David Thibodeau

David Thibodeau (born February 13, 1969)[1] is an American Branch Davidian, a survivor of the Waco siege, and a musician. He was born in Bangor, Maine.[1] In early adulthood, Thibodeau sought to become a musician in Los Angeles, California, where he converted to Branch Davidianism after meeting David Koresh in a Guitar Center in 1990.[2][3] In the late 1980s, he attended the Musicians Institute of Technology.[4] At the Mount Carmel Center near Waco, Texas, Thibodeau married Michele Jones upon Koresh's request.[2] Thibodeau was present at the Mt. Carmel compound on February 28, 1993, when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) conducted a botched raid. He stayed for the 51-day siege until escaping, with eight other survivors, the fire that consumed the compound. In 1999, he co-authored a memoir called A Place Called Waco: A Survivor's Story with Leon Whiteson, a Zimbabwe-born novelist, critic, and architect.[5] Thibodeau runs a website called "Waco Survivors," in which he archives media related to the Waco siege.[6] He (re-)married in 1997 and has at least one daughter.[7] In 2018, the miniseries Waco aired featuring Rory Culkin playing David Thibodeau and Thibodeau himself in a cameo role as an unnamed character.[8] Thibodeau is a drummer for the band The Blast Addicts, and he resided in Texas as of 2020.[2][9] He played drums for other bands after the Waco siege as well, including Grooviest Maximus.[7]

Life before Branch Davidianism

Thibodeau was born in Bangor, Maine, to Balenda (incorrectly reported as "Belenda" in the Waco Tribune-Herald) Ganem.[10] His parents divorced after he graduated from Bangor High School in 1987. He lived with his single mother in Bangor and Portland, Maine before moving to Los Angeles in 1990 to pursue a music career.[11] He attended Musicians Institute of Technology to study drumming.[4][11]

Surrender of four Branch Davidians. Thibodeau is one of the three figures closest to the camera on the road.

Conversion and the Waco siege
Main article: Waco siege

Thibodeau met David Koresh in the Sunset Boulevard Guitar Center in Los Angeles, California in 1990.[3][12] Reportedly, Thibodeau did not show much interest in the group originally since they were a Christian band but eventually joined because of people like Steve Schneider.[12] He moved to the Mt. Carmel Center in 1991 to continue playing in the Branch Davidians' band.[13]

Thibodeau escaped the April 19, 1993, fire that ended the Waco siege along with eight other survivors. Thibodeau was jailed in McLennan County Jail but soon released on a US$5,000 bond by a federal magistrate.[14][15]

Impact on the aftermath

Almost immediately after the fire destroyed the Mt. Carmel compound, Thibodeau was active in voicing his perspective on the siege. In 1995, Congressional hearings were held that turned partisan over the issue of the Republican-led investigation's association with the National Rifle Association. Thibodeau, who in the New York Times was described as a Republican witness, argued that the ATF could have served Koresh's arrest warrant without the use of a raid since Koresh regularly jogged outside the compound.[16][17]

Thibodeau was held as a material witness against other Davidians charged with various crimes in relation to the Waco siege.[18]

References
  1. "David Thibodeau". IMDb. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  2. Nguyen, Stacey (May 1, 2020). "Waco: David Thibodeau Really Did Survive the Standoff, and Here's Where He Is Today". POPSUGAR Entertainment. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  3. Michael W. Lynch, "Witnessing Waco," Reason 31, no. 7 (1999): 15.
  4. Richard Leiby, "Sex, God, & Rock-and-Roll; David Koresh needed a drummer, David Thibodeau needed someone to believe in: the rest is tragedy," The Washington Post, September 26, 1999.
  5. Woo, Elaine (August 30, 2013). "Leon Whiteson dies at 82; architect, critic and novelist". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
  6. "Waco Survivors | David Thibodeau | A Survivors Story". David Thibodeau | Waco: A Survivor's Story | Waco Survivors. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  7. John Richardson, "Waco Survivors tells own story of Davidians; Maine native David Thibodeau says Federal Agents accidentally started fire that killed 74 Branch Davidians," Portland Press Herald (Maine), September 12, 1999.
  8. Freedman, Adrianna (April 21, 2020). "David Thibodeau Made a Cameo Next to Himself in 'Waco'". Men's Health. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
  9. Burnham, Emily (January 24, 2018). "Story of Bangor native who survived Waco siege told in new TV miniseries". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  10. McCormick, Darlene (March 8, 1993). "Mother gives up on talking to son for now: But says she will stay in Waco in case access eventually granted". WacoTrib.com. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  11. Michael DeCourcy Hinds, "Emerging From Smoke, A Tale of Blind Loyalty," New York Times, April 21, 1993.
  12. "David Thibodeau Discusses His Book, 'A Place Called Waco,'" NBC News, interview transcript, August 30, 1999 (7:00 AM ET).
  13. Aaron Hicklin, "Ten years after the fire, Waco still smoulders; The Branch Davidian church has been rebuilt in Waco but its followers are still awaiting a prophet," Sunday Tribune (Dublin, Ireland), April 13, 2003.
  14. Michael DeCourcy Hinds, "Arson Investigators Say Cult Members Started Fire," New York Times, April 27, 1993.
  15. "Nine Known to Survive Blaze; 4 Are in Hospital, 5 Are in Jail," St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri), April 20, 1993.
  16. David Johnson, "Examination of Waco Raid Goes Partisan: Accusations Flying at House Hearings," New York Times, July 20, 1995.
  17. "'I was all freaked out'; Girl tells of having sex at 10 with David Koresh," The Tampa Tribune, July 20, 1995.
  18. Kelley Shannon, "How did Cultists die?: Investigators believe some may been shot trying to flee before others started the fire at 'Ranch Apocalypse,'" Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 21, 1993.
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