April 19, 1995 at 9:02, in Oklahoma City a bomb exploded; destroying buildings, injuring and killing innocent citizens. Many questions of the city would go unanswered; including who made it, who didn’t, along with who did it and why. All of these citizens deserve answers to the simple questions. The world was in shock and worried about what was going to happen next. This terrorist attack would then be noted as the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
Outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, Timothy McVeigh parked a rental truck loaded with a diesel-fuel-fertilizer bomb then immediately fled leaving the bomb to explode minutes later. While Timothy McVeigh was trying to flee not even an hour in, he was stopped for a traffic violation.
An abundant of time before that he was introduced to guns by his grandfather. After being interested in them it wasn’t too much longer and he was reading books describing bombing of federal building which fueled McVeigh’s paranoia about a government plot to repeal the second amendment. Along with the reading of books he learned he formed a hatred for the government. With all of this on hand, he realized that he had a passion for guns and began practicing survival skills. After graduating in 1986 from high school, that he was bullied in, McVeigh earned a partial scholarship to a business school but soon dropped out. Soon after he dropped out, he ended up enlisted in the Army in 1988. There he befriended a man named Terry Nichols who shared similar interest in survival skills. McVeigh continued into the war early 1991 although, when he failed to qualify for the Special Forces Program, he accepted the offer to an early discharge in left in the fall of 1991. Had meeting Terry Nichols before and realizing they are both very interested in the same events like Ruby Ridge, they ended up planning the
In fact, at the time of the bombing he was just 40 years old. Nichols at home life long before the bombing seemed to be as any others. He had a wife and kid while constantly hopping jobs. In 1988, Nichols had decided to join the U.S. Army. Although he did not get to stay long with his home life falling apart, marriage ruined and then there was conflict with child care. With that happening he was discharged from the military in 1989 to look over his son Josh. Despite the divorce, Nichols gave marriage a second shot with a young woman of only seventeen. Over time McVeigh and Nichols kept in touch and eventually went into business of selling military surplus in 1991. Nichols ended up being so mad with the decisions of the government that in 1992 he tried to relinquish his citizenship. The only way that McVeigh and Nichols decided they could vent their anger from government assault of Branch Davidian was committing one of the deadliest acts in American history. Granting all of this help from Nichols he was still not enough and a man named Michael Fortier was involved as
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.
by the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The two men in which didn't even know the
“It was the best, worst thing to happen to me.” claims Ian Keith Tyson of his military career. Mr. Tyson is a veteran Marine who served in both Operation Iraqi Freedom (later renamed Operation New Dawn) and the war in Afghanistan from the years 2009-2011. Born in Boston, Massachusetts on July 31st,1985, he eventually enlisted in the Marine Corps at the age of 24. After interviewing with each individual branch, he decided that the Marines simply fit. This was a decision that would permanently alter his life, for the better.
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
McVeigh to the crime…” (LA Times). This evidence includes a pair of ear buds recovered from McVeigh after he was detained for operating a vehicle without a license plate and possession of a concealed weapon. It is the intent of the prosecution to show that the ear buds contained trace amounts of pentaerythritol tetranitrate which is often found at the site of bombings as well as nitroglycerin and ethylene glycol dinitrate, which are used in high explosives and the production of dynamite (LA
Over a three week period in October 2002 a series of random sniper attacks paralyzed the Washington D.C. area. The shootings happened in in various establishments such as super markets, gas stations, restaurants and near schools turning normal tranquil areas into chaotic murder fields. There were no age group, gender or ethnicity that was safe, Victims were randomly selected and everyone was targeted. After the murderous spree, ten people were declared dead and several others wounded. The perpetrators were finally apprehended while they were sleeping at a resting spot and later identified as forty-one-year-old John Allen Muhammad and his seventeen-year-old Jamaican-American protégé, Lee Boyd Malvo.
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.
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.
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
The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist truck bombing that took place outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building on April 19th, 1995.
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.
On April 20, 1999, within the tiny, suburban city of Littleton, Colorado, two high-school seniors, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, enacted a full-scale assault on columbine high school throughout the middle of the school day. The boys' idea was to kill many of their colleagues. With guns, knives, and a large number of bombs, the two boys walked the hallways and killed. Once the day was done, twelve students, one teacher, as well as the two murderers were dead; and 21 of them were wounded. The haunting question remains: why did they decide to do this?
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