Oklahoma City Bombing By Timothy Mcveigh

The Oklahoma City bombing was a terrorist attack that was carried out by Timothy McVeigh along with two co-conspirators. Timothy McVeigh was born on April 23, 1968, in Pendleton, New York. McVeigh lived with both his parents until their divorce in 1978, after their divorce he mainly lived with his father during his school years. McVeigh 's nickname was "Noodle", he was a scrawny, nonathletic loner which left him a target for neighborhood bullies (Linder 2006). He began to develop an interest in weapons in his preteen years spending his time forming his marksmanship skills by shooting holes in soda cans. By the age of 14, his interest began to focus on survivalism preparing for a possible nuclear attack or the overthrow of the Government by Communist (Linder 2006). When McVeigh graduated from high school he attended a computer school in Buffalo, New York briefly, until May 1988, when he joined the army. While in basic training he and his platoon leader Terry Nichols (one of his co-conspirators) became friends who shared some of the same beliefs as McVeigh regarding the American Government. McVeigh did well in the army he promoted to Sergeant and was stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas where he met Michael Fortier (his other co-conspirator). After Fort Riley McVeigh was sent to the Persian Gulf War where he drove a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, which earned him a bronze star.(Linder 2006). Although military life suited McVeigh he requested an honorable discharge because he did not perform well on his first day of Green Beret try-outs; he was honorably discharged in December 1991. After his discharge from the military McVeigh moved back with his father and worked as a security guard. He battled with bouts of depression and suicide and started believing the United Nations conspired with US foreign policy on gun control. McVeigh thoughts moved towards violence against the federal government in August 1992 after a shoot-out between the federal government and survivalist Randy Weaver in Idaho. After the Idaho incident, McVeigh decided to quit his security job, travel with gun shows, live with army buddies, and interact with individuals who shared his anti-political views. In 1994, McVeigh began robbing banks with a group from Elohim City to raise money for his anti-government activities. McVeigh continued with a …show more content…
He turned his Arizona home into a bunker, renounced his US citizenship and began making homemade bombs. The same recipe he used in the Oklahoma City bombing (Linder 2006). In September 1994, McVeigh began making plans to blow up the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. McVeigh began stock-piling his ingredients for his bomb in a storage facility he rented in Herington, Kansas. McVeigh and his co-conspirators continued collecting all the ingredients they needed in their plot which included ammonium nitrate, dynamite, blasting caps, and nitromethane. Then on April 19, 1995, McVeigh drove the Ryder truck that he rented from a body shop in Junction City, Kansas towards the center of downtown Oklahoma City. He parked the truck in a handicapped zone in front of Alfred P. Murrah federal building (Saferstein pg. ), he lit two fuses, stepped out of the truck, locked the doors, and strolled away from the truck. Within minutes, the truck exploded with enough destructive force to demolish the federal building and kill 168 people that included 19 children and infants.