Timothy McVeigh: The Oklahoma City Bomber “I explain this not for publicity, nor seeking to win an argument of right or wrong, I explain so that the record is clear as to my thinking and motivations in bombing a government installation.”

Background Born in Lockport, New York, USA. Grew up in Pendleton, New York. He was the middle child of William McVeigh and Mildred McVeigh. His grandfather introduced him to hunting and guns when he was young and received a.22 rifle when he was 13. He claims to have been bullied as a teenager and created a fantasy of exacting revenge on his bullies. His mother left his family and his parents got divorced in After highschool, he attended the Bryant & Statton College, but dropped out. He also began hacking into government computers from his Commodore 64. He became obsessed with the novel The Turner Diaries, which was written by William Luther Pierce, a past leader of an American white nationalist movement that supports an armed uprising against the U.S. government. The novel included a protagonist who bombed an FBI office similar to his own attack. He joined the army in 1988, took part in Operation Desert Storm, and was discharged in McVeigh worked at a rent-a-cop agency in Buffalo. He also frequently voiced his contempt for the U.S. government and was a conspiracy theorist.

Crimes Accused of Committing CrimeDateVictim(s)Punishment A terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in downtown Oklahoma April 19, people dead and hundreds more injured Death penalty

Most recent crime (1995) ▫The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorist bomb attack on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995.

Evidence brought against criminal The investigators found lots of evidence implicating both McVeigh and Nichols in the bombing, such as bomb- making supplies, books on how to do it, a hand-drawn map of Oklahoma City with the Alfred P. Murrah building and the location of McVeigh's getaway car marked, and a copy of Hunter, a book written by the same author as The Turner Diaries, on Nichols' property. Parts of the truck used to deliver the bomb which were launched by the blast were traced back to McVeigh, as were an alias he had used to rent it. He also matched a composite of one of two unidentified males seen on the scene of the bombing (the other man turned out to have been an innocent by-passer).

Sentence McVeigh was found guilty after three days on trial. He was charged with using weapons of mass destruction, conspiracy to do the same, destruction by use of explosives and eight counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death.

Theory that explains his deviant behavior Behavioral theory: Timothy McVeigh underwent some traumatizing events as a child. As a teenager, his mother left the family and in 1986, his parents divorced. He also claimed to have been bullied in high school and created a fantasy world for himself in which he could exact revenge on his bullies. He also developed a hatred for the government and had some anarchist ideas. He also voiced his ideas for the U.S. government as a conspiracy theorist. I believe this mindset ultimately led to the terrible bombing incident.

Cultural References Books: American Terrorist- By: Lou Michel Biography: Timothy McVeigh: Soldier of Terror