Timothy Mcveigh Case Study

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 April 19, 1995, a man by the name of Timothy McVeigh carried out an attack that would leave the United States, along with other countries, devastated. At 9:02 A.M, a truck bomb explosion outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, left 168 people dead and hundreds more injured. Many people apprehend that McVeigh carried out this attack because he was mentally unstable. He was actually thinking logically. McVeigh planned out the attack based on his life experiences and by what he read in books. He retaliated against the government because of his personal beliefs and he wanted to be recognized for the bombing.

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

April 19, 1995, 9:02 a.m: a bomb was set off beneath the Alfred P. Murrah Building. The bomb damaged the structural support beams and the Northern support columns. Half of the building collapsed. 168 people died (Cook 5). Eric McKisick, a district manager, recalls the incident, ¨I made an assumption that, hey, everybody is out, everybody is good, and I left at that point. It wasn't ´till much later that I saw the devastation and understood they didn't respond because they couldn't.” Not only were there a large number of casualties, 300 people were also injured, some of whom were physically impaired for the rest of their life. A child who was in the building at the time of the explosion states, “I have no recollection of that day, but I’m reminded everyday about it because of my breathing problems (Brandes, Heide, Schapiro).”

Timothy Mcveigh’s personality can be explained sociologically as being both ritualism and rebellion. Timothy McVeigh was part of what can be seen as the pinnacle of conformism during the years before the bombing, the military. McVeigh, by all accounts, was a soldier who won praise by taking orders very well and following all the rules, his medals won during the Gulf War prove this. However, like many other people who join the military (gang-members, racial nationalists, survivalists) Timothy McVeigh had perhaps not-so “patriotic” motives for joining. Nowadays people join the military for reasons other than because they believe in a countries value system, people like McVeigh join for the military training and knowledge of things like explosives, survival, discipline, etc. They in a way use the system against itself. At face value Timothy McVeigh did follow the means towards achieving societies goals, but he wanted nothing to do with the ends. He saw himself as a freedom fighter whose destiny was to overthrow the US Government.

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.

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.

McVeigh had used a unique type of bomb for his big scheme, and he had quite the quantity of it. In fact he had possibly over “40 one-fifth-pound bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer--the chief ingredient in the Oklahoma bomb” (Lacayo). McVeigh was familiar with the structures of bombs with his time in the army. Over fourty bags of those ingredients could cause a big blast and he was well aware of it. It was known that McVeigh had used a Ryder Van to use as the bomb base. After all, a Ryder van does not alarm danger to anyone that a bomb would explode inside

Timothy McVeigh packed a Ryder truck full of five thousand pounds of explosives. These explosives were made out of fertilizer. He parked the truck in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. He lit a five minute fuse when he parked the truck, and he left. He was about six blocks from the building when the explosion happened. The explosion destroyed a nine story concrete and granite building. It also destroyed or damaged nearly 300 nearby buildings, and completely destroyed the vehicles across the street. People in the building survived by diving underneath their desks. This explosion could be felt up to fifty five miles away.

On April 19,1915, at approximately 10:15 am, a white van loaded with 4,800 pounds of explosives. pulled up in front of the Alfred P. Murrah building All of a sudden the Alfred P. Murrah building exploded killing 187 people.

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.

When it came to the evidence and forensics involved with the Oklahoma City bombing, there was a plethora of items to be used against Timothy McVeigh to show his guilt. To prove McVeigh’s guilt, the prosecution needed a motive. This was not going to be hard to do when McVeigh himself was so outspoken against the federal government. As stated earlier, McVeigh was upset regarding Ruby Ridge and also the raid at the Branch Davidian compound. But McVeigh also had what was known as the “Turner Diaries”, which were antigovernment leaflets that the prosecution stated were blueprints for the bombing ("Prosecutors almost through", 1997). McVeigh’s very own sister also testified against him stating how angry he was at the government, and that he was

Yesterday April 19th,1995 Ex-Army soldier and security guard Timothy McVeigh parked his truck lined with explosives in front of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building downtown Oklahoma City.

On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists who were members of the Islamic terrorist organization named al-Qaeda, hijacked four commercial airplanes and committed suicide attacks against the United States. Two of the planes were ran into the towers of the World Trade Center (Twin Towers) in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside of Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks resulted in mass death and destruction, triggering the United States initiatives to fight terrorism and defend our country. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., among these people were more than 400 police officers and 300 firefighters, these heros lost their lives

On February 26th 1993, Al Qaeda members Ramzi Yousef, and accomplice Mohammad Salameh drove a rented van, loaded with explosives into the basement parking lot of the World Trade Center in New York City. The van exploded, killing 6 innocent civilians and