How The Oklahoma City Bombing Affected American Society

The Oklahoma City Bombing was a terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on April 19, 1995. The people responsible were Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the explosion took the lives at least 168 people, injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one-third of the building. All the damages together add up to $652 million worth of repairs. Until the 2001 September 11 attacks, this bombing was the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil and remains the deadliest incident of domestic terrorism in United States history. There is no doubt that this tragedy greatly affected America socially, economically, and politically.

This bombing affected America socially, because

now stuff like this was happening all over the country frequently, and people were becoming afraid because a tragedy like this could happen to anyone anywhere. Timothy McVeigh had rented a Ryder truck, and with the help of his ex-comrade Nichols they made a massive bomb made of deadly cocktail of agriculture fertilizer, diesel fuel, and other chemicals. This bombing took place only two years prior to the world trade center bombing, therefore many Americans thought this was the handiwork of middle eastern terrorists. However they were wrong, this was the handiwork of only a couple people who were former U.S. Army soldiers and were associated with the extreme right-wing and militant patriot movement not happy with the United States federal government. Timothy
McVeigh was not happy with the Bill Clinton being elected president of the United States and trying to pass gun restriction laws.

This bombing also scarred American society, because after this tragedy happened, security precautions were a lot more strict. This bombing also affected American society, by affecting the future of many tragedies to come, including the 9/11 attacks. This bombing also scarred American society because Timothy McVeigh and Nichols gave many people really bad ideas and paved the way for many future shootings, bombings, massacres to come. Many people believe that events such as the Columbine shooting were influenced by the Oklahoma City bombing. After the bombing, the rest of the building was demolished for safety reasons. Then the area was turned into a memorable museum, and a place to remember the victims of this terrible tragedy. This also affected people's perspective on the United States federal government, because of the suspicions that Timothy Mcveigh and Nichols had against the government. In the end, the government that McVeigh hated and hoped to topple swiftly captured him and convincingly convicted both him and his co-conspirators. Many people began to side with Timothy McVeigh and believe in his beliefs of the United States federal government. This caused a lot of problems, because now people didn’t support the United States federal government. Studies of the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing of April 19th, 1995, indicate that the

traumatic event resulted in people seeking to strengthen their bonds with loved ones: Divorce rates went down, and birth rates went up. Researchers have since studied the ripple effect the attack had on both divorce rates and birth rates. Family researchers Paul A. Nakonezny, Rebecca Reddick, and Joseph Lee Rodgers note that after the bombing, survivors were statistically less likely than the general population to divorce. Divorce rates, compared to the previous 10 years, declined in the Oklahoma City region in the months after the blast.
The Oklahoma City bombing also affected America economically.

The blast destroyed or damaged 324 other buildings within a 16-block radius, shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings, and destroyed or burned 86 cars, causing an estimated $652 million worth of damage. Extensive rescue efforts were undertaken by local, state, federal, and worldwide agencies in the wake of the bombing, and substantial donations were received from across the country. The Federal Emergency Management agency activated 11 of its Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces, consisting of 665 rescue workers who assisted in rescue and recovery operations. Beneath the pile of concrete and twisted steel were clues. And the FBI was determined to find them. It didn’t take long. On April 20, the rear axle of the Ryder truck was located, which yielded a vehicle identification number that was traced to a body shop in Junction City, Kansas. Employees at the shop helped the FBI quickly put together a composite drawing of the man who had rented the van. Agents showed the drawing around town, and local hotel employees supplied a name: Tim McVeigh. The bombing was quickly solved, but the investigation turned out to be one of the most exhaustive in FBI history. No stone was left unturned to make sure every clue was found and all the culprits identified. By the time it was over, the Bureau had conducted more than 28,000 interviews, followed some 43,000 investigative leads, amassed three-and-a-half tons of

evidence, and reviewed nearly a billion pieces of information. Despite the Bureau’s crazy amount of effort in trying to crack the mystery of who was responsible, a quick call to the Bureau’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division in West Virginia on April 21 led to an astonishing discovery: McVeigh was already in jail. He’d been pulled over about 80 miles north of Oklahoma City by an observant Oklahoma State Trooper who noticed a missing license plate on his yellow Mercury Marquis. McVeigh had a concealed weapon and was arrested. It was just 90 minutes after the bombing. All this aftermath was very expensive.
The Oklahoma City bombing affected America politically. The government had no standards for security design before the Oklahoma City bombing. The bombing prompted heightened security at federal buildings - around the nation, and especially in Washington. One of the government’s first responses to the bombing was closing a two-block stretch of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. It had been a major thoroughfare in Washington, dubbed “America’s Main Street.” It was busy with car and truck traffic from the Capitol, to the White House and west to Washington’s original commercial center, Georgetown. But the blast in front of the Murrah building changed all that. The Secret Service feared that someone could park a truck bomb yards from the White House. So in May 1995, President Clinton announced its closing. “Clearly, this closing is necessary because of the changing nature and scope of the threat of terrorist actions. It should be seen as a responsible security step necessary to preserve our freedom, not part of a long-term restriction of our freedom, “he said. Architect Nadel said the government, architects and engineers need to design buildings “that are welcoming, accessible open and humane, and there is a lot of support for creating wonderful architecture that really is emblematic of the American spirit and democracy. Still the challenge of protecting government buildings continues to evolve. Now officials have to worry about things like drones landing on the White House grounds and an auto-gyrocopter that landed near the Capitol building earlier this week.