Netflix Waco: American Apocalypse – what happened at the Waco siege?

Netflix has dropped a new documentary that explores the events surrounding the now-infamous siege on religious cult leader David Koresh and his doomsday cult the Branch Davidians. Released on Wednesday (March 22), Waco: American Apocalypse is an immersive three-part docuseries that provides a definitive account of what happened when Koresh faced off against the federal government in a bloody 51-day siege at a large compound near Waco, Texas.

The conflict began with the biggest gunfight on American soil since the Civil War and ended with a fiery inferno captured live on national television. In between, it captivated TV viewers across the globe, becoming the biggest news story in the world.

Released to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary of the tragedy, the new docuseries features exclusive access to recently unearthed videotapes filmed inside the FBI Crisis Negotiation Unit, plus raw news footage never released to the American public. It is driven by intimate and revealing interviews with people from all sides of the conflict, and uses cutting-edge visual technology to plunge viewers inside the clash between the Branch Davidians and US law enforcement.

READ MORE: Horror as youths armed with a knife and baseball bats fight at a leisure complex as schoolkids make their way home

Over three episodes, Waco: American Apocalypse presents an epic drama about God and guns in America. But what happened at the Waco siege on David Koresh and his Branch Davidian compound?

What is referred to as the Waco siege, the Waco massacre, or simply Waco, is an assault by US law enforcement on a large compound known as Mount Carmel, which belonged to religious doomsday cult the Branch Davidians. The assault began on February 28, 1993,