Oklahoma City bombing

The Oklahoma City bombing was a 1995 terrorist attack in which the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, a U.S. government office complex in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, was destroyed, killing 168 people. It is the largest domestic terrorist attack in the history of the United States, and - until the September 11, 2001 attacks - largest terrorist attack of any kind in the nation's history.

Trial and aftermath

The remains of the half-destroyed Federal building were demolished in May 1995. Some legislation was also introduced in response to the attack, notably the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. Until the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks, the Oklahoma City bombing was the worst act of terrorism within U.S. borders, but not the worst against the United States (the worst act of terrorism against the U.S. before 9/11 was Pan Am Flight 103).

Related Topics:
1995 - Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 - September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks - Pan Am Flight 103

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The site became part of the National Park Service. On February 19, 2001 an Oklahoma City bombing museum was dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial Center.

Related Topics:
National Park Service - February 19 - 2001 - Oklahoma City National Memorial

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Michael Fortier, an accomplice and key informant, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 on May 27, 1998 for failing to warn authorities about the attack.

Related Topics:
Michael Fortier - Accomplice - Informant - May 27 - 1998

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Timothy McVeigh was sentenced to death for the bombing, after being convicted of, among other things, murdering federal law enforcement officials. He was executed by lethal injection at a U.S. penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, on June 11, 2001.

Related Topics:
Timothy McVeigh - Lethal injection - Terre Haute, Indiana - June 11 - 2001

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An accomplice, Terry Nichols, was sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of manslaughter in a federal court trial. Nichols stood trial in McAlester, Oklahoma, on state murder charges starting on March 1, 2004, and was convicted of 160 counts of first-degree murder, plus other felony charges on May 26. The penalty phase of the state trial, in which he could have been given the death penalty, ended in a jury deadlock, which automatically resulted in the imposition of a sentence of life imprisonment. His brother, James, was also accused of taking part in the bombing, but was released due to lack of evidence.

Related Topics:
Terry Nichols - Life in prison - McAlester, Oklahoma - March 1 - 2004 - May 26 - Death penalty - Jury deadlock - James

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In many ways, the Oklahoma City bombing spelled the end of the anti-government militia movement to which McVeigh was linked. In the years following the bombing most such groups either disbanded or were pushed further to the fringes of American politics. Additionally, by being the first major American city to suffer a mass-casualty terrorist attack, Oklahoma City's response to the bombing was carefully scrutinized by security experts and law enforcement in the years following the bombing, and then again following the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Related Topics:
Militia - September 11, 2001

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In the weeks immediately after the Oklahoma City bombing, the federal government surrounded federal buildings in all major cities with prefabricated Jersey barriers to ward off similar attacks. In the decade since, most (but not all) of these temporary barriers have been replaced with permanent security barriers which look more attractive and are driven deep into the ground (so that they are more sturdy). Furthermore, all new federal buildings must be constructed with truck-resistant barriers and with deep setbacks from surrounding streets to minimize their vulnerability to truck bombs.

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In February 2004, the federal government reopened their investigation into the bombing after FBI agents investigating the MidWest Bank Robbers (a white supremacist gang McVeigh had associated with prior to the bombing) discovered blasting caps of the same type used in the Oklahoma City bombing.

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In 2004, a new federal campus (designed with a special focus on security) opened in Oklahoma City, a block from the site of the bombing.

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Effects on children

In the wake of the bombing, schools across the country were dismissed early and ordered closed. The fact that 19 of the victims had been children, most of them in the building's day care center was seized upon by the national media. A photograph of firefighter Chris Fields removing infant Baylee Almon (who later died in a nearby hospital) from the rubble was reprinted worldwide and soon became a symbol of the tragedy. The photo, taken by utility company employee Charles H. Porter IV, earned the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography.http://www.pulitzer.org/year/1996/spot-news-photography/works/

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In addition to the children with a direct connection to the bombing, others became distressed after hearing media reports and later research established that many showed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. (See references).

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In the first two days after the bombing, President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, were very concerned about how children were reacting to the bombing. So, they asked aides to talk to child care experts about what to tell them about the bombing. On the Saturday after the bombing, April 22, the Clintons gathered children of employees of federal agencies that had offices in the Murrah Building in the Oval Office and answered their questions.

Related Topics:
Bill Clinton - Hillary - April 22

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