Oklahoma City bombing

Oklahoma City bombing refers to the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. The bombing was done by means of a rental truck filled with an explosive. Timothy McVeigh was arrested by Oklahoma state police the day of the explosion. In his trial, the U.S. Government asserted that the motivation for the attack was to avenge the deaths of Branch Davidians at Waco, Texas, who McVeigh believed had been murdered by the U.S. Federal Government. The explosion occurred on the anniversary of the Waco incident.

There were 168 dead from the two blasts, which made it the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil prior to the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack. The remains of the half-destroyed Federal building were demolished in May 1995.

There is now a giant memorial to the bombing on the site of the Murrah building. The memorial includes a large reflecting pool, two large "doorways", a museum, and a field full of chairs, one for each person lost. Some legislation was also introduced following the event, notably the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.

On February 19, 2001 an Oklahoma City bombing museum was dedicated at the Oklahoma City National Memorial Center.

Michael Fortier was sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 on May 27, 1998 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.

Timothy McVeigh was sentenced to death for the act. He was executed by lethal injection at a U.S. penitentiary in Indiana in 2001.

An accomplice named Terry Nichols was sentenced to life in prison for manslaughter.

See also: terrorist incidents, Timothy McVeigh