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| “ | All you tyrannical people will swing in the wind one day for your treasonous actions against the Constitution of the United States. Remember the Nuremberg War Trials. | „ |
| ~ Timothy McVeigh, on his hatred of the ATF. |
Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was a U.S. Army veteran who was responsible for the Oklahoma City Bombing.[1][2] The bombing - which up until the 9/11 was the deadliest act of terrorism on American soil - killed 168 people and injured many more.[3] The bombing was motivated out of vengeance for the US government's involvement in the Ruby Ridge standoff and Waco siege.[4]
Biography
Early life
A shy and withdrawn young man McVeigh became interested in computers and was considered his high school's most promising computer programmer.
Career in the US Army
Following graduation he enlisted in the Army where he served in Desert Storm and earned the Bronze Star. He stated he decapitated an Iraqi soldier with cannon fire on his first day in the war and celebrated. He said he was later shocked to be ordered to execute surrendering prisoners - which was, essentially, a war crime - and to see carnage on the road leaving Kuwait City after U.S. troops routed the Iraqi army.[5][6]
In his spare time McVeigh studied explosive and sniper training materials. During his time in the army he was reprimanded for purchasing a white power t-shirt at a Ku Klux Klan protest against African-American soldiers wearing similar black supremacy t-shirts. He was a top-scoring gunner with the 25mm cannon of the Bradley Fighting Vehicles used by his 1st Infantry Division and was eventually promoted to sergeant. After being promoted to sergeant, McVeigh earned a reputation of assigning undesirable work to black servicemen and frequently used racial slurs against them. McVeigh tried to join the special forces but washed out of training, and then decided to leave the Army.
Radicalization
After his stint in the army he became a security guard and fell into a transient lifestyle. During this time he became increasingly extreme in his views and fell into financial difficulties. He quit the NRA because he felt it was too weak on gun rights. He became a regular attendee of gun shows across the country, traveling to forty states and visiting about 80 gun shows. McVeigh found that the further west he went, the more anti-government sentiment he encountered, at least until he got to what he called "The People's Socialist Republic of California." McVeigh sold survival items and copies of The Turner Diaries by William Luther Pierce.[3][7]
In the aftermath of the Ruby Ridge and Waco standoffs, McVeigh decided to take action against the government. He considered a campaign of assassination against government officials[8], but instead decided to target a Federal building.
The Oklahoma City Bombing
McVeigh met Terry Nichols in April 1993. The two became friends due to their similar ideals and Nichols helped teach McVeigh on how to construct improvised explosive devices. His anti-government beliefs became even more radical and he began making plans to blow up a federal building. According to McVeigh's authorized biography, he ultimately decided that he would make the loudest statement against the government by bombing a federal building.
McVeigh and Nichols constructed an ANNM explosive device mounted in the back of a rented Ryder truck. The bomb consisted of about 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) of ammonium nitrate and nitromethane. He drove the truck to the front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building just as its offices opened for the day. Before arriving, he stopped to light a two-minute fuse. At 9:02am on April 19, 1995 the bomb detonated, destroying the building, killing 168, and wounding hundreds more.[9]
Arrest and detention
Arrested shortly after the bombing after being pulled over for driving an unregistered vehicle, McVeigh was as first charged with unlawfully carrying a concealed firearm. After figuring out his identity, he was later charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, use of said weapon of mass destruction, destruction by explosives, and eight counts of first-degree murder. McVeigh was found guilty of all 11 counts and sentenced to death. Upon being connected to the Oklahoma City bombing, told police he did not want what happened to Oswald to happen to him.
At first McVeigh was imprisoned at the ADX Florence Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado. McVeigh was later moved to the prison at Terre Haute, Indiana due to it being the location of the Federal male death row and the site of the Federal execution chamber.
After appeals were dropped by McVeigh an execution date of May 16. However just before the execution the FBI revealed a lot of paperwork it had withheld from McVeigh's lawyers before. The government stayed the execution for just under one month as a result to give all parties time to review the paperwork.
Death
On June 11, 2001, McVeigh was strapped into the gurney in the Terre Haute execution chamber. McVeigh stated that his only regret was that the Murrah Building wasn't completely leveled by his bomb, and also quoted the final stanzas of the poem "Invictus": "I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul". At 7:14am central time McVeigh was pronounced dead.[10]
Due to a law signed by President Clinton in 1997 to keep people convicted of certain crimes from being buried in military cemeteries McVeigh was ineligible for burial in a military cemetery despite having been honorably discharged. He was cremated and the ashes given to his lawyer who scattered them in an undisclosed location.
Gallery
Images
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An FBI mugshot of McVeigh
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Mugshot
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Close-up
Videos
Trivia
- He partially inspired Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold to carry out the Columbine High School massacre.[11]
- Many modern-day Alt-Right movement praise McVeigh and defend his actions.
- In prison, he formed a frienship with eco-terrorist Ted Kaczynski and fellow terrorist Ramzi Yousef, in which they would discuss religion and politics. This friendship lasted until he was eventually executed in 2001.[12]
- Timothy McVeigh is the first man to be put to death by the Federal Government since the execution of Victor Feguer in 1963.
References
- ↑ Oklahoma City Bombing, Federal Bureau of Investigation
- ↑ From decorated veteran to mass murderer, CNN
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Timothy McVeigh, Counter Extremism Project
- ↑ Timothy McVeigh at Waco, PBS
- ↑ Timothy McVeigh Known as Dedicated Soldier, Solitary Loner, AP News
- ↑ Timothy McVeigh and Desert Storm, Medium
- ↑ The Radicalization of Timothy McVeigh, Tulsa World
- ↑ McVeigh Says He Considered Killing Reno, The New York Times
- ↑ Oklahoma City bombing timeline, Tulsa World
- ↑ Timothy McVeigh's Death: The Final Days of the Oklahoma City Bomber, A&E
- ↑ Columbine and the Myth of “the School Shooter”, We're History
- ↑ Terror on Trial: Life in Supermax's 'Bombers Row', CNN