PRESENTATION OUTLINE
Terrorism: 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing
Timothy McVeigh practiced his survivalist skills as a teenager because he believed it would be necessary for Cold War with the Soviet Union. In 1988 he went into the Army. While in the military, McVeigh befriended another soldier named Nichols that shared his survivalist skills. Nichols will be the person who assisted McVeigh in the Oklahoma City Bombing. He left the army in 1991, and after he left his opinion changed from a hatred of foreign communist governments to a suspicion of the U.S. federal government, especially under the new president Bill Clinton who campaigned for the presidency on the platform of gun control. Also, McVeigh and Nichols were very radicalized by a shoot-out between federal agents and a survivalist, Randy Weaver, his wife and son were killed. After that, McVeigh planned an attack on the Murrah Building, which contained lots of federal agencies.
Timothy McVeigh and Nichols bombed the Murrah Building because they didn't like federal agencies.
After a truck loaded with a diesel-fuel-fertilizer bomb exploded outside the Murrah Building, 168 people died and more than 650 other people were injured. The bomb also destroyed more than 300 buildings in the area. On June 2, 1997, McVeigh was sentenced to the death penalty, and in December Nichols was sentanced to life in prison.
Change Brought To That Region
- Increase in security
- In May 1995, the Murrah Building was destroyed for safety reasons, and a national memorial and museum were opened. This is now a tourist attraction.
