Terrorism in America: The Oklahoma City Bombing

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Terrorism in America: The Oklahoma City Bombing

On April 19th 1995 the worst terrorist attack on US soil took place in the heartland of America. The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was targeted and almost completely blown to pieces by one enormous homemade bomb. The unthinkable had happened at the beginning of an average day at the office. This day would be remembered for the rest of America's history, unlike any other day, as a blatant attack on the United States government.

At 9:03 a.m. a massive bomb resting inside a rented Ryder truck destroyed half of the nine story federal building in downtown Oklahoma City. It also claimed the lives of 169 men, women, and children, while injuring hundreds more. The bomb was made up of a deadly and potent mixture of two and a half tons of ammonium nitrate, a common farm fertilizer, and fuel oil then was packed inside the rented truck. The most frightening thing about this bomb was that its contents were cheap and very accessible to the public. Most gardening stores sell 50lbs bags of ammonium nitrate for $10. The substantial destruction from the bomb was luck more than anything. Former FBI bomb expert Denny Kline commented that "he made the biggest bomb he had accessible to him, placed the device outside, and hoped for the best, and in fact, it was the worst scenario" (Camp, 1995). It blew off the front end of the building, blowing up ceilings and collapsing floors, and burying victims under an immense amount of concrete and steel (Camp, 1995)

Just 90 minutes after the explosion, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol pulled over Timothy McVeigh for driving without a license plate. By April 21st, the 27-year-old Gulf War veteran would be known as the main sus...

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Clark, T. (1995). The worst terrorist attack on US soil: April 19th 1995. CNN interactive: Oklahoma City Bombing: http://cgi.cnn.com/US/OKC/daily/9512/12-30/index.html.

No author (1995). The Bombing. CNN interactive: Oklahoma City Bombing: http://cgi.cnn.com/US/OKC/bombing.html.

Eddy, M., Lane, G., Pankratz, H., & Wilmsen, S.(1997). Guilty on every count. The Denver Post: http://www.rickross.com/reference/mcveigh1.html.

Gorov, L. (1998). No Nichols death penalty: Jurors deadlocked; judge will sentence. The Denver Post: http://www.rickross.com/reference/mcveigh5.html.

Haynes, V.D. (1998). Nichols gets life for bombing role. The Denver Post: http://www.rickross.com/reference/mcveigh6.html.

Wilmsen, S. & Simpson, K. (1997). McVeigh receives ultimate penalty. The Denver Post: http://www.rickross.com/reference/mcveigh3.html.

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