Former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno Dead
She was the first woman to serve as a U.S. Attorney General. Janet Reno has died.
FOX’s Jack Callaghan looks back on her historic career:
Janet Reno took the oath of office as the first woman to be the U.S. Attorney General in March of 1993.
(Reno) “Mr. President, you have done me a great honor. And Senators, you have done something very special.”
But trouble was already brewing, a religious sect, known as the Branch Davidian was barricaded in its compound near Waco, Texas.
Attempts to serve a search warrant there led to a gun battle that left four federal agents dead. 51 days later, on Reno’s authorization, the FBI lobbed tear gas into the compound, some of the canisters started a fire that killed 76 people.
Reno defended her decision in testimony before Congress:
(Reno) “I’m going to pursue the truth. If the truth shows that I have done something wrong, then I will accept the consequences.”
She also green lighted the armed seizure of then six-year-old Elian Gonzalez from a relatives home in Miami, sending him back to his father in Castro’s Cuba, angering Miami’s Cuban American community.
She’d suffered from Parkinson’s disease for more than 20 years. Janet Reno was 78.
Jack Callaghan, FOX News.