Oklahoma City Bombing

Oklahoma City Bombing:

A Research Summary

Carrie Melnyk

U.S. History From 1865-Present

Professor Hayes

May 23, 2011

April 19, 1995 was a day of sorrow and a day that will remain a part of history forever. On this day, the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was the site where 168 people, 19 of them being children, lost their lives (Linethal, 2001) and numerous survivors that were physically and mentally harmed, due to a bombing attack on the building. According to the book “Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory”, the bomb was constructed from 4,800 pounds of ammonium nitrate fuel, and sat in a rented truck at the front entrance of the Murrah Federal Building. The detonation was scheduled from 9:02 a.m., and went through as planned (Rosenberg, na).

This senseless act of terrorism was found to be committed by two former U.S. Army soldiers, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, and both were arrested within a few days of the event. Both men shared a hatred for the government that stemmed from the handlings of the 1992 standoff at Ruby Ridge and 1993’s Waco Siege, and wanted to respond. This particular federal building was chosen by the mean because it housed a few different government offices.

McVeigh was found guilty on 11 counts of murder and conspiracy and sentenced to death by lethal injection. He was executed on June 11th 2001. (Kaufman, 1997) Nichols was also found guilty and is now serving 161 consecutive life terms at the ADX Florence Federal prison.

Bibliography

Leslie Kaufman, et al. "The verdict: Death." Newsweek 129, no. 25 (June 23, 1997): 40.

Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed May 20, 2011).

Linenthal, Edward Tabor. The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory.

Oxford: New York: Oxford UP, 2001. Print.

Rosenberg, Jennifer. “Oklahoma City Bombing,”

http://history1900s.about.com/cs/crimedisaster/p/okcitybombing.htm