The following is a transcript of today's episode of the "It Was 20 Years Ago Today" podcast. You can download the audio here: It Was 20 Years Ago Today: Episode #182 -- Oklahoma City Bombing
Twenty years ago today, a seven thousand pound truck bomb was detonated outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. One hundred sixty eight people were killed and nearly seven hundred injured as a result of the blast and the collapse of the Murrah Building. Many of the dead and injured were children -- a day care center for the Federal workers was located in the building. The Oklahoma City bombing was the worst terrorist incident in the United States to that date, and remains the worst domestic terrorism incident in US history.
The bombing was carried out by a disaffected former US soldier named Timothy McVeigh, with help from Terry Nichols. Both McVeigh and Nichols had come to distrust, fear, and hate the US Government, and incidents including the Ruby Ridge standoff in 1992 and the Branch Davidian siege at Waco in 1993 motivated McVeigh in particular to strike back. McVeigh chose the April 19 date to carry out the bombing precisely because it was the second anniversary of the disastrous end of the Waco siege.
I remember very clearly where I was when I first heard the news of the bombing, within an hour after it happened. It was a Wednesday morning, and I was nearing the end of my morning commute, a little before eight in the morning. (The bomb went off at 9:03 am Central Time, just after 7:00 am Pacific.) I will admit that when I heard what had happened, my first thought was that it was some Islamic or Middle Eastern terrorist at work. I caught myself, thinking that I shouldn't jump to conclusions, but the initial thought was there.
Speculation in the news media also ran very heavily toward an Islamic terrorist connection. Some news outlets noted that it was the anniversary of the Waco siege, and some made a genuine effort to avoid speculation of any kind. Others, including CNN, went straight to speculating about Islamic terrorists and nothing else, even though they had been reporting about the anniversary of the Waco siege before the news of the bombing broke.
That sort of thing has only gotten worse in the 20 years since the Oklahoma City bombing. To this day, many people assume that the only terrorists who could or would strike on American soil must be Islamic. Certainly when it comes to the threat of terrorist acts on American soil, all we hear about are the Islamic terrorists -- be it Al Qaida, ISIL, or any other. While it’s understandable, of course, it is also short sighted and, I think, dangerous. Here’s why.
After the Oklahoma City bombing, membership in anti-government militia, survivalist, and just general hate groups plunged, and stayed relatively low for a decade. But after the election of Barack Obama in 2008, such groups began a real resurgence. Aided by the Internet and its ability to connect widely separated people on the far fringes of society with ease, and sympathetic reporting from some mass media outlets, the most radical elements in our society are as strong as they have ever been.
We are seeing again confrontations between such groups and the government. The Bundy Ranch incident came to a head just over a year ago and the dispute is still ongoing. As I record this podcast, members of the Oath Keepers have set up outside a disputed mining claim in southern Oregon, and have refused to leave even though the owner of the disputed claim has asked them to.
It would not take much for one of these incidents to become another Ruby Ridge or Waco. And while Timothy McVeigh is long dead -- executed in 2001 -- I have no doubt that the next Timothy McVeigh is out there right now. We need to pay a lot more attention to him and all his ilk, before the grim record of the Oklahoma City bombing is challenged once again.