Timothy Mcveigh Case Summary

On April 21 authorities charged Timothy McVeigh. The authorities had only come to find out that he was already in jail after being arrested for unlawfully carrying a gun shortly after the bombing. Before McVeigh was released from jail, he was charged as a prime suspect in the bombing. Also on April 21, Terry Nichols who was a partner of McVeigh’s, surrendered in Herington Kansas. Both McVeigh and Nichols were in a group based out of Michigan which was the radical right-wing survivalist group. Just days later, both men were charged with murder and unlawful use of explosives.

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.

At 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, a 5,000-pound bomb, hidden inside a Ryder truck, exploded just outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The explosion caused massive damage to the building and killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children (Rosenburg, 2011). On April 23, four days after the bombing, President Bill Clinton addressed the public and gave an effective, excellent speech.

Timothy McVeigh left a moving truck he had leased before the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in the downtown area of Oklahoma City. McVeigh intentionally had plans to execute and kill people, the federal government as the target, by way of a massive bomb. He carried out the plan that rocked the Oklahoma City and caught the U. S. by surprise, however, which it did not take the FBI long to find the person behind the act. On April 20, the back hub of the Ryder was found, which produced a vehicle number that was led FBI to shop in Kansas. Personnel at the shop assisted FBI by rapidly giving them a composite drawing of the person who leased the van. Specialists revealed the drawing throughout the town, nevertheless, nearby hotel workers identified the person in the sketched drawing as Timothy McVeigh. A prompt call to the FBI in West Virginia on April 21 led to a shocking disclosure: McVeigh was at that point in prison. This was an amazing discovery for the investigators who classified McVeigh as a suspect responsible for the bombing on the Federal Building and he was charged.

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.

-A giant explosion in Oklahoma City in 1995, killed 168 lives, was a retribution for a

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.

The bomb was set off by Timothy McVeigh, a Persian Gulf Veteran. He was a right wing radical linked to anti-government, white-supremacist, survivalist and militia groups. The events at Waco and Ruby Ridge influenced Timothy McVeigh, prompting him to take action against the United States government (“FBI”, The Oklahoma City Bombing: 20 Years After). Right wing ideology, as in the Turner Diaries, led him

McVeigh also told Michael Fortier who was a fellow soldier. Michael Fortier helped McVeigh scout out the building before the bombing and had “foreknowledge” of what McVeigh’s plans were. Lori Fortier, Michael Fortier’s wife, helped McVeigh laminate a fake driver’s license, later used to rent the Ryder truck. Michael Fortier agreed to testify against McVeigh in exchange for a reduced sentence and his wife to have immunity for the crimes she committed. He was sentenced on May 27, 1998 and fined $75,000 for not informing authorities about the attack. After he served ten and a half years he was released on good behavior to the Witness Protection Program and given a new identity.

Timothy McVeigh committed the most deadly act of domestic terrorism in United States history. His actions resulted in both outrage and fascination, and lead to significant inquiry into why he did what he did. Many at the time, already scared by the rising trends of Jihadist terrorism felt that McVeigh’s actions were in large part something new, something atypical to the American experience. However, such was not the case. Terrorism has been prevalent throughout American history and tied to various trends and movements, including abolitionism. Ultimately John Brown and Timothy McVeigh have striking similarities, such as the presence of their action outside of the more established and organized groups of their respective movements and the media

On April 15, 1995 Timothy McVeigh rented a Ryder truck in Herington, Kansas under the alias Robert D. Kling. On April 16, he drove to Oklahoma City with fellow conspirator Terry Nichols where he parked a getaway vehicle several blocks away from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. After

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).

On April 15, 2013 during the Boston Marathon in Copley Square, two bombs exploded near the finish line killing at least three and injuring over 170 people. This bombing sent the nation in an uproar and it was immediately recognized as a terrorist attack. When the Federal Bureau of Investigation took over, a few days later a surveillance video and photographs of the two suspects were released.

On May 24th 1988 Timothy took a huge step to fulfill his dream of becoming a member of the United States Special Forces. In Basic training McVeigh met an individual named Terry Nichols, Nichols was much older than most of the recruits and held his own pretty well. McVeigh and Nichols became close friends and even got stationed at Fort Riley Kansas Together. Kifner, John. (1995). Terry Nichols was one of the master minds behind the attack of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. As stated by former FBI agent "These two are birds of a feather. Each feeds off the other 's inadequacies." McVeigh and Nichols would later deploy to Iraq to fight in the Gulf War where McVeigh served as a Bradley Gunner. During his time in Iraq McVeigh was awarded the combat Infantry badge and a bronze star. Kifner, (1995).

The Explosives that Timothy McVeigh used in the Oklahoma City Bombing consisted of PETN, which is a component that detonates the explosion. One of the ingredients to the explosives that were found was ammonium nitrate, which was part of the explosive (Saferstein, 2015). There are other parts to the bomb that contains diesel fuel based fertilizer. The bomb’s explosive power was enough to cause damage or destruction to over 300 other buildings near the blast area (History, 2017). The bomb was also composed of ammonium nitrate fertilizer that is explosive grade. Another ingredient that was in the bomb was nitro-methane, including two explosives that were already manufactured