Oklahoma City Bombing

Oklahoma City Bombing

Available online at:http://msbeenen.wikispaces.com

Available online at:http://msbeenen.wikispaces.com

W.W.W.W

Who? Timothy McVeigh and others

What? Truck Bombing

Where? Oklahoma City

When? April 15 1995

Why?

Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols met in the army and shared many interests such as survivalism, opposed gun control and disliked the FBI

McVeigh was especially unhappy about how the FBI handled the Waco standoff that created more casualties than needed.

Decided the best way to get his message across to the government was to bomb a federal building.

Alfred P. Murrah

Housed fourteen government agencies including the FBI, the Alcohol, Tobacco and Fire Arms Agency (ATF) and Drug Enforcement Administration

Also had a daycare and credit union on the first and second floor.

Making the bomb

McVeigh and Nichols purchased and stole the materials they would need for the bomb.

It only cost around $5000 USD to make and the truck rental only cost $250 USD

The bomb was composed of fertilizer pellets and motorcycle fuel.

7000lbs of explosives

The bomb contained more than 5000lbs of fertilizer pellets, 1200 lbs of fuel and 350 lbs of Torvex.

Placed in sixteen 55 US gallon drums and stored in the back of the Ryder rental truck.

The Attack

April 14th McVeigh rents a Ryder truck under a false name.

Next day he drove to Oklahoma City and parked a getaway car a few blocks away from the Murrah building with a note that said “Do not two”.

Morning of the bombing, the original plan was to bomb at 11am but McVeigh changed it to 9am

Bombing cont.

Carried with him many anarchist documents.

A few minutes away from the building he lit the 5 minute fuse and then the 2 minute fuse.

He parked the truck outside the building at 9:02 and hurried away to his getaway car.

Bombing Cont.

The truck exploded, hundreds of people were killed or injured.

1/3 of the building collapsed within 7 seconds of the blast.

The crater created by the blast was 9m wide and 2 m deep.

Explosion damaged 324 buildings within a 16 block radius and shattered glass in 258 buildings

Destruction

Destroyed 86 cars around the site and left several hundred people homeless.

In total it caused 652 million USD worth of damage.

Recorded a 3.1 on the Richter scale and was equivalent to 5000lbs of TNT.

Victims

Almost 700 people were inside the building at the time of the explosion.

by the end of the first day 20 were confirmed dead including 6 children. The final death toll was 168 people including 19 children.

The age range was 3 months - 73 years in age.

Three pregnant women also died in the blast.

warning: sensitive image!

Rescue and Recovery

Emergency and Rescue centres were set up

within the first hour 50 people were rescued from the building and sent to every hospital in the area.

Temporary silences were observed so monitors that could hear human heartbeats would help find survivors buried under the rubble.

Some limbs had to be amputated without anesthesia to rescue people from the rubble.

Rescue and Recovery

The site was evacuated once when a second bombs was said to be found but it tuned out to be a military dummy.

The last survivor from day 1 was a 15 year old girl

12,000 people participated in the relief and rescue. One nurse was killed from falling debris and many other workers were injured.

24 K-9 units were brought in to find bodies.

Rescue and Recovery

By May 5th all bodies were recovered except for 3.

Humanitarian responses included the donation of many rescue resources, warm food and clothes and 9000 units of blood.

So many resources were donated that it actually caused inventory control problems.

All non-essential workers were sent home for the rest of the day during the explosion and Bill Clinton declared a federal emergency in Oklahoma City and addressed the nation.

All flags on federal buildings were to be flown at half mast for 30 days to remember the victims.

International reactions varied: some countries were sympathetic, others believed the USA brought it upon themselves.

Children

Many children died in this attack due to the daycare centre. McVeigh stated had he known about the daycare he would have chosen a different building.

Schools across the country were let out early and closed.

Cases of PTSD popped up around the country from constant media reports about dying children

Child care specialists were made available so they could teach parents, teachers, and authority figures about how to talk about the attack.

Arrest

McVeigh was arrested 90 minutes after the explosion for not having a license plate on his getaway car.

He was brought into the station for questioning.

A part of the truck survived that allow police to identify who rented it. Comparing this name with the hotel name that was given and the earlier police reports they knew they had their man.

McVeigh had multiple incriminating documents on him tying him to the explosion.

Investigation and trial

FBI led the investigation. Largest criminal investigation in the USA

McVeigh had 6 attorneys and the USA had 11.

McVeigh took responsibility for the attack but claimed he was only preventing future disasters from occuring.

137 witnesses were called.

Results

Jury took 23 hours to decide that McVeigh was guilty of 11 counts of murder and conspiracy.

The defence only wanted life in prison but McVeigh was sentenced to death.

He was executed by lethal injection on June 11th 2001

Aftermath

Deadliest act of Terrorism in the USA before 9/11

400,000 people from the Oklahoma City Metropolitan area knew someone who was affected by the attack.

FBI hired 500 agents to investigate terrorism.

US Government enacted the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996

Allowed future victims of terrorist attacks to witness the trial and provide impact testimonies.

Construction

All future federal buildings now had to meet the california earthquake codes to prevent future collapse.

Concrete bumper barriers needed to be set up outside each federal building to prevent trucks from parking near them.

Memorial