OKBOMB Case Study: The 1995 Murrah Bombing

Modern terrorism, as deduced from this literature, is acts to violence strategically used by secular groups spanning international borders with the aim of achieving a desired outcome. Further, it can be seen as organized activity whose genesis can be traced back to the 1880’s. From then to now there are identifiable traits and patterns observed from different (terrorist) groups which have allowed for the conceptualization of the term modern terrorism. This concept therefore, can be best explained in the context of being a wave or having a life cycle. That means it is a cycle of activity demarked by phases from inception and expands along the way then eventually it declines. The world, thus far, has experienced four waves of modern

I learned of what happened to the federal building in Oklahoma City until later that evening of April 19, 1995 from the evening news. It obviously was breaking news all day and it hit home for some people who knew workers there. The most heartbreaking were the lives of innocent children that were claimed in the bombing. Timothy McVeigh and his co-conspirator Terry Nichols were behind this treacherous attack in the U.S. On that day, the assault executed 168 individuals, 19 of them kids, and harmed more than 500. It was the biggest terrorist act at any point transpired on U.S. soil (CNN, 2001).

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.

On the morning of April 19, 1995 Timothy McVeigh parked a Ryder rental truck packed with explosives outside of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building more than ready to commit a mass execution that would change the state of Oklahoma forever. Until September 11, 2001 the Oklahoma City Bombing was the most vicious terrorist attack to happen in the United States. As rescue operations were finalized the death tolls were high including 19 children.. The explosion blew off the entire north wall and either destroyed or damaged buildings as far as three blocks away. McVeigh was “anti-government” and wanted revenge against the federal government for what had

Terrorism has always existed in American policing, and while the groups committing these acts have changed, their intentions have not. Their intentions being to cause maximum fear and scare those who they target into doing and following their ideology. In the 1970’s and 1980’s in America, the main terrorist groups were associated with the environmental movement and race based groups, while other parts of the world were dealing with Islamic extremists, were committing terrorist acts across the Middle East without much intervention from the United States. In fact the group Al-Qaeda, who attacked the World Trade Centers in 1993 and 2001, found its roots in the 1980’s fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan with weapons supplied by the Central Intelligence Agency. While the U.S. Federal Law Enforcement agencies knew of these groups, they underestimated the capabilities of lone wolf, small cell, and whole terrorist organizations. This was due to the fact that the Federal Law Enforcement agencies top priority was general crime such as organized crimes and white-collar crime.

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.

The unfortunate event that took place on April 19, 1995 was a day that would change history throughout the nation in an unimaginable way due to the tragic circumstances that unfortunately unfolded. The Oklahoma City Bombing impacted the United States greatly because something of such devastation had never before occurred in this way up until that point in American history. This in fact would be an event that no one anticipated, no one knew anything of, but it would certainly be an eye opening day and a call for change.

A truck bomb explosion occurred on April 19, 1995. Prior to 9/11, this event was the worst attack on American soil in our history because it killed or injured approximately 700 civilians. By analyzing the historical, social, and cultural perspectives, one can better understand the significance of the Oklahoma City Bombing in American history.

In Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building was nearly destroyed from a nearby bomb. This bombing was the worst terrorist attack in the United States, before the nine-eleven attack in 2001. The bomb was contained in a rental truck, which was placed there by Timothy McVeigh. McVeigh then parked the truck on the north side of the Alfred P. Murrah building. At 9:02 A.M. the bomb went off, causing massive damage to the north side of the building and three hundred other surrounding buildings in the blast zone. The bombing had took 168 lives, 19 of those lives were children from the daycare inside the building.

In 1995, it all started as a peaceful Wednesday morning. People were starting work or just waking up in Oklahoma City. While all these peoples’ days were starting, a young male parked a yellow truck outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. That day, everyone's’ life in that building changed forever. The effects of the April 19,1995 bombing were more than just physical to the survivors of this horrific event.

April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City was destroyed by a bombing in the Murrah federal building. Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were both sentenced after the bombing. McVeigh was sentenced to death and became the first federal prisoner to be executed since 1963. Later that year Nichols was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. After 2 weeks they claimed 168 people had died, 19 in which were children.

At 9:02 a.m. CST, a rental truck filled with explosives is detonated outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was all planned by two former US army soldiers Timothy McVeigh, and Terry Nichols. Approximately, 500 people were injured, 168 people were dead including 19 children who were in the daycare of the building. This bombing shook the whole country. Luckily, the Army veteran Timothy McVeigh is arrested in a traffic stop because he got caught driving a car without license plate.

On April 19, 1995 a box truck filled with explosives was parked outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building located in Oklahoma City. Shortly after 9 am the explosives in the truck were detonated resulting in over a third of the federal building collapsing and another 300 buildings received damage. Emergency crews and law enforcement quickly realized this was a deliberate and well planned attack. It was an attack that they would soon discover to be the largest act of domestic terrorism carried out in the United States that killed a total of 168 people, a number that also included 19 children, and injured hundreds more (FBI, n.d.).

Terrorist attacks were on the rise around the world and even on the United States.

Terrorism in the twenty-first century has some similarities and differences from terrorism in the twentieth century. Terrorism is, in its broadest sense, the use or threatened use of violence in order to achieve a political, religious, or ideological aim. Also useful to remember that because the two entities involved, the terrorists and the terrorized, are on the opposite end of the political, religious or ideological continuum, the same act is viewed by them differently. There is much sense in the phrase one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.