The Oklahoma City bombing occurred on April 19, 1995 when American militia movement sympathizer Timothy McVeigh, with the assistance of Terry Nichols, destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It was the most significant act of terrorism on American soil until the September 11 attacks in 2001, claiming the lives of 168 victims and injuring more than 680. The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a sixteen–block radius, destroyed or burned 86 cars, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings. The bomb was estimated to have caused at least $652 million worth of damage.
Motivated by the federal government's handling of the Waco Siege (1993) and the Ruby Ridge incident (1992), McVeigh's attack was timed to coincide with the second anniversary of the Waco Siege. Within 90 minutes of the explosion McVeigh was stopped by Oklahoma State Trooper Charlie Hanger for driving without a license plate, and arrested for unlawfully carrying a weapon. Forensic evidence quickly linked McVeigh and Nichols to the attack, and within days they were arrested and charged; Michael and Lori Fortier were later identified as accomplices. 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.
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 collecting nearly one billion pieces of information. 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 twelve 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 legislation designed to prevent future terrorist attacks by increasing the protection around federal buildings. From 1995 to 2005, over 60 domestic terrorism plots were foiled due to preventive measures taken in response to the bombing. 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 time of the explosion.
Prelude
Planning
The chief conspirators, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, met in 1988 at Fort Benning during basic training for the U.S. Army. Michael Fortier, McVeigh's accomplice, was his Army roommate. The three shared interests in survivalism and held anti-government views including opposition to gun control. They also 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 ended with the deaths of David Koresh and 75 others. In March 1993, McVeigh visited the Waco site during the standoff, and then again after its conclusion. McVeigh later decided to bomb a federal building as a response to the raids.
In August 1994, McVeigh obtained nine Kinestiks from gun dealer Roger E. Moore, and ignited the devices with Nichols outside Nichols' home in Herington, Kansas. 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. McVeigh approached Fortier and asked him to assist with the bombing project, but he refused, saying he would never be part of the plan "... unless there was a U.N. tank in my front yard!" McVeigh responded, "What if the tank was in your neighbor's yard? Wouldn't you go to your neighbor's aid? What if it was in the yard of David Koresh?" McVeigh was however unable to persuade Fortier to take part in the bomb attack.
Target selection
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. 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, to be a bonus.
McVeigh, a resident of Kingman, Arizona, considered targets in Arkansas, Missouri, Arizona, and Texas, which included a 40-story government building in Little Rock, Arkansas. Wanting to minimize nongovernmental casualties, he ruled out the building in Little Rock because of the presence of a florist's shop on the ground floor. In December 1994, McVeigh and Fortier visited Oklahoma City to inspect their target: the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. The nine-story building, built in 1977, was named for a federal judge and housed fourteen federal agencies. 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. In addition, McVeigh believed that the open space around the building would provide better photo opportunities for propaganda purposes. 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.
Early preparations
McVeigh and Nichols purchased or stole the materials they needed to manufacture the bomb, which they stored in rented sheds. 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 his own van. Doubts have been raised about Nichols and McVeigh's involvement in the robbery, because despite McVeigh previously visiting Moore's ranch, the robbers wore ski masks (making a positive identification impossible) and the physical description given did not match Nichols. Also, Aryan Republican Army robbers were operating in the area of Moore's ranch at the time. Moreover, 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. McVeigh wrote a letter to Moore in which he claimed that the robbery had been committed by government agents. Items that were stolen from Moore were later found in Nichols' home and a storage shed he had rented.
In October 1994, McVeigh showed Michael Fortier and his wife, Lori, a diagram he had drawn indicating the layout of a bomb he wanted to build. 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-gallon drums in which the explosive mixture was packed, the bomb had a combined weight of about 7,000 pounds (3,200 kg). McVeigh had originally intended to use hydrazine rocket fuel, but it proved to be too expensive. In October 1994, disguised as a motorcycle racer, McVeigh was able to obtain three 54-US-gallon (200 l) drums of nitromethane on the pretense that he and some fellow bikers needed the fuel for racing. 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 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. The prototype was detonated in the desert to avoid detection.
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
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