1995 Oklahoma City Bombing - Case Study Example

1995 Oklahoma City Bombing The 19th of April, 1995 would certainly remain indelible in the minds of Americans, more so those from Oklahoma, following the deadly terrorists’ attack that occurred in their city. At about 9:02 am, a 5,000-pound bomb, concealed and ferried inside a Ryder truck, detonated within the proximity of Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City (OKC). 169 people lost their lives in the attack, nineteen of whom were children attending the Murrah Building day care center. In addition, nearly 800 other people’s sustained injuries that left them handicapped in one way or the other. Essentially, the casualties comprised of the federal employees, members of the public paying a visit to Murrah Building, and others in close buildings such as Water Resources Board. This pernicious terror attack stood out as the worst bombing within the U.S. boarders until the 9/11 attack at the World Trade Center. Investigations into the attack led to the apprehension of Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols as those responsible for the bombing. Initial suspicion wrongfully inclined to Middle Eastern terrorist organizations. However, it did not take long before the investigations narrowed down to McVeigh, who had been arrested soon after the detonation for violating traffic regulations, and his compatriot Nichols. Both of them once served in U.S. Army and were linked to radical militant Patriot movement. Before his release for the traffic violation, McVeigh was named and charged as a suspect. Nichols surrendered himself to the authorities shortly afterward. McVeigh was found guilty on 11 counts of murder, conspiracy and using a weapon of mass destruction. He was executed in 2001 becoming the first person since 1963 to be executed for a federal crime in the U.S. Nichols, on the other hand, avoided the death penalty and was convicted for unintentional manslaughter and conspiracy (Oklahoma City Bombing Fast Facts-CNN.com, 2013). So what is the reason that inspired McVeigh to plant the bomb? This was a retribution attack that was a retaliation to Waco tragedy. On April 19, 1993, the confrontation between the FBI and the Branch Davidian cult in Waco, Texas ended in tragedy when fire engulfed the entire Davidian compound following FBI’s decision to gas the complex. 75 lives of the cult followers, including many young children lost their lives in the unintentional tragedy. The death toll was staggering and many people laid their blame on the U.S. government. Timothy McVeigh was particularly vocal on this. McVeigh, infuriated by the tragedy, resolved to carry out retribution to all those he felt were responsible for the lives lost. His target was the federal government, more so the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). In the business district of Oklahoma City stood Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building (Michel & Herbeck, 2002). This building housed many federal agency offices and McVeigh must have thought it was the best place to “feed fat” his longstanding grudge. The perpetrators of the OKC bombing took some time to conceptualize the idea, plan an attack, and waited for the D-day to launch an attack. This is because it took place exactly on the second anniversary of the Waco disaster. McVeigh enlisted his close associate Nichols to assist him pull off the plan. At around September 1994, it is reported that McVeigh bought large quantities of ammonium nitrate fertilizer and stacked them away in Herrington, Kansas. Ammonium nitrate was the main component for the bomb. Two days before the actual attack, McVeigh rented a Ryder truck of which Nichols was responsible for loading it with the “fertilizer.” In the wee hours of April 19th, McVeigh drove the truck to the Murrah Federal Building, ignited the bomb fuse, and then walked away from the scene. The nature of the persons involved in the bombing made the incident almost unpredictable and, therefore, unpreventable by the security agencies. Being the first of its kind in the American soil, it was hardly anticipated that the McVeigh’s of America could go to such extreme level to launch the attack. However, considering the incident based on the security measures at the building, it was certainly possible to prevent the incident by adequately monitoring those getting to the proximity of the building. A huge explosion ripped through the building at exactly 9:02 a.m. virtually the whole north face of the building was reduced into dust and rubble. Most of the employees operating the building had arrived for the day’s work as well as children had already been dropped at the day care center. The fatality stood at 168 lives of whom 19 were children. While the goal of the attackers was to destroy as many of the Federal agents as possible, they ended up hurting several innocent civilians. Essentially, McVeigh’s decision to direct his anger to the building was misguided as it could have never served as a retribution to the lives that were lost in the Waco tragedy. It was equally ironical for the perpetrators to purport to be defending the lives of those lost in the Waco disaster by even killing more people. In general, therefore, the bombing flopped tremendously in so far as the goals of McVeigh were concerned as it was not the FBI who was hurt much but the innocent civilians. The aftermath of the OKC bombing saw some direct anti-terror policy measures being instituted by the then Clinton government. The Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 became law after President Clinton appended his signature to the Bill. The act was meant to deter terrorism, offer justice for the victims, and provide for effective penalty for the perpetrators. The act further creates international terrorism prohibitions and makes it easier for the federal government to deport suspected terrorists back to their countries. In addition, President Clinton established the Interagency Security Committee within a span of six months following the OKC bombing. Based on the evident from the Department of Homeland Security, the president issued executive order 12977 that sought to create aforementioned committee to address the progressive government-wide security for federal facilities. Essentially, this mandate endeavored to bolster the effectiveness of physical security within and around federal buildings. Undoubtedly, physical security that include frisking, and use of metal detectors and well as walk-through detectors have gone a long way to keep terrorists from critical buildings. Also, the move to enhance security through environmental design has served to increase surveillance thus deterring terrorist activities (Sherrow & Sherrow, 2013). Soon after the terror attack, rescue operations under the management of different emergency agencies swung into actions. Volunteers from different professions were also not left out of the rescue mission. Garry Marrs, Oklahoma City Fire Chief, established an Incident Command System, which has been adopted by FEMA in responding to emergencies. Currently, ICS is referred to as National Incident Management System. In addition, to the role played by the Incident Management System, it became apparent to the government that the terror attacks should be anticipated from both within and without. Therefore, the focus shifted from not only tackling terror attacks from probable international terror organizations, but also domestic terror activities by the likes of McVeigh. References Michel, L., & Herbeck, D. (2002). American terrorist: Timothy McVeigh & the tragedy at Oklahoma City. New York: Avon Books. Oklahoma City Bombing Fast Facts-CNN.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/us/oklahoma-city-bombing-fast-facts/index.html_br Sherrow, V., & Sherrow, V. (2013). Homegrown terror: The Oklahoma City bombing. Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers. Read More