The Oklahoma City Bombing

Oklahoma City Bombing

On April 19, 1995, a domestic terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States.

It was perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

The bombing killed at least 168 people,injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one-third of the building.
The blast destroyed or damaged 324 other buildings within a 16-block radius, shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings, and destroyed or burned 86 cars.
 It caused an estimated $652 million worth of damage.
Until the 2001 September 11 attacks, the Oklahoma City bombing was the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil.
It remains the deadliest incident of domestic terrorism in United States history.

Timeline
⦁ April 19, 1995
⦁ 9:02 a.m. A rental truck filled with explosives is detonated outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
⦁ Army veteran Timothy McVeigh is arrested during a traffic stop for driving a vehicle without a license plate near Perry, Oklahoma.
⦁ April 21, 1995
⦁ Terry Nichols,McVeigh's alleged co-conspirator, turns himself in.
⦁ May 23, 1995
⦁ The remaining parts of the Murrah building are imploded.
⦁ August 11, 1995
⦁ Nichols and McVeigh are indicted on murder and conspiracy charges.
⦁ April 24, 1997
⦁ McVeigh's trial begins in Denver, Colorado.
⦁ June 2, 1997
⦁ McVeigh, is convicted on 11 counts of murder, conspiracy and using a weapon of mass destruction. He is later sentenced to death.
⦁ November 2, 1997
⦁ Nichols' trial begins in McAlester, Oklahoma.
⦁ December 23, 1997
⦁ Nichols is convicted on federal charges of conspiracy and eight counts of involuntary manslaughter. He is sentenced to life in prison. He is serving his sentence at the Supermax federal prison in Florence, Colorado.
⦁ June 11, 2001
⦁ McVeigh is executed by lethal injection. He is the first person executed for a federal crime in the United States since 1963.
⦁ May 26, 2004
⦁ The jury spends five hours deliberating before announcing the verdict. Nichols is found guilty in Oklahoma state court on 161 counts of murder.
⦁ August 9, 2004,
⦁ Nichols is sentence to 161 consecutive life terms, without the possibility of parole.
The U.S. Congress passed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, as a result of the bombing. It tightened the standards for habeas corpus in the United States, as well as legislation designed to increase the protection around federal buildings to deter future terrorist attacks.
The Oklahoma City National Memorial was dedicated on April 19, 2000 , on the site of the Murrah Federal Building, commemorating the victims of the bombing. On April 19, remembrance services are held every year at the time of the explosion.
Interesting Facts
The bombs were a deadly cocktail of diesel fuel, ammonium nitrate agricultural fertilizer and other chemicals.
Lori and Michael Fortier were considered accomplices for their foreknowledge of the planning of the bombing.
McVeigh and Nichols were associated with extreme right-wing movements, white supremacists and the militant Patriot Movement. The movent rejects the legitimacy of the federal government and law enforcement.
Timothy McVeigh became obsessed with 'The Turner Diaries', a 1978 novel by William Luther Pierce, that urged violent action against the United States government.
McVeigh swore revenge on the federal government for their handling of the Waco siege and at a similar incident a year earlier in Ruby Ridge, Idaho.
April 19,1993  was the date that federal agents raided the compound that ended the Waco Siege.
Patriots Day is the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord on April 19, 1775 that marked the beginning of the armed uprising by colonialists against British control.
April 19, 1995 was also the date that white supremacist Richard Snell was executed. He had repeatedly told prison officials that there would be a big bombing and explosion on the day of his execution.