DOCSLIB.ORG

Timothy Mcveigh a M M O N I U M N I T R a T E

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Timothy Mcveigh a M M O N I U M N I T R a T E OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING FORENSICS Timothy McVeigh McVeigh, an anti- government sympathizer and Gulf War veteran, sought revenge against the federal government for their handling of the Waco Siege, which ended in the deaths of 76, as well as for the Ruby Ridge incident in 1992 which ended in the deaths of 2 anti-government The Oklahoma City 86 cars, and shattered glass survivalist. McVeigh hoped Bombing was a domestic in 258 nearby buildings, to inspire a revolt against terrorist bomb attack on causing at least an what he considered to be the Alfred P. Murrah estimated $652 million a tyrannical federal Federal Building in worth of damage. Within government. downtown Oklahoma City 90 minutes of the on April 19, 1995. It explosion, Timothy remained the most McVeigh was stopped by destructive act of terrorism an Oklahoma State committed in the United Trooper for driving States until the September without a license plate and 11 attacks of 2001. The arrested for unlawfully bombing killed 168 people carrying a weapon. While and injured more than 680 McVeigh was still in jail, others. The blast destroyed forensic evidence quickly or damaged 324 buildings linked he and a friend, within a 16-block radius, Terry Nichols to the destroyed or burned attack. A m m o n i u m N i t r a t e Timothy McVeigh Oklahoma City McVeigh claimed to have been a target of maintained relatively poor grades until bullying at school, and took refuge in a his 1986 graduation. McVeigh’s fantasy world where he imagined fascination with firearms began when he retaliating against the bullies. At the end was introduced to weapons by his of his life, he stated his belief that the grandfather. He told people he wanted to United States be a gun shop owner and sometimes took government is firearms to school to impress his the ultimate classmates. McVeigh became intensely bully. Most interested in gun rights after he graduated who knew from high school. He joined the Army McVeigh and graduated in May of 1988, at age 20. remember While in the military, McVeigh used him as being much of his spare time to read about very firearms, and explosives. McVeigh was withdrawn and shy, with a few describing reprimanded by him as an outgoing and playful child who the military for withdrew as an adolescent. McVeigh is wearing a "White said to have had only one girlfriend Power" T-shirt to during his childhood, later stating to protest against journalists he did not know how to black servicemen impress girls. While in high school, who wore what McVeigh became interested in computers he viewed as and hacked into government computer "Black Power" T-shirts. McVeigh was systems on his Commodore 64, under the awarded a Bronze Star for his service in handle "The Wanderer". In his senior the first Gulf War. In interviews following year, McVeigh was named Starpoint the Oklahoma City bombing, McVeigh Central High School's "most promising said he began harboring anti-government computer programmer," but he feelings during the Gulf War. hatred of the ATF McVeigh After leaving the army in 1992, incident, shot and killed Randy Weaver's McVeigh grew increasingly transient. At wife while she held an infant child.), "in - BURKS first he worked briefly near his the hope that somebody in the ‘Patriot hometown as a security guard, where movement’ would assassinate the he sounded off daily to his co-workers sharpshooter." In April 1993, McVeigh SCIENCE about his loathing for government. headed for a farm in Michigan where a Deciding the New York area was too former Army friend, Terry Nichols lived. liberal, he left his job and began driving In between McVeigh's anti-government around America, seeking out his old watching rhetoric became radical as FORENSIC friends from the Army. In 1993, he reruns of the drove to Waco, Texas during the Branch Waco siege on he began to sell ATF hats Davidian siege to show his support. At TV, Nichols riddled with bullet holes and the siege, he distributed pro-gun rights and his a flare gun, which, he said, literature and bumper stickers, such as brother began "When guns are outlawed, I will become teaching an outlaw." He became increasingly McVeigh how to make explosives out of more enraged at the way in which the readily available materials. McVeigh’s ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms new goal was “a campaign of agency) overtook the Waco compound. assassination” against those who For the next five months, McVeigh represented the government. He worked at gun shows and handed out believed he could make the loudest free cards printed with Lon Horiuchi's statement by bombing a federal name and address (Horiuchi is an FBI/ building. ATF sniper who at the Ruby Ridge T I M O T H Y M C V E I G H Working at a lakeside local hotel manager identified the campground near McVeigh's old sketch as Timothy McVeigh. Army post, he and Nichols Shortly after the bombing, while constructed an explosive device driving on I-35 in Oklahoma, mounted in the back of a rented McVeigh was stopped by Ryder truck. The bomb consisted Oklahoma State Troopers who of about 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) had passed McVeigh's yellow of ammonium nitrate. On April 19, 1977 Mercury Marquis and 1995 (on the 2nd anniversary of noticed that it had no license the Waco, Texas seige), McVeigh plate. McVeigh admitted to the drove the truck to the front of the police officer (who noticed a Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building bulge under his jacket) that he just as its offices opened for the had a gun and he was day. Before arriving, he stopped subsequently arrested for having to light a two minute fuse. At driven without plates and illegal 09:02, a large explosion firearm possession; McVeigh's destroyed the north half of the concealed weapon permit was building. The explosion killed 168 not legal in Oklahoma. McVeigh individuals, including 19 children was wearing a T-shirt at that time who were attending a day care on with a picture of Abraham Lincoln the second floor of the federal and the motto: sic semper building. tyrannis ('Thus always to By tracing the Vehicle tyrants'), the state motto of Identification Number (VIN) of a Virginia and also the words rear axle found in the wreckage, shouted by John Wilkes Booth the FBI identified the vehicle as a after he shot Lincoln. On the Ryder Rental box truck rented back, it had a tree with a picture from Junction City, Kansas. of three blood droplets and the Workers at the agency assisted Thomas Jefferson quote, "The an FBI artist in creating a sketch tree of liberty must be refreshed of the renter, who had used the from time to time with the blood of alias "Robert Kling". The sketch patriots and tyrants." was shown in the area and a INFAMOUS CASES - BURKS Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, suspendisse nulla, rhoncus temp placerat fermentum FBI investigations to drop off the getaway car. sentenced to die by lethal discovered several receipts Using a search warrant, injection. He remained indicating McVeigh’s investigators found in his convinced that the death’s partner, Terry Nichols, had home receipts for bomb of the innocent victims was purchased large amounts making equipment, blasting just; stating, “If there is a (over 2 tons) of ammonium caps, and a hand drawn map hell, then I'll be in good nitrate fertilizer and stored of downtown Oklahoma company with a lot of it in rented storage units. City. fighter pilots who also had Surveillance cameras to bomb innocents to win identified Nichols truck Nichols was convicted of the war.” He further stated, circling the Murrah conspiring to use a weapon “It’s the nature of the Building three days before of ‘mass destruction’ and beast.” the bombing. Nichols wife was given a sentence of life also confirmed to the court in prison without the of her husband’s trip with possibility of parole. McVeigh was executed by McVeigh to Oklahoma City On August 10th, 1995, lethal injection McVeigh was formally at charged with the bombing. 7:14 a.m. on June 11, 2001 Two years later he was convicted and was NAME ____________________________ DATE ______________ Timothy McVeigh ‘Oklahoma City Bombing’ 1. As a high school student, what skill did McVeigh possess? 2. Yes or No - McVeigh was a supporter of gun control? 3. Why was McVeigh reprimanded by the Army? 4. While in attendance at the Waco Siege, what did McVeigh distribute to various people? 5. What two events in 1992 sparked McVeigh’s anti-government rage? 6. Which ATF sniper did McVeigh want assassinated? 7. How did investigators identify the vehicle used in the Murrah Federal Building explosion? 8. Why was it known that Terry Nichols truck had visited the Federal Building three days prior to the bombing? 9. Upon arrest, McVeigh was wearing a shirt with the motto - sic temper tyrannis. What is the meaning of this quote? 10. Yes or No - at any time, was McVeigh remorseful for the 168 lives he took? .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Jones (Stephen) Oklahoma City Bombing Archive, 1798 – 2003 (Bulk 1995 – 1997)
    JONES (STEPHEN) OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING ARCHIVE, 1798 ± 2003 (BULK 1995 ± 1997). See TARO record at http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/utcah/03493/cah-03493.html (Approximately 620 linear feet) This collection is open for research use. Portions are restricted due to privacy concerns. See Archivist's Note for more details. Use of DAT and Beta tapes by appointment only; please contact repository for more information. This collection is stored remotely. Advance notice required for retrieval. Contact repository for retrieval. Cite as: Stephen Jones Oklahoma City Bombing Archive, 1798 ± 2003 (Bulk 1995 ± 1997), Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin. [AR 98-395; 2003-055; 2005-161] ______________________________________________________________________________ BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Stephen Jones (born 1940) was appointed in May 1995 by the United States District Court in Oklahoma City to serve as the lead defense attorney for Timothy McVeigh in the criminal court case of United States of America v. Timothy James McVeigh and Terry Lynn Nichols. On April 19, 1995, two years to the day after the infamous Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms raid on the Branch Davidians at Waco, Texas, a homemade bomb delivered inside of a Ryder rental truck was detonated in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Timothy McVeigh, as well as his accomplice Terry Nichols, were accused of and, in 1997, found guilty of the crime, and McVeigh was executed in 2001. Terry Nichols is still serving his sentence of 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole in the ADX Florence super maximum-security prison in Florence, Colorado.
    [Show full text]
  • Media Interaction with the Public in Emergency Situations: Four Case Studies
    MEDIA INTERACTION WITH THE PUBLIC IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS: FOUR CASE STUDIES A Report Prepared under an Interagency Agreement by the Federal Research Division, Library of Congress August 1999 Authors: LaVerle Berry Amanda Jones Terence Powers Project Manager: Andrea M. Savada Federal Research Division Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 20540–4840 Tel: 202–707–3900 Fax: 202–707–3920 E-Mail: [email protected] Homepage:http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/ PREFACE The following report provides an analysis of media coverage of four major emergency situations in the United States and the impact of that coverage on the public. The situations analyzed are the Three Mile Island nuclear accident (1979), the Los Angeles riots (1992), the World Trade Center bombing (1993), and the Oklahoma City bombing (1995). Each study consists of a chronology of events followed by a discussion of the interaction of the media and the public in that particular situation. Emphasis is upon the initial hours or days of each event. Print and television coverage was analyzed in each study; radio coverage was analyzed in one instance. The conclusion discusses several themes that emerge from a comparison of the role of the media in these emergencies. Sources consulted appear in the bibliography at the end of the report. i TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ................................................................... i INTRODUCTION: THE MEDIA IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS .................... iv THE THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR ACCIDENT, 1979 ..........................1 Chronology of Events, March
    [Show full text]
  • 1394 White Terrorism and Willful Ignorance
    #1394 White Terrorism and Willful Ignorance JAY TOMLINSON - HOST, BEST OF THE LEFT: [00:00:00] During today's episode, I am going to be telling you about a new podcast I think you should check out. It's called Unf-ing the Republic, but they don't say f-ing. It'll help level up anyone's poliDcal arguing game. So hear me out mid-show, when I tell you more about it. And now, welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of the LeI Podcast in which we shall learn about our long history of ignoring domesDc right-wing terrorism, from the Oklahoma City bombing through to the predictable acDons of miliDa groups in 2020 and beyond. Clips today are from the PBS News Hour, It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders, Democracy Now!, AJ+, The David Pakman Show, the Washington Post, MSNBC and The Real News. Tracing the roots of the America's biggest domesKc terror aLack - PBS News Hour - Air Date 2-17-20 MAN: [00:00:47] There's heavy damage done. JEFFREY BROWN - HOST, PBS NEWSHOUR: [00:00:51] April 19, 1995. MAN: [00:00:56] About a third of the building has been blown away. JEFFREY BROWN - HOST, PBS NEWSHOUR: [00:00:56] A Ryder rental truck with 5,000 pounds of explosives ripped through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City; 168 people were killed, 19 children among them. WOMAN: [00:01:08] Who has come in here and done this terrible thing? BARAK GOODMAN: [00:01:12] I knew very liale of the story.
    [Show full text]
  • Death Watch: Why America Was Not Allowed to Watch Timothy Mcveigh Die Robert Perry Barnidge Jr
    NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF LAW & TECHNOLOGY Volume 3 Article 11 Issue 1 Fall 2001 10-1-2001 Death Watch: Why America Was Not Allowed to Watch Timothy McVeigh Die Robert Perry Barnidge Jr. Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.unc.edu/ncjolt Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Robert P. Barnidge Jr., Death Watch: Why America Was Not Allowed to Watch Timothy McVeigh Die, 3 N.C. J.L. & Tech. 193 (2001). Available at: http://scholarship.law.unc.edu/ncjolt/vol3/iss1/11 This Comments is brought to you for free and open access by Carolina Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology by an authorized administrator of Carolina Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NORTH CAROLINA JOURNAL OF LAW & TECHNOLOGY VOLUME 3, IssuE 1: FALL 2001 Comment: Death Watch: Why America Was Not Allowed To Watch Timothy McVeigh Die Robert PerryBarnidge, Jr.1 I. Introduction Timothy J. McVeigh was sentenced to death on August 14, 1997, for the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, which left 168 people dead.2 Although United States Attorney General John Ashcroft explained that "all the citizens of the United States were victims of the crimes perpetrated by Mr. McVeigh,",3 all such victims were not allowed to watch McVeigh's execution by lethal injection at the United States Penitentiary at Terre Haute (USPTH) on June 11, 2001 . Partly because of the logistical difficulties in accommodating the wishes of the survivors and the victims' families in personally viewing McVeigh's execution, Ashcroft approved of a setup whereby a closed circuit transmission of McVeigh's execution would be available exclusively to "authorized survivors and family members of victims, and designated counselors and government representatives." 5 Among the stipulations were that the broadcast would be 1J.D.
    [Show full text]
  • Surprise, Intelligence Failure, and Mass Casualty Terrorism
    SURPRISE, INTELLIGENCE FAILURE, AND MASS CASUALTY TERRORISM by Thomas E. Copeland B.A. Political Science, Geneva College, 1991 M.P.I.A., University of Pittsburgh, 1992 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Graduate School of Public and International Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2006 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Thomas E. Copeland It was defended on April 12, 2006 and approved by Davis Bobrow, Ph.D. Donald Goldstein, Ph.D. Dennis Gormley Phil Williams, Ph.D. Dissertation Director ii © 2006 Thomas E. Copeland iii SURPRISE, INTELLIGENCE FAILURE, AND MASS CASUALTY TERRORISM Thomas E. Copeland, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2006 This study aims to evaluate whether surprise and intelligence failure leading to mass casualty terrorism are inevitable. It explores the extent to which four factors – failures of public policy leadership, analytical challenges, organizational obstacles, and the inherent problems of warning information – contribute to intelligence failure. This study applies existing theories of surprise and intelligence failure to case studies of five mass casualty terrorism incidents: World Trade Center 1993; Oklahoma City 1995; Khobar Towers 1996; East African Embassies 1998; and September 11, 2001. A structured, focused comparison of the cases is made using a set of thirteen probing questions based on the factors above. The study concludes that while all four factors were influential, failures of public policy leadership contributed directly to surprise. Psychological bias and poor threat assessments prohibited policy makers from anticipating or preventing attacks. Policy makers mistakenly continued to use a law enforcement approach to handling terrorism, and failed to provide adequate funding, guidance, and oversight of the intelligence community.
    [Show full text]
  • A Guide to the Lee Hancock Collection
    A Guide to the Lee Hancock Collection, 1975 – 2004, Bulk: 1993-2000 Collection 099 Descriptive Summary Creator: Hancock, Lee Title: Lee Hancock Collection Dates: 1975 – 2004, Bulk: 1993-2000 Abstract: Documents, clippings, videos, and other research materials represent journalist Lee Hancock’s research into the events of the Branch Davidian standoff near Waco in 1993. The materials are arranged into the following five series: Non-Branch Davidian Incidents, Media Coverage, Investigations, House of Representatives Hearings, and Lawsuits. Identification: Collection 099 Extent: 20 boxes (10 linear feet) Language: Materials are written in English Repository: Southwestern Writers Collection, Special Collections, Alkek Library, Texas State University-San Marcos Lee Hancock Collection SWWC Collection 099 Historical Sketch On February 28, 1993 the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) attempted to issue an arrest warrant for Vernon Wayne Howell and a search warrant for the Mount Carmel Center near Waco, Texas on the basis of illegal weapons possession. The Branch Davidians in Mount Carmel and the ATF began a shootout that ended in the deaths of four ATF agents and six Branch Davidians. The occupants of Mount Carmel and government agencies remained in a standoff for fifty-one days until the FBI launched CS gas into the compound in an effort to make the Branch Davidians exit. The CS gas assault on April 19, 1993 ended in a fire in which seventy-six people inside Mount Carmel died, including twenty-three children. After the fire a series of lawsuits and investigations began, including the 1994 criminal trial of the Branch Davidians, the 1995 congressional hearings, and a wrongful-death civil trial in 2000.
    [Show full text]
  • Physical Evidence
    OKLAHOMA CITY NATIONAL MEMORIAL & MUSEUM TESTIMONIAL EVIDENCE Investigators had the monumental task of following up on all eyewitness and survivor accounts and proving which ones were credible. Some of the statements provided proved to be unreliable; however, some testimonial evidence helped find and convict the perpetrators. Eyewitness testimony that proved to be false • One witness told investigators that McVeigh stopped by his business to ask directions to the Murrah Building the morning of the bombing. The idea of McVeigh not being familiar with his target was not plausible and evidence from Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier contradicted this. • A witness stated that he saw McVeigh in an alleyway near the Murrah building 20-25 minutes after the bombing. McVeigh was arrested 80 miles from the Murrah building, only 78 minutes after the bombing, making this sighting impossible. • Shortly after the bombing, a witness reported he saw two Middle Eastern men running from the Murrah Building and getting into a brown Chevrolet pickup about 5 minutes prior to the explosion. The FBI quickly issued a bulletin to be on the lookout for a brown pickup carrying two Middle Eastern males. The media broadcast that information and soon the public thought the bombing was work of Arab nationalists or a Muslim fundamentalist group, as in the case of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. No one ever thought that the terrorist could be an American. This fear led to the detainment of a Jordanian-American man who lived in Oklahoma City and was traveling to Amman, Jordan, on the day of the bombing.
    [Show full text]
  • Indirect Personality Assessment of the Violent True Believer
    JOURNAL OF PERSONALITY ASSESSMENT, 82(2), 138–146 Copyright © 2004, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. MASTER LECTURE Indirect Personality Assessment of the ViolentPERSONALITY ASSESSMENTMELOY OF THE VIOLENTTrue TRUE BELIEVER Believer J. Reid Meloy Department of Psychiatry University of California, San Diego and University of San Diego School of Law The violent true believer is an individual committed to an ideology or belief system which ad- vances homicide and suicide as a legitimate means to further a particular goal. The author ex- plores useful sources of evidence for an indirect personality assessment of such individuals. He illustrates both idiographic and nomothetic approaches to indirect personality assessment through comparative analyses of Timothy McVeigh, an American who bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, and Mohamed Atta, an Egyptian who led the airplane at- tacks against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001. The risks of indirect personal- ity assessment and ethical concerns are identified. For the past 9 years I have been intermittently consulting Immediately following the September 11 attacks and in with various federal intelligence agencies, teaching them the midst of my own shock and grief, I decided that the best what we know about such things as psychopathy and helping contribution I could make would be to help the intelligence them to understand the motivations and behaviors of various community understand an individual who develops a homi- individuals who threaten our national security. Following cidal and suicidal state of mind. I marshaled my resources, September 11, 2001, the frequency and intensity of this work contacted several colleagues, and within 10 days we pro- increased dramatically, and out of the awful flowering of the duced an advisory paper that was submitted to the Behavioral terrorist attacks on that autumn day blossomed a construct, Analysis Program of the Counterintelligence Division of the “the violent true believer,” about which I want to speak.
    [Show full text]
  • The Rise and Fall of the Montana Freemen
    Every Man a King: The Rise and Fall of the Montana Freemen Last Modified May 6, 1996. Copyright May 1996 by Mark Pitcavage. No duplication or commercial use of this document may be made without the express consent of the author. Introduction: In terms of America's ongoing struggle against antigovernment extremists, only the Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995 has surpassed the saga of the militants of "Justus Township" in remote eastern Montana in terms of media coverage. In terms of actual importance, what the Montana Freemen have done--and what similar groups across the country continue to do--may well eclipse a solitary act of terrorism by a few angry individuals. For the Montana Freemen have been waging a quiet war against the rest of the nation for several years now, a war fought with computers and comptrollers' warrants, liens and legal briefs. For the first time, here is their complete story. Every Man a King: The Rise and Fall of the Montana Freemen "Every man a king, every man a king, you can be a millionaire." So went the catchy campaign tune for Louisiana Senator Huey Long. Long, in the troubling economic times of the 1930s, won a following with his "Share the Wealth" plan, in which he proposed to alleviate people's suffering by using the power of the federal government to redistribute the nation's wealth. Now, in the troubling economic times of the 1990s, a new group of people have arisen to give a new, contemporary meaning to Long's famous song. People can become kings--or "sovereign citizens"--not by embracing the federal government but by rejecting it, along with most other forms of authority.
    [Show full text]
  • The Financial Impact of the Oklahoma City Bombing
    OKLAHOMA CITY NATIONAL MEMORIAL & MUSEUM RECOVERY: THE FINANCIAL IMPACT OF THE OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING Buildings, property, and medical services can all be assigned value; but, there is no way to put a value on the loss of human life. The pain and sorrow is immeasurable. However, Oklahomans vowed never to forget those lost in the Oklahoma City bombing or succumb to the fear of terrorism. With that promise and unyielding perseverance, along with local, state and federal support, Oklahoma City has become a stronger, more resilient, community. Oklahoma City continues to benefit from funds provided for restoration following the bombing. At 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, a bomb exploded on the north side of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, destroying one-third of the building and killing 168 men, women and children. Over 300 buildings were destroyed or damaged and shattered glass covered a ten-block radius. Cities as far as 50 miles away felt and heard the explosion. People initially thought there had been a natural gas explosion. It soon became clear that this tragedy was not from natural causes, but an act of terrorism. Within minutes, fire, police, and medical personnel were on site. They were joined by civilians, as well as workers from the affected buildings. The Incident Command System was immediately set up by the Oklahoma City Fire Department to organize the search and rescue efforts. The police were responsible for securing the site, while the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted the criminal investigation. Recognizing the severity of the incident, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management quickly started the coordination of services between state and federal agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
    [Show full text]
  • Brett Gould the Waco Siege
    Brett Gould The Waco Siege Gould 1 Few events in history garner so much attention and speculation that they live infamously throughout the ages. One of these events is known as the Waco Siege. The events at Waco captured media attention for months as the battle between the Branch Davidians and the federal government raged. It was just one event in a string of many in the early 1990’s setting the stage for a new wave of things to come in the realm of domestic terrorism in the United States. The day of the FBI raid on April 19th has been used by many other groups as a symbol for their attacks or actions. Unlikely predicted at the time, Waco ignited a firestorm that most people could not have predicated within the United States. The actions taken by government agencies at Waco has led to the inspiration of thousands of people across the nation. In fact, many domestic terrorist groups, specifically those belonging to militia movements and neo-Nazi groups, used the event as a tool for recruiting new members. The Oklahoma City Bomber, Timothy McVeigh, cited the Waco Siege as one of his many grievances with the federal government. These are just a few of the various legacies that Waco would become the face of or extremely important to. It would also become one of the most debated, misunderstood, and controversial events in U.S. history. Vernon Howell, more well known as David Koresh, was the infamous leader of the Branch Davidians during the Waco Siege. He changed his name after taking control of the group, naming himself after prominent biblical figures.
    [Show full text]
  • Randy Weaver Found Not Guilty; Real Criminals Must Now Be Put on Trial
    Click here for Full Issue of EIR Volume 20, Number 28, July 23, 1993 Randy Weaver found not guilty; real criminals must now be put on trial by Patrick Ruckert On Thursday, July 8, a federal jury in Boise, Idaho rendered Weaver, and other charges, including failure to appear for a verdicts in the celebrated trial of "white separatists " Randy hearing on the illegal weapon� count. The illegal weapons Weaver and Kevin Harris for the alleged murder of Deputy charge was a clear setup, as the hial testimony demonstrated. U.S. Marshal William Degan, in an August 1991 shootout The shotgun Weaver allegedly sold to the informant was one­ provoked by U.S. marshals outside the Weaver cabin on half inch shorter than is legal, and the informant was the one Ruby Ridge in rural northern Idaho (see EIR, June 25, 1993). who instructed Weaver on whete to cut the barrel. The jury's verdict, after a record 20 days of deliberation, The jury acquitted Kevin Harris of all charges; Weaver must be seen as a major victory for justice, and a major defeat was acquitted of all the mur�r and weapons counts, but for the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms convicted on two lesser charges of "failure to appear for trial" (BATF), and the police-state methods they use. The Anti­ and a related, overlapping charge. Defamation League of B 'nai B' rith, never an organization to Although Harris walked (jut of the court a free man, celebrate the victory of truth, sees the acquittal as a major Weaver must still face sentencing on the "failure to appear" setback to its agenda, and has sent howls of protest through­ charges.
    [Show full text]