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

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