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{{Short description|1995 domestic terrorist attack in the US}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Featured article}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title = Oklahoma City bombing
| image = Oklahomacitybombing-DF-ST-98-01356.jpg
| caption = The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building two days after the bombing, viewed from across the adjacent parking lot
| location = [[Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building]]<br />[[Oklahoma City]], Oklahoma, U.S.
| coordinates = {{Coord|35|28|22|N|97|31|01|W|region:US-OK_type:event|display=inline,title}}
| date = {{start date and age|1995|04|19}}
| time = 9:02&nbsp;a.m. [[Central Time Zone (North America)#Central Daylight Time|CDT]]
| timezone = [[UTC-05:00]]
| target = [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. federal government]]
| type = {{hlist|[[Car bomb|Truck bombing]]|[[mass murder]]|[[domestic terrorism]]|[[right-wing terrorism]]}}
| weapons = {{bulleted list|[[ANFO]] fertilizer [[truck bomb]]|[[.45 ACP]] [[Glock 21]] Gen 2 (not used)}}
| fatalities = {{bulleted list|167–168 direct deaths{{efn|A severed left leg was found amongst the wreckage, but was never identified to a victim. It could have belonged to one of the 167 direct victims, or a 168th direct victim who was not found.}}|1 indirect{{efn|A rescue worker was struck on the head by falling debris after the bombing during rescue efforts, and is not counted as part of those directly killed by the bombing.}}}}
| injuries = 592–684
| perps = {{hlist|[[Timothy McVeigh]]|[[Terry Nichols]]}}
| motive = {{bulleted list|[[Patriot movement|Anti-government sentiment]]|Retaliation for the [[Ruby Ridge standoff]], [[Waco siege]], [[Foreign policy of the United States|U.S. foreign policy]] and [[Federal Assault Weapons Ban]]}}
}}

The '''Oklahoma City bombing''' was a [[domestic terrorism|domestic terrorist]] truck bombing of the [[Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building]] in [[Oklahoma City]], United States, on April 19, 1995. The bombing remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history. Perpetrated by anti-government extremists [[Timothy McVeigh]] and his accomplice [[Terry Nichols]], the bombing killed 167 people, injured 684, and destroyed more than a third of the building, which had to be demolished. The blast destroyed or damaged 324 other buildings and caused an estimated $652 million worth of damage. The [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] (FEMA) activated 11 of its [[FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force|Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces]], consisting of 665 rescue workers. A rescue worker was killed by being struck on the head by falling debris after the bombing, bringing the total death toll to 168.

Within 90 minutes of the explosion, McVeigh was stopped by [[Oklahoma Highway Patrol]]man Charlie Hanger for driving without a license plate and arrested for illegal weapons possession. Forensic evidence quickly linked McVeigh and Nichols to the attack; Nichols was arrested, and within days, both were charged. Michael and Lori Fortier were later identified as accomplices. McVeigh, a veteran of the [[Gulf War]] and a sympathizer with the [[American militia movement|U.S. militia movement]], had detonated a [[Ryder]] rental truck full of explosives he parked in front of the building. Nichols had assisted with the bomb's preparation and plan. McVeigh and Nichols were motivated by their anger at the U.S. federal government and its handling of the law enforcement sieges at [[Ruby Ridge]] in 1992 and [[Waco siege|Waco]] in 1993, as well as the 1994 [[Federal Assault Weapons Ban]]. McVeigh had timed the retaliatory attack to coincide with the second anniversary of the end of the siege in Waco and the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]], the first engagements of the [[American Revolutionary War|American Revolution.]]

The official FBI investigation, known as "OKBOMB", involved 28,000 interviews, 3,200 kg&nbsp;(7,100 lbs) of evidence, and nearly one billion pieces of information. When the FBI raided McVeigh's home, they found a telephone number that led them to a farm where McVeigh had purchased supplies for the bombing. The bombers were tried and convicted in 1997. McVeigh was executed by [[lethal injection]] on June 11, 2001, at the [[United States Penitentiary, Terre Haute|U.S. federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana]]. Nichols was sentenced to [[Life imprisonment|life in prison]] in 2004. In response to the bombing, the U.S. Congress passed the [[Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996]], which limited access to [[habeas corpus in the United States|''habeas corpus'' in the United States]], among other provisions. It also passed [[United States federal building security|legislation to increase the protection around federal buildings]] to deter future terrorist attacks.

==Events==

===Planning===
====Motive====
[[File:Mountcarmelfire04-19-93-l.jpg|thumb|right|alt=An aerial view from a helicopter of the Mount Carmel Center building. Large columns of smoke are arising from the left side of the building from a fire. One side of the building shows extensive damage. The building is surrounded by dirt paths.|McVeigh and Nichols cited the federal government's actions against the [[Branch Davidian]] compound in the 1993 [[Waco siege]] (shown above) as a reason why they perpetrated the Oklahoma City bombing.]]
The chief conspirators, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, met in 1988 at [[Fort Benning]] during [[Recruit training|basic training]] for the U.S. Army.<ref name="1988McNichols">{{cite news |last= Swickard |first= Joe |url= https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19950511&slug=2120431 |title= The Life of Terry Nichols |date= May 11, 1995|work         = The Seattle Times |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120927221940/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19950511&slug=2120431|archive-date = September 27, 2012|url-status= live |access-date= May 23, 2023}}</ref> McVeigh met Michael Fortier as his Army roommate.<ref name="PBSRoommate">{{cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/may97/trial_5-13.html|title=Bombing Trial|work=Online Focus|date=May 13, 1997|publisher=[[PBS|Public Broadcasting Service]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110125163535/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/may97/trial_5-13.html |archive-date=January 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=September 7, 2017 }}</ref> The three shared interests in [[survivalism]].<ref name="Militia">{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-04-16-militia-movement-on-the-rise_N.htm |title=As Okla. City date nears, militias seen as gaining strength |last=Johnson |first=Kevin |work=[[USA Today]] |date=April 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105124606/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-04-16-militia-movement-on-the-rise_N.htm?csp=34 |archive-date=January 5, 2013 |url-status=live |access-date=May 23, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Militia2">{{Cite news |last=Means |first=Marianne |date=1996-04-20 |title=Search for meaning produces scapegoats |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tampa-tribune-search-for-meaning-pro/169464457/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[The Tampa Tribune]] |page=15 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> McVeigh and Nichols were radicalized by [[white supremacist]] and antigovernment propaganda.{{sfn|Belew|2019|p=210}}<ref name="SPLC">{{Cite web|title=25 years later, Oklahoma City bombing still inspires antigovernment extremists|url=https://www.splcenter.org/news/2020/04/17/25-years-later-oklahoma-city-bombing-still-inspires-antigovernment-extremists|access-date=December 23, 2020|website=Southern Poverty Law Center|date=April 17, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> They expressed anger at the federal government's handling of the 1992 [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) standoff with [[Randy Weaver]] at Ruby Ridge, as well as the [[Waco siege]], a 51-day standoff in 1993 between the FBI and [[Branch Davidians|Branch Davidian]] members that began with a botched [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms]] (ATF) attempt to execute a [[search warrant|search]] and [[arrest warrant]]. There was a [[shootout]] and ultimately a [[siege]] of the compound, resulting in the burning and shooting deaths of [[David Koresh]] and 75 others.<ref name="Waco76">{{cite news |last=Caesar |first=Ed |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5324263.ece |title=The British Waco survivors |date=December 14, 2008|work=The Sunday Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629115153/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5324263.ece |archive-date=June 29, 2011|location=London|url-status=dead}}</ref> In March 1993, McVeigh visited the Waco site during the standoff, and again after the siege ended.<ref name="WacoVisit">{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Al |last2=Eisenstadt |first2=Dave |last3=Schwartzman |first3=Paul |last4=Ball |first4=Karen |date=April 22, 1995 |title=Revenge for Waco Strike Former Soldier is Charged in Okla. Bombing |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1995/04/22/1995-04-22_revenge_for_waco_strike_form.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110227225536/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1995/04/22/1995-04-22_revenge_for_waco_strike_form.html |archive-date=February 27, 2011 |work=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]] |location=New York}}</ref> He later decided to bomb a federal building as a response to the raids and to protest what he believed to be U.S. government efforts to restrict the rights of private citizens, particularly those under the [[Second Amendment]]. McVeigh had stated that federal agents were acting like soldiers, thus making an attack on a federal building, an attack on their “command centers”.{{efn|Attributed to multiple references:<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=McVeigh offers little remorse in letters |url=http://www.cjonline.com/stories/061001/new_mcveigh.shtml |date=June 10, 2001 |work=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527165230/http://cjonline.com/stories/061001/new_mcveigh.shtml |archive-date=May 27, 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=June 1, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="TimeWeight">{{cite magazine |last1=Collins |first1=James |last2=Cole |first2=Patrick E. |last3=Shannon |first3=Elaine |author-link3=Elaine Shannon |date=April 28, 1997 |title=Oklahoma City: The Weight of Evidence |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986240-1,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211193636/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986240-1,00.html |archive-date=February 11, 2012 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |pages=1–8 |accessdate=March 25, 2009}}</ref><ref name="FOXLetter">{{cite news |url= http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,17500,00.html |title= McVeigh's Apr.&nbsp;26 Letter to Fox News |date= April 26, 2001 |publisher= [[Fox News Channel]] |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110209151723/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,17500,00.html |archive-date = February 9, 2011 |url-status= dead}}</ref><ref name="WASHPostOrdinary">{{cite news |last1=Russakoff |first1=Dale |last2=Kovaleski |first2=Serge F. |date=July 2, 1995 |title=An Ordinary Boy's Extraordinary Rage |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/bg/mcveigh.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131234415/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/bg/mcveigh.htm |archive-date=January 31, 2011 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>{{sfn|Brannan|2010|pp=68-69}}<ref>{{cite news | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E2DC1339F934A15757C0A9679C8B63 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714023654/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E2DC1339F934A15757C0A9679C8B63 | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 14, 2012 | work=[[The New York Times]] | title=McVeigh Says He Considered Killing Reno | first=Susan | last=Saulny | date=April 27, 2001 | access-date=March 28, 2010 }}</ref>}}

===Target selection===
[[File:Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building before destruction.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building]]
McVeigh later said that, instead of bombing a building, he had contemplated a "campaign of individual assassination". Potential targets in this campaign included [[United States Attorney General]] [[Janet Reno]] and FBI [[Hostage Rescue Team]] sniper [[Lon Horiuchi]].<ref>{{cite web |title=McVeigh Wanted to Assasinate Reno |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93454 |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |access-date=18 December 2024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20241218171827/https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93454 |archive-date=18 December 2024 |language=en |date=27 April 2001 |url-status=live}}</ref> He initially intended to destroy only a federal building, but he later decided that his message would be more powerful if many people were killed in the bombing.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=224}} McVeigh's criterion for attack sites was that the target should house at least two of these three [[Federal law enforcement in the United States|federal law enforcement agencies]]: the [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms|Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives]] (ATF), the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI), and the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] (DEA). He regarded the presence of additional law enforcement agencies, such as the [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] or the [[United States Marshals Service|U.S. Marshals Service]], as a bonus.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=167}}

A resident of [[Kingman, Arizona]], McVeigh considered targets in Missouri, Arizona, Texas, and Arkansas.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=167}} He said in his authorized biography that he wanted to minimize non-governmental casualties, so he ruled out [[Simmons Tower]], a 40-story building in [[Little Rock, Arkansas]], because a florist's shop occupied space on the ground floor.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=168–169}} In December 1994, McVeigh and Fortier visited Oklahoma City to inspect what would become the target of their campaign: the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.<ref name="TimeWeight"/>

The nine-story building, built in 1977, was named for [[Alfred P. Murrah|a federal judge]] and housed 14 federal agencies, including the DEA, ATF, [[Social Security Administration]], and recruiting offices for the Army and Marine Corps.{{sfn|Lewis|2000|pp=201-210}}

McVeigh chose the Murrah building because he expected its glass front to shatter under the impact of the blast. He also believed that its adjacent large, open parking lot across the street might absorb and dissipate some of the force, and protect the occupants of nearby non-federal buildings. McVeigh also believed that the open space around the building would provide better photo opportunities for propaganda purposes.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=168–169}} He planned the attack for April 19, 1995, to coincide with the second anniversary of the Waco siege and the 220th anniversary of the [[Battles of Lexington and Concord]] during the American Revolution.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=226}} Rumors have alleged that the bombing was also connected to the planned execution of [[Richard Snell (criminal)|Richard Snell]], an Arkansas white supremacist who was a member of the [[Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord]] (CSA) and who was due to be executed the day the bombing took place.<ref name=snellexecution>{{cite web|url=https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/richard-wayne-snell-11928/|title=Richard Wayne Snell (1930–1995)|publisher=Encyclopedia of Arkansas|accessdate=March 22, 2024}}</ref> Prior to his execution, Snell predicted that a bombing would take place that day.<ref name=snellexecution /> Though his execution was not confirmed to be a motive for the bombing, Fort Smith–based federal prosecutor Steven Snyder told the FBI in May 1995 that Snell wanted to blow up the Oklahoma City building as revenge for the IRS raiding his home.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-05-05 |title=Jon Ronson on Timothy McVeigh |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/may/05/mcveigh.usa |access-date=2024-03-22 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref name=may1995>{{cite news|last=Thomas|first=Jo|author2=Ronald Smothers|title=Oklahoma City Building Was Target Of Plot as Early as '83, Official Says|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/20/us/oklahoma-city-building-was-target-of-plot-as-early-as-83-official-says.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|work=The New York Times|date=May 20, 1995|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130107024224/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/20/us/oklahoma-city-building-was-target-of-plot-as-early-as-83-official-says.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm|archivedate=January 7, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Oklahoma City Bomb Trial: The Denver Post Online |url=https://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/bomb327.htm |access-date=2024-03-22 |website=extras.denverpost.com}}</ref>

====Gathering materials====
[[File:Detailed map of Herington, Kansas.png|thumb|A detailed map of [[Herington, Kansas]], the general location where McVeigh and Nichols stored the [[ammonium nitrate]] fertilizer used for the construction of the bomb. The storage unit was located along [[U.S. Route 77|US Highway 77]], adjacent to a [[Pizza Hut]].]]
McVeigh and Nichols bought or stole the materials they needed to manufacture the bomb and stored them in rented sheds. In August 1994, McVeigh obtained nine binary-explosive [[Kinestik]]s from gun collector Roger E. Moore in Arkansas, and with Nichols ignited the devices outside Nichols's home in [[Herington, Kansas]].<ref name="PBSTimeline">{{cite news|last=Smith |first=Martin |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/documents/mcveigh/ |title=McVeigh Chronology |work=Frontline |publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728134240/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/documents/mcveigh/ |archive-date=July 28, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ForIntNine">{{cite news |last=Scarpa Jr. |first=Greg |title=AP Report of Possible Subcommittee Inquiry into Oklahoma City Bombing, Recent Intelligence Concerning (a) Involvement of FBI Informant; and (b) Imminent Threat |url=http://forensic-intelligence.org/RRudman.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029095407/http://forensic-intelligence.org/RRudman.pdf |archive-date=October 29, 2012 |access-date=June 5, 2009 |publisher=Forensic Intelligence International}}</ref> On September 30, 1994, Nichols bought forty {{convert|50|lb|kg|adj=on}} bags of [[ammonium nitrate]] fertilizer from Mid-Kansas Coop in [[McPherson, Kansas]], enough to fertilize {{convert|12.5|acre|ha|abbr=off}} of farmland at a rate of {{convert|160|lb|kg}} of nitrogen per acre (.4 ha), an amount commonly used for corn. Nichols bought an additional {{convert|50|lb|kg|adj=on}} bag on October 18, 1994.<ref name="TimeWeight"/> McVeigh approached Fortier and asked him to assist with the bombing project, but he refused.<ref name="trutvImitatingTurner">{{cite news|url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/turner_7.html|title=Imitating Turner |last=Ottley |first=Ted |publisher=truTV |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119012918/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/turner_7.html |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=201}}

McVeigh and Nichols then robbed Moore in his home of $60,000 worth of guns, gold, silver, and jewels, transporting the property in the victim's van.<ref name="trutvImitatingTurner"/> McVeigh wrote Moore a letter in which he claimed that government agents had committed the robbery.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=197–198}} Items stolen from Moore were later found in Nichols's home and in a storage shed he had rented.<ref name="MooreStuff">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=w_wSAAAAIBAJ&pg=3391,28284&dq=were+later+found+in+storage+shed+roger+moore+nichols|title=Evidence builds up against Nichols in trial|work=[[Boca Raton News]]|date=December 16, 1997|access-date=June 29, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125184354/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=w_wSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VI4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3391,28284&dq=were+later+found+in+storage+shed+roger+moore+nichols|archive-date=November 25, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="MooreStuff2">{{cite news|last=Thomas |first=Jo |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/20/us/bomb-suspect-hid-cash-ex-wife-testifies.html |title=Bomb Suspect Hid Cash, Ex-Wife Testifies |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 20, 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605134938/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/20/us/bomb-suspect-hid-cash-ex-wife-testifies.html |archive-date=June 5, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In October 1994, McVeigh showed Michael and his wife Lori Fortier a diagram he had drawn of the bomb he wanted to build.<ref name="McVeighBomb33"/> McVeigh planned to construct a bomb containing more than {{convert|5000|lb|kg}} of ammonium nitrate fertilizer mixed with about {{convert|1200|lb|kg}} of liquid [[nitromethane]] and {{convert|350|lb|kg}} of [[Tovex]]. Including the weight of the sixteen 55-gallon [[Drum (container)|drums]] in which the explosive mixture was to be packed, the bomb would have a combined weight of about {{convert|7000|lb|kg}}.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=163–164}} McVeigh originally intended to use [[hydrazine]] rocket fuel, but it proved too expensive.<ref name="trutvImitatingTurner"/> McVeigh and his accomplices then attempted to purchase {{convert|55|U.S.gal|impgal L|adj=on}} drums of nitromethane at various [[NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series|NHRA Drag Racing Series]] events during the season. His first attempt was at the Sears Craftsman Nationals, held at [[Heartland Motorsports Park]] in [[Pauline, Kansas]]. World Wide Racing Fuels representative Steve Lesueur, one of three dealers of nitromethane, was at his unit when he noted a "young man in fatigues" wanted to purchase nitromethane and hydrazine. Another fuel salesman, Glynn Tipton, of VP Racing Fuels, testified on May 1, 1997, about McVeigh's attempts to buy nitromethane and hydrazine. After the event, Tipton informed Wade Gray of Texas Allied Chemical, a chemical agent for VP Racing Fuels, who informed Tipton of the explosiveness of a nitromethane and hydrazine mixture. McVeigh, using an assumed name, then called Tipton's office. Suspicious of his behavior, Tipton refused to sell McVeigh the fuel.<REF> [https://libertarianinstitute.org/documents/1997_05_01-McV_Trial_Transcript-2-afternoon.pdf Transcript of May 1, 1995 hearing]</REF>

The next round of the NHRA championship tour was the [[Chief Auto Parts]] Nationals at the [[Texas Motorplex]] in [[Ennis, Texas]], where McVeigh posed as a motorcycle racer and attempted to purchase nitromethane on the pretext that he and some fellow bikers needed it for racing. However, there were no nitromethane-powered motorcycles at the meeting, and he did not have an [[National Hot Rod Association|NHRA]] competition license. Lesueur again refused to sell McVeigh the fuel because he was suspicious of McVeigh's actions and attitudes, but VP Racing Fuels representative Tim Chambers sold McVeigh three barrels.<ref name="SisterFuel">{{cite news|last=Florio|first=Gwen|title=McVeigh's Sister Takes the Stand Against Him He Spoke of Moving From Antigovernment Talk to Action, She Testified, and of Transporting Explosives|work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|date=May 6, 1997}}</ref> Chambers questioned the purchase of three barrels, when typically no more than five gallons would be purchased by a Top Fuel Harley rider, and the class was not even raced that weekend.

McVeigh rented a storage space in which he stockpiled seven crates of {{convert|18|in|cm|adj=mid|-long}} Tovex "sausages", 80 spools of [[Shock tube detonator|shock tube]], and 500 electric [[blasting cap]]s, which he and Nichols had stolen from a Martin Marietta Aggregates quarry near [[Marion, Kansas]]. He decided not to steal any of the {{convert|40000|lb|kg}} of [[ANFO]] (ammonium nitrate/fuel oil) he found at the scene, as he did not believe it was powerful enough (he did obtain 17 bags of ANFO from another source for use in the bomb). McVeigh made a prototype bomb that was detonated in the desert to avoid detection.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=165}}

{{blockquote|Think about the people as if they were [[Stormtrooper (Star Wars)|storm troopers]] in ''[[Star Wars]]''. They may be individually innocent, but they are guilty because they work for the [[Galactic Empire (Star Wars)|Evil Empire]].|source=McVeigh, reflecting on the deaths of victims in the bombing{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=166}}}}

Later, speaking about the military mindset with which he went about the preparations, he said, "You learn how to handle killing in the military. I face the consequences, but you learn to accept it." He compared his actions to the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]], rather than the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], reasoning it was necessary to prevent more lives from being lost.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=166}}

[[File:Detailed map of Junction City, Kansas.png|thumb|A detailed map of [[Junction City, Kansas]] (city limits in dark yellow), the general location where McVeigh purchased the [[Ryder]] truck used for the bomb. [[Grandview Plaza, Kansas|Grandview Plaza]], the former location of the Dreamland Motel where McVeigh stayed, is just to the east of Junction City along [[Interstate 70]] (pink).]]
On April 14, 1995, McVeigh paid for a room at the Dreamland Motel in [[Junction City, Kansas]].{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=209}} The next day, he rented a 1993 [[Ford F-700]] truck from [[Ryder]] under the name Robert D. Kling, an alias he adopted because he knew an Army soldier named Kling with whom he shared physical characteristics, and because it reminded him of the [[Klingon]] warriors of ''[[Star Trek]]''.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=199, 209}}<ref>{{cite news |first=Peter |last=Chronis|title=Key a 'stroke of genius'|url=http://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/bomb216.htm|work=[[The Denver Post]]|access-date=November 8, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616073544/http://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/bomb216.htm|archive-date=June 16, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> On April 16, he and Nichols drove to Oklahoma City, where he parked a getaway car, a yellow 1977 [[Mercury Marquis]], several blocks from the Murrah Federal Building.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=212}} The nearby Regency Towers Apartments' lobby security camera recorded images of Nichols' blue 1984 GMC pickup truck on April 16.<ref name="RTASecurityCamera">{{cite news|first=Diana|last=Baldwin|title=FBI Will Follow Up Bomb Case Forever|url=http://newsok.com/article/2636391|publisher=News OK |date=December 13, 1998|access-date=September 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510090822/http://newsok.com/article/2636391|archive-date=May 10, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> After removing the car's license plate, he left a note covering the [[vehicle identification number]] (VIN) plate that read, "Not abandoned. Please do not tow. Will move by April 23. (Needs battery & cable)."<ref name="TimeWeight"/>{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=206–208}} Both men then returned to Kansas.

====Building the bomb====
[[File:Map of Kansas highlighting Geary County.svg|thumb|[[Geary County, Kansas]] (in red), where Geary Lake is located. This is where McVeigh and Nichols constructed the bomb.]]
On April 17–18, 1995, McVeigh and Nichols removed the bomb supplies from their storage unit in [[Herington, Kansas]], where Nichols lived, and loaded them into the Ryder rental truck.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=215}} They then drove to Geary Lake State Park, where they nailed boards onto the floor of the truck to hold the 13 barrels in place and mixed the chemicals using plastic buckets and a bathroom scale.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=216}} Each filled barrel weighed nearly {{convert|500|lb|kg}}.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=217–218}} McVeigh added more explosives to the driver's side of the cargo bay so he could ignite at close range with his [[Glock 21]] pistol in case the primary fuses failed.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=219}} During McVeigh's trial, Lori Fortier stated that McVeigh claimed to have arranged the barrels in order to form a [[shaped charge]].<ref name="McVeighBomb33"/> This was achieved by [[wikt:tamp|tamping]] (placing material against explosives opposite the target of the explosion) the aluminum side panel of the truck with bags of ammonium nitrate fertilizer to direct the blast laterally towards the building.<ref name="web.mst.edu">{{cite web |last1=Rogers |first1=J. David |last2=Koper |first2=Keith D. |title=Some Practical Applications of Forensic Seismology |url=http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge342/Forensic%20Seismology-revised.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029190716/http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge342/Forensic%20Seismology-revised.pdf |archive-date=October 29, 2013 |access-date=June 5, 2009 |publisher=[[Missouri University of Science and Technology]] |pages=25–35}}</ref> Specifically, McVeigh arranged the barrels in the shape of a backwards "J"; he later said that for pure destructive power, he would have put the barrels on the side of the cargo bay closest to the Murrah Building; however, such an unevenly distributed {{convert|7000|lb|kg|adj=on}} load might have broken an axle, flipped the truck over, or at least caused it to lean to one side, which could have drawn attention.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=217–218}} All or most of the barrels of [[ANNM]] (ammonium nitrate–nitromethane mixture) contained metal cylinders of [[acetylene]] intended to increase the fireball and the [[brisance]] of the explosion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://tech.mit.edu/V115/N21/mcveigh.21w.html|title=McVeigh Held in Conjunction with Oklahoma City Bombing|work=mit.edu|access-date=June 21, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205001924/http://tech.mit.edu/V115/N21/mcveigh.21w.html|archive-date=February 5, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

McVeigh then added a dual-fuse ignition system accessible from the truck's front cab. He drilled two holes in the cab of the truck under the seat, while two more holes were drilled in the body of the truck. One green cannon fuse was run through each hole into the cab. These time-delayed fuses led from the cab through plastic fish-tank tubing conduit to two sets of non-electric blasting caps which would ignite around {{convert|350|lb|kg}} of the high-grade explosives that McVeigh stole from a rock quarry.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=217–218}} The tubing was painted yellow to blend in with the truck's [[livery]], and duct-taped in place to the wall to make it harder to disable by yanking from the outside.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=217–218}} The fuses were set up to initiate, through shock tubes, the {{convert|350|lb|kg}} of Tovex Blastrite Gel sausages, which would in turn set off the configuration of barrels. Of the 13 filled barrels, nine contained ammonium nitrate and nitromethane, and four contained a mixture of the fertilizer and about {{convert|4|U.S.gal|impgal L}} of diesel fuel.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=217–218}} Additional materials and tools used for manufacturing the bomb were left in the truck to be destroyed in the blast.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=217–218}} After finishing the truck bomb, the two men separated; Nichols returned home to Herington and McVeigh traveled with the truck to Junction City. The bomb cost about {{US$|5000|1993|long=no|round=-3|about=yes}} to make.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://oklahoman.com/article/2580620/prosecutors-add-up-cost-of-bomb-5000 |title=Prosecutors Add up Cost of Bomb: $5,000 |date=May 12, 1997 |work=[[The Oklahoman]] |last1=Clay |first1=Nolan |last2=Owen |first2=Penny |location=[[Denver]] |access-date=2024-01-12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507173447/https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1997/05/12/prosecutors-add-up-cost-of-bomb-5000/62314685007/ |archive-date=2022-05-07}}</ref>

===Bombing===
[[File:Timothy McVeigh's movements during Oklahoma City bombing.svg|thumb|right|alt=Map showing the layout of downtown Oklahoma City near the bombed building. The map uses simple shapes to identify some notable nearby buildings and roads. A large circle covers half the map, illustrating the extent of damage from the bomb. A red path shows the path McVeigh took to get to the building with the Ryder truck, and a blue line shows his escape on foot.|McVeigh's movement in the Ryder truck (red dashed line) and escape on foot (blue dashed line) on the day of the bombing]]
McVeigh's original plan had been to detonate the bomb at 11&nbsp;a.m., but at dawn on April 19, 1995, he decided instead to destroy the building at 9&nbsp;a.m.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=220}} As he drove toward the Murrah Federal Building in the Ryder truck, McVeigh carried with him an envelope containing pages from ''[[The Turner Diaries]]''—a fictional account of [[White supremacy|white supremacists]] who ignite a revolution by blowing up the FBI headquarters at 9:15 one morning using a truck bomb.<ref name="TimeWeight"/> McVeigh wore a printed T-shirt with ''[[Sic semper tyrannis]]'' ("Thus always to tyrants")—what according to legend [[Marcus Junius Brutus|Brutus]] said during [[Assassination of Julius Caesar|the assassination]] of [[Julius Caesar]] and is also claimed to have been shouted by [[John Wilkes Booth]] immediately after [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|the assassination]] of [[Abraham Lincoln]]—and "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants" (from [[Thomas Jefferson]]).{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=226}} He also carried an envelope full of revolutionary materials that included a bumper sticker with the slogan, falsely attributed<ref name="SpuriousJefferson">{{cite web |url=https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/when-government-fears-people-there-liberty-spurious-quotation |title=When government fears the people, there is liberty... (Spurious Quotation) |website=Thomas Jefferson's Monticello |access-date=May 22, 2020 |quote=We have not found any evidence that Thomas Jefferson said or wrote, "When government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny," nor any evidence that he wrote its listed variations.}}</ref> to Thomas Jefferson, "When the government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny." Underneath, McVeigh had written, "Maybe now, there will be liberty!" with a hand-copied quote by [[John Locke]] asserting that a man has a right to kill someone who takes away his liberty.<ref name="TimeWeight"/>{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=228}}

McVeigh entered Oklahoma City at 8:50&nbsp;a.m.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=229}} At 8:57&nbsp;a.m., the Regency Towers Apartments' lobby security camera that had recorded Nichols's pickup truck three days earlier recorded the Ryder truck heading towards the Murrah Federal Building.<ref name="RTASecurityRyder">{{cite news|first=Talley |last=Tim |title=Man testifies axle of truck fell from sky after Oklahoma City bombing |url=http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20040415-1925-nicholstrial.html |work=U-T San Diego |date=April 15, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313182753/http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20040415-1925-nicholstrial.html |archive-date=March 13, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> At the same moment, McVeigh lit the five-minute fuse. Three minutes later, still a block away, he lit the two-minute fuse. He parked the Ryder truck in a drop-off zone situated under the building's day-care center, exited, and locked the truck. As he headed to his getaway vehicle, he dropped the keys to the truck a few blocks away.<ref name="HomelandStudyKeys1042">{{cite episode|title=A Study of the Oklahoma City Bombing|series=Homeland Security Television|minutes=10:42|airdate=2006}}</ref>

[[File:Murrah Building - Aerial.jpg|left|thumb|alt=An overhead view shows the Alfred P. Murrah building, half of it destroyed from the bomb's blast. Near the building are various rescue vehicles and cranes. Some damage is visible to nearby buildings.|An aerial view, looking from the north, of the destruction]]

At 9:02&nbsp;a.m. (14:02 [[Coordinated Universal Time|UTC]]), the Ryder truck, containing over {{convert|4800|lb|kg}}{{sfn|Irving|1995|p=76}} of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, nitromethane, and diesel fuel mixture, detonated in front of the north side of the nine-story Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.<ref name="McVeighBomb33">{{cite news |first=Jo |last=Thomas |title=For First Time, Woman Says McVeigh Told of Bomb Plan |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/30/us/for-first-time-woman-says-mcveigh-told-of-bomb-plan.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=April 30, 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425082855/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/04/30/us/for-first-time-woman-says-mcveigh-told-of-bomb-plan.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all |archive-date=April 25, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In total, 168 people were killed and hundreds more injured. One-third of the building was destroyed by the explosion,<ref name="Terrorism Info">{{cite web|title=The Oklahoma Department of Civil Emergency Management After Action Report|url=http://www.ok.gov/OEM/documents/Bombing%20After%20Action%20Report.pdf|page=77|publisher=Department of Central Services Central Printing Division|year=1996|access-date=June 26, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140121223730/http://www.ok.gov/OEM/documents/Bombing%20After%20Action%20Report.pdf|archive-date=January 21, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> which created a {{convert|30|ft|m|adj=mid|-wide}}, {{convert|8|ft|m|adj=mid|-deep}} crater on NW 5th Street next to the building.<ref name="FinalReport">{{cite book|author=City of Oklahoma City Document Management|title=Final Report|pages=10–12|isbn=978-0-87939-130-0|year=1996|publisher=Fire Protection Publications, Oklahoma State U. }}</ref> The blast destroyed or damaged 324 buildings within a four-block radius, and shattered glass in 258 nearby buildings.<ref name="TI3">{{cite book |title=Oklahoma City Police Department Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building Bombing After Action Report |publisher=Terrorism Info |url=http://www.terrorisminfo.mipt.org/pdf/okcfr_App_C.pdf |page=58 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070703233435/http://www.terrorisminfo.mipt.org/pdf/okcfr_App_C.pdf|archive-date=July 3, 2007}}</ref><ref name="Safety">{{cite web |title=Case Study 30: Preventing glass from becoming a lethal weapon |publisher=Safety Solutions Online |url=http://www.safetysolutions.net.au/safety/ss/ss_30.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070213112339/http://www.safetysolutions.net.au/safety/ss/ss_30.asp |archive-date=February 13, 2007 |access-date=February 3, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The broken glass alone accounted for five percent of the death total and 69 percent of the injuries outside the Murrah Federal Building.<ref name="Safety"/> The blast destroyed or burned 86 cars around the site.<ref name="TI3"/>{{sfn|Irving|1995|p=52}} The destruction of the buildings left several hundred people homeless and shut down several offices in downtown Oklahoma City.<ref name="USDJ"/> The explosion was estimated to have caused at least $652 million worth of damage.{{sfn|Hewitt|2003|p=106}}

The effects of the blast were equivalent to over {{convert|5000|lb|kg}} of [[TNT]],<ref name="web.mst.edu"/>{{sfn|Mlakar Sr.|Corley|Sozen|Thornton|1998|pp=113-119}} and could be heard and felt up to {{convert|55|mi|km}} away.<ref name="USDJ">{{cite web|title=Responding to Terrorism Victims: Oklahoma City and Beyond: Chapter I, Bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building|work=[[U.S. Department of Justice]] |url=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/infores/respterrorism/chap1.html |date=October 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101105193322/http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov//ovc/publications/infores/respterrorism/chap2.html |archive-date=November 5, 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Seismometer]]s at the [[Science Museum Oklahoma|Omniplex Science Museum]] in Oklahoma City, {{convert|4.3|mi|km}} away, and in [[Norman, Oklahoma]], {{convert|16.1|mi|km}} away, recorded the blast as measuring approximately 3.0 on the [[Richter magnitude scale]].{{sfn|Holzer|Fletcher|Fuis|Ryberg|1996|pp=393, 396-397}}

The collapse of the northern half of the building took roughly seven seconds. As the truck exploded, it first destroyed the column next to it, designated as G20, and shattered the entire glass facade of the building. The shockwave of the explosion forced the lower floors upwards, before the fourth and fifth floors collapsed onto the third floor, which housed a transfer beam that ran the length of the building and was being supported by four pillars below, as well as supporting the pillars that hold the upper floors. The added weight meant that the third floor gave way along with the transfer beam, which in turn caused the collapse of the building.<ref name="Seconds">"The Bomb in Oklahoma City" ("Oklahoma City"). ''[[Seconds From Disaster]]''.</ref>

===Arrests===
Initially, the FBI had three hypotheses about responsibility for the bombing: international terrorists, possibly the same group that had carried out the [[1993 World Trade Center bombing|World Trade Center bombing]]; a [[drug cartel]], carrying out an act of vengeance against DEA agents in the building's DEA office; and anti-government radicals attempting to start a rebellion against the federal government.{{sfn|Hamm|1997|pp=62-63}}

[[File:Aa McVeigh sketch and pic.jpg|thumb|left|alt=An FBI sketch is shown on the left of the image on the suspected bomber looking forward, and on the right, an image of McVeigh looking at the camera. Two brown bars are visible on the top and bottom of the comparison image.|FBI sketch (left) and McVeigh (right)]]
McVeigh was arrested within 90&nbsp;minutes of the explosion,<ref name="ISOCB">{{cite news |url=http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/crime/national/1995/oklahoma_city_bombing/ok.html |title=Library Factfiles: The Oklahoma City Bombing |work=[[The Indianapolis Star]] |date=August 9, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428230852/http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/crime/national/1995/oklahoma_city_bombing/ok.html |archive-date=April 28, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 31, 2006 }}</ref> as he was traveling north on [[Interstate 35 in Oklahoma|Interstate 35]] near [[Perry, Oklahoma|Perry]] in [[Noble County, Oklahoma|Noble County]], Oklahoma. [[Oklahoma Highway Patrol|Oklahoma State Trooper]] Charlie Hanger stopped McVeigh for driving his yellow 1977 [[Mercury Marquis]] without a license plate, and arrested him for having a concealed weapon.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36557212 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012173827/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36557212 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 12, 2013 |title=Timothy McVeigh is apprehended |publisher=NBC News Report |date=April 22, 1995 |format=Video, 3 minutes}}</ref><ref name="LAW">{{cite news|last=Crogan |first=Jim |title=Secrets of Timothy McVeigh |work=[[LA Weekly]] |url=http://www.laweekly.com/2004-03-25/news/secrets-of-timothy-mcveigh/ |date=March 24, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525202850/http://www.laweekly.com/2004-03-25/news/secrets-of-timothy-mcveigh/ |archive-date=May 25, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> For his home address, McVeigh falsely claimed he resided at Terry Nichols's brother James's house in Michigan.<ref name="JamesTerryN">{{Cite news |last=Zucchino |first=David |date=1995-05-14 |title=Tracing a trail to destruction |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-tracing-a-trai/169464509/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |page=E1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> After booking McVeigh into jail, Trooper Hanger searched his patrol car and found a business card which had been concealed by McVeigh after being handcuffed.<ref name="TrooperShares">{{cite news |last=Morava |first=Kim |title=Trooper who arrested Timothy McVeigh shares story |work=[[Lerner Newspapers|Shawnee News-Star]] |url=http://www.news-star.com/localnews/x844642367/Trooper-who-arrested-Timothy-McVeigh-shares-story |date=February 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609033905/http://www.news-star.com/localnews/x844642367/Trooper-who-arrested-Timothy-McVeigh-shares-story |archive-date=June 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=April 18, 2010 }}</ref> Written on the back of the card, which was from a [[military surplus store]] in [[Antigo, Wisconsin]], were the words "TNT at $5 a stick. Need more." The card was later used as evidence during McVeigh's trial.<ref name="BusinessCard">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Turning to evidence: axle and fingerprints|work=[[Kingman Daily Miner]]|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=J3kNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5576,5737178&dq=mcveigh+business+card+fingerprint|date=April 21, 1997|access-date=June 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125212943/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=J3kNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0VIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5576,5737178&dq=mcveigh+business+card+fingerprint|archive-date=November 25, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/article/wausau-daily-herald/183906493/ "Ryder truck axle, prints introduced at bombing trial"], [[Associated Press]], via the ''[[Wausau Daily Herald]]'', April 29, 1997, page 10A.</ref>

While investigating the [[Vehicle Identification Number|VIN]] on an axle of the truck used in the explosion and the remnants of the license plate, federal agents were able to link the truck to a specific Ryder rental agency in Junction City, Kansas. Using a sketch created with the assistance of Eldon Elliot, owner of the agency, the agents were able to implicate McVeigh in the bombing.{{sfn|Serano|1998|pp=139-141}}<ref name="TimeWeight"/>{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=65}} McVeigh was also identified by Lea McGown of the Dreamland Motel, who remembered him parking a large yellow Ryder truck in the lot; McVeigh had signed in under his real name at the motel, using an address that matched the one on his forged license and the charge sheet at the Perry Police Station.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ottley |first=Ted |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/snag_2.html |title=License Tag Snag |publisher=[[truTV]] |date=April 14, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829095824/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/snag_2.html |archive-date=August 29, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="TimeWeight"/> Before signing his real name at the motel, McVeigh had used false names for his transactions. McGown noted, "People are so used to signing their own name that when they go to sign a phony name, they almost always go to write, and then look up for a moment as if to remember the new name they want to use. That's what [McVeigh] did, and when he looked up I started talking to him, and it threw him."<ref name="TimeWeight"/>

[[File:TimothyMcVeighPerryOKApr2195.jpg|thumb|right|alt=McVeigh is located at the center of the image in a dark hallway wearing an orange jumpsuit and looking to the side. Around him are several FBI agents and police officers.|McVeigh about to exit the Perry, Oklahoma, courthouse on April 21, 1995]]
After an April 21, 1995, court hearing on the gun charges, but before McVeigh's release, federal agents took him into custody as they continued their investigation into the bombing.<ref name="TimeWeight"/> Rather than talk to investigators about the bombing, McVeigh demanded an attorney. Having been tipped off by the arrival of police and helicopters that a bombing suspect was inside, a restless crowd began to gather outside the jail. McVeigh's requests for a bulletproof vest or transport by helicopter were denied,<ref name="OttleyInnocence">{{cite news|last=Ottley |first=Ted |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/lost_3.html |title=Innocence Lost |publisher=truTV |date=April 14, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112165510/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/lost_3.html |archive-date=January 12, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> but authorities did use a helicopter to transport him from Perry to Oklahoma City.<ref name="Charged">[http://archive.newsok.com/Default/Skins/Oklahoman/Client.asp?skin=Oklahoman&AW=1391108403156&AppName=2 April 22, 1995 Bomb Suspect Charged], ''The Oklahoman'', April 22, 1995. (accessed January 30, 2014, Registration Required)</ref>

Federal agents obtained a [[search warrant|warrant]] to search the house of McVeigh's father, Bill, after which they broke down the door and wired the house and telephone with [[listening device]]s.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=270}} FBI investigators used the information gained, along with the fake address McVeigh had been using, to begin their search for the Nichols brothers, Terry and James.<ref name="JamesTerryN"/> On April 21, 1995, Terry Nichols learned that he was being hunted, and turned himself in.<ref name="TerrorFamily">{{cite news|last=Witkin |first=Gordon |author2=Karen Roebuck |url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/971006/archive_007972.htm |title=Terrorist or Family Man? Terry Nichols goes on trial for the Oklahoma City bombing |work=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |date=September 28, 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018010025/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/971006/archive_007972.htm |archive-date=October 18, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Investigators discovered incriminating evidence at his home: ammonium nitrate and blasting caps, the electric drill used to drill out the locks at the quarry, books on bomb-making, a copy of ''[[Hunter (Pierce novel)|Hunter]]'' (a 1989 novel by [[William Luther Pierce]], the founder and chairman of the [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]], a [[white nationalist]] group) and a hand-drawn map of downtown Oklahoma City, on which the Murrah Building and the spot where McVeigh's getaway car was hidden were marked.<ref name="HomelandStudyEpisode1107">{{cite episode|title=A Study of the Oklahoma City Bombing|series=Homeland Security Television|minutes=11:07|airdate=2006}}</ref>{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=274}} After a nine-hour interrogation, Terry Nichols was held in federal custody until his trial.<ref name="CTVN2">{{cite web|title=The Oklahoma City Bombing Case: The Second Trial|publisher=CourtTV News|url=http://www.courttv.com/archive/casefiles/oklahoma/reports/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213083520/http://www.courttv.com/archive/casefiles/oklahoma/reports/index.html|archive-date=February 13, 2008}}</ref> On April 25, 1995, James Nichols was also arrested, but he was released after 32&nbsp;days due to lack of evidence.<ref name="James32days">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-02-20-moore-nichols_x.htm?POE=LIFISVA |title=Michael Moore didn't libel bomber's brother, court says |work=USA Today |date=February 20, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224065552/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-02-20-moore-nichols_x.htm?POE=LIFISVA |archive-date=February 24, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> McVeigh's sister Jennifer was accused of illegally mailing ammunition to McVeigh,<ref name="JenniferBullets">{{Cite news |last1=Michel |first1=Lou |last2=Schulman |first2=Susan |date=1995-04-29 |title=McVeigh Tried to Have Ammo Mailed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-mcveigh-tried-to-have-a/169464576/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[The Buffalo News]] |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/169464576/ A1], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/169464621/ A5] |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> but she was granted immunity in exchange for testifying against him.<ref name="JenniferImmunity">{{cite magazine |last=Church |first=George J. |author2=Patrick E. Cole |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983291-1,00.html |title=The Matter of Tim McVeigh |magazine=Time |page=2 |date=August 14, 1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105071748/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983291-1,00.html |archive-date=November 5, 2012 |url-status=dead |accessdate=June 27, 2009 }}</ref>

A Jordanian-American man traveling from his home in Oklahoma City to visit family in Jordan on April 19, 1995, was detained and questioned by the FBI at the airport. Several Arab-American groups criticized the FBI for [[racial profiling]], and the subsequent media coverage for publicizing the man's name.<ref name="AJR">{{cite news|last=Fuchs |first=Penny Bender |title=Jumping to Conclusions in Oklahoma City? |work=[[American Journalism Review]] |date=June 1995 |url=http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=1980 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205081115/http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=1980 |archive-date=December 5, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=63}} Attorney General Reno denied claims that the federal government relied on racial profiling, while FBI director [[Louis J. Freeh]] told a press conference that the man was never a suspect, and was instead treated as a "witness" to the Oklahoma City bombing, who assisted the government's investigation.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kempster|first=Norman|title=TERROR IN OKLAHOMA CITY : Man Returned to United States Is Not a Suspect|newspaper=[[LA Times]]|date=April 1995|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-22-mn-57461-story.html}}</ref>

==Casualties==
[[File:MurrahBuildingInjuriesbyFloorOCB.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Diagram of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building with different color triangles on each floor. Some floors have more triangles than others, as well as different color ones. The title of the image is located on top, while a legend explaining the meaning of the different color triangles is on the bottom right.|Floor-by-floor diagram detailing the location of the victims in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.]]
An estimated 650 people were inside the building when the bomb exploded.{{sfn|Figley|2002|p=61}} By the end of the day, 14 adults and six children were confirmed dead, and over 100 injured.<ref name="Jennings 1995-04-19">{{cite episode|title=April&nbsp;19, 1995|series=[[World News Tonight With Peter Jennings#World News Tonight with Peter Jennings: 1983–2005|World News Tonight With Peter Jennings]]|season=31|network=[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]|airdate=April 19, 1995}}</ref> The toll eventually reached 167 confirmed dead, not including an unmatched left leg that could have belonged to an unidentified 168th victim.<ref name="LeftLeg">{{cite news |last=Thomas |first=Jo |date=May 23, 1997 |title=McVeigh Defense Team Suggests Real Bomber Was Killed in Blast |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/23/us/mcveigh-defense-team-suggests-real-bomber-was-killed-in-blast.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421215211/https://www.nytimes.com/1997/05/23/us/mcveigh-defense-team-suggests-real-bomber-was-killed-in-blast.html |archive-date=2010-04-21 |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref name="LakeshaLeg">{{cite news|last=Johnston |first=David |title=Leg in the Oklahoma City Rubble Was That of a Black Woman |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/31/us/leg-in-the-oklahoma-city-rubble-was-that-of-a-black-woman.html |date=August 31, 1995 |work=[[The New York Times]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090627135820/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/31/us/leg-in-the-oklahoma-city-rubble-was-that-of-a-black-woman.html |archive-date=June 27, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Most of the deaths resulted from the collapse of the building, rather than the bomb blast itself.<ref name="GSACollapse">{{cite news|author=United States Department of Defense|title=Design of Buildings to Resist Progressive Collapse|date=January 25, 2005|url=http://www.gsa.gov/graphics/pbs/Standards_Design_of_Buildings_to_Resist_Progressive_Collapse.pdf|publisher=[[General Services Administration]]|page=14|access-date=June 5, 2009|author-link=United States Department of Defense|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224100155/http://www.gsa.gov/graphics/pbs/Standards_Design_of_Buildings_to_Resist_Progressive_Collapse.pdf|archive-date=December 24, 2013}}</ref> Those killed included 163 who were in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, one person in the Athenian Building, one woman in a parking lot across the street, and a man and woman in the Oklahoma Water Resources building.<ref name="CasualtyLocation" /> A rescue worker, Rebecca Anderson, was indirectly killed after the bombing, she was struck on the head by falling debris during rescue efforts, and is not counted in the direct death toll of the bombing.<ref name="CasualtyLocation">{{cite journal |last1=Mallonee |first1=Sue |last2=Shariat |first2=Sheryll |last3=Stennies |first3=Gail |last4=Waxweiler |first4=Rick |last5=Hogan |first5=David |last6=Jordan |first6=Fred |year=1996 |title=Physical Injuries and Fatalities Resulting From the Oklahoma City Bombing |journal=[[Journal of the American Medical Association]] |volume=276 |issue=5 |pages=382–387 |doi=10.1001/jama.276.5.382 |pmid=8683816}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite report |url=https://oklahoma.gov/content/dam/ok/en/health/health2/documents/okc-bombing.pdf |title=Oklahoma City Bombing Injuries |last1=Shariat |first1=Sheryll |last2=Mallonee |first2=Sue |date=December 1998 |publisher=Injury Prevention Service, Oklahoma State Department of Health |pages=2–3 |language=en |last3=Stidham |first3=Shelli Stephens |author-link= |access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-03-10 |title=Rebecca (Needham) Anderson |url=https://memorialmuseum.com/experience/people/rebecca-needham-anderson/ |access-date=2025-10-30 |website=Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum |language=en}}</ref>

The victims ranged in age from three months to 73 years and included three pregnant women.<ref name="VictimsList">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press |title=Victims of the Oklahoma City bombing |date=June 20, 2001 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001-06-11-mcveigh-victims.htm |work=USA Today |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120215065450/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2001-06-11-mcveigh-victims.htm |archive-date=February 15, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="CasualtyLocation"/> Of the dead, 108 worked for the Federal government: [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] (5); [[United States Secret Service|Secret Service]] (6); [[United States Department of Housing and Urban Development|Department of Housing and Urban Development]] (35); [[United States Department of Agriculture|Department of Agriculture]] (7); Customs Office (2); [[Department of transportation|Department of Transportation]]/[[Federal Highway Administration]] (11); [[General Services Administration]] (2); and the [[Social Security Administration]] (40).{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=234}} Eight of the federal government victims were federal law enforcement agents. Of those law enforcement agents, four were members of the [[United States Secret Service|U.S. Secret Service]]; two were members of the [[United States Customs Service|U.S. Customs Service]]; one was a member of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and one was a member of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Six of the victims were [[United States Armed Forces|U.S. military]] personnel; two were members of the [[United States Army|U.S. Army]]; two were members of the [[United States Air Force|U.S. Air Force]], and two were members of the [[United States Marine Corps|U.S. Marine Corps]].<ref name="CasualtyLocation"/><ref>{{subscription required}}{{cite news |author=Casteel |first=Chris |date=April 29, 2015 |title=Oklahoma U.S. Rep. Steve Russell seeks Purple Hearts for six Oklahoma City bombing victims |url=http://newsok.com/oklahoma-u.s.-rep.-steve-russell-seeks-purple-hearts-for-six-oklahoma-city-bombing-victims/article/5414598 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624094904/http://newsok.com/oklahoma-u.s.-rep.-steve-russell-seeks-purple-hearts-for-six-oklahoma-city-bombing-victims/article/5414598 |archive-date=June 24, 2015 |access-date=June 24, 2015 |newspaper=[[The Oklahoman]]}}</ref> The victims also included 19 children, of whom 15 were in the America's Kids Day Care Center.<ref name="WAPo.com">{{cite news|last=Romano |first=Lois |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/stories/nichols1230.htm |title=Prosecutors Seek Death For Nichols |date=December 30, 1997 |page=A3 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130153726/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/stories/nichols1230.htm |archive-date=November 30, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The bodies of the 168&nbsp;victims were identified at a temporary morgue set up at the scene.{{sfn|Irving|1995|p=82}} A team of 24 identified the victims using full-body X-rays, dental examinations, fingerprinting, blood tests, and [[Genetic fingerprinting|DNA testing]].{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=234}}{{sfn|Irving|1995|pp=96-97}}{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=73}} More than 680 people were injured.<ref name=":0" /> The majority of the injuries were [[Abrasion (medical)|abrasions]], severe burns, and [[bone fracture]]s.<ref name="OSDH">{{cite web |last1=Shariat |first1=Sheryll |last2=Mallonee |first2=Sue |last3=Stephens-Stidham |first3=Shelli |date=December 1998 |title=Oklahoma City Bombing Injuries |url=http://www.ok.gov/health2/documents/OKC_Bombing.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140518063448/http://www.ok.gov/health2/documents/OKC_Bombing.pdf |archive-date=May 18, 2014 |access-date=August 9, 2014 |publisher=Injury Prevention Service, Oklahoma State Department of Health}} Shariat et al. count only 167 killed "as a direct result of the bombing or during escape". They did not include Rebecca Needham Anderson, who&nbsp;– having seen the bombing on TV in [[Midwest City, Oklahoma]]&nbsp;– came to the rescue and was killed by a piece of falling debris. [http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20105677,00.html "The Final Sacrifice of a Gallant Nurse"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140810073428/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20105677,00.html|date=August 10, 2014}}</ref>

McVeigh later acknowledged the casualties, saying, "I didn't define the rules of engagement in this conflict. The rules, if not written down, are defined by the aggressor. It was brutal, no holds barred. Women and kids were killed at Waco and Ruby Ridge. You put back in [the government's] faces exactly what they're giving out." He later stated, "I wanted the government to hurt like the people of Waco and Ruby Ridge had."{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=225}}

==Response and relief==

===Rescue efforts===
[[File:Oklahomacitybombing-DF-ST-96-00588.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Several Air Force members and firefighters are clearing debris from the damaged building. Several yellow buckets are visible, which are being used to hold the debris. The destruction of the bombing is visible behind the rescuers.|U.S. Air Force personnel and firefighters removing rubble in the rescue attempt]]
At 9:03&nbsp;a.m., the first of over 1,800 [[911 (emergency telephone number)|911]] calls related to the bombing were received by [[Emergency Medical Services Authority]] (EMSA).<ref name="DPost">{{cite news|last=Eddy |first=Mark |title=April&nbsp;19, 1995 |work=[[The Denver Post]] |url=http://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/his22.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928173328/http://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/his22.htm |archive-date=September 28, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> By that time, EMSA ambulances, police, and firefighters had heard the blast and were already headed to the scene.<ref name="TM">{{cite web|title=The Oklahoma City Bombing: Immediate Response Authority and Other Military Assistance to Civil Authority (MACA) |work=The Army Lawyer |date=July 1997 |last=Winthrop |first=Jim |url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=189854 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927182023/https://www.ncjrs.gov/App/Publications/abstract.aspx?ID=189854 |archive-date=September 27, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Nearby civilians, who had also witnessed or heard the blast, arrived to assist the victims and emergency workers.<ref name="Terrorism Info" /> Within 23 minutes of the bombing, the State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) was set up, consisting of representatives from the state departments of public safety, human services, military, health, and education. Assisting the SEOC were agencies including the [[National Weather Service (United States)|National Weather Service]], the [[United States Air Force|Air Force]], the [[Civil Air Patrol]], and the [[American Red Cross]].<ref name="USDJ2">{{cite web|title=Responding to Terrorism Victims: Oklahoma City and Beyond: Chapter II: The Immediate Crisis Response|work=[[U.S. Department of Justice]]|url=http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/infores/respterrorism/chap2.html|date=October 2000|access-date=March 24, 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425120535/http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/infores/respterrorism/chap2.html|archive-date=April 25, 2009}}</ref> Immediate assistance also came from 465&nbsp;members of the [[Oklahoma National Guard]], who arrived within the hour to provide security, and from members of the Department of Civil Emergency Management.<ref name="TM"/> [[Terrance Yeakey]] and Jim Ramsey, from the Oklahoma City Police Department, were among the first officers to arrive at the site.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/3ebc3988a035d212f7aa9ed481da2c4d|title=Reluctant Hero of the Oklahoma City Bombing Commits Suicide|website=AP NEWS|access-date=March 18, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|agency=AP|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/11/us/a-policeman-who-rescued-4-in-bombing-kills-himself.html|title=A Policeman Who Rescued 4 in Bombing Kills Himself|date=May 11, 1996|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=March 18, 2020|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/careers/chi-0504180178apr18-story.html|title=Jim Ramsey: Tragedy haunts the heroes|website=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=November 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107102531/https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/careers/chi-0504180178apr18-story.html|access-date=March 18, 2020|archive-date=November 7, 2018}}</ref>

The EMS command post was set up almost immediately following the attack and oversaw triage, treatment, transportation, and decontamination. A simple plan/objective was established: treatment and transportation of the injured was to be done as quickly as possible, supplies and personnel to handle a large number of patients was needed immediately, the dead needed to be moved to a temporary morgue until they could be transferred to the coroner's office, and measures for a long-term medical operation needed to be established.<ref name="Davis 1995 98–107">{{cite journal|last=Davis|first=G|title=Victims by the Hundreds: EMS Response and Command|journal=Fire Engineering|year=1995|volume=148|issue=10|pages=98–107|url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9511202906|access-date=November 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510130659/http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=4&hid=120&sid=addefe36-e54d-4fd6-b9b5-8e7d53deac96%40sessionmgr110&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=a9h&AN=9511202906|archive-date=May 10, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The triage center was set up near the Murrah Building and all the wounded were directed there. Two hundred and ten patients were transported from the primary triage center to nearby hospitals within the first couple of hours following the bombing.<ref name="Davis 1995 98–107"/>

Within the first hour, 50&nbsp;people were rescued from the Murrah Federal Building.{{sfn|Giordano|2003|p=36}} The injured were sent to every hospital in the area. The day of the bombing, 153 people were treated at St. Anthony Hospital, eight blocks from the blast, over 70 people were treated at Presbyterian Hospital, 41 people were treated at University Hospital, and 18 people were treated at Children's Hospital.{{sfn|Irving|1995|p=68}} Temporary silences were observed at the blast site so that sensitive listening devices capable of detecting human heartbeats could be used to locate survivors. In some cases, limbs had to be amputated without anesthetics (avoided because of the potential to induce shock) in order to free those trapped under rubble.<ref name="OttleyBadDay">{{cite news|last=Ottley |first=Ted |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime//serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/dawning_1.html |title=The Oklahoma City Bombing: Bad Day Dawning |publisher=truTV |date=April 14, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427025830/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/dawning_1.html |archive-date=April 27, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The scene had to be periodically evacuated as the police received tips claiming that other bombs had been planted in the building.<ref name="OttleyInnocence"/>

At 10:28&nbsp;a.m., rescuers found what they believed to be a second bomb. Some rescue workers refused to leave until police ordered the evacuation of a four-block area around the site.<ref name="DPost"/>{{sfn|Irving|1995|p=78}} The device was determined to be a three-foot (.9-m) long [[BGM-71 TOW|TOW missile]] used in the training of federal agents and bomb-sniffing dogs;<ref name="TI3"/><ref name="TOWMissile">{{cite news|last=Solomon|first=John|title=Gov't had missile in Murrah Building|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-67753739.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104000502/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-67753739.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 4, 2012|url-access=registration|date=September 26, 2002|agency=Associated Press|access-date=June 5, 2009}}</ref> although inert, it had been marked "live" in order to mislead arms traffickers in a planned law enforcement sting.<ref name="TOWMissile"/> On examination the missile was determined to be inert, and relief efforts resumed 45&nbsp;minutes later.<ref name="TOWMissile"/><ref name="TOWBoom">{{cite news |last=Talley |first=Tim |title=Nichols Jury Hears Recording of Bombing |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-93750984.html |date=April 23, 2004 |via=[[HighBeam Research]] |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105164059/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-93750984.html |archive-date=November 5, 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=February 27, 2011 }}</ref> The last survivor, a 15-year-old girl found under the base of the collapsed building, was rescued at around 7&nbsp;p.m.<ref name="ChillMiracle">{{cite news |last1=Driver |first1=Don |last2=Sabota |first2=Marty |date=April 23, 1995 |title=Rescuers search through chill for a miracle |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SAEC&p_theme=saec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAFE756F74387D9&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |url-access=registration |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609012514/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SAEC&p_theme=saec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAFE756F74387D9&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM |archive-date=June 9, 2011 |access-date=April 7, 2010 |work=[[San Antonio Express-News]]}}</ref>

In the days following the blast, over 12,000&nbsp;people participated in relief and rescue operations. The [[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] (FEMA) activated 11 of its [[FEMA Urban Search and Rescue Task Force|Urban Search and Rescue Task Forces]], bringing in 665&nbsp;rescue workers.<ref name="USDJ2"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mipt.org/pdf/okcfr_App_E.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927113515/http://www.mipt.org/pdf/okcfr_App_E.pdf |archive-date=September 27, 2006 |title=FEMA Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Summaries |publisher=[[Federal Emergency Management Agency]] |page=64}}</ref> One nurse was killed in the rescue attempt after she was hit on the head by debris, and 26&nbsp;other rescuers were hospitalized because of various injuries.{{sfn|Figley|2002|p=62}} Twenty-four [[Police dog|K-9]] units and out-of-state dogs were brought in to search for survivors and bodies in the building debris.<ref name="TI3"/>{{sfn|Irving|1995|p=103}}{{sfn|Giordano|2003|p=34}} In an effort to recover additional bodies, {{convert|100|to|350|ST|MT|abbr=on}} of rubble were removed from the site each day from April 24 to 29.{{sfn|Irving|1995|p=86}}

[[File:MurrahBuildingDemolitionMay1995.jpg|thumb|right|alt=The Alfred P. Murrah building is being demolished, and the image shows the building in mid-collapse. A Ryder truck is visible at the bottom left, and the Regency Towers building can be seen in the background at the far right. The demolition has created large clouds of dust that take up a portion of the image.|The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building being demolished on May 23, 1995, over a month after the incident. The bomb used in the attack was housed in a Ryder truck similar to the one visible in the lower left of the photograph.]]
Rescue and recovery efforts were concluded at 12:05&nbsp;a.m. on May 5, by which time the bodies of all but three of the victims had been recovered.<ref name="Terrorism Info"/> For safety reasons, the building was initially slated to be demolished shortly afterward. McVeigh's attorney, [[Stephen Jones (attorney)|Stephen Jones]], filed a motion to delay the demolition until the defense team could examine the site in preparation for the trial.{{sfn|Linenthal|2003|p=140}} At 7:02&nbsp;a.m. on May 23, more than a month after the bombing, the Murrah Federal building was demolished.<ref name="Terrorism Info"/>{{sfn|Stickney|1996|p=234}} The EMS Command Center remained active and was staffed 24 hours a day until the demolition.<ref name="Davis 1995 98–107"/> The final three bodies to be recovered were those of two credit union employees and a customer.<ref name="CNNI">{{cite news|last=Candiotti|first=Susan|title=Federal Building Demolition|publisher=[[CNN]]|url=http://www.cnn.com/US/OKC/facts/Cleanup/Implosion5-23/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308170052/http://www.cnn.com/US/OKC/facts/Cleanup/Implosion5-23/index.html|archive-date=March 8, 2008|date=May 23, 1995}}</ref> For several days after the building's demolition, trucks hauled away {{convert|800|ST|MT|abbr=on}} of debris a day from the site. Some of the debris was used as evidence in the conspirators' trials, incorporated into memorials, donated to local schools, or sold to raise funds for relief efforts.{{sfn|Linenthal|2003|pp=142-144}}

===Humanitarian aid===
The national humanitarian response was immediate, and in some cases even overwhelming. Large numbers of items such as wheelbarrows, bottled water, helmet lights, knee pads, rain gear, and even football helmets were donated.<ref name="USDJ2"/>{{sfn|Hamm|1997|pp=62-63}} The sheer quantity of such donations caused logistical and inventory control problems until drop-off centers were set up to accept and sort the goods.<ref name="Terrorism Info"/> The Oklahoma Restaurant Association, which was holding a trade show in the city, assisted rescue workers by providing 15,000 to 20,000 meals over ten days.{{sfn|Linenthal|2003|p=47}}

[[The Salvation Army]] served over 100,000 meals and provided over 100,000 ponchos, gloves, hard hats, and knee pads to rescue workers.<ref>{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|url=https://www.deseret.com/1995/6/5/19216327/warm-blast-of-generosity-overwhelms-oklahomans/|title=WARM BLAST OF GENEROSITY OVERWHELMS OKLAHOMANS|work=[[Deseret News|Desert News]]|date=June 5, 1995}}</ref> Local residents and those from further afield responded to the requests for [[blood donation]]s.{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=60}}<ref name="SDBB">{{cite web |title=San Diego Blood Bank History |publisher=San Diego Blood Bank |url=http://www.sandiegobloodbank.org/about_us/history.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110302080328/http://www.sandiegobloodbank.org/about_us/history.php |archive-date=March 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=February 6, 2007 }}</ref> Of the over 9,000 units of blood donated, 131 were used; the rest were stored in [[blood bank]]s.<ref name="GAO">{{cite web|last=Heinrich|first=Janet|title=Maintaining an Adequate Blood Supply Is Key to Emergency Preparedness|publisher=[[Government Accountability Office]]|url=http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d021095t.pdf|date=September 10, 2002|access-date=September 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224105302/http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d021095t.pdf|archive-date=December 24, 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Federal and state government aid===
[[File:President Bill Clinton's Eulogy for the Bombing Victims in Oklahoma City 1995.png|thumb|right|alt=A document showing Bill Clinton's message to victims. Some of the typed text has been scribbled out and replaced with hand-written text.|[[Bill Clinton]]'s notes for address to the Oklahoma City bombing victims on April 23, 1995]]
At 9:45&nbsp;a.m., Governor [[Frank Keating]] declared a [[state of emergency]] and ordered all non-essential workers in the Oklahoma City area to be released from their duties for their safety.<ref name="Terrorism Info"/> President [[Bill Clinton]] learned about the bombing at around 9:30&nbsp;a.m. while he was meeting with Turkish Prime Minister [[Tansu Çiller]] at the White House.<ref name="Jennings 1995-04-19"/>{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=46}} Before addressing the nation, President Clinton considered grounding all planes in the Oklahoma City area to prevent the bombers from escaping by air, but decided against it.{{sfn|Hamm|1997|pp=57-58}} At 4&nbsp;p.m., President Clinton declared a federal emergency in Oklahoma City<ref name="TM"/> and spoke to the nation:<ref name="Jennings 1995-04-19"/>

{{Blockquote|The bombing in Oklahoma City was an attack on innocent children and defenseless citizens. It was an act of cowardice and it was evil. The United States will not tolerate it, and I will not allow the people of this country to be intimidated by evil cowards.}}

He ordered that flags for all federal buildings be flown at [[half-staff]] for 30 days in remembrance of the victims.{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=71}} Four days later, on April 23, 1995, Clinton spoke from Oklahoma City.<ref name="ClintonApril23Speech">{{cite news|last=Keating |first=Frank |author-link=Frank Keating |title=Where Terrorists Belong |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/31/opinion/where-terrorists-belong.html |date=August 31, 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605205211/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/31/opinion/where-terrorists-belong.html |archive-date=June 5, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
No major federal financial assistance was made available to the survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing, but the Murrah Fund set up in the wake of the bombing attracted over $300,000 in federal grants.<ref name="USDJ2"/> Over $40&nbsp;million was donated to the city to aid disaster relief and to compensate the victims. Funds were initially distributed to families who needed it to get back on their feet, and the rest was held in trust for longer-term medical and psychological needs. By 2005, $18&nbsp;million of the donations remained, some of which was earmarked to provide a college education for each of the 219 children who lost one or both parents in the bombing.<ref name="TormentLingers">{{cite news |last=Witt |first=Howard |title=Torment lingers in OK City |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0504170293apr17,0,6613315.story |date=April 17, 2005 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025074244/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0504170293apr17,0,6613315.story |archive-date=October 25, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> A committee chaired by Daniel Kurtenbach of [[Goodwill Industries]] provided temporary financial assistance of food and shelter to the survivors.<ref name="Goodwill">{{cite web|url=http://www.gimv.org/about_us/ceo.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070426071526/http://www.gimv.org/about_us/ceo.htm|archive-date=April 26, 2007|title=Meet Our President/CEO|publisher=[[Goodwill Industries]]|access-date=November 10, 2006|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===International reaction===
International reactions to the bombing varied. President Clinton received many messages of sympathy, including those from [[Queen Elizabeth&nbsp;II]] of the United Kingdom, [[Yasser Arafat]] of the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], and [[P. V. Narasimha Rao]] of India.<ref name="InternationalReaction">{{cite news |date=April 21, 1995 |title=Friend, Foe United in Vilifying Attack Reaction: Compassion for victims' families, disgust at blast's callousness run as common threads through world leaders' responses |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-21-mn-57221-story.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> Other condolences came from Russia, Canada, Australia, the [[United Nations]], and the [[European Union]], among other nations and organizations.<ref name="InternationalReaction"/><ref name="UNReaction">{{cite news|title='How Deeply We Share the Sorrow' Rabin Also Offers Help; Boutros-Ghali Condemns 'Cowardly Attack'|work=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]|date=April 20, 1995}}</ref>

Several countries offered to assist in both the rescue efforts and the investigation. France offered to send a special rescue unit,<ref name="InternationalReaction"/> and Israeli Prime Minister [[Yitzhak Rabin]] offered to send agents with anti-terrorist expertise to help in the investigation.<ref name="UNReaction"/> President Clinton declined Israel's offer, believing that accepting it would increase anti-Muslim sentiments and endanger [[Islam in the United States|Muslim-Americans]].{{sfn|Hamm|1997|pp=57-58}}

===Children affected===
[[File:Firefighterbabyocb.jpg|thumb|right|upright|alt=A firefighter is holding a dying toddler in his arms, and he is looking down at her. The toddler has blood on her head, arms, and legs, and is wearing white socks.|Charles Porter's photograph of firefighter Chris Fields holding the dying infant Baylee Almon won the [[Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography]] in 1996.<ref name="PorterLaRue">{{Cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=A Mother's Pain For Ever Frozen in Time|work=[[The Star (South Africa)|The Star]]|date=April 19, 2005}}</ref>]]
In the wake of the bombing, the national media focused on the fact that 19 of the victims had been babies and children, many in the day-care center. At the time of the bombing, there were 100 day-care centers in the United States in 7,900 federal buildings.{{sfn|Hamm|1997|pp=57-58}} McVeigh later stated that he was unaware of the day-care center when choosing the building as a target, and if he had known "... it might have given me pause to switch targets. That's a large amount of [[collateral damage]]."<ref name="DayCareKnew">{{cite news |title=FBI: McVeigh knew children would be killed in OKC blast |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/03/29/mcveigh.book.01/ |date=March 29, 2001 |publisher=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510065143/http://archives.cnn.com/2001/US/03/29/mcveigh.book.01/ |archive-date=May 10, 2008 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 27, 2009 }}</ref> The FBI stated that McVeigh scouted the interior of the building in December 1994 and likely knew of the day-care center before the bombing.<ref name="TimeWeight"/><ref name="DayCareKnew"/> This was corroborated by Nichols, who said that he and McVeigh did know about the daycare center in the building, and that they did not care.<ref name="Global Terrorism Database">[http://209.232.239.37/gtd1/ViewIncident.aspx?id=6621 Global Terrorism Database] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080629211532/http://209.232.239.37/gtd1/ViewIncident.aspx?id=6621 |date=2008-06-29}}</ref><ref name="washingtonpost.com">{{cite news |author1-last=Romano |author1-first=Lois |author2-first=Tom |author2-last=Kenworthy |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/stories/ok042597.htm |title=Prosecutor Paints McVeigh As 'Twisted' U.S. Terrorist |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=April 25, 1997 |page=A01 |access-date=2017-09-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917164253/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/stories/ok042597.htm |archive-date=2017-09-17 |url-status=live }}</ref> In April 2010, Joseph Hartzler, the prosecutor at McVeigh's trial, questioned how McVeigh could have decided to pass over a prior target building because of a florist shop but at the Murrah building, not "... notice that there's a child day-care center there, that there was a credit union there and a Social Security office?"<ref name="Prosecutor">{{cite news |last=Schoenburg |first=Bernard |url=http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x57956772/McVeigh-prosecutor-Focus-on-victims-of-Oklahoma-City-bombing |title=McVeigh prosecutor: Focus on victims of Oklahoma City bombing |work=[[The State Journal-Register]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120229112840/http://www.sj-r.com/top-stories/x57956772/McVeigh-prosecutor-Focus-on-victims-of-Oklahoma-City-bombing |archive-date=February 29, 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=April 19, 2010 }}</ref>

Schools across the country were dismissed early and ordered closed. A photograph of firefighter Chris Fields emerging from the rubble with infant Baylee Almon, who later died in a nearby hospital, was reprinted worldwide and became a symbol of the attack. The photo, taken by bank employee Charles H. Porter IV, won the 1996 [[Pulitzer Prize]] for Spot News Photography and appeared on newspapers and magazines for months following the attack.{{sfn|Sturken|2007|p=98}}<ref name="PorterPPrize">{{cite web|url=http://www.pulitzer.org/works/1996,Spot+News+Photography |title=1996 Pulitzer Prizes-Spot News Photography |publisher=[[Pulitzer Prize]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524173224/http://www.pulitzer.org/works/1996-Spot-News-Photography |archive-date=May 24, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
Aren Almon Kok, mother of Baylee Almon, said of the photo, "It was very hard to go to stores because they are in the check out aisle. It was always there. It was devastating. Everybody had seen my daughter dead. And that's all she became to them. She was a symbol. She was the girl in the fireman's arms. But she was a real person that got left behind."<ref>{{cite web|last1=West|first1=Lance|title="It's still tough to talk about," Firefighter from iconic Oklahoma City bombing photo retires|url=http://kfor.com/2017/03/21/its-still-tough-to-talk-about-firefighter-from-iconic-oklahoma-city-bombing-photo-retires/|website=News Channel 4|access-date=March 22, 2017|date=March 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170322052242/http://kfor.com/2017/03/21/its-still-tough-to-talk-about-firefighter-from-iconic-oklahoma-city-bombing-photo-retires/|archive-date=March 22, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref>

The images and media reports of children dying terrorized many children who, as demonstrated by later research, showed symptoms of [[post-traumatic stress disorder]].<ref name="ChildPTSD">{{cite journal|title=The impact of the Oklahoma City bombing on children in the community|last=Pfefferbaum|first=Betty|author-link=Betty Pfefferbaum|format=Fee required|journal=Military Medicine |url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=13422617 |volume=166 |issue=12 |date=April 23, 2009 |pages=49–50 |access-date=March 3, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140219163129/http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=13422617 |archive-date=February 19, 2014 |url-status=live |doi=10.1093/milmed/166.suppl_2.49 |pmid=11778433 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Children became a primary focus of concern in the mental health response to the bombing and many bomb-related services were delivered to the community, young and old alike. These services were delivered to public schools of Oklahoma and reached approximately 40,000 students. One of the first organized mental health activities in Oklahoma City was a clinical study of middle and high school students conducted seven weeks after the bombing. The study focused on middle and high school students who had no connection or relationship to the victims of the bombing. This study showed that these students, although deeply moved by the event and showing a sense of vulnerability on the matter, had no difficulty with the demands of school or home life, as contrasted to those who were connected to the bombing and its victims, who had post-traumatic stress disorder.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pfefferbaum |first1=Betty |last2=Sconzo |first2=Guy M. |last3=Flynn |first3=Brian W. |last4=Kearns |first4=Lauri J. |last5=Doughty |first5=Debby E. |last6=Gurwitch |first6=Robin H. |last7=Nixon |first7=Sara Jo |last8=Nawaz |first8=Shajitha |year=2003 |title=Case Finding and Mental Health Services for Children in the Aftermath of the Oklahoma City Bombing |journal=Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=215–227 |doi=10.1097/00075484-200304000-00006 |pmid=12710374}}</ref>

Children were also affected through the loss of parents in the bombing. Many children lost one or both parents in the blast, with seven children losing their only remaining parent. Children of the disaster have been raised by single parents, foster parents, and other family members. Adjusting to the loss has made these children suffer psychologically and emotionally. One orphan who was interviewed (of the at least ten orphaned children) reported sleepless nights and an obsession with death.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Leland |first=John |title=The orphans of Oklahoma City |magazine=Newsweek |date=April 22, 1996 |volume=127 |issue=17 |page=40 |url=http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/9604167868 |access-date=November 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510130442/http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=6&hid=5&sid=707c93db-5d99-4077-abc0-8b54065a360e%40sessionmgr4&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#db=a9h&AN=9604167868 |archive-date=May 10, 2017 |url-status=live}}</ref>

President Clinton stated that after seeing images of babies being pulled from the wreckage, he was "beyond angry" and wanted to "put [his] fist through the television".{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=54}} Clinton and his wife [[Hillary Clinton|Hillary]] requested that aides talk to child care specialists about how to communicate with children about the bombing. Clinton said to the nation three days after the bombing, "I don't want our children to believe something terrible about life and the future and grownups in general because of this awful thing ... most adults are good people who want to protect our children in their childhood and we are going to get through this".<ref name="DMN">{{cite news|last=Loe|first=Victoria|title=Berlin-Based Team's Design Chosen for Bomb Memorial; Winning Entry Evokes Images of Reflection, Hope |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D9275A9192BE&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|format=Fee required|date=July 5, 1997|work=[[The Dallas Morning News]]|access-date=June 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609012558/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D9275A9192BE&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|archive-date=June 9, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> On April 22, 1995, the Clintons spoke in the White House with over 40 federal agency employees and their children, and in a live nationwide television and radio broadcast, addressed their concerns.<ref name="ChildrenBroadcast">{{cite news|last=Martin|first=Gary|title=President demands execution for bombers|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SAEC&p_theme=saec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAFE75716F22FFF&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|format=Fee required|date=April 24, 1995|work=[[San Antonio Express-News]]|access-date=June 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609012612/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SAEC&p_theme=saec&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EAFE75716F22FFF&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|archive-date=June 9, 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="ClintonProve">{{Cite news |last=Thomma |first=Steven |date=1995-04-23 |title=With his swift response, Clinton grabs center stage |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-with-his-swift/169464800/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |page=A22 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>

===Media coverage===
Hundreds of news trucks and members of the press arrived at the site to cover the story. The press immediately noticed that the bombing took place on the second anniversary of the [[Waco siege|Waco incident]].<ref name="Jennings 1995-04-19"/>

Many initial news stories hypothesized the attack had been undertaken by Muslim terrorists, such as those who had masterminded the [[1993 World Trade Center bombing]].{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=249}}{{sfn|Kellner|2007|p=102}}{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=55}} Some media reported that investigators wanted to question men of Middle Eastern appearance.<ref name="New York Times">{{cite news |author=Johnson |first=David |date=April 20, 1995 |title=At Least 31 Are Dead, Scores Are Missing After Car Bomb Attack in Oklahoma City Wrecks 9-Story Federal Building |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/20/us/terror-oklahoma-city-investigation-least-31-are-dead-scores-are-missing-after.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205001243/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/04/20/us/terror-oklahoma-city-investigation-least-31-are-dead-scores-are-missing-after.html |archive-date=February 5, 2015 |access-date=November 10, 2012 |work=[[The New York Times]] |page=1}}</ref> Hamzi Moghrabi, chairman of the [[American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee]], blamed the media for harassment of Muslims and Arabs that took place after the bombing.<ref name="AJR" />

As the rescue effort wound down, the media interest shifted to the investigation, arrests, and trials of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, and on the search for an additional suspect named "John Doe Number Two." Several witnesses claimed to have seen a second suspect, who did not resemble Nichols, with McVeigh.<ref name="NYTimes">{{cite news|last=Kifner |first=John |title=June&nbsp;11–17: John Doe No. 2; A Dragnet Leads Down One More Blind Alley |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=July 18, 1995 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/18/weekinreview/june-11-17-john-doe-no-2-a-dragnet-leads-down-one-more-blind-alley.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605153620/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/18/weekinreview/june-11-17-john-doe-no-2-a-dragnet-leads-down-one-more-blind-alley.html |archive-date=June 5, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ChicSunTimes">{{cite news|last = Krall|first = Jay|title = Conspiracy buffs see Padilla, Oklahoma City link|date = June 18, 2002|work = [[Chicago Sun-Times]]|url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1445621.html|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140611112955/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1445621.html|url-status = dead|archive-date = June 11, 2014|access-date = June 30, 2015|via = [[HighBeam]]}}</ref>

Those who expressed sympathy for McVeigh typically described his deed as an act of war, as in the case of [[Gore Vidal]]'s essay ''The Meaning of Timothy McVeigh''.<ref name="MeaningMcVeigh">{{cite news|last=Vidal |first=Gore |title=The Meaning of Timothy McVeigh |date=September 2001 |work=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2001/09/mcveigh200109 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110301074302/http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2001/09/mcveigh200109 |archive-date=March 1, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="McVeighRevere">{{cite news|last=Gibbons |first=Fiachra |title=Vidal Praises Oklahoma Bomber for Heroic Aims |date=August 17, 2001 |work=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/aug/17/edinburghbookfestival2001.mcveigh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110307200124/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/aug/17/edinburghbookfestival2001.mcveigh |archive-date=March 7, 2011 |location=London |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Trials and sentencing of the conspirators==
[[File:Okc bombings rescue team 5.jpg|thumb|right|alt=A woman, at the left of the image, is reading a black spray paint message written on a brick wall. The message reads "Team 5 4–19–95 We Search For the truth We Seek Justice. The Courts Require it. The Victims Cry for it. And God Demands it!"|A memorial from Rescue Team 5 for the victims of the bombing ]]
The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) led the official investigation, known as OKBOMB,<ref name="PROKBOMB">{{cite press release|publisher=FBI |date=May 11, 2001 |title=Statement of Special Agent in Charge Danny Defenbaugh Regarding OKBOMB Documents |url=https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-of-special-agent-in-charge-danny-defenbaugh |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110113030453/http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-of-special-agent-in-charge-danny-defenbaugh |archive-date=January 13, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> with [[Weldon L. Kennedy]] acting as special agent in charge.<ref name="Kennedy">{{cite news |last=Ostrow |first=Ronald |date=August 9, 1995 |title=Chief of Oklahoma Bomb Probe Named Deputy Director at FBI |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-08-09-mn-33270-story.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> Kennedy oversaw 900 federal, state, and local law enforcement personnel, including 300 FBI agents, 200 officers from the [[Oklahoma City Police Department]], 125 members of the [[Oklahoma National Guard]], and 55 officers from the [[Oklahoma Department of Public Safety]].{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=76}} The crime task force was deemed the largest since the investigation into the [[John F. Kennedy assassination|assassination of John F. Kennedy]].{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=76}} OKBOMB was the largest criminal case in America's history, with FBI agents conducting 28,000 interviews, amassing {{convert|3.5|ST|MT|abbr=on}} of evidence, and collecting nearly one billion pieces of information.{{sfn|Serano|1998|pp=139-141}}<ref>{{cite news |date=April 16, 2006 |title=Lessons learned, and not learned, 11&nbsp;years later |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna12343917 |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[NBC News]] |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=vii}} Federal judge [[Richard Paul Matsch]] ordered that the venue for the trial be moved from Oklahoma City to [[Denver]], Colorado, ruling that the defendants would be unable to receive a fair trial in Oklahoma.<ref name="DenverTrial">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Bombing trial moves to Denver|publisher=[[Gainesville Sun]]|date=February 21, 1996|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pesRAAAAIBAJ&pg=1617,4656436&dq=oklahoma+city+bombing+trial+moved+to+denver|access-date=June 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125233745/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=pesRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=teoDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1617,4656436&dq=oklahoma+city+bombing+trial+moved+to+denver|archive-date=November 25, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The investigation led to the separate trials and convictions of McVeigh, Nichols and Fortier.

===Timothy McVeigh===
{{Main|Timothy McVeigh}}
Opening statements in McVeigh's trial began on April 24, 1997. The [[Federal government of the United States|United States]] was represented by a team of prosecutors led by Joseph Hartzler. In his opening statement Hartzler outlined McVeigh's motivations, and the evidence against him. McVeigh, he said, had developed a hatred of the government during his time in the army, after reading ''[[The Turner Diaries]]''. His beliefs were supported by what he saw as the militia's ideological opposition to increases in taxes and the passage of the [[Brady Bill]], and were further reinforced by the Waco and Ruby Ridge incidents.<ref>{{cite news |last=Feldman |first=Paul |date=June 18, 1995 |title=Militia Groups Growing, Study Says Extremism: Despite negative publicity since Oklahoma bombing, membership has risen, Anti-Defamation League finds |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-06-18-mn-14589-story.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> The prosecution called 137 witnesses, including Michael Fortier and his wife Lori, and McVeigh's sister, Jennifer McVeigh, all of whom testified to confirm McVeigh's hatred of the government and his desire to take militant action against it.{{sfn|Wright|2007|p=10}} Both Fortiers testified that McVeigh had told them of his plans to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Michael Fortier revealed that McVeigh had chosen the date, and Lori Fortier testified that she had created the false identification card McVeigh used to rent the Ryder truck.<ref name="TMT">{{cite web|url=http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mcveigh/mcveighaccount.html |title=The Oklahoma City Bombing & The Trial of Timothy McVeigh |last=Linder |first=Douglas O. |year=2006 |work=Famous Trials: Oklahoma City Bombing Trial |publisher=[[University of Missouri–Kansas City]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110223000407/http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mcveigh/mcveighaccount.html |archive-date=February 23, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

McVeigh was represented by a team of six principal attorneys, led by [[Stephen Jones (attorney)|Stephen Jones]].<ref name="Petition">{{cite web|url=https://fas.org/irp/threat/mcveigh/front.htm |title=Petition for Writ of Mandamus of Petitioner-Defendant, Timothy James McVeigh and Brief in Support |work=Case No. 96-CR-68-M |date=March 25, 1997 |publisher=[[United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120811035049/http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/mcveigh/front.htm |archive-date=August 11, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> According to law professor [[Doug Linder|Douglas O. Linder]], McVeigh wanted Jones to present a "necessity defense"—which would argue that he was in "imminent danger" from the government (that his bombing was intended to prevent future crimes by the government, such as the Waco and Ruby Ridge incidents).<ref name="TMT"/> McVeigh argued that "imminent" does not mean "immediate": "If a comet is hurtling toward the earth, and it's out past the orbit of Pluto, it's not an immediate threat to Earth, but it is an imminent threat."{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=285–286}} Despite McVeigh's wishes, Jones attempted to discredit the prosecution's case in an attempt to instill reasonable doubt. Jones also believed that McVeigh was part of a larger conspiracy, and sought to present him as "the designated patsy",<ref name="TMT"/> but McVeigh disagreed with Jones arguing that rationale for his defense. After a hearing, Judge Matsch independently ruled the evidence concerning a larger conspiracy to be too insubstantial to be admissible.<ref name="TMT"/> In addition to arguing that the bombing could not have been carried out by two men alone, Jones also attempted to create reasonable doubt by arguing that no one had seen McVeigh near the scene of the crime, and that the investigation into the bombing had lasted only two weeks.<ref name="TMT"/> Jones presented 25 witnesses, including [[Frederic Whitehurst]], over a one-week period. Although Whitehurst described the FBI's sloppy investigation of the bombing site and its handling of other key evidence, he was unable to point to any direct evidence that he knew to be contaminated.<ref name="TMT"/>

A key point of contention in the case was the unmatched left leg found after the bombing. Although it was initially believed to be from a male, it was later determined to belong to Lakesha Levy, a female member of the Air Force who was killed in the bombing.<ref name="LakeshaLeg"/> Levy's coffin had to be re-opened so that her leg could replace another unmatched leg that had previously been buried with her remains. The unmatched leg had been embalmed, which prevented authorities from being able to extract DNA to determine its owner.<ref name="LeftLeg"/> Jones argued that the leg could have belonged to another bomber, possibly John Doe No. 2.<ref name="LeftLeg"/> The prosecution disputed the claim, saying that the leg could have belonged to any one of eight victims who had been buried without a left leg.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/28/us/2-sides-agree-to-exhume-one-victim-in-bomb-case.html|last=Thomas |first=Jo |date=February 28, 1996 |title=2 Sides Agree to Exhume One Victim in Bomb Case. |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

Numerous damaging leaks, which appeared to originate from conversations between McVeigh and his defense attorneys, emerged. They included a confession said to have been inadvertently included on a computer disk that was given to the press, which McVeigh believed seriously compromised his chances of getting a fair trial.<ref name="TMT"/> A [[gag order]] was imposed during the trial, prohibiting attorneys on either side from commenting to the press on the evidence, proceedings, or opinions regarding the trial proceedings. The defense was allowed to enter into evidence six pages of a 517-page Justice Department report criticizing the FBI crime laboratory and David Williams, one of the agency's explosives experts, for reaching unscientific and biased conclusions. The report claimed that Williams had worked backward in the investigation rather than basing his determinations on forensic evidence.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=315–317}}

The jury deliberated for 23 hours. On June 2, 1997, McVeigh was found guilty on 11 counts of murder and conspiracy.<ref name="OSCN">{{cite web|title=U.S. v. McVeigh |url=http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=151372 |publisher=Oklahoma State Courts Network |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081227064229/http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=151372 |archive-date=December 27, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="1997-06-03 Denver Post">{{cite news |last1=Eddy |first1=Mark |last2=Lane |first2=George |last3=Pankratz |first3=Howard |last4=Wilmsen |first4=Steven |date=1997-06-03 |title=Guilty on every count |url=https://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/bombv1.htm |url-status=live |work=[[The Denver Post]] |language=en |issn=1930-2193 |oclc=8789877 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018204239/https://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/bombv1.htm |archive-date=2023-10-18 |access-date=2024-01-12}}</ref> Although the defense argued for a reduced sentence of life imprisonment, McVeigh was sentenced to death.<ref name="Time">{{cite magazine |last=Pellegrini |first=Frank |title=McVeigh Given Death Penalty |url=http://www.time.com/time/reports/mcveigh/home.html |magazine=Time |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115160903/http://www.time.com/time/reports/mcveigh/home.html |archive-date=January 15, 2009 |url-status=dead |accessdate=February 3, 2007 }}</ref> In May 2001, the Justice Department announced that the FBI had mistakenly failed to provide over 3,000 documents to McVeigh's defense counsel.<ref name="CNN3000">{{cite news |last1=Bierbauer |first1=Charles |last2=Candiotti |first2=Susan |last3=London |first3=Gina |last4=Frieden |first4=Terry |date=May 11, 2001 |title=McVeigh execution rescheduled for June&nbsp;11 |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/05/11/mcveigh.evidence.05/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928220930/http://articles.cnn.com/2001-05-11/justice/mcveigh.evidence.05_1_timothy-mcveigh-mcveigh-plan-mcveigh-execution?_s=PM:LAW |archive-date=September 28, 2012 |access-date=June 16, 2009 |work=CNN}}</ref> The Justice Department also announced that the execution would be postponed for one month for the defense to review the documents. On June 6, federal judge [[Richard Paul Matsch]] ruled the documents would not prove McVeigh innocent and ordered the execution to proceed.<ref name="WPProceed">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press |title=Judge Won't Delay McVeigh Execution |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010606/aponline140014_000.htm |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=June 6, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325115212/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/aponline/20010606/aponline140014_000.htm |archive-date=March 25, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> McVeigh invited conductor [[David Woodard]] to perform pre-requiem [[Mass (liturgy)|Mass]] music on the eve of his execution; while reproachful of McVeigh's capital wrongdoing, Woodard consented.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Siletti |first=Michael |url=https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/186334788.pdf#page=248 |title=Sounding the last mile: Music and capital punishment in the United States since 1976 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601010605/https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/102495/SILETTI-DISSERTATION-2018.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y |archive-date=2020-06-01 |degree=Ph.D. |publisher=[[University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign]] |year=2018 |page= |pages=240–241 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|240–241}} After President [[George W. Bush]] approved the execution (McVeigh was a federal inmate and federal law dictates that the president must approve the execution of federal prisoners), he was executed by [[lethal injection]] at the [[Federal Correctional Complex, Terre Haute]] in [[Terre Haute, Indiana]], on June 11, 2001.<ref name="CNNPrez">{{cite news |last=Mears |first=Bill |title=Bush approves execution of Army private |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/28/military.execution/index.html |publisher=CNN |date=July 28, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331111324/http://articles.cnn.com/2008-07-28/justice/military.execution_1_execution-date-death-row-military-justice?_s=PM:CRIME |archive-date=March 31, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="CNN3">{{cite news |title=McVeigh Execution: A "completion of justice" |url=http://archives.cnn.com/2001/LAW/06/11/mcveigh.02/index.html |publisher=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727172352/http://articles.cnn.com/2001-06-11/justice/mcveigh.02_1_kathleen-treanor-timothy-mcveigh-mcveigh-execution?_s=PM:LAW |archive-date=July 27, 2011 |date=June 11, 2001 |url-status=dead |access-date=January 26, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36557081 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012160712/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36557081 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 12, 2013 |work=NBC News Report |title=Day of Reckoning (execution of Timothy McVeigh) |date=June 11, 2001 |format=Video}}</ref> The execution was transmitted on [[closed-circuit television]] so that the relatives of the victims could witness his death.<ref name="CTVN">{{cite news |last=Frieden |first=Terry |title=Okla. families can watch McVeigh execution on TV |url=https://www.cnn.com/2001/LAW/04/12/ashcroft.mcveigh.02/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120122110556/http://articles.cnn.com/2001-04-12/justice/ashcroft.mcveigh.02_1_mcveigh-execution-timothy-mcveigh-closed-circuit-television-feed?_s=PM:LAW |archive-date=January 22, 2012 |publisher=CNN |date=April 12, 2001 |url-status=live}}</ref> McVeigh's execution was the first [[Capital punishment by the United States federal government|federal execution]] in 38 years.{{sfn|Wright|2007|p=17}}

===Terry Nichols===
{{Main|Terry Nichols}}

Nichols stood trial twice. He was first tried by the federal government in 1997, and found guilty of conspiring to build a weapon of mass destruction and of eight counts of involuntary manslaughter of federal officers.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|last=Thomas |first=Jo |date=December 28, 1997 |title=December&nbsp;21–27; Nichols Found Guilty in Oklahoma City Case |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/28/weekinreview/december-21-27-nichols-found-guilty-in-oklahoma-city-case.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605180438/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/28/weekinreview/december-21-27-nichols-found-guilty-in-oklahoma-city-case.html |archive-date=June 5, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> After he was sentenced on June 4, 1998, to life without parole, the State of Oklahoma in 2000 sought a death-penalty conviction on 161 counts of first-degree murder (160 non-federal-agent victims and one fetus).<ref name="Nichols161">{{cite news |last=Davey |first=Monica |date=May 27, 2004 |title=Nichols found guilty of murder |work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/05/27/MNG8T6SHV51.DTL |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306195134/http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=%2Fc%2Fa%2F2004%2F05%2F27%2FMNG8T6SHV51.DTL |archive-date=March 6, 2012 |url-status=dead|access-date=May 12, 2017 }}</ref> On May 26, 2004, the jury found him guilty on all charges, but deadlocked on the issue of sentencing him to death. Presiding Judge [[Steven W. Taylor]] then determined the sentence of 161&nbsp;consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.<ref name="NicholsNoParole">{{cite news|last=Talley|first=Tim|date=August 10, 2004|title=Nichols gets 161 life sentences|newspaper=[[The Register-Guard]]|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-lkUAAAAIBAJ&pg=6920,2076618&dq=nichols+161+no+parole|access-date=June 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125235053/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=-lkUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=kOsDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6920,2076618&dq=nichols+161+no+parole|archive-date=November 25, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> In March 2005, FBI investigators, acting on a tip from [[Gregory Scarpa Jr.]], searched a buried crawl space in Nichols's former house, and found additional explosives missed in the preliminary search after Nichols was arrested.<ref name="2005Expl">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=FBI: Explosives Found in Nichols' Old Home |publisher=Fox News Channel |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,152211,00.html |date=April 2, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110208033940/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,152211,00.html |archive-date=February 8, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Michael and Lori Fortier{{anchor|Michael_Fortier}}===
Michael and Lori Fortier were considered [[accomplice]]s for their foreknowledge of the planning of the bombing. In addition to Michael's assisting McVeigh in scouting the federal building, Lori had helped McVeigh laminate the fake driver's license that was later used to rent the Ryder truck.<ref name="McVeighBomb33"/> Michael agreed to testify against McVeigh and Nichols in exchange for a reduced sentence and immunity for his wife.<ref name="CNN6">{{cite news|title=Transcripts |publisher=CNN |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/20/sitroom.01.html |date=January 20, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629124159/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0601/20/sitroom.01.html |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> He was sentenced on May 27, 1998, to 12 years in prison, and fined $75,000 for failing to warn authorities about the attack.<ref name="Fortier12years">{{cite news|title=12-Year Sentence Given Again to Witness in Oklahoma Bombing |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/09/us/12-year-sentence-given-again-to-witness-in-oklahoma-bombing.html |date=October 9, 1999 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605152918/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/09/us/12-year-sentence-given-again-to-witness-in-oklahoma-bombing.html |archive-date=June 5, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On January 20, 2006, Michael was released from prison, transferred into the [[United States Federal Witness Protection Program|Witness Protection Program]], and given a new identity.<ref name="DMNidenity">{{cite news |first=Arnold |last=Hamilton |title=New life, identity await Fortier as he leaves prison |url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/011906dntexfortier.1742cf8f.html |work=[[The Dallas Morning News]] |date=January 18, 2006 |access-date=July 12, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012180601/http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/011906dntexfortier.1742cf8f.html |archive-date=October 12, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Others===
No "John Doe #2" was ever identified, and the government never openly investigated anyone else in conjunction with the bombing. Although the defense teams in both McVeigh's and Nichols's trials suggested that others were involved, Judge Steven W. Taylor found no credible, relevant, or legally admissible evidence of anyone other than McVeigh and Nichols having directly participated in the bombing.<ref name="TMT"/> When McVeigh was asked if there were other conspirators in the bombing, he replied: "You can't handle the truth! Because the truth is, I blew up the Murrah Building, and isn't it kind of scary that one man could wreak this kind of hell?"<ref name="NoSympathy">{{cite news|first=Thomas |last=Jo |title='No Sympathy' for Dead Children, McVeigh Says |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/29/us/no-sympathy-for-dead-children-mcveigh-says.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=March 29, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422200707/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/29/us/no-sympathy-for-dead-children-mcveigh-says.html |archive-date=April 22, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> On the morning of McVeigh's execution a letter was released in which he had written "For [[Oklahoma City bombing conspiracy theories|those die-hard conspiracy theorists who will refuse to believe this]], I turn the tables and say: Show me where I needed anyone else. Financing? Logistics? Specialized tech skills? Brainpower? Strategy? ... Show me where I needed a dark, mysterious 'Mr. X'!"<ref name="OttleyPreExec">{{cite news|url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/updates.html |title=McVeigh in Good Spirits in Final Hours, June&nbsp;11, 2001 |first=Ted |last=Ottley |publisher=[[truTV]] |date=June 11, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110924155955/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/updates.html |archive-date=September 24, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Aftermath==
Within 48 hours of the attack, and with the assistance of the [[General Services Administration]] (GSA), the targeted federal offices were able to resume operations in other parts of the city.<ref name="CongressHearing">House of Representatives, ''Federal Building Security: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Economic Development of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure''. 104th Congress, April 24, 1996. Interview with Dave Barram, Administrator of GSA, p. 6</ref> According to Mark Potok, director of Intelligence Project at the [[Southern Poverty Law Center]], his organization tracked another 60 domestic smaller-scale terrorism plots from 1995 to 2005.<ref name="talley">{{cite news |last=Talley |first=Tim |url=http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060417/news_1n17okla.html |title=Experts fear Oklahoma City bombing lessons forgotten |work=U-T San Diego |date=April 17, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313182758/http://legacy.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20060417/news_1n17okla.html |archive-date=March 13, 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=April 18, 2010 }}</ref><ref name="60List">{{cite news |last1=Blejwas |first1=Andrew |last2=Griggs |first2=Anthony |last3=Potok |first3=Mark |date=Summer 2005 |title=Almost 60 Terrorist Plots Uncovered in the U.S.: Terror From the Right |url=http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2005/summer/terror-from-the-right-0 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205235920/http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2005/summer/terror-from-the-right-0 |archive-date=February 5, 2011 |publisher=[[Southern Poverty Law Center]]}}</ref> Several of the plots were uncovered and prevented while others caused various infrastructure damage, deaths, or other destruction. Potok revealed that in 1996 there were approximately 858 domestic militias and other antigovernment groups but the number had dropped to 152 by 2004.<ref name="PotokAntiDrop">{{cite news|last=MacQuarrie |first=Brian |title=Militias' era all but over, analysts say |date=April 19, 2005 |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-17763519_ITM |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623153230/http://www.rickross.com/reference/militia/militia91.html |archive-date=June 23, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Shortly after the bombing, the FBI hired an additional 500 agents to investigate potential domestic terrorist attacks.<ref name="FBI500Agents">{{cite news|title=The Enemy Within |date=June 7, 2001 |work=BBC News|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1374356.stm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210125747/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1374356.stm |archive-date=February 10, 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> A 2005 [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] report said the bombing "brought the threat of [[right-wing terrorism]] to the forefront of American law enforcement attention."<ref>{{cite web |title=Terrorism 2002-2005 |url=https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terrorism-2002-2005 |website=fbi.gov |publisher=[[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] |access-date=11 July 2024}}</ref>

===Legislation===
{{Terrorism}}

In the wake of the bombing, the U.S. government enacted several pieces of legislation including the [[Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Doyle |first=Charles |title=Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996: A Summary |publisher=[[Federation of American Scientists|FAS]] |url=https://fas.org/irp/crs/96-499.htm |date=June 3, 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110314140833/http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/96-499.htm |archive-date=March 14, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=November 25, 2015 }}</ref> In response to the trials of the conspirators being moved out-of-state, the Victim Allocution Clarification Act of 1997 was signed on March 20, 1997, by President Clinton to allow the victims of the bombing (and the victims of any other future acts of violence) the right to observe trials and to offer impact testimony in sentencing hearings. Clinton stated that "when someone is a victim, he or she should be at the center of the criminal justice process, not on the outside looking in."<ref name="Barbarians">{{cite journal|last=Cassell|first=Paul|title=Barbarians at the Gates? A Reply to the Critics of the Victims' Rights Amendment|journal=Utah Law Review|volume=479|year=1999}}</ref>

In the years since the bombing, scientists, security experts, and the [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives|ATF]] have called on Congress to develop legislation that would require customers to produce identification when purchasing ammonium nitrate fertilizer, and for sellers to maintain records of its sale. Critics argue that farmers lawfully use large quantities of the fertilizer,<ref name="ANLegislate">{{cite news|last=Condon |first=Patrick |title=Bomb ingredient restricted in 2 states |date=June 12, 2004 |work=[[The Boston Globe]] |url=https://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/06/12/bomb_ingredient_restricted_in_2_states_fertilizer_mostly_goes_untracked/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725111152/http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/06/12/bomb_ingredient_restricted_in_2_states_fertilizer_mostly_goes_untracked/ |archive-date=July 25, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and as of 2009, only Nevada and South Carolina require identification from purchasers.<ref name="ANLegislate"/> In June 1995, Congress enacted legislation requiring chemical [[taggant]]s to be incorporated into dynamite and other explosives so that a bomb could be traced to its manufacturer.<ref name="Taggants">{{cite news|last=Gray |first=Jerry |title=Senate Votes to Aid Tracing of Explosives |date=June 6, 1995 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/06/us/senate-votes-to-aid-tracing-of-explosives.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605150702/http://www.nytimes.com/1995/06/06/us/senate-votes-to-aid-tracing-of-explosives.html |archive-date=June 5, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In 2008, [[Honeywell]] announced that it had developed a nitrogen-based fertilizer that would not detonate when mixed with fuel oil. The company got assistance from the [[Department of Homeland Security]] to develop the fertilizer (Sulf-N 26) for commercial use.<ref name="HoneySafe">{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=Company Creates Hard-to-Ignite Fertilizer to Foil Bomb-Makers |date=September 23, 2008 |publisher=Fox News Channel |url=http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426564,00.html?sPage=fnc/scitech/naturalscience |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090806084435/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,426564,00.html?sPage=fnc%2Fscitech%2Fnaturalscience |archive-date=August 6, 2009 |url-status=dead|access-date=September 30, 2017 }}</ref> It uses ammonium sulfate to make the fertilizer less explosive.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sulfn26.com/documents/Sulf-N_Fact_Sheet.pdf |title=Honeywell Sulf-N® 26: A New Fertilizer for a New World |publisher=HoneyWell |access-date=May 11, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209172209/http://sulfn26.com/documents/Sulf-N_Fact_Sheet.pdf |archive-date=December 9, 2013 }}</ref>

===Oklahoma school curriculum===
In the decade following the bombing, there was criticism of Oklahoma public schools for not requiring the bombing to be covered in the curriculum of Oklahoma history classes. Oklahoma History is a one-semester course required by state law for graduation from high school, but the bombing was only covered for one to two pages at most in textbooks. The state's PASS standards (Priority Academic Student Skills) did not require that a student learn about the bombing.<ref>{{cite web |author=Cameron |first=Alex |date=March 30, 2010 |title=15 Years Later: Time to Teach Students the Murrah Bombing? |url=http://www.newson6.com/story/12224663/15-years-later-time-to-teach-students-the-murrah-bombing |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130512171139/http://www.newson6.com/story/12224663/15-years-later-time-to-teach-students-the-murrah-bombing |archive-date=May 12, 2013 |access-date=December 10, 2012 |publisher=NewsOn6}}</ref> On April 6, 2010, House Bill 2750 was signed by Governor [[Brad Henry]], requiring the bombing to be entered into the school curriculum for Oklahoma, U.S. and world history classes.<ref>{{cite news |author=Vulliamy |first=Ed |date=April 11, 2010 |title=Oklahoma: the day homegrown terror hit America |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/11/oklahoma-bombing-15-years-on |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407100211/http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/apr/11/oklahoma-bombing-15-years-on |archive-date=April 7, 2014 |access-date=December 10, 2012 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Pierce |first=Jennifer |date=April 6, 2010 |title=Governor Henry Signs Bill Making Murrah Bombing Required Learning |url=http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?S=12264522 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406040439/http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?S=12264522 |archive-date=April 6, 2014 |access-date=December 10, 2012 |publisher=News9}}</ref><ref name="oudaily">{{cite web |author=Maranon |first=Ricky |date=April 7, 2010 |title=Bill adds OKC bombing to education curriculum |url=http://www.oudaily.com/news/bill-adds-okc-bombing-to-education-curriculum/article_3c71a42c-30d8-54a7-a51f-8c4053449e90.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217092228/http://oudaily.com/news/2010/apr/07/bill-adds-okc-bombing-education-curriculum/ |archive-date=December 17, 2010 |access-date=December 10, 2012 |work=The Oklahoma Daily}}</ref>

On the signing, Governor Henry said, <blockquote>Although the events of April 19, 1995, may be etched in our minds and in the minds of Oklahomans who remember that day, we have a generation of Oklahomans that has little to no memory of the events of that day ... We owe it to the victims, the survivors and all of the people touched by this tragic event to remember April 19, 1995, and understand what it meant and still means to this state and this nation.<ref name="oudaily" /></blockquote>

===Building security and construction===
[[File:DemolishedAMbuilding.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Two images are stitched together showing the site of where the building stood prior to its demolition. A crowd of people are visible in front of the chain link fence blocking entrance to the site. Large piles of dirt can be seen on the site as well as damage to nearby buildings.|The site of the building after it was demolished, three months after the bombing]]
In the weeks following the bombing, the federal government ordered that all federal buildings in all major cities be surrounded with prefabricated [[Jersey barrier]]s to prevent similar attacks.<ref name="Salon">{{cite news|last=Manjoo |first=Farhad |title=Cityscape of fear |work=[[Salon (website)|Salon]] |url=http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/08/22/architecture/ |date=August 26, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110218065059/http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/08/22/architecture |archive-date=February 18, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> As part of a longer-term plan for [[United States federal building security]], most of those temporary barriers have since been replaced with permanent and more aesthetically considerate security barriers, which are driven deep into the ground for sturdiness.<ref name="InvisibleInsurrection">{{cite news|last=Hill |first=John |title=Changing Place/Changing Times |work=Invisible Insurrection |year=2004 |url=http://www.archidose.org/writings/insurrection.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112232644/http://www.archidose.org/writings/insurrection.html |archive-date=January 12, 2011 |url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref name="CIO">{{cite news |last=Duffy |first=Daintry |title=Hidden Strengths |date=December 9, 2003 |work=CIO Magazine |url=http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;759321961 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807172418/http://www.cio.com.au/article/182068/hidden_strengths |archive-date=August 7, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=February 4, 2007 }}</ref> All new federal buildings must now be constructed with truck-resistant barriers and with deep setbacks from surrounding streets to minimize their vulnerability to truck bombs.<ref name="SMC">{{cite web |title=Safeguarding Building Perimeters For Bomb Attacks |publisher=Security Management Consulting |url=http://www.secmgmt.com/safeguarding-building-perimeters-for-bomb-attacks/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716030021/http://www.secmgmt.com/safeguarding-building-perimeters-for-bomb-attacks/ |archive-date=July 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 18, 2011 }}</ref><ref name="PoP">{{cite journal|last=Dixon|first=David|title=Is Density Dangerous? The Architects' Obligations After the Towers Fell|journal=Perspectives on Preparedness|date=October 2002|url=http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/is%20density%20dangerous.pdf|access-date=June 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224113813/http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/files/is%20density%20dangerous.pdf|archive-date=December 24, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="McHC">{{cite news|last=Nadel |first=Barbara A. |title=High-risk Buildings Placed in a Class All Their Own |date=March 25, 2002 |work=[[Engineering News-Record]] |url=http://enr.construction.com/features/buildings/archives/020325c.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110416232540/http://enr.construction.com/features/Buildings/archives/020325c.asp |archive-date=April 16, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> FBI buildings, for instance, must be set back {{convert|100|ft|m}} from traffic.<ref name="WPFairfaxAgents">{{cite news|last=Markon|first=Jerry |title=FBI's Fairfax Agents Packing For Pr. William |date=October 25, 2006 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/24/AR2006102401239_pf.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110120452/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/24/AR2006102401239_pf.html |archive-date=November 10, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The total cost of improving security in federal buildings across the country in response to the bombing reached over $600&nbsp;million.{{sfn|Linenthal|2003|p=29}}

The Murrah Federal Building had been considered so safe that it only employed one security guard.{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=41}} In June 1995, the DOJ issued ''Vulnerability Assessment of Federal Facilities'', also known as ''The Marshals Report'', the findings of which resulted in a thorough evaluation of security at all federal buildings and a system for classifying risks at over 1,300 federal facilities owned or leased by the federal government. Federal sites were divided into five security levels ranging from Level 1 (minimum security needs) to Level 5 (maximum).<ref name="WBDGAssets">{{cite news|author=WBDG Safe Committee |title=Security for Building Occupants and Assets |date=October 31, 2008 |publisher=Whole Building Design Guide |url=http://www.wbdg.org/design/provide_security.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315081503/http://www.wbdg.org/design/provide_security.php |archive-date=March 15, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The Alfred P. Murrah Building was deemed a Level 4 building.<ref name="JusticeRecommendations">{{cite news|author=WBDG Safe Committee |title=Justice Department Issues Recommendations For Upgrading Federal Building Security |date=June 28, 1995 |publisher=[[United States Department of Justice]] |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/Pre_96/June95/365.txt.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027161311/http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/Pre_96/June95/365.txt.html |archive-date=October 27, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Among the 52 security improvements were physical barriers, closed-circuit television monitoring, site planning and access, hardening of building exteriors to increase blast resistance, glazing systems to reduce flying glass shards and fatalities, and structural engineering design to prevent [[progressive collapse]].<ref name="SecurityCivicsLessons">{{cite web |last=Nadel |first=Barbara A. |title=Oklahoma City: Security Civics Lessons |volume=2 |issue=4 |date=April 2007 |website=Buildings.com |url=http://www.buildings.com/newsletters/detail.aspx?contentID=4975 |access-date=June 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215033058/http://www.buildings.com/newsletters/detail.aspx?contentID=4975 |archive-date=December 15, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="DesigningSecurity">{{cite news|last=Nadel|first=Barbara A.|title=Designing for Security|work=[[Archit. Rec.|Architectural Record]]|url=http://archrecord.construction.com/resources/conteduc/archives/research/3_98_1.asp|access-date=June 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121006164304/http://archrecord.construction.com/resources/conteduc/archives/research/3_98_1.asp|archive-date=October 6, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

The attack led to engineering improvements allowing buildings to better withstand tremendous forces, improvements which were incorporated into the design of Oklahoma City's new federal building. The [[National Geographic Channel]] documentary series ''[[Seconds From Disaster]]'' suggested that the Murrah Federal Building would probably have survived the blast had it been built according to California's earthquake design codes.<ref name="SecondsDisaster">{{cite episode|title=The Bomb in Oklahoma City (Oklahoma City)|series=[[Seconds From Disaster]]|season=1|number=episode 3|network=[[National Geographic Channel]]|airdate=July 20, 2004}}</ref>

===Drag racing===
The National Hot Rod Association has tightened its regulations for nitromethane.  Section 21 of the current NHRA rule book states nitromethane is limited to {{convert|400|lb|kg}}, or {{convert|42|gal|l}} in a barrel, instead of the normal {{convert|55|gal|l}}.  The NHRA requires competitors to submit a Top Screen Questionnaire to the [[Department of Homeland Security]].  In addition, competitors are not allowed to own nitromethane at official events.  Instead, it must be stored at the series' official fuel supplier, VP Racing Fuel (as of 2025).<ref>{{cite web |title=NHRA Rule Book (2024) |url=https://www.nhraracer.com/Files/Tech/2024%20NHRA%20Rulebook.pdf |website=NHRA Racer |publisher=National Hot Rod Association |access-date=2024-10-23 |archive-date=August 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240801213655/https://www.nhraracer.com/Files/Tech/2024%20NHRA%20Rulebook.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Each time a team purchases nitromethane, it is logged by the Series fuel supplier, which dispenses the correct amount of nitromethane ordered to the specific team.<ref name="CompPlus-2020-04-20">{{Cite magazine |first=Thomas |last=Pope |date=April 20, 2020 |title=APRIL 19, 1995: A DAY DRAG RACING SHOULD NEVER FORGET  |url=https://competitionplus.com/drag-racing/news/april-19-1995-a-day-drag-racing-should-never-forget |access-date=2024-07-17 |magazine=CompetitionPlus |language=en}}</ref>

===Impact according to McVeigh===
McVeigh believed that the bomb attack had a positive impact on government policy. In evidence he cited the peaceful resolution of the [[Montana Freemen]] standoff in 1996, the government's $3.1&nbsp;million settlement with [[Randy Weaver]] and his surviving children four months after the bombing, and April 2000 statements by Bill Clinton regretting his decision to storm the Branch Davidian compound. McVeigh stated, "Once you bloody the bully's nose, and he knows he's going to be punched again, he's not coming back around."{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=378–383}}

==Evacuation issues==
Several agencies, including the [[Federal Highway Administration]] and the [[Oklahoma City|City of Oklahoma City]], have evaluated the emergency response actions to the bombing and have proposed plans for a better response in addition to addressing issues that hindered a smooth rescue effort.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/pedevac/1_introduction.htm|title=Managing Pedestrians During Evacuation of Metropolitan Areas – Introduction|work=dot.gov|access-date=November 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616035611/http://ops.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/pedevac/1_introduction.htm|archive-date=June 16, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> Because of the crowded streets and the number of response agencies sent to the location, communication between government branches and rescue workers was muddled. Groups were unaware of the operations others were conducting, thus creating strife and delays in the search and rescue process. The City of Oklahoma City, in their After Action Report,<ref name="Terrorism Info" /> declared that better communication and single bases for agencies would better the aid of those in disastrous situations.

After the [[September 11 attacks]] in 2001, with consideration of other events, including the Oklahoma City bombing, the Federal Highway Administration proposed that major metropolitan areas create evacuation routes for civilians. These highlighted routes would allow paths for emergency crews and government agencies to enter disaster areas more quickly. By helping civilians get out and rescue workers get in, casualties would hopefully be decreased.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hsaj.org/?fullarticle=2.2.4|title=Lessons We Don't Learn: A Study of the Lessons of Disasters, Why We Repeat Them, and How We Can Learn Them|work=hsaj.org|date=July 2006|access-date=November 28, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060924171804/http://www.hsaj.org/?fullarticle=2.2.4|archive-date=September 24, 2006|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Memorial observances==

===Oklahoma City National Memorial===
{{Main|Oklahoma City National Memorial}}

For two years after the bombing the only memorials to the victims were plush toys, crucifixes, letters, and other personal items left by thousands of people at a security fence surrounding the site of the building.{{sfn|Sturken|2007|p=105}}<ref name="NYTVisitors">{{cite news|last=Yardley |first=Jim |title=Uneasily, Oklahoma City Welcomes Tourists |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/11/us/uneasily-oklahoma-city-welcomes-tourists.html |date=June 11, 2001 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090422200709/http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/11/us/uneasily-oklahoma-city-welcomes-tourists.html |archive-date=April 22, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Many suggestions for suitable memorials were sent to Oklahoma City, but an official memorial planning committee was not set up until early 1996,{{sfn|Linenthal|2003|p=119}} when the Murrah Federal Building Memorial Task Force, composed of 350 members, was set up to formulate plans for a memorial to commemorate the victims of the bombing.<ref name="DMN"/> On July 1, 1997, the winning design was chosen unanimously by a 15-member panel from 624 submissions.<ref name="OKBMS">{{cite web |title=About the Designers |publisher=[[Oklahoma City National Memorial]] |url=http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/secondary.php?section=2&catid=31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616153214/http://www.oklahomacitynationalmemorial.org/secondary.php?section=2&catid=31 |archive-date=June 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=February 2, 2007 }}</ref> The memorial was designed at a cost of $29 million, which was raised by public and private funds.{{sfn|Sturken|2007|p=109}}<ref name="29million">{{cite news|last=McLeod |first=Michael |title=Hundreds still live with scars of Oklahoma City bombing every day |work=[[Orlando Sentinel]] |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-8332312_ITM |date=June 1, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103230052/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-120953680/hundreds-still-live-scars.html |archive-date=November 3, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[List of national memorials of the United States|national memorial]] is part of the [[National Park Service|National Park System]] as an affiliated area and was designed by Oklahoma City architects Hans and Torrey Butzer and Sven Berg.<ref name="NYTVisitors"/> It was dedicated by President Clinton on April 19, 2000, exactly five years after the bombing.<ref name="OKBMS"/><ref name="NPS">{{cite web|title=Oklahoma City National Memorial |publisher=[[National Park Service]] |url=https://www.nps.gov/okci/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514123638/http://www.nps.gov/okci/index.htm |archive-date=May 14, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> Within the first year, it had 700,000 visitors.<ref name="NYTVisitors"/>

The memorial includes a reflecting pool flanked by two large gates, one inscribed with the time 9:01, the other with 9:03, the pool representing the moment of the blast. On the south end of the memorial is a field of symbolic bronze and stone chairs—one for each person lost, arranged according to what floor of the building they were on. The chairs represent the empty chairs at the dinner tables of the victims' families. The seats of the children killed are smaller than those of the adults lost. On the opposite side is the "survivor tree", part of the building's original landscaping that survived the blast and fires that followed it. The memorial left part of the foundation of the building intact, allowing visitors to see the scale of the destruction. Part of the chain link fence put in place around the site of the blast, which had attracted over 800,000 personal items of commemoration later collected by the Oklahoma City Memorial Foundation, is now on the western edge of the memorial.<ref>White, Zachary. ''The Search For Redemption Following the Oklahoma City Bombing: Amending the Boundaries Between Public and Private Grief'' (San Diego: [[San Diego State University]], 1998): 70.</ref> North of the memorial is the [[India Temple Shrine Building|Journal Record Building]], which now houses the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum, an affiliate of the National Park Service. The building also contained the [[National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism]], a law enforcement training center.

{{Wide image|Oklahoma City memorial.jpg|800px|alt=A panoramic view of the memorial. In the center is a large stone structure shaped as a gate with "9:03" at the top. At the center of the gate is a large hole and through it a road can be seen. The Regency Towers building is visible on the right of the image in the background. The gate is reflecting in a pool of water in front of it, and grass and trees are visible to the left and right of the pool.|Panoramic view of the memorial, as seen from the base of the reflecting pool. From left to right are the memorial chairs, Gate of Time and Reflecting Pool, the Survivor Tree, and the Journal Record Building.}}

===St. Joseph's Old Cathedral===
[[St. Joseph Old Cathedral (Oklahoma City)|St. Joseph's Old Cathedral]], one of the first brick-and-mortar churches in the city, is located to the southwest of the memorial and was severely damaged by the blast.<ref name="StJoseph1889">{{cite web |author=Oklahoma Historical Society |title=Oklahoma City |publisher=[[Oklahoma State University–Stillwater]] |url=http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/O/OK025.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525163038/http://digital.library.okstate.edu/encyclopedia/entries/O/OK025.html |archive-date=May 25, 2011 |author-link=Oklahoma Historical Society |url-status=dead |access-date=June 27, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="StJosephShell">{{cite news |last=Koetting |first=Thomas B. |title=Compelled, They Come: Visitors To The Blast Site – Oklahoma City/One Year Later |work=[[The Seattle Times]] |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19960416/2324470/compelled-they-come-visitors-to-the-blast-site----oklahoma-city--one-year-later |date=April 16, 1996 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927221923/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19960416&slug=2324470 |archive-date=September 27, 2012 |url-status=live |access-date=May 21, 2009 }}</ref> To commemorate the event, a statue and sculpture work entitled ''And Jesus Wept'' was installed adjacent to the Oklahoma City National Memorial. The work was dedicated in May 1997 and the church was rededicated on December 1 of the same year. The church, the statue, and the sculpture are not part of the Oklahoma City memorial.<ref name="WeptStatue">{{cite news|title='And Jesus Wept' Statue Vandalized |publisher=[[KOCO-TV]] |url=http://www.koco.com/news/2637568/detail.html |date=November 14, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929181443/http://www.koco.com/news/2637568/detail.html |archive-date=September 29, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Remembrance observance===
An observance is held each year to remember the victims of the bombing. An annual marathon draws thousands, and allows runners to sponsor a victim of the bombing.<ref name="Marathon">{{cite news |last1=Harper |first1=Justin |last2=Patterson |first2=Matt |last3=Kersey |first3=Jason |date=April 30, 2007 |title=2007 Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon: Notebook |url=http://newsok.com/article/3047173 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722022928/http://newsok.com/article/3047173 |archive-date=July 22, 2012 |work=[[The Oklahoman]] |format=Fee required}}</ref><ref name="MaraEmotion">{{cite news |last=Tramel |first=Berry |work=[[The Oklahoman]] |publisher=|title=Emotion makes Memorial different |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-18143023_ITM |url-access=registration |date=April 29, 2006 |access-date=March 28, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429073027/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-18143023_ITM |archive-date=April 29, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> For the tenth anniversary of the bombing, the city held 24 days of activities, including a week-long series of events known as the National Week of Hope from April 17 to 24, 2005.<ref name="24Days">{{cite news|last=Page |first=David |work=[[The Journal Record]] |title=OKC Memorial plans 24 days of events to mark bombing anniversary |url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-18495930_ITM |url-access=registration |date=January 6, 2005 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/5xGYpwfYH?url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-126767994/okc-memorial-plans-24.html |archive-date=March 18, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="AFGE">{{cite press release |publisher=[[American Federation of Government Employees|AFGE]] |date=April 6, 2005 |title=AFGE Commemorates Oklahoma City Bombing |url=http://www.afge.org/Index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=431 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110310211014/http://www.afge.org/Index.cfm?Page=PressReleases&PressReleaseID=431 |archive-date=March 10, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> As in previous years, the tenth anniversary of the bombing observances began with a service at 9:02&nbsp;a.m., marking the moment the bomb went off, with the traditional 168 seconds of silence—one second for each person who was killed. The service also included the traditional reading of the names, read by children to symbolize the future of Oklahoma City.<ref name="PH">{{cite news |last=Kurt |first=Kelly |work=[[The Portsmouth Herald]] |title=Children's pain&nbsp;– Victims speak on bombing anniversary |url=http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20050420-NEWS-304209951 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716025941/http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20050420-NEWS-304209951 |archive-date=July 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 18, 2011 }}</ref>

Vice President [[Dick Cheney]], former President Clinton, Oklahoma Governor [[Brad Henry]], [[Frank Keating]], Governor of Oklahoma at the time of the bombing, and other political dignitaries attended the service and gave speeches in which they emphasized that "goodness overcame evil".<ref name="WhiteHouse">{{cite press release|publisher=[[White House]] |date=April 19, 2005 |title=Vice President's Remarks at Day of Remembrance Ceremony |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/04/20050419.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023134343/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/04/20050419.html |archive-date=October 23, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The relatives of the victims and the survivors of the blast also made note of it during the service at First United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City.<ref>{{cite news|date=April 19, 2005 |url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0504/19/lt.01.html |title=Oklahoma City Marks Bombing Anniversary |publisher=CNN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629124209/http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0504/19/lt.01.html |archive-date=June 29, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> President [[George W. Bush]] issued a written statement, part of which echoed his remarks on the execution of Timothy McVeigh in 2001: "For the survivors of the crime and for the families of the dead the pain goes on."<ref name="Prez10th">{{cite press release|publisher=[[White House]] |date=April 19, 2005 |title=President's Statement on Tenth Anniversary of Oklahoma City Bombing |url=https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/04/20050419-2.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111023124408/http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2005/04/20050419-2.html |archive-date=October 23, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Oklahoma City|COVID-19 pandemic]], the memorial site was closed to the public and local television networks broadcast pre-recorded remembrances to mark the 25th anniversary.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/493500-oklahoma-city-bombing-25th-remembrance-moved-to-airwaves-amid-pandemic|title=Oklahoma City bombing 25th remembrance moved to airwaves amid pandemic|date=April 18, 2020 |first1=J. Edward|last1=Moreno|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Oklahoma|Law|United States|1990s}}
* [[List of rampage killers (religious, political, or ethnic crimes)]]
* [[1993 World Trade Center bombing]]
* [[2011 Norway attacks]], similar anti-government extremism perpetrated by [[Anders Behring Breivik]]
* [[AMIA bombing]], 1994 van attack at a Jewish community centre in Argentina
* [[List of ATF controversies]]
* [[List of major terrorist incidents]]
* [[Bath School disaster]], the deadliest building bombing in the United States prior to the Oklahoma City bombing.
* [[Radical right (United States)]]
* [[Terrorism in the United States]]
** [[Domestic terrorism in the United States]]
** [[Timeline of terrorist attacks in the United States]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Works cited==
===Books===
* {{cite book|editor-last=Tan|editor-first=Andrew T .H. |last= Brannan|first=David|date=2010 |title=Politics of Terrorism: A Survey|chapter=Left- and Right-wing Political Terrorism| chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qXerAgAAQBAJ&q=false&pg=PA68|publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-1-85743-579-5}}
* {{Cite book |authorlink=Kathleen Belew |last=Belew |first=Kathleen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qIPWDwAAQBAJ&q=McVeigh+White+Power |title=Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America |date=2019 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-23769-8 |language=en}}
* {{cite book|authorlink=Charles Figley|last=Figley|first=Charles R.|title=Treating Compassion Fatigue|publisher=Brunner-Routledge|location=New York|year=2002|isbn=978-1-58391-053-5}}
* {{cite book|last=Giordano|first=Geraldine|title=The Oklahoma City Bombing|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc|location=New York|year=2003|isbn=978-0-8239-3655-7|url=https://archive.org/details/oklahomacitybomb00gior}}
* {{cite book |title=Apocalypse in Oklahoma |last=Hamm |first=Mark S. |isbn=978-1-55553-300-7 |year=1997 |publisher=[[Northeastern University Press]]}}
* {{cite book|last=Hewitt|first=Christopher|title=Understanding Terrorism in America: From the Klan to Al Qaeda|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=London; New York|year=2003|isbn=978-0-415-27765-5|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/understandingter0000hewi}}
* {{cite book|authorlink=Douglas Kellner|last=Kellner|first=Douglas|title=Guys and Guns Amok: Domestic Terrorism and School Shootings from the Oklahoma City Bombing to the Virginia Tech Massacre|publisher=Paradigm Publishers|location=Boulder, CO|year=2007|isbn=978-1-59451-492-0}}
* {{cite book |authorlink=Edward Linenthal |last1=Linenthal |first1=Edward T. |title=The Unfinished Bombing: Oklahoma City in American Memory |date=2003 |publisher=Oxford University Press |ol=7390556M }}
* {{cite book|authorlink2=Dan Herbeck|last=Michel|first=Lou|author2-first=Dan |author2-last=Herbeck|title=American Terrorist |date=2001 |isbn=978-0-06-039407-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/americanterroris00loum/ |place=New York| publisher= Regan Books |oclc=1028037729 |url-access= registration}} Originally published as: {{cite periodical|last=Michel|first=Lou|author2=Dan Herbeck|title=American Terrorist |magazine=[[Scientific American]] |volume=284|issue=6|bibcode=2001SciAm.284f..28D|year=2001|page=28 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0601-28|pmid=11396336 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book|title=In Their Name|last=Irving |first=Clive|publisher=[[Random House]]|location=New York|year=1995|isbn=978-0-679-44825-9|url=https://archive.org/details/intheirnamededic00irvi}}
* {{cite book|last=Serano|first=Richard A.|title=One of Ours: Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing|publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company]]|location=New York|year=1998|isbn=978-0-393-02743-3|url=https://archive.org/details/oneofourstimothy00serr}}
* {{cite book |authorlink=Brandon Stickney |last=Stickney|first=Brandon M.|title=All-American Monster: The Unauthorized Biography of Timothy McVeigh|publisher=[[Prometheus Books]]|location=Amherst, NY|year=1996|isbn=978-1-57392-088-9|url=https://archive.org/details/allamericanmonst00stic}}
* {{cite book |authorlink=Stuart A. Wright |last=Wright|first=Stuart A.|title=Patriots, Politics, and the Oklahoma City Bombing|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge; New York|year=2007|isbn=978-0-521-87264-5}}
* {{cite book|authorlink=Marita Sturken|last=Sturken|first=Marita|title=Tourists of History: Memory, Kitsch, and Consumerism from Oklahoma City to Ground Zero|publisher=[[Duke University Press]]|location=Durham, NC|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8223-4103-1}}

===Journals===
*{{cite journal |last1=Holzer |first1=Thomas L. |last2=Fletcher |first2=Joe B. |first3=Gary S. |last3=Fuis |last4=Ryberg |first4=Trond |last5=Brocher |first5=Thomas M. |last6=Dietel |first6=Christopher M. |year=1996 |title=Seismograms Offer Insight into Oklahoma City Bombing |url=http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/eosholzer.html |url-status=dead |journal=Eos, Transactions American Geophysical Union |volume=77 |issue=41 |pages=393, 396–397 |bibcode=1996EOSTr..77..393H |doi=10.1029/96EO00269 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071113185155/http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/eosholzer.html |archive-date=November 13, 2007 |accessdate=March 25, 2009|url-access=subscription }}
*{{cite journal|last=Lewis|first=Carol W.|title=The Terror that Failed: Public Opinion in the Aftermath of the Bombing in Oklahoma City|journal=Public Administration Review|volume=60|issue=3|date=May–June 2000|pages=201–210|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-63060012/terror-failed-public-opinion.html|url-access=registration|doi=10.1111/0033-3352.00080|access-date=March 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307204830/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/article-1G1-63060012/terror-failed-public-opinion.html|archive-date=March 7, 2012|url-status=live}}
*{{cite journal |last1=Mlakar Sr. |first1=Paul F. |last2=Corley |first2=W. Gene |author2-link=W. Gene Corley |last3=Sozen |first3=Mete A. |last4=Thornton |first4=Charles H. |date=August 1998 |title=The Oklahoma City Bombing: Analysis of Blast Damage to the Murrah Building |journal=Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities |volume=12 |issue=3 |pages=113–119 |doi=10.1061/(ASCE)0887-3828(1998)12:3(113)}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{cite book|author=City of Oklahoma City Document Management|title=Final Report: Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building Bombing April&nbsp;19, 1995|publisher=Department of Central Services Central Printing Division|location=Stillwater, OK|year=1996|isbn=978-0-87939-130-0}}
* {{cite book|last=Crothers|first=Lane|title=Rage on the Right: The American Militia Movement from Ruby Ridge to Homeland Security|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|location=Lanham, MD|year=2003|isbn=978-0-7425-2546-7}}
* {{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8Z5wEpDK9d0C&pg=PA178 |title=Western Democracies and the New Extreme Right Challenge |publisher=[[Routledge]] |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-415-55387-2 |editor-last=Eatwell |editor-first=Roger |series=Routledge Studies in Extremism and Democracy |location=London |page=178 |language=en |editor-last2=Mudde |editor-first2=Cas}}
* {{Cite web |title=Oklahoma City Bombing |url=https://www.fbi.gov/history/famous-cases/oklahoma-city-bombing |access-date=2023-04-07 |website=Federal Bureau of Investigation}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Flowers |first1=R. Barri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gh6q_-Vzc0YC&pg=PA106 |title=Murders in the United States: Crimes, Killers and Victims of the Twentieth Century |last2=Flowers |first2=H. Lorraine |publisher=[[McFarland & Company]] |year=2004 |isbn=0-7864-2075-8 |page=106}}
* {{cite book|last=Hamm|first=Mark S.|title=In Bad Company: America's Terrorist Underground|publisher=Northeastern University Press|location=Boston|year=2002|isbn=978-1-55553-492-9|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/inbadcompanyamer0000hamm}}
* {{cite book|last1=Hinman|first1=Eve E.|first2=David J.|last2=Hammond|title=Lessons from the Oklahoma City Bombing: Defensive Design Techniques|location=New York|publisher=ASCE Press|year=1997|isbn=978-0-7844-0217-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Hoffman|first=David|title=The Oklahoma City Bombing and the Politics of Terror|publisher=[[Feral House]]|year=1998|isbn=978-0-922915-49-1|url=https://archive.org/details/oklahomacitybomb00hoff}}
* {{Cite book |last=Hulme |first=Derick L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LTbDDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA126 |title=The Domestic Politics of Terrorism: Lessons from the Clinton Administration |date=2020 |publisher=Lexington Book |isbn=978-1-7936-0998-4 |location=Lanham |page=126 |oclc=on1124352627}}
* {{cite book|author-link=Stephen Jones (attorney)|last1=Jones|first1=Stephen|first2=Peter|last2=Israel|title=Others Unknown: The Oklahoma City Bombing Conspiracy|location=New York|publisher=PublicAffairs|year=2001|isbn=978-1-58648-098-1}}
* {{cite book|last=Key|first=Charles|title=The Final Report of the Bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building|publisher=The Oklahoma Bombing Investigation Committee|location=Oklahoma City|year=2001|isbn=978-0-971051-30-0 |lccn=2001277432}} Paperback.
* {{cite book|last=Knight|first=Peter|title=Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|location=Santa Barbara, CA|year=2003|isbn=978-1-57607-812-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Miller|first=Richard Earl|title=Writing at the End of the World|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press|location=New York|year=2005|isbn=978-0-8229-5886-4}}
* {{cite book|author=Oklahoma Today|author-link=Oklahoma Today|title=9:02&nbsp;am, April&nbsp;19, 1995: The Official Record of the Oklahoma City Bombing|location=Oklahoma City|publisher=Oklahoma Today|year=2005|isbn=978-0-8061-9957-3}}
* {{cite book|last=Sanders|first=Kathy|title=After Oklahoma City: A Grieving Grandmother Uncovers Shocking Truths about the bombing&nbsp;... and Herself|location=Arlington, TX|publisher=Master Strategies|year=2005|isbn=978-0-976648-50-5}}
* {{cite book|last=Sherrow|first=Victoria|title=The Oklahoma City Bombing: Terror in the Heartland|location=Springfield, N.J.|publisher=Enslow Publishers|year=1998|isbn=978-0-7660-1061-1|url=https://archive.org/details/oklahomacitybomb00sher}}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Oklahoma City bombing}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080315150945/http://www.cnn.com/US/9703/okc.trial/links.html Oklahoma City National Memorial official website]
* [http://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/bomb.htm ''The Denver Post'': Oklahoma City Bombing Trial]
* {{Cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/US/9703/okc.trial/links.html |title=CNN Interactive: Oklahoma City bombing trial |publisher=[[CNN]] |access-date=May 12, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080315150945/http://www.cnn.com/US/9703/okc.trial/links.html |archive-date=March 15, 2008 |url-status=dead}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://members.cox.net/reconokc/bomb/ |title=Images of the bombing |access-date=November 11, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090607180129/http://members.cox.net/reconokc/bomb/ |archive-date=June 7, 2009 |url-status=dead }}
* [https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/wjcoklahomabombingspeech.htm Text, audio, and video of President Clinton's Oklahoma Bombing Memorial address]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20101108003436/http://www.news9.com/global/Category.asp?C=185433 Interactive timeline of the bombing events]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160420135829/https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/oklahoma-city-bombing Terror Hits Home: The Oklahoma City Bombing] from the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]]
* [https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2015/april/oklahoma-city-bombing-20-years-later The Oklahoma City Bombing 20 Years Later] from the Federal Bureau of Investigation
* [http://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/jones-stephen/ Voices of Oklahoma interview with Stephen Jones.] First person interview conducted on January 27, 2010, with Stephen Jones, attorney for Timothy McVeigh.
* [http://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/norick-ron/ Voices of Oklahoma interview, Chapters 14–17, with Ron Norick.] First person interview conducted on July 28, 2009, with Ron Norick, mayor of Oklahoma City when the bombing took place.

{{Oklahoma City}}
{{Oklahoma history}}
{{Terrorist attacks in the United States by deaths}}
{{Presidency of Bill Clinton}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oklahoma City Bombing}}
[[Category:Oklahoma City bombing| ]]
[[Category:1995 disasters in the United States]]
[[Category:1995 in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:1995 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:1995 building bombings]]
[[Category:Anti-Federalism]]
[[Category:April 1995 crimes in the United States]]
[[Category:Attacks on government buildings and structures in the United States]]
[[Category:Building and structure collapses in 1995]]
[[Category:Building and structure collapses in the United States]]
[[Category:Building bombings in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Capital murder cases]]
[[Category:Car and truck bombings in 1995]]
[[Category:Car and truck bombings in the United States]]
[[Category:Counterterrorism in the United States]]
[[Category:Incidents involving the sovereign citizen movement]]
[[Category:Mass murder in 1995]]
[[Category:Mass murder in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Mass murder in the United States in the 1990s]]
[[Category:Mass murderer duos]]
[[Category:Patriot movement]]
[[Category:Presidency of Bill Clinton]]
[[Category:Right-wing terrorist incidents]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in Oklahoma]]
[[Category:Terrorist incidents in the United States in 1995]]
[[Category:White supremacy in the United States]]