On April 19, 1995, one hundred sixty-eight people were killed including nineteen children. Three hundred twenty-four other buildings within a sixteen block radius were also severely damaged because of a lack of national security. At 9:03 a.m., a Ryder truck arrived just outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. A bomb made with a deadly cocktail of agricultural fertilizer, diesel fuel, and ammonium nitrate had been planted in the back of the truck and was set to detonate in a short time. Just five minutes after the truck was parked, the building exploded into pieces and went up in flames. All branches of the military and civilians forces were called in to investigate the bombing. Not long after the explosion, the rear axle of the Ryder truck was found with the VIN numbers that were traced to a body shop in Junction City, Kansas. This was the FBI’s first big step in finding who was responsible.
“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: Timothy McVeigh.” (Terror Hits Home). The FBI ran upon an astonishing fact after making calls to the local police and describing the suspect. McVeigh had already been arrested just ninety minutes after the bombing. McVeigh was pulled over by an Oklahoma State Trooper and arrested for driving without a license plate and having a concealed weapon in the vehicle. Authorities immediately started piecing everything together shortly after Timothy was brought in for questioning and interrogated. The Federal Bureau of Investigation started tracing and listening in on phone calls made during his incarceration, and investigating the...
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Works Cited
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Henningfold, Diane Andrews. “The Oklahoma City Bombing.” The Oklahoma City
Bombing. Farmington Hills. Greenfield Press. 2012.
“History and Mission.” Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. 23 April 2014.
Kelley, Ed. “Oklahoma City Bombing.” World Book Student. 2014. Web 10 April 2014.
“Terror Hits Home: The Oklahoma City Bombing.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation.
24 April 2014.
On April 19, 1995 two former US Soldiers blew up a the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing over 150 people. Bill Clinton, President of the United States at that time, wrote a speech where he shared his sympathy for the friends and family of victims and united the country through his use of parallelism, patriotic language, and inclusive wording.
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
by the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The two men in which didn't even know the
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
It would appear that there are more questions to be answered than there are facts to support the government’s case against McVeigh. As the government asserts that the release of the video surveillance footage could not be released as a matter of “National Security” or the text advising federal agents, prosecutors and judges to stay out of their offices on that day plays to the mindset of those who would consider the actions which took place on April 19, 1995 as a covert action by the government gone
On 26 February 1993 at 12:17, a yellow RYDER van detonated on level B-2 of the World Trade Center North tower. What was first believed to be a below grade transformer explosion turned into an extensive test of New York Cities Incident Command capabilities. Everyone involved had an intricate part in handling this situation. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was able to get all support assets there promptly to assist in rescue operations. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discovered information on the vehicle used. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) used all of the intelligence gathered to apprehend and convict those responsible. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) conducted cleanup of chemical and biological hazards that were left behind from the blast. Numerous agencies worked together to solve the first terrorist attack on American soil and clean up a disaster of epic proportions.
The Ryder truck’s rear axle possessed a vehicle identification number, which was traced to a location in Junction City, Kansas, where the truck was rented under McVeigh’s alias Robert Kling (Saferstein, 2015). Also, the rental agreement and McVeigh’s driver license both used the address of McVeigh’s co-conspirator Terry Nichols (Saferstein, 2015). The body shop’s employees and the FBI generated a composite drawing of the suspect, who was quickly identified as Timothy McVeigh (FBI, n.d.). Also, approximately ninety minutes after the bombing, McVeigh was arrested eighty miles north of Oklahoma City, which coincides with the bombings timeline (FBI, n.d.). The forensic evidence coupled with the circumstantial evidence and eyewitness accounts were more than ample to implicate McVeigh as the mastermind of this horrendous
minds of many and all of America would be listening to his reaction to the
When a giant explosion ripped through Alfred P. Murrah federal building April 19,1995, killing 168 and wounding hundreds, the United States of America jumped to a conclusion we would all learn to regret. The initial response to the devastation was all focused of middle-eastern terrorists. “The West is under attack,”(Posner 89), reported the USA Today. Every news and television station had the latest expert on the middle east telling the nation that we were victims of jihad, holy war. It only took a few quick days to realize that we were wrong and the problem, the terrorist, was strictly domestic. But it was too late. The damage had been done. Because America jumped to conclusions then, America was later blind to see the impending attack of 9/11. The responsibility, however, is not to be placed on the America people. The public couldn’t stand to hear any talk of terrorism, so in turn the White House irresponsibly took a similar attitude. They concentrated on high public opinion and issues that were relevant to Americans everyday. The government didn’t want to deal with another public blunder like the one in Oklahoma City. A former FBI analyst recalls, “when I went to headquarters (Washington, D.C.) later that year no one was interested in hearing anything about Arab money connections unless it had something to do with funding domestic groups. We stumbled so badly on pinpointing the Middle East right off the bat on the Murrah bombing. No one wanted to get caught like that again,”(Posner 90). The result saw changes in the counter terrorism efforts; under funding, under manning, poor cooperation between agencies, half-hearted and incompetent agency official appointees and the list goes on. All of these decisions, made at the hands of the faint-hearted, opened the doors wide open, and practically begged for a terrorist attack. So who’s fault is it? The public’s for being
There were 168 casualties, 19 of those being children, as well as many injured humans. Dozens of vehicles were incinerated. All of these actions left the people infuriated they acted as quick as possible. The people in the building helped the police draw the man’s face out who had the van. The people around town figured out who he was and got a name. Just about 90 minutes later, after he set a bomb, he got pulled over by a state trooper because he didn’t have a license plate. When the FBI finally discovered who he was, he was already put in jail. This is when the case began to get very tiring. There was 28,000 interviews, 43,000 investigative leads, 1 billion viewed pieces of information, and 3 and a half tons of information. This investigation had 2,000 agents. The police and FBI gathered together chemicals from his clothes and an unknown card that had “TNT @$5/stick, need more” The jury wanted Timothy McVeigh sentenced to death, leaving Timothy to be given the lethal injection. However, his right wing extremists weren’t let off the hook so easily. Since Michael Fortier knew where the bomb was going to be set at, and Terry Nichols was Timothy’s helper in making the bomb, the Federal Government charged Timothy’s army buddies with helping McVeigh in plotting the bomb. Terry and Michael had years in
Being the oldest daughter of a Senior ATF Agent, I have been exposed to domestic terrorism all of my life. My father has investigated thousands of bombings, fires, and explosions for more than twenty years now. Many of these incidents were examples of the terrorism that I speak about. His experiences have taught me countless lessons and informed me of many current events. The information that I have obtained from him is far more valuable than anything that the media could ever possibly convey. Though he is always strictly guarded with the confidences of his profession, he has always provided me with a firsthand knowledge of the impact that domestic terrorism has on the citizens and law enforcement. Through him, I learn the facts of these incidents without the media’s exaggerations. Today I will share with you some of these facts. I will talk to you about the impact that domestic terrorism has on our citizens. These impacts include: the monetary damages that terrorism inflicts, along with the injuries to the victims, the shocking repercussions that are embedded into the minds and souls of the people who come to sort through the rubble to find the survivors and the remaining evidence.
9/11 Attacks History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts. (n.d.). History.com History Made Every Day American & World History. Retrieved September 30, 2013, from http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks
On the day of the Columbine High School Massacre, previously to the attack both Erick D. Harris and Dylan B. Klebold placed a decoy bomb in a field; they had set the bombs to explode at 11:14 to distract police officials. The two boys then headed to the school and entered the commons shortly after 11:14 a.m. and went unnoticed carrying the big duffel bags with propane bombs inside of them. They placed the two twenty pound duffel bags in the cafeteria with the bombs set to explode at 11:17 a.m. They went back outside and armed themselves, they each strapped on an arsenal covered with a trench coat, a semiautomatic, a shotgun, and a backpack full of different types of bombs. The boys then set the timers on the bombs set inside each of their cars outside the school. The boys sat outside armed waiting outside for the bombs to explode and shoot any
The amount of corruption within the United States’ violent involvement in the Middle East is almost unreal. Unfortunately, the wars have been too real—half a million deaths in the first year of Iraqi Freedom alone (Rogers). These wars have been labeled--the violence, filtered-- to fit a specific agenda. Whether the deaths are deemed an acceptable loss in the name of national security, or as a devastating injustice, the reality doesn’t change. Lives have been lost. Lives that will never be brought back. The intention of wars is in part due to attacks on the twins towers on September 11th 2001. When the buildings fell, almost three thousand people died, according