Analysis of the Oklahoma City Bombing
On April 19th, 1995, at 9:02 AM a bomb exploded outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City. The cause of the explosion was an Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil bomb in a 24 foot rental truck parked in the street on the north side of the building (Oklahoma City Fire Department Report of the Bombing).
The building was home to sixteen federal agencies. This was the most destructive terrorist act on American soil until the 9/11 attacks.
The chief conspirators in this attack have been Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols which met in 1988 at Fort Benning during basic training for the U.S. Army. Michael Fortier which also had some degree in involvement had been McVeigh’s army roommate. The three were sharing a common interest in survivalism and vehemently opposed gun control. They have all expresses anger with the way the Federal Government handled the 1992 FBI standoff with Randy Weaver at Ruby Bridge and the 1993 FBI standoff at Waco, Texas against the Davidians which ended with the burning and shooting 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. McVeigh initially decided to bomb a federal building but latter considered that his message would have a much greater impact if many people were killed in the bombing. McVeigh’s main criterion for choosing the site of the bombing was that the targeted building should house at least two federal law enforcement agencies. He regarded the presence of additional law-enforcement agencies, such as the Secret Service or the U.S. Marshals Service, as a bonus. McVeigh, an Arizona resident, took in consideration targets in Missouri, Arizona, Texas, and Arkansas. After an inspection visit with Fortier to