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Gun rights advocates raise alarm over Biden ATF pick, who was agent involved in Waco massacre case
David Chipman (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Gun rights advocates raise alarm over Biden ATF pick, who was agent involved in Waco massacre case

David Chipman has since lied about what occurred at the siege

Second Amendment advocates are raising the alarm over President Joe Biden's nominee for leading the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

David Chipman is not only a longtime gun control lobbyist, but was actively involved as an agent in the case of the U.S. government killing more than 70 people in a Waco, Texas, massacre in 1993.

What are the details?

Biden announced Chipman as his pick on Thursday, and gun rights advocates were quick to point out that the nominee is a senior adviser to Giffords, a gun control group started by former Rep. Gabbie Giffords (D-Ariz.) and her husband, now-Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.).

Chipman also spent 25 years working as an ATF agent, where he served on the SWAT team for the agency and in other roles.

But a close look at his resume shows that Chipman was a "case agent in [the] Branch Davidian trial" while stationed in Waco, Texas, from 1993 to 1998.

The Branch Davidians were a cult that lived in a compound in Waco, and 76 of them died including women, children, and sect leader David Koresh after a search warrant turned into a standoff where gunfire was exchanged and the building was burned to the ground. Five ATF agents were also killed in the siege, and another 16 injured.

A Reddit thread circulated by several outlets shows that Chipman lied about what occurred at the 1993 tragedy during a question and answer session a year ago.

Chipman wrote that "At Waco, cult members used 2 .50 caliber Barretts to shoot down two Texas Air National Guard helicopters. Point, it is true we are fortunate they are not used in crime more often. The victims of drug lords in Mexico are not so lucky. America plays a role in fueling the violence south of the border."

Fox News' Tucker Carlson pointed out Chipman's comments on his show, "Tucker Carlson Tonight," on Thursday, saying, "No one aboard a federal helicopter was shot or injured that day. The helicopters didn't crash. That is a bizarre claim to make from someone who was directly involved in the case, as David Chipman was."

The Daily Mail published a photo Friday purportedly showing Chipman as a young agent posing in the burned ruins of the Branch Davidian compound, while holding a firearm.

In reaction to Chipman's nomination, National Association for Gun Rights President Dudley Brown told Fox News in a statement, "David Chipman has been on the leading edge of ATF scandals for decades, all the way back to Waco – and now he shills for gun confiscation with Gun Control Inc."

Brown added, "Chipman has embraced every hair-brained gun control scheme proposed, so of course Biden and [Vice President Kamala] Harris chose him – he'll fit right in with their corrupt administration."

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