Amo Paul Bishop Roden is the former wife of George Roden

George Roden

George Roden was a leader of the Branch Davidian sect, a Seventh-day Adventist splinter group, and the former husband of Amo Bishop Roden. In 1987, he was evicted from the Mount Carmel Center near Waco, Texas by his rival David Koresh...

, a rival of David Koresh

David Koresh

David Koresh , born Vernon Wayne Howell, was the leader of a Branch Davidian religious sect, believing himself to be its final prophet. Howell legally changed his name to David Koresh on May 15, 1990. A 1993 raid by the U.S...

 for leadership of the Branch Davidian

Branch Davidian

The Branch Davidians are a Protestant sect that originated in 1955 from a schism in the Davidian Seventh Day Adventists , a reform movement that began within the Seventh-day Adventist Church around 1930...

s. After the 1993 fire

Waco Siege

The Waco siege began on February 28, 1993, and ended violently 50 days later on April 19. The siege began when the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms attempted to execute a search warrant at the Branch Davidian ranch at Mount Carmel, a property located east-northeast of Waco,...

, she attracted notice by beginning a one-woman reoccupation of the sect's Mount Carmel property. At one point in her reoccupation, when another ex-husband, Tom Drake, rejoined her, she was also known as Amo Paul Bishop Roden Drake or Amo Roden Drake.

Personal life

Amo and George Roden married in October 1987, shortly after meeting. (Since George's divorce from his wife Carmen would not be finalized until February 28, 1998, her detractors question the legitimacy of their common law arrangement.) George, son of Branch Davidian founders Benjamin

Benjamin Roden

Benjamin Lloyd Roden was an American religious leader and the prime organizer of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Association....

 and Lois Roden

Lois Roden

Lois Irene Scott Roden was a president of the Branch Davidian Seventh-day Adventist Church, an apocalyptic Christian sect which her husband, Benjamin Roden founded. The sect began in Texas in 1955 as a succession to the Shepherd's Rod movement led by Victor T...

, claimed leadership of the sect, but faced challengers, including David Koresh (then named Vernon Howell). Just weeks later, Koresh led a band of followers onto Mt. Carmel, ending up in a shootout with George. The next year, Koresh's supporters reclaimed Mt. Carmel and expelled Amo. Her brief time with George left her pregnant with their daughter.

Standoff

The standoff with the government five years later decimated Koresh's group, giving Amo the opportunity to move onto the Mt. Carmel grounds. In November 1994, she had an armed standoff with a group that included future militia figure Ron Cole

Ron Cole

Ron Cole is a Branch Davidian follower of David Koresh and a figure in the militia movement in the United States. He was the founder and leader of the Colorado Light Infantry and North American Liberation Army militia groups in 1993...

. The legal case between her and surviving Koresh loyalists is still being fought in the courts, but has taken a twist following the recent takeover of the site by Charles Pace, another Branch Davidian leader.

Amo Roden also drew attention in 2001, when she drove to the Oklahoma City bombing

Oklahoma City bombing

The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It was the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19...

 memorial site in her pickup truck with Branch Davidian slogans, creating a brief bomb scare. Her notoriety has also been spread by the Electronica group Boards of Canada

Boards of Canada

Boards of Canada are a Scottish electronic music duo consisting of brothers Mike Sandison and Marcus Eoin...

. Their 2000 EP, In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country

In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country

-In a Beautiful Place Out in the Country in popular culture:The track "Kid for Today" was used in a 2002 British television advertisement for BMW 7 Series.-External links:* at the official Warp Records website* at the official Warp Records website...

, is named after a quote from her; besides the title track, it features the song "Amo Bishop Roden." In addition, on their 2002 album Geogaddi

Geogaddi

Geogaddi is the second album by Boards of Canada. It was released in February 2002 on three different days for each region to a large degree of anticipation. It presents a darker sound than its predecessor Music Has the Right to Children. The title of the album has no conclusive meaning; the...

, the song "1969" includes a vocoded sample referring to Roden: "although not a follower of [David Koresh played backwards], she's a devoted Branch Davidian." Academic James Faubion has also written a book about her, The Shadows and Lights of Waco.

She has written many tracts and pamphlets explaining her version of events and her religious ideas. Major tracts include Cracking the Coverup, The Second Standoff, Babylon Is Fallen: The Legacy of David Koresh, and Scrapbook of a Protest.

External links

• Amo Roden Herself, Amo Roden's authorized website
• The Writings of Amo Roden, including chapters from her autobiography