Oklahoma City bombing
Oklahoma City bombing | |
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![]() The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building two days after the bombing | |
Location | Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States |
Coordinates | 35°28′22.4″N 97°31′01″W / 35.472889°N 97.51694°W |
Date | Wednesday, April 19, 1995 9:02 am CDT (UTC–5) |
Target | U.S. federal government |
Attack type | Truck bomb, domestic terrorism, mass murder |
Deaths | 168 (possibly 169) |
Injured | 680+ |
Perpetrators | Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, Michael and Lori Fortier |
Motive | Retaliation for the Ruby Ridge and Waco sieges |
The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. It would remain the most destructive act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The Oklahoma blast claimed 168 lives, including 19 children under the age of 6,[1] and injured more than 680 people.[2] The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a sixteen-block radius, destroyed or burned 86 cars, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings.[3][4] The bomb was estimated to have caused at least $652 million worth of damage.[5] 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 (FEMA) activated eleven of its Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces, consisting of 665 rescue workers who assisted in rescue and recovery operations.[6][7]
Within 90 minutes of the explosion, Timothy McVeigh was stopped by Oklahoma State Trooper Charlie Hanger for driving without a license plate and arrested for unlawfully carrying a weapon.[8][9] Forensic evidence quickly linked McVeigh and Terry Nichols to the attack; Nichols was arrested,[10] and within days both were charged. Michael and Lori Fortier were later identified as accomplices. McVeigh, an American militia movement sympathizer who was a Gulf War veteran, had detonated an explosive-filled Ryder rental truck parked in front of the building. McVeigh's co-conspirator, Terry Nichols, had assisted in the bomb preparation. Motivated by his hatred of the federal government and angered by what he perceived as its mishandling of the Waco Siege (1993) and the Ruby Ridge incident (1992), McVeigh timed his attack to coincide with the second anniversary of the deadly fire that ended the siege at Waco.[11][12]
The official investigation, known as "OKBOMB", was the largest criminal investigation case in American history; FBI agents conducted 28,000 interviews, amassing 3.5 short tons (3.2 t) of evidence, and collected nearly one billion pieces of information.[13][14][15] The bombers were tried and convicted in 1997. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001, and Nichols was sentenced to life in prison. Michael and Lori Fortier testified against McVeigh and Nichols; Michael was sentenced to 12 years in prison for failing to warn the U.S. government, and Lori received immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony. As with other large-scale terrorist attacks, conspiracy theories dispute the official claims and allege the involvement of additional perpetrators.
As a result of the bombing, the U.S. government passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, which tightened the standards for habeas corpus in the United States,[16] as well as legislation designed to increase the protection around federal buildings to deter future terrorist attacks. On April 19, 2000, the Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated on the site of the Murrah Federal Building, commemorating the victims of the bombing. Annual remembrance services are held at the same time of day as the original explosion occurred.
Planning
Motivation
![An overhead view from a helicopter of the Mount Carmel Center building. Large columns of smoke are arising from the left side of the building from a fire. One side of the building shows extensive damage. The building is surrounded by dirt paths.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f5/Mountcarmelfire04-19-93-l.jpg/220px-Mountcarmelfire04-19-93-l.jpg)
The chief conspirators, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, met in 1988 at Fort Benning during basic training for the U.S. Army.[17] Michael Fortier, McVeigh's accomplice, was his Army roommate.[18] The three shared interests in survivalism, opposed gun control, and supported the militia movement.[19][20] They expressed anger at the federal government's handling of the 1992 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) standoff with Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge as well as the Waco Siege—a 1993 51-day standoff between the FBI and Branch Davidian members which began with a botched ATF attempt to execute a search warrant leading to a fire fight (it is unknown whether ATF agents or Branch Davidians fired the first shot) and ended with the burning and shooting deaths of David Koresh and 75 others.[21] In March 1993, McVeigh visited the Waco site during the standoff, and then again after its conclusion.[22] McVeigh later decided to bomb a federal building as a response to the raids.[12][23][24][25]
Target selection
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/77/Alfred_P._Murrah_Federal_Building_before_destruction.jpg/150px-Alfred_P._Murrah_Federal_Building_before_destruction.jpg)
McVeigh initially intended only to destroy a federal building, but he later decided that his message would be better received if many people were killed in the bombing.[26] McVeigh's criterion for potential attack sites was that the target should house at least two of three federal law-enforcement agencies: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He regarded the presence of additional law-enforcement agencies, such as the Secret Service or the U.S. Marshals Service, as a bonus.[27]
McVeigh, a resident of Kingman, Arizona, considered targets in Missouri, Arizona, Texas, and Arkansas.[27] McVeigh stated in his authorized biography that he wanted to minimize nongovernmental casualties, so he ruled out a 40-story government building in Little Rock, Arkansas, because of the presence of a florist's shop on the ground floor.[28] In December 1994, McVeigh and Fortier visited Oklahoma City to inspect their target: the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.[23] The Murrah building had been previously targeted in October 1983 by white supremacist group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord, including founder James Ellison and Richard Snell. The group had plotted to park "a van or trailer in front of the Federal Building and blow it up with rockets detonated by a timer."[29] After Snell's appeal for murdering two people in unrelated cases was denied, he was executed the same day as the Murrah bombing.[30]
The nine-story building, built in 1977, was named for a federal judge and housed fourteen federal agencies including the DEA, ATF, Social Security Administration, and recruiting offices for the Army and Marine Corps.[31] The Murrah building was chosen for its glass front—which was expected to shatter under the impact of the blast—and its adjacent large, open parking lot across the street, which might absorb and dissipate some of the force, and protect the occupants of nearby non-federal buildings.[28] In addition, McVeigh believed that the open space around the building would provide better photo opportunities for propaganda purposes.[28] The attack was planned to take place on April 19, 1995, to coincide with the anniversary of the Waco Siege and the 220th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord.[32]
Gathering materials
"The truck rental — $250. The fertilizer was about... it was either $250 or $500. The nitro methane was the big cost. It was like $1,500. Actually, lemme see, 900, 2,700,... we're talking $3,500 there... Lets round it up. I just gave you the major expenses, so go to like five grand... what's five grand?"
—Timothy McVeigh, on the cost of the preparations[33]
McVeigh and Nichols purchased or stole the materials they needed to manufacture the bomb, which they stored in rented sheds. In August 1994, McVeigh obtained nine Kinestiks from gun collector Roger E. Moore, and ignited the devices with Nichols outside Nichols' home in Herington, Kansas.[34][35] On September 30, 1994, Nichols bought forty 50-pound (23 kg) bags of ammonium nitrate from Mid-Kansas Coop in McPherson, Kansas, an amount regarded as unusual even for a farmer. Nichols bought an additional 50-pound (23 kg) bag on October 18, 1994.[23] McVeigh approached Fortier and asked him to assist with the bombing project, but he refused.[36][37]
They allegedly robbed gun collector Roger E. Moore in his home of $60,000 worth of guns, gold, silver, and jewels, transporting the property in the victim's own van.[36] McVeigh had previously visited Moore's ranch, but doubts have been raised about Nichols and McVeigh's involvement in the robbery for several reasons. The robbers wore ski masks (making a positive identification impossible), and the physical description given did not match Nichols.[38] Also, Aryan Republican Army robbers were operating in the area of Moore's ranch at the time.[39] McVeigh did not need to raise money for the bomb, which only cost about $5,000. In all, the truck rental cost about $250, the fertilizer less than $500, and the nitromethane $2,780, with a cheap car being used as a getaway vehicle.[40] McVeigh wrote a letter to Moore in which he claimed that the robbery had been committed by government agents.[41] Despite these doubts, items that were stolen from Moore were later found in Nichols' home and in a storage shed that he had rented.[42][43]
In October 1994, McVeigh showed Michael Fortier and his wife, Lori, a diagram he had drawn of the bomb he wanted to build.[44] McVeigh planned to construct a bomb containing more than 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, mixed with about 1,200 pounds (540 kg) of liquid nitromethane and 350 pounds (160 kg) of Tovex. Including the weight of the sixteen 55-U.S.-gallon drums in which the explosive mixture was to be packed, the bomb would have a combined weight of about 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg).[45] McVeigh had originally intended to use hydrazine rocket fuel, but it proved to be too expensive.[36] In October 1994, posing as a motorcycle racer, McVeigh obtained three 55-U.S.-gallon (46 imp gal; 210 L) drums of nitromethane on the pretense that he and some fellow bikers needed the fuel for racing.[46]
McVeigh rented a storage space, in which he stockpiled seven crates of 18-inch-long Tovex sausages, 80 spools of shock tube, and 500 electric blasting caps, which he and Nichols had stolen from a Martin Marietta Aggregates quarry in Marion, Kansas. He decided not to steal any of the 40,000 pounds (18,000 kg) of ANFO (ammonium nitrate fuel oil) he found at the scene, as he did not believe it to be powerful enough (although he did obtain seventeen bags of ANFO from another source for use in the bomb). McVeigh made a prototype bomb using a plastic Gatorade jug containing ammonium nitrate prills, liquid nitromethane, a piece of Tovex sausage, and a blasting cap.[47] The prototype was detonated in the desert to avoid detection.[47]
"Think about the people as if they were storm troopers in Star Wars. They may be individually innocent, but they are guilty because they work for the Evil Empire."
—McVeigh reflecting on the deaths of victims in the bombing[48]
Later, speaking about the military mindset with which he went about the preparations, he said, "You learn how to handle killing in the military. I face the consequences, but you learn to accept it." He compared his actions to the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, rather than the attack on Pearl Harbor, reasoning it was necessary to prevent more lives from being lost.[48]
On April 14, 1995, McVeigh paid for a motel room at the Dreamland Motel in Junction City, Kansas.[49] The following day he rented a 1993 Ford F-700 truck from Ryder under the name Robert D. Kling, an alias he adopted because he knew an Army soldier named Kling with whom he shared physical characteristics, and because it reminded him of the Klingon warriors of Star Trek.[49][50][51] On April 16, 1995, he drove to Oklahoma City with fellow conspirator Terry Nichols where he parked a getaway car several blocks away from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.[52] The nearby Regency Towers Apartments' lobby security camera recorded images of Nichols' pickup truck as it drove to the federal building.[53] After removing the license plate from the car, he left a note covering the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) plate that read, "Not abandoned. Please do not tow. Will move by April 23. (Needs battery & cable)."[23][54] Both men then returned to Kansas.
Building the bomb
On April 17–18, 1995, McVeigh and Nichols removed their supplies from their storage unit in Herington, Kansas, where Nichols lived. They loaded 108 bags of high-grade ammonium nitrate fertilizer weighing 50 pounds (23 kg) each, three 55-U.S.-gallon (46 imp gal; 210 L) drums of liquid nitromethane, several crates of explosive Tovex, seventeen bags of ANFO, and spools of shock tube and cannon fuse into a Ryder rental truck.[55] The two then drove to Geary Lake State Park, where they nailed boards onto the floor of the truck to hold the thirteen barrels in place and mixed the chemicals using plastic buckets and a bathroom scale.[56] Each filled barrel weighed nearly 500 pounds (230 kg).[57] McVeigh added more explosives to the driver's side of the cargo bay, which he could ignite (killing himself in the process) at close range with his Glock 21 pistol in case the primary fuses failed.[58] During McVeigh's trial, Lori Fortier (the wife of Michael Fortier) stated that McVeigh claimed to have arranged the barrels in order to form a shaped charge.[44] This was achieved by tamping the aluminum side panel of the truck with bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer to direct the blast laterally towards the building.[59] Specifically, McVeigh arranged the barrels in the shape of a backwards J; he later said that for pure destructive power, he would have put the barrels on the side of the cargo bay closest to the Murrah Building; however, such an unevenly distributed 7,000-pound (3,200 kg) load might have broken an axle, flipped the truck over, or at least caused it to lean to one side, which could have drawn attention.[57]
McVeigh then added a dual-fuse ignition system accessible from the truck's front cab. He drilled two holes in the cab of the truck under the seat, while two holes were also drilled in the body of the truck. One green cannon fuse was run through each hole into the cab. These time-delayed fuses led from the cab of the truck, through plastic fish-tank tubing conduit, to two sets of non-electric blasting caps.[57] The tubing was painted yellow to blend in with the truck's livery, and duct-taped in place to the wall to make them harder to disable by yanking from the outside.[57] The fuses were set up to initiate, through shock tubes, the 350 pounds (160 kg) of Tovex Blastrite Gel "sausages", which would in turn set off the configuration of barrels. Of the thirteen filled barrels, nine contained ammonium nitrate and nitromethane, and four contained a mixture of the fertilizer and about 4-U.S.-gallon (3.3 imp gal; 15 L) of diesel fuel.[57] Additional materials and tools used for manufacturing the bomb were left in the truck to be destroyed in the blast.[57] After finishing the truck bomb, the two men separated; Nichols returned home to Herington and McVeigh with the truck to Junction City.
Bombing
![Map showing the layout of downtown Oklahoma City near the bombed building. The map uses simple shapes to identify some notable nearby buildings and roads. A large circle covers half the map, illustrating the extent of damage from the bomb. A red path shows the path McVeigh took to get to the building with the Ryder truck, and a blue line shows his escape on foot.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/26/Timothy_McVeigh%27s_movements_during_Oklahoma_City_bombing.svg/300px-Timothy_McVeigh%27s_movements_during_Oklahoma_City_bombing.svg.png)
![An overhead view shows the Alfred P. Murrah building, half of it destroyed from the bomb's blast. Near the building are various rescue vehicles and cranes. Some damage is visible to nearby buildings.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Murrah_Building_-_Aerial.jpg/220px-Murrah_Building_-_Aerial.jpg)
McVeigh's original plan had been to detonate the bomb at 11:00 am CST, but at dawn on April 19, 1995, he decided instead to destroy the building at 9:00 am CST.[60] As he drove toward the Murrah Federal Building in the Ryder truck, McVeigh carried with him an envelope containing pages from The Turner Diaries—a fictional account of white supremacists who ignite a revolution by blowing up the FBI headquarters at 9:15 one morning using a truck bomb.[23] McVeigh wore a printed T-shirt with the motto of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Sic semper tyrannis ("Thus always to tyrants", which was shouted by John Wilkes Booth immediately after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln) and "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants" (from Thomas Jefferson).[32] He also carried an envelope of anti-government materials that included a bumper sticker with Thomas Jefferson slogan, "When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny." Underneath, McVeigh had scrawled, "Maybe now, there will be liberty!" and a hand-copied quote by John Locke asserting that a man has a right to kill someone who takes away his liberty.[23][61]
McVeigh entered Oklahoma City at 8:50 am CST.[62] At 8:57 am CST the Regency Towers Apartments' lobby security camera that had recorded Nichols' pickup truck three days earlier recorded the Ryder truck heading towards the Murrah Federal Building.[63] At the same moment, McVeigh lit the five-minute fuse. Three minutes later, still a block away, he lit the two-minute fuse. He parked the Ryder truck in a drop-off zone situated under the building's day-care center, exited and locked the truck, and as he headed to his getaway vehicle, dropped the keys to the truck a few blocks away.[64]
At 9:02 am CST, the Ryder truck, containing in excess of 4,800 pounds (2,200 kg)[65] of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, nitromethane, and diesel fuel mixture, detonated in front of the north side of the nine-story Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.[44] Hundreds of people were killed or injured. One third of the building was destroyed by the explosion,[66] which created a 30-foot (9.1 m) wide, 8-foot (2.4 m) deep crater on NW 5th Street next to the building.[67] The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a sixteen-block radius, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings.[3][4] The broken glass alone accounted for 5% of the death total and 69% of the injuries outside the Murrah Federal Building.[4] The blast destroyed or burned 86 cars around the site.[3][68] The destruction of the buildings left several hundred people homeless and shut down multiple offices in downtown Oklahoma City.[69] The explosion was estimated to have caused at least $652 million worth of damage.[70]
The effects of the blast were equivalent to over 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) of TNT,[59][71] and could be heard and felt up to 55 miles (89 km) away.[69] Seismometers at Science Museum Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, 4.3 miles (6.9 km) away, and in Norman, Oklahoma, 16.1 miles (25.9 km) away, recorded the blast as measuring approximately 3.0 on the Richter scale.[72]
Arrests
Initially, the FBI had three hypotheses regarding who might have been responsible for the bombing. The first was international terrorists, possibly the same group that had carried out the World Trade Center bombing two years earlier. The FBI also thought that a drug cartel might have been carrying out an act of vengeance against DEA agents as the building held a DEA office. The last hypothesis was that the bombing was done by Christian fascists acting on conspiracy theories.[73]
![An FBI sketch is shown on the left of the image on the suspected bomber looking forward, and on the right, an image of McVeigh looking at the camera. Two brown bars are visible on the top and bottom of the comparison image.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Aa_McVeigh_sketch_and_pic.jpg/220px-Aa_McVeigh_sketch_and_pic.jpg)
McVeigh was arrested within 90 minutes of the explosion,[74] as he was traveling north on Interstate 35 near Perry in Noble County, Oklahoma. Oklahoma State Trooper Charlie Hanger stopped McVeigh for driving his yellow 1977 Mercury Marquis without a license plate, and arrested him for having a concealed weapon.[8][75] For his home address, McVeigh falsely claimed he resided at Terry Nichols' brother James' house in Michigan.[76] After booking McVeigh, Hanger searched his police car and found a business card McVeigh had hidden while he was handcuffed.[77] Written on the back of the card, which was from a Wisconsin military surplus store, were the words "TNT at $5 a stick. Need more."[78] The card was later used as evidence during McVeigh's trial.[78]
While investigating the VIN from an axle of the truck used in the explosion and the remnants of the license plate, federal agents were able to link the truck to a specific Ryder rental agency in Junction City. Using a sketch created with the assistance of Eldon Elliot, owner of the agency, the agents were able to implicate McVeigh in the bombing.[13][23][79] McVeigh was also identified by Lea McGown of the Dreamland Motel, who remembered him parking a large yellow Ryder truck in the lot; McVeigh had signed in under his real name at the motel, using an address that matched the one on his forged license and the charge sheet at the Perry Police Station.[9][23] Before signing his real name at the motel, McVeigh had used false names for his transactions. However, McGown noted, "People are so used to signing their own name that when they go to sign a phony name, they almost always go to write, and then look up for a moment as if to remember the new name they want to use. That's what [McVeigh] did, and when he looked up I started talking to him, and it threw him."[23]
![McVeigh is located at the center of the image in a dark hallway wearing an orange jumpsuit and looking to the side. Around him are several FBI agents and police officers.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/TimothyMcVeighPerryOKApr2195.jpg/220px-TimothyMcVeighPerryOKApr2195.jpg)
After an April 21, 1995, court hearing on the gun charges, but before McVeigh's release, federal agents took him into custody as they continued their investigation into the bombing.[23] Rather than talk to investigators about the bombing, McVeigh demanded an attorney. Having been tipped off by the arrival of police and helicopters that a bombing suspect was inside, a restless crowd began to gather outside the jail. McVeigh's requests for a bulletproof vest or transport by helicopter were denied.[80]
Federal agents obtained a warrant to search the house of McVeigh's father, Bill, following which they broke down the door and wired the house and telephone with listening devices.[81] FBI investigators used the resulting information gained, along with the fake address McVeigh had been using, to begin their search for the Nichols brothers, Terry and James.[76] On April 21, 1995, Terry learned that he was being hunted, and turned himself in.[10] Investigators discovered incriminating evidence at his home: ammonium nitrate and blasting caps, the electric drill used to drill out the locks at the quarry, books on bomb-making, a copy of Hunter (a 1989 novel by William Luther Pierce, the founder and chairman of the white nationalist National Alliance) and a hand-drawn map of downtown Oklahoma City, on which was marked the Murrah Building and the spot where McVeigh's getaway car was hidden.[82][83] After a nine-hour interrogation, Terry Nichols was formally held in federal custody until his trial.[84] On April 25, 1995, James Nichols was also arrested, but he was released after 32 days due to lack of evidence.[85] McVeigh's sister Jennifer was accused of illegally mailing bullets to McVeigh,[86] but she was granted immunity in exchange for testifying against him.[87]
Ibrahim Ahmad, a Jordanian-American traveling from his home in Oklahoma City to visit family in Jordan on April 19, 1995, was also arrested in what was described as an "initial dragnet." There was concern that Middle Eastern terrorists could have been behind the attack. Further investigation cleared Ahmad of any involvement in the bombing.[88][89]
Casualties
![Diagram of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building with different color triangles on each floor. Some floors have more triangles than others, as well as different color ones. The title of the image is located on top, while a legend explaining the meaning of the different color triangles is on the bottom right.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/42/MurrahBuildingInjuriesbyFloorOCB.jpg/220px-MurrahBuildingInjuriesbyFloorOCB.jpg)
It is estimated that 646 people were inside the building when the bomb exploded.[90] By the end of the day of the bombing, twenty were confirmed dead, including six children, and over one hundred injured.[91] The toll eventually reached 168 confirmed dead, not including an unmatched leg that could have belonged to a possible, unidentified 169th victim.[92] Most of the deaths resulted from the collapse of the building, rather than the bomb blast itself.[93] Those killed included 163 who were in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, one person in the Athenian Building, one woman in a parking lot across the street, a man and woman in the Oklahoma Water Resources building, and a rescue worker struck on the head by debris.[94]
The victims ranged in age from three months to seventy-three years, in addition to the unborn children of three pregnant women.[1][94] Of the dead, 99 worked for the federal government.[95] Eight of the victims were federal law enforcement agents; 4 from the United States Secret Service, 2 from the United States Customs Service, 1 from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, and 1 from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. Nineteen of the victims were children, fifteen of whom were in the America's Kids Day Care Center.[96] The bodies of the 168 victims were identified at a temporary morgue set up at the scene.[97] A team of 24 identified the victims using full-body X-rays, dental examinations, fingerprinting, blood tests, and DNA testing.[95][98][99] More than 680 people were injured. The majority of the injuries were abrasions, severe burns, and bone fractures.[2]
McVeigh later justified his killing of children in the bombing: "I didn't define the rules of engagement in this conflict. The rules, if not written down, are defined by the aggressor. It was brutal, no holds barred. Women and kids were killed at Waco and Ruby Ridge. You put back in [the government's] faces exactly what they're giving out."[100]
Response and relief
Rescue efforts
![Several Air Force members and firefighters are clearing debris from the damaged building. Several yellow buckets are visible, which are being used to hold the debris. The destruction of the bombing is visible behind the rescuers.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a5/Oklahomacitybombing-DF-ST-96-00588.jpg/220px-Oklahomacitybombing-DF-ST-96-00588.jpg)
At 9:03:25 am CST, the first of over 1,800 9-1-1 calls related to the bombing was received by Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA).[101] By that time, EMSA ambulances, police, and firefighters were already headed to the scene, having heard the blast.[102] Nearby civilians, who had also witnessed or heard the blast, arrived to assist the victims and emergency workers.[66] Within 23 minutes of the bombing, the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) was set up, consisting of representatives from the state departments of public safety, human services, military, health, and education. Assisting the SEOC were agencies such as the National Weather Service, the Air Force, the Civil Air Patrol, and the American Red Cross.[6] Immediate assistance also came from 465 members of the Oklahoma National Guard, who arrived within the hour to provide security, and from members of the Department of Civil Emergency Management.[102]
The EMS command post was set up almost immediate following the attack and oversaw triage, treatment, transportation, and decontamination. A simple plan/objective was established: treatment and transportation of the injured was to be done as quickly as possible, supplies and personnel to handle a large amount of patients was needed immediately, the dead needed to be moved to a temporary morgue until they could be transferred to the coroner's office, and mesures for a long-term medical operation needed to be established. [103] The triage center was set up near the Murrah Building and all the wounded were directed there. Treatment and transport of the injured was done at a furious pace. 210 patients were transported from the primary triage center to nearby hospitals within the first couple hours following the bombing. [104]
Within the first hour, 50 people were rescued from the Murrah Federal Building.[105] Victims were sent to every hospital in the area. At the end of the first day of rescue efforts, 153 had been treated at St. Anthony Hospital, eight blocks from the blast, over 70 at Presbyterian, 41 at University, and 18 at Children's.[106] Temporary silences were observed so that sensitive listening devices capable of detecting human heartbeats could be used to locate survivors. In some cases, limbs had to be amputated without anesthetics (avoided because of its potential to cause a deadly coma) in order to free those trapped under rubble.[107] Periodically the scene had to be evacuated after police received tips claiming that other bombs had been planted in the building.[80]
At 10:28 am CST rescuers found what they believed to be a second bomb. Some rescue workers refused to leave until police ordered the mandatory evacuation of a four-block area around the site.[101][108] The device was determined to be a three-foot (.9-m) long TOW missile used in the training of federal agents and bomb-sniffing dogs;[3][109] although actually inert, it had been marked "live" in order to mislead arms traffickers in a planned law enforcement sting.[109] On examination the missile was determined to be inert, and relief efforts resumed 45 minutes later.[109][110] The last survivor, a fifteen-year-old girl found under the base of the collapsed building, was rescued at about 7:00 pm CST.[111]
In the days following the blast, over 12,000 people participated in relief and rescue operations. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) activated eleven of its Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces, which consisted of a team of 665 rescue workers.[6][7] One nurse was killed in the rescue attempt after she was hit on the head by debris, and 26 other rescuers were hospitalized because of various injuries.[112] Twenty-four K-9 units and out-of-state dogs were brought in to search for survivors and bodies in the building debris.[3][113][114] In an effort to recover additional bodies, 100 to 350 short tons (91 to 318 t) of rubble were removed from the site each day from April 24 to April 29, 1995.[115]
![The Alfred P. Murrah building is being demolished, and the image shows the building in mid-collapse. A Ryder truck is visible at the bottom left, and the Regency Towers building can be seen in the background at the far right. The demolition has created large clouds of dust that take up a portion of the image.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7b/MurrahBuildingDemolitionMay1995.jpg/220px-MurrahBuildingDemolitionMay1995.jpg)
Rescue and recovery efforts were concluded at 12:05 am CST on May 5, by which time the bodies of all but three of the victims had been recovered.[66] For safety reasons, the building was initially slated to be demolished shortly afterward. McVeigh's attorney, Stephen Jones, filed a motion to delay the demolition until the defense team could examine the site in preparation for the trial.[116] More than a month after the bombing, at 7:02 am CST on May 23, the Murrah Federal building was demolished.[66][117]The EMS Command Center remained active until the demolition of the Federal Murrah Building and was staffed 24 hours a day. [118] The final three bodies, those of two credit union employees and a customer, were recovered.[119] For several days after the building's demolition, trucks hauled 800 short tons (730 t) of debris a day away from the site. Some of the debris was used as evidence in the conspirators' trials, incorporated into memorials, donated to local schools, or sold to raise funds for relief efforts.[120]
Humanitarian aid
The national humanitarian response was immediate, and in some cases even overwhelming. Large numbers of items such as wheelbarrows, bottled water, helmet lights, knee pads, rain gear, and even football helmets were donated.[6][73] The sheer quantity of such donations caused logistical and inventory control problems until drop-off centers were set up to accept and sort the goods.[66] The Oklahoma Restaurant Association, which was holding a trade show in the city, assisted rescue workers by providing 15,000 to 20,000 meals over a ten-day period.[121]
The Salvation Army served over 100,000 meals and provided over 100,000 ponchos, gloves, hard hats, and knee pads to rescue workers.[122] Local residents and those from further afield responded to the requests for blood donations.[123][124] Of the 9,000 units of blood donated 131 units were used, the rest were stored in blood banks.[125]
Federal and state government aid
![A document showing Bill Clinton's message to victims. Some of the typed text has been scribbled out and replaced with hand-written text.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/President_Bill_Clinton%27s_Eulogy_for_the_Bombing_Victims_in_Oklahoma_City_1995.png/220px-President_Bill_Clinton%27s_Eulogy_for_the_Bombing_Victims_in_Oklahoma_City_1995.png)
At 9:45 am CST, Governor Frank Keating declared a state of emergency and ordered all non-essential workers in the Oklahoma City area to be released from their duties for their safety.[66] President Bill Clinton learned about the bombing around 9:30 am CST while he was meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Çiller at the White House.[91][126] Prior to addressing the nation, President Clinton wanted to ground all planes in the Oklahoma City area to prevent the bombers from escaping by air, but decided against it.[127] At 4:00 pm CST, President Clinton declared a federal emergency in Oklahoma City[102] and spoke to the nation:[91]
The bombing in Oklahoma City was an attack on innocent children and defenseless citizens. It was an act of cowardice and it was evil. The United States will not tolerate it, and I will not allow the people of this country to be intimidated by evil cowards.
He ordered that flags for all federal buildings be flown at half-staff for 30 days in remembrance of the victims.[128] Four days later, on April 23, 1995, Clinton spoke from Oklahoma City.[129]
No major federal financial assistance was made available to the survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing, but the Murrah Fund set up in the wake of the bombing attracted over $300,000 in federal grants.[6] Over $40 million was donated to the city to aid disaster relief and to compensate the victims.[130] Funds were initially distributed to families who needed it to get back on their feet, and the rest was held in trust for longer-term medical and psychological needs.[130] By 2005, $18 million of the donations remained, some of which was earmarked to provide a college education for each of the 219 children who lost one or both parents in the bombing.[130] A committee chaired by Daniel Kurtenbach of Goodwill Industries provided financial assistance to the survivors.[131]
International reaction
International reactions to the bombing varied. President Clinton received many messages of sympathy, including those from Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Yasser Arafat of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and Narasimha Rao of India.[132] Iran condemned the bombing as an attack on innocent people, but also blamed U.S. policy for inciting it. Kuwaiti parliament member Ahmed Baqer stated "This is a criminal act. No religion and no law permit such acts. A lot of civilians and children were killed. This is against human rights. This is against logic. We as a movement reject this kind of action."[132] Other condolences came from Russia, Canada, Australia, the United Nations, and the European Union, among other nations and organizations.[132][133]
Several countries offered to assist in the rescue efforts and investigation. France offered a special rescue unit,[132] and Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin offered to send agents with anti-terrorist expertise to help in the investigation.[133] President Clinton declined Israel's offer, believing that to accept it would increase anti-Muslim sentiments and endanger Muslim-Americans.[127]
Children affected
![A firefighter is holding a dying toddler in his arms, and he is looking down at her. The toddler has blood on her head, arms, and legs, and is wearing white socks.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/54/Firefighterbabyocb.jpg/220px-Firefighterbabyocb.jpg)
In the wake of the bombing, the national media seized upon the fact that nineteen of the victims had been babies and children, many in the day-care center. At the time of the bombing, there were 100 day-care centers in the United States in 7,900 federal buildings.[127] McVeigh later stated that he was unaware of the day-care center when choosing the building as a target, and if he had known "... it might have given me pause to switch targets. That's a large amount of collateral damage."[135] The FBI stated that McVeigh scouted the interior of the building in December 1994 and likely knew of the day-care center before the bombing.[23][135] In April 2010, Joseph Hartzler, the prosecutor at McVeigh's trial, questioned how he could have decided to pass over a prior target building because of an included florist shop but at the Murrah building not "... notice that there's a child day-care center there, that there was a credit union there and a Social Security office?"[136]
Schools across the country were dismissed early and ordered closed. A photograph of firefighter Chris Fields emerging from the rubble with infant Baylee Almon, who later died in a nearby hospital, was reprinted worldwide and became a symbol of the attack. The photo, taken by utility company employee Charles H. Porter IV, won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography.[137][138] The images and media reports of children dying terrorized many children who, as demonstrated by later research, showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.[139] Children became a primary focus of concern in the mental health response to bombing and many bomb related services were delivered to the community, young and old alike. These services were delivered to public schools of Oklahoma and reached approximately 40,000 students. One of the first organized mental health activities in Oklahoma City was a clinical study of middle and high school students conducted 7 weeks after the bombing. The study focused on middle and high school students that had no connection or relation to the victims of the bombing. This study showed that these students, although deeply moved by the event and showing a sense of vulnerability on the matter, had no difficulty with the demands of school or home life, contrasting those who were connected to the bombing and its victims, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. [140]
Children were also affected through the loss of parents in the bombing. Many children lost one or more parents in the blast, with a reported seven children that lost their only remaining parent. Children of the disaster have been raised by single parents, foster parents, and other family members. Adjusting to the loss has made these children suffer psychologically and emotionally. One interview revealed the sleepless nights and obsession with death of one of the at least 10 orphaned children.[141]
President Clinton stated that after seeing images of babies being pulled from the wreckage, he was "beyond angry" and wanted to "put [his] fist through the television".[142] Clinton and his wife Hillary requested that aides talk to child care specialists about how to communicate with the children regarding the bombing. President Clinton spoke to the nation three days after the bombing, saying: "I don't want our children to believe something terrible about life and the future and grownups in general because of this awful thing ... most adults are good people who want to protect our children in their childhood and we are going to get through this".[143] On April 22, 1995, the Clintons spoke in the White House with over 40 federal agency employees and their children, and in a live nationwide television and radio broadcast, addressed their concerns.[144][145]
Media coverage
"Why? McVeigh told us at eloquent length, but our rulers and their media preferred to depict him as a sadistic, crazed monster...who had done it for the kicks".
— Gore Vidal, 2002[146]
Hundreds of news trucks and members of the press arrived at the site to cover the story. The press immediately noticed that the bombing took place on the second anniversary of the Waco incident.[91] Many initial news stories hypothesized the attack had been undertaken by Islamic terrorists, such as those who had masterminded the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.[147][148][149] Some responded to these reports by attacking Muslims and people of Arab descent.[116][150]
Before any evidence could be introduced to say otherwise, the media presented stories to the public that accused individuals within Middle Eastern groups.[151] At this time in America, and during many other periods within American history, stereotypes that focus on the Arab race had affected many American Arabs within the United States.[152] The media has a big hand in how the people of America view other races, and the discrimination that these races experience. In the case of the Oklahoma City Bombing, Hamzi Moghrabi, chairman of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, blamed the media for the attacks on Muslims and Arabs that took place just days after the bombing. [88]
As the rescue effort wound down, the media interest shifted to the investigation, arrests, and trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, and on the search for an additional suspect named "John Doe Number Two." Several witnesses claimed to have seen a second suspect, who did not resemble Nichols, with McVeigh.[153][154]
Trials and sentencing of the conspirators
![A woman, at the left of the image, is reading a black spray paint message written on a brick wall. The message reads "Team 5 4-19-95 We Search For the truth We Seek Justice. The Courts Require it. The Victims Cry for it. And God Demands it!"](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Okc_bombings_rescue_team_5.jpg/220px-Okc_bombings_rescue_team_5.jpg)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) led the official investigation, known as OKBOMB,[155] with Weldon L. Kennedy acting as Special Agent in charge.[156] Kennedy oversaw 900 federal, state, and local law enforcement personnel including 300 FBI agents, 200 officers from the Oklahoma City Police Department, 125 members of the Oklahoma National Guard, and 55 officers from the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety.[157] The crime task force was deemed the largest since the investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy.[157] OKBOMB was the largest criminal case in America's history, with FBI agents conducting 28,000 interviews, amassing 3.5 short tons (3.2 t) of evidence, and collecting nearly one billion pieces of information.[13][15][158] Federal judge Richard Paul Matsch ordered the venue for the trial be moved from Oklahoma City to Denver, Colorado, citing that the defendants would be unable to receive a fair trial in Oklahoma.[159] The investigation led to the separate trials and convictions of McVeigh, Nichols, and Fortier.
Timothy McVeigh
Opening arguments in McVeigh's trial began on April 24, 1997. The United States was represented by a team of prosecutors led by Joseph Hartzler. In his opening statement Hartzler outlined McVeigh's motivations, and the evidence against him. McVeigh, he said, had developed a hatred of the government during his time in the army, after reading The Turner Diaries. His beliefs were supported by what he saw as the militia's ideological opposition to increases in taxes and the passage of the Brady Bill, and were further reinforced by the Waco and Ruby Ridge incidents.[11] The prosecution called 137 witnesses, including Michael Fortier and his wife Lori, and McVeigh's sister, Jennifer McVeigh, all of whom testified to confirm McVeigh's hatred of the government and his desire to take militant action against it.[160] Both Fortiers testified that McVeigh had told them of his plans to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Michael revealed that McVeigh had chosen the date, and Lori testified that she created the false identification card McVeigh used to rent the Ryder truck.[161]
McVeigh was represented by a defense counsel team of six principal attorneys led by Stephen Jones.[162] According to law professor Douglas O. Linder, McVeigh wanted Jones to present a "necessity defense"—which would argue that he was in "imminent danger" from the government (that his bombing was intended to prevent future crimes by the government, such as the Waco and Ruby Ridge incidents).[161] McVeigh argued that "imminent" does not mean "immediate": "If a comet is hurtling toward the earth, and it's out past the orbit of Pluto, it's not an immediate threat to Earth, but it is an imminent threat."[163] Despite McVeigh's wishes, Jones attempted to discredit the prosecution's case in an attempt to instill reasonable doubt. Jones also believed that McVeigh was part of a larger conspiracy, and sought to present him as "the designated patsy",[161] but McVeigh disagreed with Jones arguing that rationale for his defense. After a hearing, Judge Matsch independently ruled the evidence concerning a larger conspiracy to be too insubstantial to be admissible.[161] In addition to arguing that the bombing could not have been carried out by two men alone, Jones also attempted to create reasonable doubt by arguing that no one had seen McVeigh near the scene of the crime, and that the investigation into the bombing had lasted only two weeks.[161] Jones presented 25 witnesses over a one-week period, including Dr. Frederic Whitehurst. Although Whitehurst described the FBI's sloppy investigation of the bombing site and its handling of other key evidence, he was unable to point to any direct evidence that he knew to be contaminated.[161]
A key point of contention in the case was the unmatched left leg found after the bombing. Although it was initially believed to be from a male, it was later determined to be that of Lakesha Levy, a female member of the Air Force who was killed in the bombing.[164] Levy's coffin had to be re-opened so that her leg could replace another unmatched leg that had previously been buried with her remains. The unmatched leg had been embalmed, which prevented authorities from being able to extract DNA to determine the leg's owner.[92] Jones argued that the leg could have belonged to another bomber, possibly John Doe #2.[92] The prosecution disputed the claim, saying that the leg could have belonged to any one of eight victims who had been buried without a left leg.[165]
Numerous damaging leaks, which appeared to originate from conversations between McVeigh and his defense attorneys, emerged. They included a confession said to have been inadvertently included on a computer disk that was given to the press, which McVeigh believed seriously compromised his chances of getting a fair trial.[161] A gag order was imposed during the trial, prohibiting attorneys on either side from commenting to the press on the evidence, proceedings, or opinions regarding the trial proceedings. The defense was allowed to enter into evidence six pages of a 517-page Justice Department report criticizing the FBI crime laboratory and David Williams, one of the agency's explosives experts, for reaching unscientific and biased conclusions. The report claimed that Williams had worked backward in the investigation rather than basing his determinations on forensic evidence.[166]
The jury deliberated for 23 hours. On June 2, 1997, McVeigh was found guilty on eleven counts of murder and conspiracy.[167][168] Although the defense argued for a reduced sentence of life imprisonment, McVeigh was sentenced to death.[169] In May 2001, the FBI announced that it had withheld over 3,000 documents from McVeigh's defense counsel.[170] The execution was postponed for one month for the defense to review the documents. On June 6, federal judge Richard Paul Matsch ruled the documents would not prove McVeigh innocent and ordered the execution to proceed.[171] After President George W. Bush approved the execution (McVeigh was a federal inmate and federal law dictates that the President must approve the execution of federal prisoners), he was executed by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute in Terre Haute, Indiana, on June 11.[172][173][174] The execution was transmitted on closed-circuit television so that the relatives of the victims could witness his death.[175] McVeigh's execution was the first federal execution in 38 years.[176]
Terry Nichols
Nichols stood trial twice. He was first tried by the federal government in 1997 and found guilty of conspiring to build a weapon of mass destruction and of eight counts of involuntary manslaughter of federal officers.[177] After he was sentenced on June 4, 1998 to life without parole, the State of Oklahoma in 2000 sought a death-penalty conviction on 161 counts of first-degree murder (160 non-federal agent victims and one fetus).[178] On May 26, 2004 the jury found him guilty on all charges, but deadlocked on the issue of sentencing him to death. Presiding Judge Steven W. Taylor then determined the sentence of 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.[179] In March 2005, FBI investigators, acting on a tip, searched a buried crawl space in Nichols' former house and found additional explosives missed in the preliminary search after Nichols was arrested.[180] In 2009 Nichols was being held in the ADX Florence Federal Prison.[181]
Michael Fortier
Michael and Lori Fortier were considered accomplices for their foreknowledge of the planning of the bombing. In addition to Michael assisting McVeigh in scouting the federal building, Lori had helped McVeigh laminate a fake driver's license which was later used to rent the Ryder truck.[44] Michael agreed to testify against McVeigh and Nichols in exchange for a reduced sentence and immunity for his wife.[182] He was sentenced on May 27, 1998 to twelve years in prison and fined $75,000 for failing to warn authorities about the attack.[183] On January 20, 2006, after serving ten and a half years of his sentence, including time already served, Fortier was released for good behavior into the Witness Protection Program and given a new identity.[184]
Others
No "John Doe #2" was ever identified, nothing conclusive was ever reported regarding the owner of the unmatched leg, and the government never openly investigated anyone else in conjunction with the bombing. Although the defense teams in both McVeigh's and Nichols trials suggested that others were involved, Judge Steven W. Taylor found no credible, relevant, or legally admissible evidence, of anyone other than McVeigh and Nichols having directly participated in the bombing.[161] When McVeigh was asked if there were other conspirators in the bombing, he replied: "Because the truth is, I blew up the Murrah Building, and isn't it kind of scary that one man could wreak this kind of hell?"[185] On the morning of McVeigh's execution a letter was released in which he had written "For those die-hard conspiracy theorists who will refuse to believe this, I turn the tables and say: Show me where I needed anyone else. Financing? Logistics? Specialized tech skills? Brainpower? Strategy? ... Show me where I needed a dark, mysterious 'Mr. X'!"[186]
Aftermath
![A large elm tree with green leaves is at the center of the image. It is surrounded by a short brick wall, and several nearby buildings can be seen in the background.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/The_Survivor_Tree_at_the_Oklahoma_City_National_Memorial.jpg/220px-The_Survivor_Tree_at_the_Oklahoma_City_National_Memorial.jpg)
The Oklahoma City bombing was the deadliest act of terrorism against the United States on American soil until the September 11 attacks six years later.[187] It has been estimated that about 387,000 people in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area (a third of the population) knew someone who was directly affected by the bombing.[130][188][189]
Within 48 hours of the attack, and with the assistance of the General Services Administration (GSA), the targeted federal offices were able to resume operations in other parts of the city.[190] According to Mark Potok, director of Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center, his organization tracked another 60 domestic smaller-scale terrorism plots from 1995 to 2005.[191][192] Several of the plots were uncovered and prevented while others caused various infrastructure damage, deaths, or other destruction. Potok revealed that in 1996 there were approximately 858 domestic militias and other antigovernment groups but the number had dropped to 152 by 2004.[193] Shortly after the bombing, the FBI hired an additional 500 agents to investigate potential domestic terrorist attacks.[194]
Legislation
In the wake of the bombing the U.S. government enacted several pieces of legislation, notably the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.[16] In response to the trials of the conspirators being moved out-of-state, the Victim Allocution Clarification Act of 1997 was signed on March 20, 1997 by President Clinton to allow the victims of the bombing (and the victims of any other future acts of violence) the right to observe trials and to offer impact testimony in sentencing hearings. In response to passing the legislation, Clinton stated that "when someone is a victim, he or she should be at the center of the criminal justice process, not on the outside looking in."[195]
In the years since the bombing, scientists, security experts, and the ATF have called on Congress to develop legislation that would require customers to produce identification when purchasing ammonium nitrate fertilizer, and for sellers to maintain records of its sale. Critics argue that farmers lawfully use large quantities of the fertilizer,[196] and as of 2009, only Nevada and South Carolina require identification from purchasers.[196] In June 1995, Congress enacted legislation requiring chemical taggants to be incorporated into dynamite and other explosives so that a bomb could be traced to its manufacturer.[197] In 2008, Honeywell announced that it had developed a nitrogen-based fertilizer that would not detonate when mixed with fuel oil. The company got assistance from the Department of Homeland Security to develop the fertilizer (Sulf-N 26) for commercial use.[198] It uses ammonium sulfate to make the fertilizer less explosive.[199]
Building security and construction
![Two images are stitched together showing the site of where the building stood prior to its demolition. A crowd of people are visible in front of the chain link fence blocking entrance to the site. Large piles of dirt can be seen on the site as well as damage to nearby buildings.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ee/DemolishedAMbuilding.jpg/300px-DemolishedAMbuilding.jpg)
In the weeks following the bombing the federal government ordered that all federal buildings in all major cities be surrounded with prefabricated Jersey barriers to prevent similar attacks.[200] As part of a longer-term plan for United States federal building security most of those temporary barriers have since been replaced with permanent security barriers, which look more attractive and are driven deep into the ground for sturdiness.[201][202] Furthermore, all new federal buildings must now be constructed with truck-resistant barriers and with deep setbacks from surrounding streets to minimize their vulnerability to truck bombs.[203][204][205] FBI buildings, for instance, must be set back 100 feet (30 m) from traffic.[206] The total cost of improving security in federal buildings across the country in response to the bombing reached over $600 million.[207]
The Murrah Federal Building had been considered so safe that it only employed one security guard.[208] In June 1995, the GSA issued Vulnerability Assessment of Federal Facilities, also known as The Marshals Report, the findings of which resulted in a thorough evaluation of security at all federal buildings and a system for classifying risks at over 1,300 federal facilities owned or leased by the federal government. Federal sites were divided into five security levels ranging from Level 1 (minimum security needs) to Level 5 (maximum).[209] The Alfred P. Murrah Building was deemed a Level 4 building.[210] Among the 52 security improvements were physical barriers, closed-circuit television monitoring, site planning and access, hardening of building exteriors to increase blast resistance, glazing systems to reduce flying glass shards and fatalities, and structural engineering design to prevent progressive collapse.[211][212]
The attack led to engineering improvements allowing buildings to better withstand tremendous forces, improvements which were incorporated into the design of Oklahoma City's new federal building. The National Geographic Channel documentary series Seconds From Disaster suggested that the Murrah Federal Building would probably have survived the blast had it been built according to California's earthquake design codes.[213]
Discussion of the nature of dissent
Even many who agreed with some of McVeigh's politics viewed his act as counterproductive, with much of the criticism focused on the deaths of innocent children; critics expressed chagrin that McVeigh had not assassinated specific government leaders. McVeigh had indeed contemplated the assassinations of Attorney General Janet Reno, Lon Horiuchi, and others in preference to attacking a building,[24] and after the bombing he said that he sometimes wished he had carried out a series of assassinations instead.[214] Those who expressed sympathy for McVeigh typically described his deed as an act of war, as in the case of Gore Vidal's essay The Meaning of Timothy McVeigh.[215][216] Other journalists compared him to John Brown.[217]
McVeigh believed that the bomb attack had a positive impact on government policy. In evidence he cited the peaceful resolution of the Montana Freemen standoff in 1996, the government's $3.1 million settlement with Randy Weaver and his surviving children four months after the bombing, and April 2000 statements by Bill Clinton regretting his decision to storm the Branch Davidian compound. McVeigh stated, "Once you bloody the bully's nose, and he knows he's going to be punched again, he's not coming back around."[218]
Conspiracy theories
A variety of conspiracy theories have been proposed about the events surrounding the bombing. Some theories allege that individuals in the government, including President Bill Clinton,[219][220] knew of the impending bombing and intentionally failed to act on that knowledge. Other theories focus on the possibility of additional explosives within the building and additional conspirators involved with the bombing.[221] Additional theories claim the bombing was done by the government to frame the militia movement or to provide the impetus for new antiterrorism legislation while using McVeigh as a scapegoat.[219][220][222][223] Other conspiracy theories suggest that foreign agents, particularly Islamic terrorists, were involved in the bombing.[154][224][225] Experts have disputed the theories and government investigations have been opened at various times to look into the theories.[222][226][227]
Evacuation Issues
Once the explosion took place at the Alfred P. Murrah building, chaotic response filled the surrounding streets. Those who were able to flee the Murrah building did so, while others, stuck in the rubble, awaited the assistance of rescue workers and volunteers. As reported on CNN[228], other federal buildings in the downtown area were not fully evacuated, but those who were able to leave the city were encouraged to do so. This traffic, along with the people leaving places around the Murrah Building clogged streets, delaying the arrival of rescue crews and relief agencies. Several agencies, including the Federal Highway Administration[229] and the City of Oklahoma have evaluated the emergency response actions to the bombing, and have proposed plans for a better response in addition to addressing issues that hindered a smooth rescue effort. Because of the crowded streets, and the number of response agencies sent to the location, communication between government branches and rescue workers was muddled. Groups were unaware of the operations others were conducting, thus creating strife and delays in the search and rescue process. The City of Oklahoma, in their After Action Report[230], declared that better communication and single bases for agencies would better the aide of those in disastrous situations. Following the events of September 11, 2001, with consideration of other events including the Oklahoma City Bombing, the Federal Highway Administration proposed the idea that major metropolitan areas create evacuation routes for civilians. These highlighted routes would allow paths for emergency crews and government agencies to enter the disaster area more quickly. By helping civilians out, and rescue workers in, the number of casualties will hopefully be decreased.[231]
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- ^ "Lessons learned, and not learned, 11 years later". MSNBC. Associated Press. April 16, 2006. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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- ^ a b Doyle, Charles (June 3, 1996). "Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996: A Summary". FAS. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Lewis, Carol W. (2000). "The Terror that Failed: Public Opinion in the Aftermath of the Bombing in Oklahoma City" (Registration required). Public Administration Review. 60 (3): 201–210. doi:10.1111/0033-3352.00080.
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ignored (help) - ^ a b Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 226. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ McCoy, Max (November 2004). "Timothy McVeigh and the neo-Nazi Bankrobbers". Fortean Times. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ "AP: FBI suspected McVeigh link to supremacist robbers". USA Today. Associated Press. February 25, 2004. Retrieved March 24, 2009.
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(help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. pp. 175–176. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. pp. 197–198. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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(help) - ^ Thomas, Jo (November 20, 1997). "Bomb Suspect Hid Cash, Ex-Wife Testifies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ a b c d Thomas, Jo (April 30, 1996). "For First Time, Woman Says McVeigh Told of Bomb Plan". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. pp. 163–164. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Florio, Gwen (May 6, 1997). "McVeigh's Sister Takes the Stand Against Him He Spoke of Moving From Antigovernment Talk to Action, She Testified, and of Transporting Explosives". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
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(help) - ^ a b Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 165. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 166. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
{{cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthor=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 209. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
{{cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 199. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ ">Chronis, Peter. "Key a 'stroke of genius'". Denver Post.
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ignored (help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 212. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Rita, Cosby (April 15, 2005). "G-Men Recall Hunting Down McVeigh, Nichols". Fox News. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. pp. 206–208. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
{{cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthor=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 215. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
{{cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 216. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
{{cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b c d e f Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. pp. 217–218. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
{{cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthor=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 219. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ a b Rogers, J. David. "Some Practical Applications of Forensic Seismology" (PDF). Missouri University of Science and Technology. pp. 25–35. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 220. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 228. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
{{cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 229. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Tim, Talley (April 15, 2004). "Man testifies axle of truck fell from sky after Oklahoma City bombing". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ "A Study of the Oklahoma City Bombing". Homeland Security Television. 2006. 10:42 minutes in.
- ^ Irving, Clive. In Their Name. p. 76. ISBN 0-679-44825-X.
- ^ a b c d e f "The Oklahoma Department of Civil Emergency Management After Action Report" (PDF). Department of Central Services Central Printing Division. 1996. p. 77. Retrieved June 26, 2009.
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(help) - ^ City Of Oklahoma City Document Management. Final Report. pp. 10–12. ISBN 0-87939-130-8.
- ^ Irving, Clive. In Their Name. p. 52. ISBN 0-679-44825-X.
- ^ a b "Responding to Terrorism Victims: Oklahoma City and Beyond: Chapter I, Bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building". U.S. Department of Justice. October 2000. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Hewitt, Christopher. Understanding Terrorism in America. p. 106. ISBN 0-415-27766-3.
- ^ Mlakar, Sr., Paul F. (1998). "The Oklahoma City Bombing: Analysis of Blast Damage to the Murrah Building". Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. 12 (3): 113–119. doi:10.1061/(ASCE)0887-3828(1998)12:3(113).
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ignored (help) - ^ Holzer, T. L. (1996). "Seismograms Offer Insight into Oklahoma City Bombing". American Geophysical Union. 77 (41): 393, 396–397. doi:10.1029/96EO00269. Archived from the original on November 13, 2007.
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- ^ "Library Factfiles: The Oklahoma City Bombing". The Indianapolis Star. August 9, 2004. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Crogan, Jim (March 24, 2004). "Secrets of Timothy McVeigh". LA Weekly. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ a b Zucchino, David (May 14, 1995). "Tracing a Trail to Destruction; The Clues from the Oklahoma City Bombing Have Led to; A Small Circle of Malcontents – Not a Wide Network" (Fee required). The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved June 14, 2009.
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(help) - ^ a b "Turning to evidence: axle and fingerprints". Kingman Daily Miner. Associated Press. April 21, 1997. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
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(help) - ^ Hamm, Mark S. Apocalypse in Oklahoma. p. 65. ISBN 1-55553-300-0.
- ^ a b Ottley, Ted (April 14, 2005). "Innocence Lost". truTV. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 270. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ "A Study of the Oklahoma City Bombing". Homeland Security Television. 2006. 11:07 minutes in.
- ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 274. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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(help) - ^ "Michael Moore didn't libel bomber's brother, court says". USA Today. Associated Press. February 20, 2007. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Michel, Lou (April 29, 1995). "McVeigh Tried to Have Ammo Mailed His Sister Picked Up Supply After Store Refused His Request to Ship it" (Fee required). The Buffalo News. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
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(help) Cite error: The named reference "AJR" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page). - ^ Hamm, Mark S. Apocalypse in Oklahoma. p. 63. ISBN 1-55553-300-0.
- ^ Figley, Charles R. treating Compassion Fatigue. p. 61. ISBN 1-58391-053-0.
- ^ a b c d "April 19, 1995". World News Tonight With Peter Jennings. Season 31. April 19, 1995. ABC.
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(help) - ^ a b c Thomas, Jo (May 23, 1997). "McVeigh Defense Team Suggests Real Bomber Was Killed in Blast". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ United States Department of Defense (January 25, 2005). "Design of Buildings to Resist Progressive Collapse" (PDF). General Services Administration. p. 14. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
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(help) - ^ a b Mallonee, Sue (1996). "Physical Injuries and Fatalities Resulting From the Oklahoma City Bombing" (PDF). Journal of the American Medical Association. 276 (5): 382–387. doi:10.1001/jama.276.5.382. PMID 8683816.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Romano, Lois (December 30, 1997). "Prosecutors Seek Death For Nichols". The Washington Post. p. A3. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Irving, Clive. In Their Name. p. 82. ISBN 0-679-44825-X.
- ^ Irving, Clive. In Their Name. pp. 96–97. ISBN 0-679-44825-X.
- ^ Hamm, Mark S. Apocalypse in Oklahoma. p. 73. ISBN 1-55553-300-0.
- ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 225. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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(help) - ^ a b c Winthrop, Jim (July 1997). "The Oklahoma City Bombing: Immediate Response Authority and Other Military Assistance to Civil Authority (MACA)". The Army Lawyer. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Davis, G (1995). "Victims by the Hundreds: EMS Response and Command". Fire Engineering. 148 (10): 98–107. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
- ^ Davis, G (1995). "Victims by the Hundreds: EMS Response and Command". Fire Engineering. 148 (10): 98–107. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
- ^ Giordano, Geraldine. The Oklahoma City Bombing. p. 36. ISBN 0-8239-3655-4.
- ^ Irving, Clive. In Their Name. p. 68. ISBN 0-679-44825-X.
- ^ Ottley, Ted (April 14, 2005). "The Oklahoma City Bombing: Bad Day Dawning". truTV. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Irving, Clive. In Their Name. p. 78. ISBN 0-679-44825-X.
- ^ a b c Solomon, John (September 26, 2002). "Gov't had missile in Murrah Building" (Registration required). Associated Press. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
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(help) - ^ Talley, Tim (April 23, 2004). "Nichols Jury Hears Recording of Bombing". HighBeam Research. Associated Press. Archived from the original (Registration required) on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Driver, Don (April 23, 1995). "Rescuers search through chill for a miracle" (Registration required). San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Figley, Charles R. Treating Compassion Fatigue. p. 62. ISBN 1-58391-053-0.
- ^ Irving, Clive. In Their Name. p. 103. ISBN 0-679-44825-X.
- ^ Giordano, Geraldine. The Oklahoma City Bombing. p. 34. ISBN 0-8239-3655-4.
- ^ Irving, Clive. In Their Name. p. 86. ISBN 0-679-44825-X.
- ^ a b Linenthal, Edward. The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory. p. 140. ISBN 0-19-516107-6.
- ^ Stickney, Brandom M. All-American Monster. p. 234. ISBN 1-57392-088-6.
- ^ Davis, G (1995). "Victims by the Hundreds: EMS Response and Command". Fire Engineering. 148 (10): 98–107. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
- ^ Candiotti, Susan (May 23, 1995). "Federal Building Demolition". CNN Interactive. Archived from the original on March 8, 2008.
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(help) - ^ Linenthal, Edward. The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory. pp. 142–144. ISBN 0-19-516107-6.
- ^ Linenthal, Edward. The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory. p. 47. ISBN 0-19-516107-6.
- ^ "$10 million collected for bombing victims". The Pantagraph. Associated Press. June 5, 1995.
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(help) - ^ Hamm, Mark S. Apocalypse in Oklahoma. p. 46. ISBN 1-55553-300-0.
- ^ a b c Hamm, Mark S. Apocalypse in Oklahoma. pp. 57–58. ISBN 1-55553-300-0.
- ^ Hamm, Mark S. Apocalypse in Oklahoma. p. 71. ISBN 1-55553-300-0.
- ^ Keating, Frank (August 31, 1999). "Where Terrorists Belong". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ a b c d Witt, Howard (April 17, 2005). "Torment lingers in OK City". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ "Meet Our President/CEO". Goodwill Industries. Archived from the original on April 26, 2007.
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(help) - ^ a b c d "Friend, Foe United in Vilifying Attack Reaction: Compassion for victims' families, disgust at blast's callousness run as common threads through world leaders' responses" (Fee required). Los Angeles Times. April 21, 1995. Retrieved April 7, 2010.
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(help) - ^ a b "'How Deeply We Share the Sorrow' Rabin Also Offers Help; Boutros-Ghali Condemns 'Cowardly Attack'". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. April 20, 1995.
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(help) - ^ "A Mother's Pain For Ever Frozen in Time". The Star. Associated Press. April 19, 2005.
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(help) - ^ a b "FBI: McVeigh knew children would be killed in OKC blast". CNN. March 29, 2001. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Schoenburg, Bernard. "McVeigh prosecutor: Focus on victims of Oklahoma City bombing". The State Journal-Register. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Sturken, Marita. Tourists of History. p. 98. ISBN 0-8223-4122-0.
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(help) - ^ Pfefferbaum, Betty (April 23, 2009). "The impact of the Oklahoma City bombing on children in the community" (Fee required). Military Medicine. 166 (12): 49.
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(help) - ^ Pfefferbaum, Betty (2003). "Case Finding and Mental Health Services for Children in the Aftermath of the Oklahoma City Bombing". Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research. 30 (2): 215. Retrieved November 27, 2012.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Leland, John (22). "The orphans of Oklahoma City". Newsweek. 127 (17): 40. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
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and|year=
/|date=
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ignored (help) - ^ Hamm, Mark S. Apocalypse in Oklahoma. p. 54. ISBN 1-55553-300-0.
- ^ Loe, Victoria (July 5, 1997). "Berlin-Based Team's Design Chosen for Bomb Memorial; Winning Entry Evokes Images of Reflection, Hope" (Fee required). The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
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(help) - ^ Martin, Gary (April 24, 1995). "President demands execution for bombers" (Fee required). San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
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(help) - ^ Thomma, Steven (April 23, 1995). "With his swift response, Clinton grabs center stage" (Fee required). Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
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(help) - ^ Gore Vidal, "Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace", pages 1 & 81
- ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. p. 249. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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ignored (|author=
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- ^ Hamm, Mark S. Apocalypse in Oklahoma. p. 55. ISBN 1-55553-300-0.
- ^ Progler, J.A. "The Utility of Islamic Imagery in the West". Al-Tawhid. 14 (4). Retrieved June 5, 2009.
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(help) - ^ Template:Cite article
- ^ Template:Cite article
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(help) - ^ a b Krall, Jay (June 18, 2002). "Conspiracy buffs see Padilla, Oklahoma City link". Chicago Sun-Times. Archived from the original on January 7, 2008.
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(help) - ^ "Statement of Special Agent in Charge Danny Defenbaugh Regarding OKBOMB Documents" (Press release). FBI. May 11, 2001. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Ostrow, Ronald (August 9, 1995). "Chief of Oklahoma Bomb Probe Named Deputy Director at FBI" (Fee required). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ a b Hamm, Mark S. Apocalypse in Oklahoma. p. 76. ISBN 1-55553-300-0.
- ^ "Lessons learned, and not learned, 11 years later". MSNBC. Associated Press. April 16, 2006. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
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(help) - ^ "Bombing trial moves to Denver". Gainesville Sun. Associated Press. February 21, 1996. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
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(help) - ^ Wright, Stuart. Patriots, Politics, and the Oklahoma City Bombing. p. 10. ISBN 0-521-69419-1.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Linder, Douglas O. (2006). "The Oklahoma City Bombing & The Trial of Timothy McVeigh". Famous Trials: Oklahoma City Bombing Trial. University of Missouri–Kansas City. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ "Petition for Writ of Mandamus of Petitioner-Defendant, Timothy James McVeigh and Brief in Support". Case No. 96-CR-68-M. United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. March 25, 1997. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. pp. 285–286. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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: Unknown parameter|coauthor=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Johnston, David (August 31, 1995). "Leg in the Oklahoma City Rubble Was That of a Black Woman". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Miller, Richard Earl. Writing at the End of the World. p. 100.
- ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. pp. 315–317. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ "U.S. v. McVeigh". Oklahoma State Courts Network. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Eddy, Mark (July 3, 1997). "Guilty on Every Count". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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ignored (|author=
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(help) - ^ Bierbauer, Charles (May 11, 2001). "McVeigh execution rescheduled for June 11". CNN. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ "Judge Won't Delay McVeigh Execution". The Washington Post. Associated Press. June 6, 2001. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Mears, Bill (July 28, 2008). "Bush approves execution of Army private". CNN. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ "McVeigh Execution: A "completion of justice"". CNN. June 11, 2001. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ "Day of Reckoning (execution of Timothy McVeigh)". NBC News Report. June 11, 2001. Archived from the original (Video) on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Wright, Stuart. Patriots, Politics, and the Oklahoma City Bombing. p. 17. ISBN 0-521-69419-1.
- ^ Thomas, Jo (December 28, 1997). "December 21–27; Nichols Found Guilty In Oklahoma City Case". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Talley, Tim (August 10, 2004). "Nichols gets 161 life sentences". The Register-Guard. Retrieved June 11, 2009.
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(help) - ^ Bennett, Brian (May 4, 2006). "Where Moussaoui Is Likely to Spend Life in Prison". Time. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ "Transcripts". CNN. January 20, 2006. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Jo, Thomas (March 29, 2001). "'No Sympathy' for Dead Children, McVeigh Says". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Ottley, Ted (June 11, 2001). "McVeigh in Good Spirits in Final Hours, June 11, 2001". truTV. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Linenthal, Edward (February 15, 2003). The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory. Oxford University Press US. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-19-516107-6.
- ^ Kifner, John (April 18, 2005). "In Oklahoma City, remembrance time '95 bombing that killed 168 to be marked". International Herald Tribune. HighBeam Research. Archived from the original (Registration required) on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ House of Representatives, Federal Building Security: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Economic Development of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. 104th Congress, April 24, 1996. Interview with Dave Barram, Administrator of GSA, p. 6
- ^ Talley, Tim (April 17, 2006). "Experts fear Oklahoma City bombing lessons forgotten". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Blejwas, Andrew (Summer 2005). "Almost 60 Terrorist Plots Uncovered in the U.S.: Terror From the Right". Southern Poverty Law Center. Archived from the original on February 27, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Cassell, Paul (1999). "Barbarians at the Gates? A Reply to the Critics of the Victims' Rights Amendment". Utah Law Review. 479.
- ^ a b Condon, Patrick (June 12, 2004). "Bomb ingredient restricted in 2 states". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ "Company Creates Hard-to-Ignite Fertilizer to Foil Bomb-Makers". Fox News. Associated Press. September 23, 2008. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ http://www.sulfn26.com/documents/Sulf-N_Fact_Sheet.pdf
- ^ Manjoo, Farhad (August 26, 2006). "Cityscape of fear". Salon.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ "Safeguarding Building Perimeters For Bomb Attacks". Security Management Consulting. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Markon, Jerry (October 25, 2006). "FBI's Fairfax Agents Packing For Pr. William". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Linenthal, Edward. The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory. p. 29. ISBN 0-19-516107-6.
- ^ Hamm, Mark S. Apocalypse in Oklahoma. p. 41. ISBN 1-55553-300-0.
- ^ WBDG Safe Committee (October 31, 2008). "Security for Building Occupants and Assets". Whole Building Design Guide. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Nadel, Barbara A. (April 2007). "Oklahoma City: Security Civics Lessons". 2 (4). Buildings.com. Archived from the original on December 15, 2007. Retrieved June 5, 2009.
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(help) - ^ Nadel, Barbara A. "Designing for Security". Architectural Record. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ "The Bomb in Oklahoma City (Oklahoma City)". Seconds From Disaster. Season 1. July 20, 2004. National Geographic Channel.
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(help) - ^ Vidal, Gore (September 2001). "The Meaning of Timothy McVeigh". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Gibbons, Fiachra (August 17, 2001). "Vidal Praises Oklahoma Bomber for Heroic Aims". London: guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Finkelman, Paul (July 6, 2001). "Analogies: Was Timothy McVeigh Our John Brown?". History News Network. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Michel, Lou. American Terrorist. pp. 378–383. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
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- ^ a b Hamm, Mark S. Apocalypse in Oklahoma. p. 219. ISBN 1-55553-300-0.
- ^ Stickney, Brandon M. All-American Monster. p. 265. ISBN 1-57392-088-6.
- ^ a b Knight, Peter. Conspiracy Theories in American History. pp. 554–555. ISBN 1-57607-812-4.
- ^ Sturken, Marita. Tourists of History. p. 159. ISBN 0-8223-4122-0.
- ^ Berger, J.M. "Did Nichols and Yousef meet?". Intelwire.com. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ Rohrabacher, Dana. "The Oklahoma City Bombing: Was There A Foreign Connection?" (PDF). Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee. Retrieved March 25, 2009.
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suggested) (help) - ^ "Nichols' Lawyers Say Government Leaked Information to the Media". Rocky Mountain News. HighBeam Research. September 20, 1997. Archived from the original (Registration required) on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ "Call to reopen Oklahoma bomb case". BBC News. March 2, 2007. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
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(help) - ^ http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/OK/CNN.html
- ^ http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/pedevac/1_introduction.htm
- ^ http://www.ok.gov/OEM/documents/Bombing%20After%20Action%20Report.pdf
- ^ http://www.hsaj.org/?fullarticle=2.2.4
Memorial observances
Oklahoma City National Memorial
![A panoramic view of the memorial. In the center is a large stone structure shaped as a gate with "9:03" at the top. At the center of the gate is a large hole and through it a road can be seen. The Regency Towers building is visible on the right of the image in the background. The gate is reflecting in a pool of water in front of it, and grass and trees are visible to the left and right of the pool.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/70/Oklahoma_City_memorial.jpg/350px-Oklahoma_City_memorial.jpg)
For two years after the bombing the only memorials to the victims were plush toys, crucifixes, letters, and other personal items left by thousands of people at a security fence surrounding the site of the building.[5][6] Many suggestions for suitable memorials were sent to Oklahoma City, but an official memorial planning committee was not set up until early 1996,[7] when the Murrah Federal Building Memorial Task Force, composed of 350 members, was set up to formulate plans for a memorial to commemorate the victims of the bombing.[8] On July 1, 1997 the winning design was chosen unanimously by a 15-member panel from 624 submissions.[9] The memorial was designed at a cost of $29 million, which was raised by public and private funds.[10][11] The memorial is part of the National Park Service and was designed by Oklahoma City architects Hans and Torrey Butzer and Sven Berg.[6] It was dedicated by President Clinton on April 19, 2000, exactly five years after the bombing.[9][12] Within the first year, it had 700,000 visitors.[6]
The memorial includes a reflecting pool flanked by two large gates, one inscribed with the time 9:01, the other with 9:03, the pool representing the moment of the blast. On the south end of the memorial is a field of symbolic bronze and stone chairs—one for each person lost, arranged according to what floor of the building they were on. The chairs represent the empty chairs at the dinner tables of the victims' families. The seats of the children killed are smaller than those of the adults lost. On the opposite side is the "survivor tree", part of the building's original landscaping that survived the blast and fires that followed it. The memorial left part of the foundation of the building intact, allowing visitors to see the scale of the destruction. Part of the chain link fence put in place around the site of the blast, which had attracted over 800,000 personal items of commemoration later collected by the Oklahoma City Memorial Foundation, is now on the western edge of the memorial.[13] North of the memorial is the Journal Record Building, which now houses the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, an affiliate of the National Park Service. The building also contains the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, a law enforcement training center.
St. Joseph's Old Cathedral
On a corner adjacent to the memorial is a sculpture titled "And Jesus Wept", erected by St. Joseph's Old Cathedral. St. Joseph's, one of the first brick and mortar churches in the city, was almost completely destroyed by the blast.[14][15] The statue is not part of the memorial itself.[16]
Remembrance observance
An observance is held each year to remember the victims of the bombing. An annual marathon draws thousands, and allows runners to sponsor a victim of the bombing.[17][18] For the tenth anniversary of the bombing, the city held 24 days of activities, including a week-long series of events known as the National Week of Hope from April 17 to April 24, 2005.[19][20] As in previous years, the tenth anniversary of the bombing observances began with a service at 9:02 am CST, marking the moment the bomb went off, with the traditional 168 seconds of silence—one second for each person who was killed as a result of the blast. The service also included the traditional reading of the names, read by children to symbolize the future of Oklahoma City.[21]
Vice President Dick Cheney, former president Clinton, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry, Frank Keating, Governor of Oklahoma at the time of the bombing, and other political dignitaries attended the service and gave speeches in which they emphasized that "goodness overcame evil".[22] The relatives of the victims and the survivors of the blast also made note of it during the service at First United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City.[23]
President George W. Bush made note of the anniversary in a written statement, part of which echoed his remarks on the execution of Timothy McVeigh in 2001: "For the survivors of the crime and for the families of the dead the pain goes on."[24] Bush was invited but did not attend the service because he was en route to Springfield, Illinois, to dedicate the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum. Vice President Cheney attended the service in his place.[22]
See also
References
- Notes
- ^ http://www.ok.gov/OEM/documents/Bombing%20After%20Action%20Report.pdf
- ^ http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/pedevac/1_introduction.htm
- ^ http://www.hsaj.org/?fullarticle=2.2.4
- ^ http://whatreallyhappened.com/RANCHO/POLITICS/OK/CNN.html
- ^ Sturken, Marita. Tourists of History. p. 105. ISBN 0-8223-4122-0.
- ^ a b c Yardley, Jim (June 11, 2001). "Uneasily, Oklahoma City Welcomes Tourists". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
{{cite news}}
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and|archivedate=
(help) - ^ Linenthal, Edward. The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory. p. 119. ISBN 0-19-516107-6.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
DMN
was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "About the Designers". Oklahoma City National Memorial. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|archivedate=
(help) - ^ Sturken, Marita. Tourists of History. p. 109. ISBN 0-8223-4122-0.
- ^ McLeod, Michael (June 1, 2007). "Hundreds still live with scars of Oklahoma City bombing every day". The Orlando Sentinel. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
{{cite news}}
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and|archivedate=
(help) - ^ "Oklahoma City National Memorial". National Park Service. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|archivedate=
(help) - ^ White, Zachary. The Search For Redemption Following the Oklahoma City Bombing: Amending the Boundaries Between Public and Private Grief (San Diego: San Diego State University, 1998): 70.
- ^ Oklahoma Historical Society. "Oklahoma City". Oklahoma State University–Stillwater. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
{{cite web}}
: Check date values in:|archivedate=
(help) - ^ Koetting, Thomas B. (April 16, 1996). "Compelled, They Come: Visitors To The Blast Site—Oklahoma City/One Year Later". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ "'And Jesus Wept' Statue Vandalized". KOCO-TV. November 14, 2003. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ Harper, Justin (April 30, 2007). "2007 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon: Notebook". The Oklahoman. Archived from the original (Fee required) on March 17, 2011.
{{cite news}}
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and|archivedate=
(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - ^ Tramel, Berry (April 29, 2006). "Emotion makes Memorial different". The Oklahoman. HighBeam Research. Archived from the original (Registration required) on March 17, 2011.
{{cite news}}
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and|archivedate=
(help) - ^ Page, David (January 6, 2005). "OKC Memorial plans 24 days of events to mark bombing anniversary". The Journal Record. Archived from the original (Registration required) on March 17, 2011.
{{cite news}}
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and|archivedate=
(help) - ^ "AFGE Commemorates Oklahoma City Bombing" (Press release). AFGE. April 6, 2005. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
{{cite press release}}
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and|archivedate=
(help) - ^ Kurt, Kelly. "Children's pain – Victims speak on bombing anniversary". The Portsmouth Herald. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
{{cite news}}
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(help) - ^ a b "Vice President's Remarks at Day of Remembrance Ceremony" (Press release). whitehouse.gov. April 19, 2005. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
{{cite press release}}
: Check date values in:|date=
and|archivedate=
(help) - ^ "Oklahoma City Marks Bombing Anniversary". CNN. April 19, 2005. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
{{cite news}}
: Check date values in:|date=
and|archivedate=
(help) - ^ "President's Statement on Tenth Anniversary of Oklahoma City Bombing" (Press release). whitehouse.gov. April 19, 2005. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011.
{{cite press release}}
: Check date values in:|date=
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(help)
- Bibliography
- City of Oklahoma City Document Management (1996). Final Report: Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building Bombing April 19, 1995. Stillwater, OK: Department of Central Services Central Printing Division. ISBN 0-87939-130-8.
- Crothers, Lane (2003). Rage on the Right: The American Militia Movement from Ruby Ridge to Homeland Security. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-7425-2546-5.
- Figley, Charles R. (2002). Treating Compassion Fatigue. New York: Brunner-Routledge. ISBN 1-58391-053-0.
- Giordano, Geraldine (2003). The Oklahoma City Bombing. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. ISBN 0-8239-3655-4.
- Hamm, Mark S. (1997). Apocalypse in Oklahoma: Waco and Ruby Ridge Revenged. Boston: Northeastern University Press. ISBN 1-55553-300-0.
- Hamm, Mark S. (2002). In Bad Company: America's Terrorist Underground. Boston: Northeastern University Press. ISBN 1-55553-492-9.
- Hewitt, Christopher (2003). Understanding Terrorism in America: From the Klan to Al Qaeda. London; New York: Routledge. ISBN 0-415-27765-5.
- Irving, Clive, ed. (1995). In Their Name. New York: Random House. ISBN 0-679-44825-X.
- Kellner, Douglas (2007). Guys and Guns Amok: Domestic Terrorism and School Shootings from the Oklahoma City Bombing to the Virginia Tech Massacre. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers. ISBN 1-59451-492-5.
- Knight, Peter (2003). Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. ISBN 1-57607-812-4.
- Linenthal, Edward (2001). The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513672-1.
- Michel, Lou (2001). American Terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & The Oklahoma City Bombing. New York: ReganBooks. ISBN 0-06-039407-2.
{{cite book}}
: Unknown parameter|coauthors=
ignored (|author=
suggested) (help) - Miller, Richard Earl (2005). Writing at the End of the World. New York: University of Pittsburgh Press. ISBN 0-8229-5886-4.
- Serano, Richard A. (1998). One of Ours: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-393-02743-0.
- Stickney, Brandon M. (1996). All-American Monster: The Unauthorized Biography of Timothy McVeigh. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-088-6.
- Sturken, Marita (2007). Tourists of History: Memory, Kitsch, and Consumerism from Oklahoma City to Ground Zero. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-4103-4.
- Wright, Stuart A. (2007). Patriots, Politics, and the Oklahoma City Bombing. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-87264-5.
Further reading
- Hinman, Eve E.; Hammond, David J. (1997). Lessons from the Oklahoma City Bombing: Defensive Design Techniques. ASCE Press. ISBN 0-7844-0217-5.
{{cite book}}
:|newspaper=
ignored (help) - Jones, Stephen; Israel, Peter (2001). Others Unknown: The Oklahoma City Bombing Conspiracy. New York: PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-1-58648-098-1.
- Oklahoma Today (2005). 9:02 am, April 19, 1995: The Official Record of the Oklahoma City Bombing. Oklahoma City: Oklahoma Today. ISBN 0-8061-9957-1.
- Hoffman, David (1998). The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of Terror. Feral House. ISBN 0-922915-49-0.
- Sanders, Kathy (2005). After Oklahoma City: A Grieving Grandmother Uncovers Shocking Truths about the bombing ... and Herself. Arlington, TX: Master Strategies. ISBN 0-9766485-0-4.
- Sherrow, Victoria (1998). The Oklahoma City Bombing: Terror in the Heartland. Springfield, N.J.: Enslow Publishers. ISBN 0-7660-1061-9.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Oklahoma City National Memorial official website
- The Denver Post: Oklahoma City Bombing Trial
- CNN Interactive: Oklahoma City bombing trial
- List of victims of the bombing
- Images of the bombing
- Text, audio, and video of President Clinton's Oklahoma Bombing Memorial address
- Interactive timeline of the bombing events