Argumentative Essay: Oklahoma City Bombing

It was April 19, 1995 at 9:03 that the lives of thousands were affected by one single

The Oklahoma City Bombing would be considered the worst terrorist attack on America prior to the 9/11 World Trade Center attack. Just outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, on April 19th, 1995 a truck exploded, killing 168 people. 19 of those 168 being children. The explosion caused damage to 300 surrounding buildings. Oklahoma City was going through a tragedy and needed guidance from a leader.

It’s crazy how something as small as someone’s beliefs can cause one of the biggest tragedies worldwide. All it took was more than a dozen terrorist, two planes, and a well thought out plan to create the catastrophe we call the 9/11 attack but they call a tremendous heroic event. This was simply an act of being at the right place at the wrong time. 9/11 could be seen all the way in space but was felt by the people in the smallest towns to enormous cities. Although the crashes on 9/11 happened in the amount 102 minutes the aftermath lasted about 99 days yet will never be forgotten among everyone everywhere. Those were truly 102 minutes that shook the world and for some it will never stop shaking.

On September 11, 2001 the World Trade Center buildings one and two were attacked. However, who we were attacked by and even if we were attacked is a hard decision to make. There have been many different claims about how everything on that fateful day happened. There are facts that we know are true, though; Flight 11 flew into the North Tower at eight forty- six in the morning. Soon after, Flight 175 attacked the South Tower. By the end of the day, both towers had collapsed and other hijacked flights had caused damage. The amount of lives lost on September 11 was substantial; 2,749 people from eighty-three different countries died from the attacks (Facts about the attacks…, n.d.). All in all, America was changed forever.

Many people, including myself,would consider the terrorist attack of 9/11 as one of the most horrific events in US history. This event had changed and affected not just America but the entire world. .

Every American citizen can remember exactly where they were on the day September 11, 2001, this day was burned into the mind of American because the biggest terrorist attack in American history would occur. Two Boeing planes hijacked by a terrorist organization named al-Qaeda who would crash the planes into the world trades centers, sending America into shock(Pizzo,2016). There have been countless laws and regulations passed in America since the awful terrorist attacks on 9/11, has it been effective or a failure. The attack on September 11, 2001, will forever be a turning point in American history, it raised one of the most important questions in American society today what is more import for a citizen freedom or security and the law put in place to combat these horrific terrorist attack ultimately would be ineffective and tear American more apart on political issues.

On April 19th, 1995 a homemade bomb made of a concoction of agricultural fertilizer, fuel, and other dangerous chemicals was left in a truck parked outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City. At 9:02 in the morning, it’s blast damaged over 300 buildings surrounding the vehicle and even flattened a third of the federal building. (Strom, 2015) The bomb took the lives of 168 people, including 19 children. It was found that two men, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Lynn Nichols were the ones who planted the device. Both men were found to be associated with a radical militia movement that sought revenge for a siege in Waco, Texas two years prior. The siege killed 82 Branch Davidians, of whom, multiple were related to the militia movement.

“This is it”, Will said softly as the he is in tower was collapsing. The jet fuel in an inferno about 20 feet away, scorching the concrete. There are dismembered limbs, scorched around him. He remembers the moments before the plane hit the 1st tower. He was terrified when he saw the plane collide. There were objects and debris flying everywhere. The people around him were terrified, wondering if the people in the other tower were alright. The tower was shook from the impact. He knew that he had to run, or else he would die. He sprinted as fast as he could to the stairs, when he was younger he had a similar experience, the Oklahoma City bombing.

Following the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, Rescorla invited Hill to New York, where he hired him as a security consultant in order to assess the building 's security. Although no arrests had yet been made, Rescorla believed that the bomb had been planted by Muslims. Hill went undercover in several mosques throughout New Jersey, showing up for morning prayers at dawn. He took on the character of an anti-American Muslim, in order to interview the other visitors to the mosques. He concluded that the attack was likely planned by a radical imam at a mosque in New York or New Jersey. Followers of Sheikh Omar Abdel Rahman, a radical Muslim cleric based in Brooklyn, were subsequently convicted of the bombing.

The Government's Response to the Oklahoma City Bombing The Oklahoma City Bombing affected many Americans, including the President of the United States. From the start the White House immediately dispatched the FBI. The initial reaction was to close the airports, but that would infringe on civil liberties. Government intervention with this tragedy would help many victims' family members cope with the loss of their loved ones.

When the Oklahoma City bombing happened, it remained the largest terrorist attack to happen on American soil until the attack on 9/11. On April 19, 1995, a rental truck was loaded up with 4,800 pounds of explosives and detonated just after 9:00 am (Krung, Nixon, & Vincent, 1996). The attack was focused on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. This tragic event killed one hundred sixty-eight people and also injured hundreds more (Nacos, 2016). A dare care facility was also located within the building and nineteen children perished in the attack (Nacos, 2016). There were hundreds more victims which were treated by area hospitals and private doctor offices. This explosion was so large, a shockwave was sent across the city which damaged or destroyed an additional 300 buildings in the immediate area (History, 2009). Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nicholas were the two men responsible for this devastating attack.

McVeigh's trial was set for Denver, Colorado on March 31, 1997. On June 3rd 1997, the jury found McVeigh guilty of all 11 counts, including eight counts of first degree murder in the deaths of eight federal law-enforcement agents, conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, using a weapon of mass destruction, and destruction of a federal building. The jury deliberated for 23 and a half hours before rendering the verdict. In the end, McVeigh was left all alone as dozens of former best friends and family relatives testified against him (Eddy et al., 1997).

September 11, 2001, the start of terrorism in The United States, and the end of innocence in our lives. Some of us are lucky to never know the fright of that horrid day. For others though, the events that transpired on September 11 will live on forever in their memory.

Terry Nichols received life in prison. “Until September 11, 2001, the Oklahoma City bombing was the worst terrorist attack to take place on U.S. soil.”A bomb carried in a Ryder truck exploded in front of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995. “The blast killed 168 people, including 19 children. More than 500 people were injured.Timothy J. McVeigh and Terry L. Nichols was convicted

Priscilla Salyer is a survivor of the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19th, 1995. Salyer shared her reflections after she plummeted five floors when the fuel-and-fertilizer bomb detonated the nine-story federal building. People gathered in Oklahoma City on April 19th, 2015 to mark the 20 years after the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in the ceremony to remember the 168 men, women and children that died after "a truck stuffed with tons of explosives blew up at a downtown federal building." Further, Former U.S. President Bill Clinton talked to the gathered people in front of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. "Oklahoma City, you had to choose to redeem your terrible losses by having to begin again," said Clinton, who was in his first term in office at the time of the attack, one of the deadliest of its kind ever staged on U.S. soil, as YahooNews reports. Moreover, The memorial and the museum, consist "a permanent display of 168 empty chairs, one for each person who died." For Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, 20-years-ago was, "a 60 minutes of terror."