The Okc Bombing : The Facts

The Oklahoma City Bombing would be considered the worst terrorist attack on America prior to the 9/11 World Trade Center attack. Just outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, on April 19th, 1995 a truck exploded, killing 168 people. 19 of those 168 being children. The explosion caused damage to 300 surrounding buildings. Oklahoma City was going through a tragedy and needed guidance from a leader.

Both, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were discovered to belong to a right-wing based survivalist group located in Michigan. ON the *the of August, Michael Fortier, who had knowledge of McVeigh’s plan concerning the bombing Of the Oklahoma Federal Building, agreed to give testimony against both Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols in exchange for a lighter jail sentence. Both Timothy McVeigh along with Terry Nichols had received indictments on murder charges as well as using explosives in an unlawful manner. McVeigh’s ideology changed from hating governments that were foreign communists to a lack of trust in the United States government with Bill Clinton being the President during that time frame. Both McVeigh and Nichols along with their members became radicalized following events of a shoot-out that took place in August 1992 between survivalist Randy Weaver against federal agents, which had happened at a cabin located in Idaho, which belonged to him.

When it came to the evidence and forensics involved with the Oklahoma City bombing, there was a plethora of items to be used against Timothy McVeigh to show his guilt. To prove McVeigh’s guilt, the prosecution needed a motive. This was not going to be hard to do when McVeigh himself was so outspoken against the federal government. As stated earlier, McVeigh was upset regarding Ruby Ridge and also the raid at the Branch Davidian compound. But McVeigh also had what was known as the “Turner Diaries”, which were antigovernment leaflets that the prosecution stated were blueprints for the bombing ("Prosecutors almost through", 1997). McVeigh’s very own sister also testified against him stating how angry he was at the government, and that he was

Tim McVeigh was not coerced into bombing the Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, nor do I believe he suffered from a mental disease. On April 19, 1995 Timothy, who was an ex-solider, decided to bomb a federal building. He rented a Ryder truck and parked the vehicle in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Tim was fully aware of the damage the bomb would cause, which was made out of hazardous cocktail of agricultural fertilizer, diesel fuel and several other potent chemicals. The explosion of that powerful bomb resulted in the killing of one hundred sixty-five innocent people, destruction of more than three hundred buildings, leaving almost six hundred individuals wounded. Shortly after the mass murder of numerous individuals,

McVeigh, before joining the military, already had a long history in the survivalist movement. The Survivalist movement is well known by the federal government for its anti-government activities and beliefs, McVeigh shared these beliefs and was set off after the

On April 19, 1995, a man by the name of Timothy McVeigh carried out an attack that would leave the United States, along with other countries, devastated. At 9:02 A.M, a truck bomb explosion outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, left 168 people dead and hundreds more injured. Many people apprehend that McVeigh carried out this attack because he was mentally unstable. He was actually thinking logically. McVeigh planned out the attack based on his life experiences and by what he read in books. He retaliated against the government because of his personal beliefs and he wanted to be recognized for the bombing.

On May 24th 1988 Timothy took a huge step to fulfill his dream of becoming a member of the United States Special Forces. In Basic training McVeigh met an individual named Terry Nichols, Nichols was much older than most of the recruits and held his own pretty well. McVeigh and Nichols became close friends and even got stationed at Fort Riley Kansas Together. Kifner, John. (1995). Terry Nichols was one of the master minds behind the attack of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. As stated by former FBI agent "These two are birds of a feather. Each feeds off the other 's inadequacies." McVeigh and Nichols would later deploy to Iraq to fight in the Gulf War where McVeigh served as a Bradley Gunner. During his time in Iraq McVeigh was awarded the combat Infantry badge and a bronze star. Kifner, (1995).

Timothy McVeigh was quoted the famous poem, Invictus, saying “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul”. McVeigh believed in many things; one being that government was planning to strip it’s citizens of their rights. As McVeigh hatred for the government grew so did the outcome of his actions. After the Waco Siege massacre, which involved the accidental burning of an isolated compound that took the lives of seventy-six members of a religious cult in Texas, McVeigh wrath against the government was boiling. It was at this time that McVeigh planned to carry out one of the worst terrorist attacks ever on US soil. It is often told that in the last moments of someone’s life remorse and shame are visibly expressed on an individual 's face; however, in the execution of domestic terrorist, Timothy McVeigh, that was not the case.

Will was 14 years old when he was about 1000 yards away from the trucks when they exploded. When

On the morning of October 12, 2000, during a routine refueling stop; the 505-foot USS Cole (DDG 67) was crippled and nearly sunk when two men steered a small fishing boat towards the center of the ship, where they detonated a small plastic explosive device in a suicide attack. According to reports, the amount of C-4 used in the construction of the bomb was "equivalent to 700 pounds of TNT" (Ibarra, 2013). In the explosion 's aftermath, 17 Sailors died and 37 crewmembers were wounded; and a $789 million ship was severely damaged in an act of "asymmetrical warfare" against the United States (Burns, 2000).

At 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, a 5,000-pound bomb, hidden inside a Ryder truck, exploded just outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The explosion caused massive damage to the building and killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children (Rosenburg, 2011). On April 23, four days after the bombing, President Bill Clinton addressed the public and gave an effective, excellent speech.

McVeigh's trial was set for Denver, Colorado on March 31, 1997. On June 3rd 1997, the jury found McVeigh guilty of all 11 counts, including eight counts of first degree murder in the deaths of eight federal law-enforcement agents, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, using a weapon of mass destruction, and destruction of a federal building. The jury deliberated for 23 and a half hours before rendering the verdict. In the end, McVeigh was left all alone as dozens of former best friends and family relatives testified against him (Eddy et al., 1997).

On April 19th, 1995 a homemade bomb made of a concoction of agricultural fertilizer, fuel, and other dangerous chemicals was left in a truck parked outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City. At 9:02 in the morning, it’s blast damaged over 300 buildings surrounding the vehicle and even flattened a third of the federal building. (Strom, 2015) The bomb took the lives of 168 people, including 19 children. It was found that two men, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Lynn Nichols were the ones who planted the device. Both men were found to be associated with a radical militia movement that sought revenge for a siege in Waco, Texas two years prior. The siege killed 82 Branch Davidians, of whom, multiple were related to the militia movement.

around the world. The explosion took place at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in

The bomb was set off by Timothy McVeigh, a Persian Gulf Veteran. He was a right wing radical linked to anti-government, white-supremacist, survivalist and militia groups. The events at Waco and Ruby Ridge influenced Timothy McVeigh, prompting him to take action against the United States government (“FBI”, The Oklahoma City Bombing: 20 Years After). Right wing ideology, as in the Turner Diaries, led him