Oklahoma City Bombing, The Biggest Terrorist Attack until 9/11
The Oklahoma City bombing was the biggest terrorist attack until 9/11. The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building killed almost a thousand people including women and children.
“ The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building (also known as the Oklahoma City bombing) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on April 19, 1995, was a major act of domestic terrorism that killed 168 people, including women and children in the daycare on the first floor, and injured over 500 more.” (Netzley 1) The morning of April 19th, 1995, was a normal day for many people, kids were going to school, and adults were going to work. Many people were looking forward to the day because it was a day of many
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Police arrested him for possessing a weapon and held him until Friday in Perry. McVeigh whose appearance approximates that of a composite sketch released on Thursday ( day after bombing) and identified him” as a suspect.( Whiteley and Roth 23) Terry Nichols, a second suspect, and a friend of McVeigh’s “turned himself in the police three days after the blast.”(Whiteley and Roth 23) “Sylvia Niemczyk, manager of the Texaco Food Mart in Junction City, said the two men often entered the business to buy gas, snack food, cokes, and other items sold at the convenience store. Ronald Moore told the associated press that he recalled seeing a man resembling one of the suspects pictured on the composite sketches released by the FBI at a Junction City convenience store on Monday or Tuesday. He said the man was standing on the passenger side of a yellow rental truck.” (Whiteley and Roth 30) When trial came, “ Nichols avoided the death penalty” because he had turned himself in, “ but was convicted of conspiracy and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to life in prison.” ( “Oklahoma City bombing” …show more content…
A blue collar worker refers to the fact that most manual laborers at the turn of the century wore blue shirts, which could hold a little dirt around the collar without standing out.) “in rural New York state, and he expressed an interest of guns from an early age. He graduated from high school in June 1986 and spent a short period at a local business college. Around this time he first read The Turner Diaries (1978), an antigovernment, neo-Nazi tract written by William Pierce. The book, which details the truck-bombing of the Washington, D.C., headquarters of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), fueled McVeigh’s paranoia about a government plot to repeal the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right “to keep and bear arms.” (“Timothy McVeigh” 1). “ He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1988 and proved to be a model soldier, earning a Bronze Star for bravery in the Persian Gulf War (1990–91). He was a candidate for the Special Forces but dropped out of the program after only two days. The experience soured him on the military, and he took an early discharge and left the army in late 1991.”( “Timothy McVeigh” 1) McVeigh wanted to punish the government for taking away his rights, he wanted them to receive a good message so he planned the bombing. “ In September 1994 McVeigh began actively plotting
In unit six we learned about anthropology and entomology and how forensic scientist use it different cases. Even though entomology was not that useful in The Oklahoma bombing case, anthropology was extremely useful for identifying the victims. Since it was an explosion, Forensic anthropologist had to study different remains of the victim's body and use different techniques (such as examining bone development) to identify who they were. For example, the death toll was originally 169 people (one person higher) than it is now because of an unidentified left leg was found and they couldn’t find the body it originally came from. Later, medical examiners compared the size of the tibia of the leg to other victims right leg. Finally forensic found
The Oklahoma City Bombing was a domestic terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April 19, 1995. It was lead by Timothy McVeigh, an Army veteran of the Persian Gulf War. The explosive was a homemade bomb which was built by McVeigh and the help of Terry Nichols; the bomb consisted of a deadly cocktail and was put inside a rented Ryder truck in front of the Murrah Federal Building . McVeigh then proceeded out of the truck and headed towards his getaway car a few blocks away. He then started the detonation of the timed bomb at exactly 9:02 A.M. then the bomb exploded. To the people of Oklahoma it was a traumatizing moment for all, many lost families, dozens of cars were incinerated and more than 300 buildings were destroyed and caused about $652 million worth of damages. The “OKBOMB” affected hundreds of people; it killed “168 people -- 19 of them children -- and injured more than 500.” (CNN.com) Within 90 minutes of the explosion, McVeigh was pulled over 80 miles north of Oklahoma City by a state trooper who noticed McVeigh's missing license plate. He was later arrested for having a concealed weapon. From there, a investigation was held and agents found traces of chemicals on McVeigh’s clothing similar to the ones from the bomb. They learned that McVeigh’s plan was due to the anger over the events at Waco Siege two years earlier. The bombing investigation was one of the most exhaustive in FBI history; “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.” (FBI.com) Oklahoma City bombing was “considered the worst and the largest terrorist act eve...
Wheeler, Tim. "McVeigh could tell some tales." People's Weekly World [New York] 26 May 2001, National
In short, Timothy McVeigh was responsible for the worst single man act of mass murder in the United States history. McVeigh used a mixture of agricultural chemicals and diesel fuel in his homemade bomb to destroy the Oklahoma City’s Murrah Federal building on April 19th, 1995. The bombing killed 168 human lives, including 19 children. In 2001, after six years of investigations and trials, Timothy McVeigh was put to death for his evil
minds of many and all of America would be listening to his reaction to the
Timothy McVeigh was the Osama Bin Laden of the 1990’s, except for one thing, he was home grown. Timothy McVeigh bombed a federal building in 1995, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and committed the worst terror attack before 9/11.
September 11, 2001 is known as the worst terrorist attack in United States history. On a clear Tuesday morning, there were four planes that were hijacked and flown into multiple buildings by a terrorist group named al Qaeda. This group, led by Osama bin Laden, killed nearly 3,000 people. Out of those 3,000 people more than 400 police and 343 firefighters were killed along with 10,000 people who were treated for severe injuries. Many lives were taken, and to this day, people still suffer from the attack. September 11th is the most influential event of the early twenty-first century because it made an increase in patriotism, it caused a rise in security throughout the nation, and it had a tremendous effect of thousands of lives.
Terrorist Dzhokhar Tsamaev bombed the Boston Marathon April 15, 2013. Dzhokhar and his brother wanted to defend Islam from the U.S., which conducted the Iraq war and war in Afghanistan, in the view of the brothers, against muslims. The bombs were made from two pressure cookers. The bombs went off about 13 seconds apart near the finish line, killing 3 people and
Do you remember the conflict that America had in the Persian Gulf a few years back? An incident occurred there where a man drove a truck loaded with explosives into the building where more than 100 Marines were stationed. He blew up the building, along with the Marines. The incident was published by the AP Press soon after. Now do you remember the bombing just four years ago, in Oklahoma City? Suspects Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols drove a Ryder Van loaded with 4,800 pounds of fertilizer and fuel oil to the front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, where it subsequently exploded, killing 169 people and injuring some 500 others. Of course you do. While both were massive acts of violence involving American citizens, the impact of such acts is always felt the most when it happens right here at home.
One of the most infamous dates in American history, September 11, 2001 is also one of the darkest and controversial dates. September 11, 2001 or 9/11 is remembered as a tragic terrorist attack by al-Qaeda, a Muslim extremist group, primarily on the World Trade Towers. Directed by al-Qaeda, 19 hijackers took over four passenger planes, American Airlines- Flight 11 and Flight 77, and United Airlines- Flight 175 and Flight 93. These hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade Center Towers, the Pentagon and Somerset County, Pennsylvania. With devastating impacts, the U.S was scarred. From the 9/11 building attacks alone, 2,753 people died and in total, close to 6,000 deaths (CNN Library). As demoralizing these reports are, what is more shocking is that 911 was part of a vast conspiracy and mass criminal cover-up by the U.S. government.
Timothy McVeigh was just another man until he changed the lives of many forever. “The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, was the most severe incident of terrorism ever experienced on American soil” (“Psychiatric” 755). This explosion created a widespread panic in Oklahoma and across the United States. Adults and children lost their lives due to an unethical act, and it did not go unnoticed. Parents had to bury their babies,
In the article “Terrorized by War on Terror” by Zbigniew Brzezinski, is about the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. They hijacked four airplanes in mid-flight. The terrorists flew two of the planes into two the World Trade Center in New York City. The crash caused the buildings to catch fire and collapse causing the whole city to fill up with smoke and ash. Another plane destroyed part of the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia. The fourth plane cr...
"1993 World Trade Center bombing." Encyclopedia of New York State. Syracuse University Press, 2005. 1723. Academic OneFile. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.
Even though the message in “Oklahoma Bombing Memorial Address” by Bill Clinton and “A Quilt of a Country” by Anna Quindlen are both about coming together as a community and helping each other, they differ in that in “Oklahoma Bombing Memorial Address,” Bill Clinton was telling the listeners and victims to stay strong after their federal building was bombed. Whereas in “A Quilt of a Country,” Anna Quindlen was telling them to love the people they live with, and not hate them because of events from the past. On the other hand, both messages are about coming together and comforting each other in times of tragedy. The tragedies were 9/11 in “A Quilt of a Country” and the Oklahoma Bombing in “Oklahoma Bombing Memorial Address.” Quindlen feared that people would turn against each other, but it was crucial that they stay together. However, Quindlen was trying to convey that we should always be united whether there’s been a tragedy or not, and Clinton was trying to convey that we should stay strong and support all the relatives of the victims in Oklahoma.
...ter found the guys one week later as they tried to take the deposit on the retail van that was responsible for the bomb. When one of the men was arrested he said that the next time they attack they would bring both of them down which came on 9/11 which shook the whole world in an event nobody will ever forget (“Woog”).