The Oklahoma City Bombing: America's Inception of Terrorism

The Oklahoma City Bombing was the worst terrorists act on American soil until the September 11th attack in New York. To some, it was a normal day dropping their child off at daycare and heading up the elevator to their office, but little did they know, that morning would haunt them for the rest of their lives. The Oklahoma City Bombing, caused by Timothy McVeigh who was sentenced to death, led to a new outlook for Americans on terrorism.

The Oklahoma City Bombing was devastating and damaging to everyone involved. At 9:02 A.M. on the morning of April 19th, 1995, a truck filled with explosive fertilizer was left outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. The first floor of the building housed a daycare center

full of federal agent’s children. Immediately, the bomb was detonated, and the lives of 149 adults and 19 children were lost. Following the blast, the total injured accumulated to over 650 people, and over 300 surrounding building were also damaged from the explosion. As soon as the attack ended, an immediate manhunt began to find the perpetrator behind the slaughter. Fortunately, an eyewitness gave a description which led to a man named Timothy McVeigh (OKC Bombing).
This man, Timothy McVeigh, was responsible for the attack. For starters, he came from a broken home, which started his anger as a young child (Whittaker 63-73). He grew up in western New York and acquired a love for guns and survivalists skills (OKC Bombing). For instance, he was seen from others as an “angry loner type person” (63-73). In the meantime, he enrolled in the U.S. Army two years after graduation, and while in service, he befriended two men named Terry Nicholas and Michael Fortier, who would later help with the attack. Sadly, He did not qualify for special forces and accepted an early discharge in 1991. Afterwards, a year later in August of 1992 in Waco, Texas, a stand off occurred between federal agents and a survivalists named Randy Weaver. During the shoot out, Randy’s wife and son were killed, which triggered an outrage in Timothy and his two accomplices(OKC Bombing). In other words, this shootout led to the three planning the bombing which would take place three years later.
Two years after the attack, the trials began for the three men.First, Fortier, who had known about McVeigh’s plan, was sentenced twelve years in federal prison in 1997, and was released in 2007; he was immediately put into witness protection program. Secondly, Nicholas, who had helped McVeigh with the actual bombing, was sentenced life in prison on eight counts of involuntary manslaughter and 161 life terms on federal agents. Lastly, On June 2nd, 1997, McVeigh was brought against the Federal court in Colorado, where he received 11 counts of first degree murder and was sentenced the death penalty (OKC Bombing). Later, On June 11, 2001, at the age of 33, McVeigh was executed in the eyes of all he hurt (Whittaker 63-73).
The bombing led to a changed outlook for the FBI and Americans, which resulted in many acts being passed.

Instantly, Bill Clinton, the president at the time, issued that the FBI be the lead agency in investigating terrorists suspicions. Following the bombing, the Anti-Terrorism Act, Effective Death Penalty Act, and an act stating that all daycares in federal buildings be banned was put into effect (Fox). In addition, The FBI hired 1000’s of new agents to focus solely on domestic terrorism cases. Even more, to most Americans, this attack caused, “A loss of innocence” and the main goal of the Acts were to make sure something like this never happened again (The significance of the OKC Bombing).

Lastly, the Oklahoma City Bombing is still one of the worst attacks on American soil to this day, twenty years later. Since the attack, the government has greatly advanced their FBI investigations to prevent an attack from happening again. Unfortunately, Timothy McVeigh, the man who caused the bombing, lost his life along with the lives of 168 others from that day. At the same time, many loved ones of the casualties and survivors from the explosion still feel the ache in their lives. Nevertheless, this day will remain a part of our history and hopefully will help make sure something like this never occurs

again.