepted Higgins' decision to retire and would release the report on the raid this week. She said Higgins was objecting to the report even though he had not received a copy.
"Rank-and-file ATF agents wanted the review so the truth would come out and ATF deserves a director who is willing to act on it," she said.
Assistant Treasury Secretary for Enforcement Ron Noble, who compiled the report to be released Thursday, would not comment Monday when asked about it and potential personnel recommendations.
However, published and broadcast reports have indicated Treasury officials likely would seek Higgins' retirement as well as that of two other high-ranking ATF officials - Daniel Hartnett, associate director for law enforcement, and Edward "Dan" Conroy, his deputy. Hartnett and Conroy had said long ago that they planned to retire this year after attaining higher retirement benefits, according to ATF spokesman Jack Killorin.
Other ATF managers were due for reassignments or criticism, according to various reports.
Higgins, who has been with the ATF for 32 years and director for the past 11, wrote to Bentsen that Treasury officials "apparently see what happened in Waco as an indication that ATF needs to make significant changes in direction and focus."
"In my view, Waco was a tragic event from which all of law enforcement can learn," he said. "But I believe that ATF was and continues to be an outstanding law enforcement agency, a view which I believe is widely shared throughout the law enforcement community."
The Feb. 28 raid led to a 51-day standoff with federal agents. The FBI quickly took over, and on April 19, with the approval of Attorney General Janet Reno, agents pumped tear gas into the complex through booms attached to tanks.
Shortly afterward, the wood buildings erupted in flames and burned to the ground in about an hour. Dozens of cultists died in the fire, although a number of them, including leader David Koresh, were found later to have been shot to death.
Rep. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Judiciary crime subcommittee, said of Higgins: "It's a shame that his career had to end the way it did, despite the mistakes he made in Waco - and I think he'd be the first to say mistakes were made and the buck stops with him."
Schumer, a gun-control advocate, added, "Overall, the record will show that he was a very positive force."
At the same time, David Rucker, speaking for the Associated Conservatives of Texas, said "Higgins' self-imposed retirement does not go far enough."
"Congress and the investigative bodies within the Treasury Department will offer this up as a pound of flesh to those who have been critical of the government's activities in Waco, and we would like to see a criminal investigation of the bureau's activities along with the FBI's activities," he said.
Sen. Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz., a strong supporter of Higgins and the ATF, said he recently suggested to Higgins that "you should go out on your own terms. Although some mistakes were made in Waco, you've got a great legacy. You have nothing to apologize for."
Higgins sent all ATF offices a copy of his letter to Bentsen along with a "special message" to all employees.
"Your performance following the Waco tragedy was remarkable," Higgins wrote to the employees, "but I couldn't begin to capsulize in a message of this kind all of the other reasons I've developed such enormous respect and appreciation for how you do your jobs, often under tremendous pressure and criticism."
by CNB