It was 22 years ago on April 19, 1995 that by the end of the day 168 people including multiple children lay dead, more the 680 were injured, a third of the Alfred P. Murrah federal building had been blown up, 324 building along with 86 cars had been damaged, and an estimated $652 million dollars’ worth of damage had been caused.  Now most people born in the 90’s or after have no idea why this happened or how, but this event became the deadliest domestic terrorist attack to ever occur on American soil. The event now known as the Oklahoma City Bombing was perpetrated by an anti-government conspiracy theorist and ex-soldier named Timothy McVeigh. It was his history of being bullied, witnessing the violence of the first Gulf War, as well as witnessing the events of the Waco Siege as well as the Ruby Ridge incident prompted him to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City. Now yet again most people don’t know about either the Waco Siege or the Ruby Ridge incident so in order for you to better understand the significance and reasoning behind the Oklahoma Bombing let me explain them.

It was 3 years prior to the Oklahoma Bombing that the Ruby Ridge incident occurred. Unlike with the Oklahoma Bombing the Ruby Ridge incident lasted for a little over a week starting the 21st of August in 92 and ending on the 31st. The incident has its roots in the move of isolationist Randy Weaver, his wife, Vicki Weaver, and their children to an isolated ridge known as Ruby Ridge near Naples, Idaho. The cabin in which Weaver and his family lived in happened to be about sixty miles from a compound belonging to the neo-Nazi Christian group going by the name of The Aryan Nations. In order to build relationships and in looking for some comradery the Weavers started to make trips to The Aryan Nations compound. It was there that unbeknownst to Mr. Randy Weaver he met an undercover ATF agent. The agent, in looking for another informant on the Aryan Nations, asked Weaver if he would saw off some shotguns to an illegal barrel length in order to entrap him into being an informant. Weaver obliged and when asked to be an informant in exchange for the charges over the sawed off shotguns being dropped he furiously declined. Weaver, becoming extremely aggravated at the thought that the government was trying to interfere with his personal business, immediately retreated back to his self-built cabin and refused to show up for his court appointment. It was at this point that the case was transferred over to the United States Marshal Service due to it now pertaining to court proceedings.

The first act of business by the Marshall Service was to work to install surveillance cameras around the weaver cabin in order to gain a better idea of how to approach the situation. During the setting up of the cameras Spike, the Weaver’s dog, noticed the scent of the Marshalls and started to bark alerting the Weavers and prompting Randy Weaver’s son Samuel and friend Kevin Harris to go and investigate what the dog detected. Upon the discovery of the Marshalls by the Weavers a small gunfight erupted. At the end of the fight Samuel Weaver laid dead as did Deputy United States Marshal Bill Degan. Following the chain of bureaucracy the case was then transferred onto the FBI due to it now involving the death of an Officer of the Federal Law.  Under the assumption they were deploying into an armed and volatile conflict between the United States Government and The Weaver Family upon arrival the FBI teams set up sniper positions overlooking the cabin so as to ensure no other Federal Officers would be killed. After the setting up of the sniper teams but prior to the arrival of FBI negotiators Randy Weaver as well as friend Kevin Harris went to go check on the body of Samuel which they had moved to a guest shed only a few yards away from the cabin. During their expedition to the shed one of the FBI sharpshooters opened fire upon the two firing a bullet which wounded Randy Weaver. Upon realizing what was going on Vicki Weaver, from the doorway of the cabin, screamed and yelled for the two to return before they were killed. As the two made their way back to the cabin the sharpshooter fired again, this time the bullet went through the door which Vicki Weaver was holding open for her husband and friend, killing her instantly while then carrying on to wound Kevin Harris by piercing his chest. This was the last shot fired during the altercation. It was not long after this turn of events that the negotiators for the FBI arrived and with the help of former soldier James “Bo” Gritz the Weavers were convinced to leave their cabin and effect a conclusion with the United States Government. This gravely unfortunate series of events heavily impacted Timothy McVeigh. These events, to McVeigh, showed that the United States government was a bully which did not tolerate those who resisted its rule and would murder even its own citizens in order to effect the outcome it desired. With this sentiment about the government instilled within him, his past of being bullied, and fighting in the First Gulf War McVeigh required only one final spark to ignite his passion for an attack on the United States.

It was approximately five months later beginning on the 28th of February 1993 that the Waco Siege took place. Now unlike the events of Ruby Ridge the Waco Siege involved an entire cult community instead of a normal sized family along with a family friend. The Siege was a 51 day long fight between a religious cult community known as the Branch Davidians and the same branches of government that took part in the Ruby Ridge incident; the ATF and the FBI along with the National Guard as well as the Texas Army National Guard. The Branch Davidians are an offshoot of the Seventh day Adventist church who were, at the time of the siege, led by a man going by the name of David Koresh. Koresh believed that he was a reincarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ and proclaimed himself as the new messiah and that he would lead “his people” to the beyond.  Koresh planned to shepherd his heard from atop the Mount Carmel center near Waco Texas which he had recently regained the ability to fund. It was there that a shipment of weapons was being sent when the crate carrying them fell and split open revealing its contents to the driver of the truck.

The driver of the truck immediately notified the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in order to report what turned out to be the massing of weapons at the Mount Carmel center. In order to investigate this supposed massing of weapons the ATF sent out a team to raid the Branch Davidian complex. Upon hearing of the upcoming raid local journalists made their way to the Mount Carmel center so as to behold the spectacle that was to unfold. During his trip up to the center one of the journalists got lost and upon asking a passerby, who happened to be a member of the inner circle of David Koresh, for instructions to the center he inadvertently gave the Branch Davidians a heads up to the impending raid. Now knowing of the impending raid the Davidians prepared themselves with all sorts of weaponry and when the ATF began their raid a large gunfight ensued leading to the deaths of four ATF agents as well as six of the Branch Davidians. Like with Ruby Ridge it was at this point that the case was turned over to the FBI in order for it to be a joint case between the ATF and FBI and later along with the National and Texas Army National Guard.

The joint task force proceeded by initiating a prolonged siege against the Davidians who were now holed up in their complex. The task force first cut off supplies to the ranch as well as power. They then went about antagonizing by blasting music at the building and blinding the occupants with high powered lighting as well as smashing the prized car collection of David Koresh. The siege ended up lasting a total of fifty one days from the time the FBI got involved. Over that course of time the “Waco Siege” as it came to be called gained nationwide notoriety landing itself on multiple national news channels. During the course of the siege many Branch Davidians along with their children, though at separate times, left Koresh and his cult for the benefit of themselves along with their loved ones. Though many remained with their leader within the compound. After a prolonged period of stagnation the task force sought to initiate a second raid utilizing tear gas but in order for this to happen they required a new warrant. The task force set out to procure their warrant and when the issuing judge discovered there were allegations against Koresh of child abuse they issued the warrant. The agencies set out to end the siege although this time their raid would consist of tanks, tear gas, and troops instead of troops alone. They set to work tearing holes open in the building and inserting tear gas when a fire erupted from inside the center. The raiding parties retreated from the building as it was engulfed in flames from an unknown source. By the end of the fire, which turned out to be started by Davidians within the ranch, 76 Davidians died which included multiple women and child along with Koresh himself. In the ensuing days word spread that it was a possibility that the government’s agencies had started the fire and in turn murdered those 76 people. Like with Ruby Ridge the government was portrayed as a murderous anti religion, anti-Christian, freedom crushing bully and thus have people like Timothy McVeigh motives to take action.

Two years after the siege McVeigh along with two men he recruited rented a truck and filled it with explosives and wiring in order to create a mobile bomb. After the assembly his two counterparts went their separate ways and McVeigh drove the truck into the parking area of the Alfred P. Murrah building, ignited the fuse, and escaped killing 168. McVeigh choose the Murrah building because some of the agents who took part in Ruby Ridge and Waco were stationed at the federal building and it was in a fairly low profile city, which meant lower security. With a federal building having been attacked and a terrorist on the loose the entirety of the country was on the lookout for the bomber and it wasn’t long be done McVeigh had been tracked down. After his capture McVeigh was quickly sentenced to death by a jury and died in 2001 by lethal injection. Not many people today know of this story but it is an important one. The story of the Oklahoma City Bombing serves as a reminder that terrorism can spring from anywhere in the world. It shows that it’s not just people from foreign countries that possess the capacity to hurt our country but that our own citizens do as well. It is important to be aware of the past so we can know what to look for in the future do as to prevent atrocities like this from ever happening again.

For additional information:

• For those who have Netflix documentaries about both Ruby Ridge and the bombing itself have recently been added
• Here is the link to the Wikipedia page for the Oklahoma City Bombing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oklahoma_City_bombing