NCJ Number
168794
Date Published
1997
Length
290 pages
Annotation
This narrative tells about the events before, during and after the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995 and argues that this act of domestic terrorism was motivated primarily by the Federal Government's actions related to two earlier sieges.
Abstract
The author argues that the force used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the sieges at the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Tex. and at Randy Weaver's cabin in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, together the government's subsequent unwillingness to admit errors in judgment, intensified the radical right's suspicion and hatred of the Federal government and became rallying symbols for activities with ideologies of varying extremes. The discussion also focuses on the importance of April 19 as a symbolic date for the radical right, the role of the theology of Christian Identity, and the significance of the novel "The Turner Diaries". The role of these influences on suspects Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols and their situation on the outer fringes of the radical right are also discussed. Chapter notes, index, and approximately 250 references (Publisher summary modified)