Timothy McVeigh | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1968-04-23)April 23, 1968 Lockport, New York, U.S. |
| Died | June 11, 2001(2001-06-11) (aged 33) USP Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S. |
| Occupations | Soldier, security guard |
| Known for | Oklahoma City bombing |
| Criminal status | Executed bylethal injection |
| Convictions | |
| Criminal penalty | Death (August 1997) |
| Military career | |
| Branch | U.S. Army |
| Service years | 1988–1991 |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Conflicts | Gulf War |
Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an Americandomestic terrorist who masterminded and perpetrated theOklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995.[1][2] The bombing itself killed 167 or 168 people (including 19 children), injured 684 people, and destroyed one-third of theAlfred P. Murrah Federal Building.[3][4] A rescue worker was killed after the bombing when debris struck her head, bringing the total to 168–169 killed. It remains the deadliest act ofdomestic terrorism in U.S. history.[5]
AGulf War veteran, McVeigh became radicalized by antigovernment beliefs. He sought revenge against theUnited States federal government for the 1993Waco siege, as well as the 1992Ruby Ridge incident. McVeigh expressed particular disapproval of federal agencies such as theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and theFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for their handling of issues regardingprivate citizens. He hoped to inspire a revolution against the federal government, and he defended the bombing as a legitimate tactic against what he saw as atyrannical government.[6] He was arrested shortly after the bombing and indicted on 160 state offenses and 11 federal offenses, including the use of aweapon of mass destruction. He was found guilty on all counts in 1997 and sentenced to death.[7]
McVeigh was executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001, at theFederal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. Hisexecution, which took place just over six years after the offense, was carried out in a considerably shorter time than for most inmates awaiting execution, due in part to his refusal to pursue appeals or stays of execution.[8]
Timothy James McVeigh was born on April 23, 1968, inLockport, New York, the only son and the second of three children of hisIrish American parents, Noreen Mildred "Mickey" Hill and William McVeigh. In 1866, McVeigh's great-great-grandfather Edward McVeigh emigrated fromIreland and settled inNiagara County.[9][10] After McVeigh's parents divorced when he was ten years old, he was raised by his father inPendleton, New York.[10][11]
McVeigh claimed to have been a target ofbullying at school, and he took refuge in a fantasy world where he imagined retaliating against the bullies.[12] Most who knew McVeigh remember him as being very shy and withdrawn while a few described him as an outgoing and playful child who withdrew as an adolescent. He is said to have had only one girlfriend as an adolescent; he later told journalists that he did not have any idea how to impress girls.[13]
While in high school McVeigh became interested in computers, and hacked into government computer systems on hisCommodore 64 under the handle The Wanderer, taken from thesong by Dion DiMucci. In hissenior year he was named "most promising computer programmer" ofStarpoint Central High School (as well as "Most Talkative" by his classmates as a joke as he did not speak much)[14][15] but had relatively poor grades until his 1986 graduation.[10][16]
He was introduced to firearms by his grandfather. McVeigh told people of his wish to become a gun shop owner and sometimes took firearms to school to impress his classmates. He became intensely interested ingun rights as well as theSecond Amendment to the United States Constitution after he graduated from high school and read magazines such asSoldier of Fortune. He briefly attendedBryant & Stratton College before dropping out.[17][18] After dropping out of college, McVeigh worked as an armored car guard and was noted by co-workers as being obsessed with guns. One co-worker recalled an instance when McVeigh came to work "looking likePancho Villa" as he was wearingbandoliers.[10]
In May 1988, at the age of 20, McVeigh enlisted in the United States Army and attended Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training at theU.S. Army Infantry School atFort Benning, Georgia.[19] While in the military, McVeigh used much of his spare time to read about firearms,sniper tactics, and explosives.[20] McVeigh was reprimanded by the military for purchasing a "White Power" T-shirt at aKu Klux Klan rally where they were objecting to black servicemen who wore "Black Power" T-shirts around a military installation (primarily Army).[21] His future co-conspiratorTerry Nichols was his platoon guide. He and Nichols quickly got along with their similar backgrounds as well as their views on gun collecting and survivalism.[15] The two were later stationed together atFort Riley inJunction City, Kansas, where they met and became friends with their future accomplice,Michael Fortier.
McVeigh was a top-scoring gunner with theM242 25mm cannon of theBradley Fighting Vehicles used by the1st Infantry Division and was promoted to sergeant. After being promoted, McVeigh earned a reputation for assigning undesirable work to black servicemen and using derogatory language.[10] He was stationed at Fort Riley before being deployed onOperation Desert Storm.[22]
In an interview before his execution, McVeigh said that he hit an Iraqi tank more than 500 yards away on his first day in the war and then the Iraqis surrendered. He also decapitated an Iraqi soldier with cannon fire from 1,100 yards away. He said he was later shocked to seecarnage on the road while leavingKuwait City after U.S. troops routed the Iraqi Army. McVeigh received several service awards, including theBronze Star Medal[23][10]National Defense Service Medal,[16]Southwest Asia Service Medal,[24]Army Service Ribbon,[24] and theKuwaiti Liberation Medal.[16]
McVeigh aspired to join theUnited States Army Special Forces (SF). After returning from theGulf War, he entered the selection program, but withdrew on the second day of the 21-day assessment and selection course for the Special Forces, telling other recruits that he had injured an ankle. However, in a letter to his superiors, McVeigh wrote that he was not "physically ready".[25] McVeigh decided to leave the Army and washonorably discharged in 1991.[26]
McVeigh wrote letters to local newspapers complaining about taxes. In 1992, he wrote to theLockport Union-Sun & Journal:
Taxes are a joke. Regardless of what a political candidate "promises," they will increase. More taxes are always the answer to government mismanagement. They mess up. We suffer. Taxes are reaching cataclysmic levels, with no slowdown in sight. [...] Is a Civil War Imminent? Do we have to shed blood to reform the current system? I hope it doesn't come to that. But it might.[27]
McVeigh also wrote to RepresentativeJohn J. LaFalce (D–New York),[28] complaining about the arrest of a woman for carryingmace:
It is a lie if we tell ourselves that the police can protect us everywhere at all times. Firearms restrictions are bad enough, but now a woman can't even carry Mace in her purse?[28]
McVeigh later moved with Nichols to Nichols' brother James' farm aroundDecker, Michigan.[29] While visiting friends, McVeigh reportedly complained that the Army had implanted amicrochip into his buttocks so that the government could keep track of him.[10] McVeigh worked long hours in adead-end job and felt that he did not have a home. He sought romance, but his advances were rejected by a co-worker and he felt nervous around women. He believed that he brought too much pain to his loved ones.[30] He grew angry andfrustrated at his difficulties in finding a girlfriend. He took upobsessive gambling.[31] Unable to pay gambling debts, he took a cash advance and then defaulted on his repayments. He began looking for a state with low taxes so that he could live without heavy government regulation or high taxes. He became enraged when the government told him that he had been overpaid $1,058 while in the Army and he had to pay back the money. He wrote an angry letter to the government, saying:
Go ahead, take everything I own; take my dignity. Feel good as you grow fat and rich at my expense; sucking my tax dollars and property.[32]
McVeigh introduced his sister to antigovernment literature, but his father had little interest in these views. He moved out of his father's house and into an apartment that had no telephone. This made it impossible for his employer to contact him for overtime assignments. He quit theNational Rifle Association of America (NRA), believing that it was too weak on gun rights.[33]
In 1993, McVeigh drove toWaco, Texas, during theWaco siege to show his support. At the scene, he distributed pro-gun rights literature and bumper stickers bearing slogans such as, "When guns are outlawed, I will become an outlaw." He told a student reporter:
The government is afraid of the guns people have because they have to have control of the people at all times. Once you take away the guns, you can do anything to the people. You give them an inch and they take a mile. I believe we are slowly turning into a socialist government. The government is continually growing bigger and more powerful, and the people need to prepare to defend themselves against government control.[34][35]
For the five months following the Waco siege, McVeigh worked atgun shows and handed out free cards printed with the name and address ofLon Horiuchi, an FBI sniper, "in the hope that somebody in thePatriot movement would assassinate the sharpshooter." Horiuchi's actions while an FBI agent have drawn controversy, specifically his shooting and killing ofRandy Weaver's wife while she held an infant child. McVeigh wrotehate mail to Horiuchi, suggesting that "what goes around, comes around". McVeigh later considered putting aside his plan to target the Murrah Building to target Horiuchi or a member of his family instead.[36]
McVeigh became a fixture on the gun show circuit, traveling to forty states and visiting about eighty gun shows. He found that the further west he went, the more anti-government sentiment he encountered, at least until he got to what he called "The People's Socialist Republic of California."[37] McVeigh sold survival items and copies ofThe Turner Diaries. One author said:
In the gun show culture, McVeigh found a home. Though he remained skeptical of some of the most extreme ideas being bandied around, he liked talking to people there about the United Nations, the federal government, and possible threats to American liberty.[38]
McVeigh had a road atlas with hand-drawn designations of the most likely places for nuclear attacks and considered buying property inSeligman, Arizona, which he determined to be in a "nuclear-free zone." He lived withMichael Fortier inKingman, Arizona, and the two became so close that he served asbest man at Fortier's wedding. McVeigh experimented withcannabis andmethamphetamine after first researching their effects in an encyclopedia.[39] He was never as interested in drugs as Fortier was, and one of the reasons they parted ways was that McVeigh grew tired of Fortier's drug habits.[40]
In April 1993, McVeigh headed for a farm in Michigan where former roommateTerry Nichols lived. In between watching coverage of the Waco siege on TV, Nichols and his brother began teaching McVeigh how to make explosives by combining household chemicals in plastic jugs. The destruction of the Waco compound enraged McVeigh and convinced him that it was time to take action. He was particularly angered by the government's use ofCS gas on women and children; he had been exposed to the gas as part of his military training and was familiar with its effects. The disappearance of certain evidence,[41] such as the bullet-riddled steel-reinforced front door to the complex, led him to suspect a cover-up.
McVeigh's anti-government rhetoric became more radical. He began to sellBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) hats riddled with bullet holes, and a flare gun that he said could shoot down an "ATF helicopter".[7][42] He produced videos detailing the government's actions at Waco and handed out pamphlets with titles such as "U.S. Government Initiates Open Warfare Against American People" and "Waco Shootout Evokes Memory ofWarsaw '43." He began changing his answering machine greeting every couple of weeks to various quotes byPatrick Henry, such as "Give me liberty or give me death."[43] He began experimenting with makingpipe bombs and other small explosive devices. The government imposednew firearms restrictions in 1994 which McVeigh believed threatened his livelihood.[40]
McVeigh dissociated himself from his boyhood friend Steve Hodge by sending him a 23-page farewell letter. He proclaimed his devotion to theUnited States Declaration of Independence, explaining in detail what each sentence meant to him. McVeigh declared that:
Those who betray or subvert the Constitution are guilty of sedition and/or treason, are domestic enemies and should and will be punished accordingly.
It also stands to reason that anyone who sympathizes with the enemy or gives aid or comfort to said enemy is likewise guilty. I have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic and I will. And I will because not only did I swear to, but I believe in what it stands for in every bit of my heart, soul and being.
I know in my heart that I am right in my struggle, Steve. I have come to peace with myself, my God and my cause. Blood will flow in the streets, Steve. Good vs. Evil. Free Men vs. Socialist Wannabe Slaves. Pray it is not your blood, my friend.[44]
McVeigh felt the need to personally reconnoiter sites of rumored conspiracies. He visitedArea 51 in order to defy government restrictions on photography and went toGulfport, Mississippi, to determine the veracity of rumors aboutUnited Nations operations. These turned out to be false; the Russian vehicles on the site were being configured for use in U.N.-sponsored humanitarian aid efforts. Around this time, McVeigh and Nichols began making bulk purchases ofammonium nitrate, an agriculturalfertilizer, for resale tosurvivalists, since rumors were circulating that the government was preparing to ban it.[45]
McVeigh told Fortier of his plans to blow up a federal building, but Fortier declined to participate. Fortier also told his wife about the plans.[46] McVeigh composed two letters to theBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the first titled "Constitutional Defenders" and the second "ATF Read." He denounced government officials as "fascist tyrants" and "storm troopers," and warned:
ATF, all you tyrannical mother fuckers will swing in the wind one day for your treasonous actions against the Constitution of the United States. Remember theNuremberg War Trials.[47][48]
McVeigh also wrote a letter to recruit a customer named Steve Colbern:
A man with nothing left to lose is a very dangerous man and his energy/anger can be focused toward a common/righteous goal. What I'm asking you to do, then, is sit back and be honest with yourself. Do you have kids/wife? Would you back out at the last minute to care for the family? Are you interested in keeping your firearms for their current/future monetary value, or would you drag that '06 through rock, swamp and cactus... to get off the needed shot? In short, I'm not looking for talkers, I'm looking for fighters... And if you are a fed, think twice. Think twice about the Constitution you are supposedly enforcing (isn't "enforcing freedom" an oxymoron?) and think twice about catching us with our guard down – you will lose just likeDegan did – and your family will lose.[49]
McVeigh began announcing that he had progressed from the "propaganda" phase to the "action" phase. He wrote to his Michigan friend Gwenda Strider, "I have certain other 'militant' talents that are in short supply and greatly demanded."[50]
McVeigh later said he considered "a campaign of individual assassination," with "eligible" targets including Attorney GeneralJanet Reno, JudgeWalter S. Smith Jr. ofFederal District Court, who handled theBranch Davidian trial; andLon Horiuchi, a member of the FBI hostage-rescue team, who shot and killed Vicki Weaver in a standoff at a remote cabin atRuby Ridge, Idaho, in 1992.[51] He said he wanted Reno to accept "full responsibility in deed, not just words."[52] Such an assassination seemed too difficult,[53] and he decided that since federal agents had become soldiers, he should strike at them at their command centers.[54] According to McVeigh's authorized biography, he decided that he could make the loudest statement by bombing a federal building. After the bombing, he was ambivalent about his act and the deaths he caused; as he said in letters to his hometown newspaper, he sometimes wished that he had carried out a series of assassinations against police and government officials instead.[55]
Working at a lakeside campground near McVeigh's old Army post, he and Nichols constructed anANFOexplosive device mounted in the back of a rented Ryder truck. The bomb consisted of about 5,000 pounds (2,300 kg) of ammonium nitrate andnitromethane.
On April 19, 1995, McVeigh drove the truck to the front of theAlfred P. Murrah Federal Building just as its offices opened for the day. Before arriving, he stopped to light a two-minute fuse. At 09:02, a large explosion destroyed the north half of the building. It killed 168 people, including 19 children in the day care center on the second floor, and injured 684 others.[56]
McVeigh said that he had not known that there was a daycare center on the second floor, and that he might have chosen a different target if he had known about it.[57][58] Nichols said that he and McVeigh did know about the daycare center in the building, and that they did not care.[59][60]
McVeigh's biographers, Lou Michel and Dan Herbeck, spoke with McVeigh in interviews totaling 75 hours. He said about the victims:
To these people in Oklahoma who have lost a loved one, I'm sorry but it happens every day. You're not the first mother to lose a kid, or the first grandparent to lose a grandson or a granddaughter. It happens every day, somewhere in the world. I'm not going to go into that courtroom, curl into a fetal ball and cry just because the victims want me to do that.
During an interview in 2000 withEd Bradley for television news magazine60 Minutes, Bradley asked McVeigh for his reaction to the deaths of the nineteen children. McVeigh said:
I thought it was terrible that there were children in the building.[61]
According to the Oklahoma City Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT), more than 300 buildings in the city were damaged. More than 12,000 volunteers and rescue workers took part in the rescue, recovery and support operations following the bombing. In reference to theories that McVeigh had assistance from others, he responded with a well-known line from the filmA Few Good Men, "You can't handle the truth!" He added, "Because the truth is, I blew up the Murrah Building and isn't it kind of scary that one man could wreak this kind of hell?"[62]
By tracing thevehicle identification number of a rear axle found in the wreckage, theFBI identified the vehicle as aRyder rental box truck rented fromJunction City, Kansas. Workers at the agency assisted an FBI artist in creating a sketch of the renter, who had used the alias "Robert Kling". The sketch was shown in the area. Lea McGown, manager of the local Dreamland Motel, identified the sketch as Timothy McVeigh.[63][64]
Shortly after the bombing, while driving onInterstate 35 inNoble County, nearPerry, Oklahoma, McVeigh was stopped byState Trooper Charles J. Hanger.[65] Hanger had passed McVeigh's yellow 1977Mercury Marquis and noticed that it had no license plate. McVeigh admitted to the state trooper – who noticed a bulge under his jacket – that he had a gun; the trooper arrested him for driving without plates and possessing an illegal firearm. McVeigh'sconcealed weapon permit was not legal in Oklahoma. McVeigh was wearing a shirt at that time with a picture ofAbraham Lincoln and the mottosic semper tyrannis ('Thus always to tyrants').[66] On the back, it had a tree with a picture of three blood droplets and theThomas Jefferson quote, "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."[67] Three days later, McVeigh was identified as the subject of the nationwide manhunt.
On August 10, 1995, McVeigh was indicted on 11 federal counts, including conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, use of a weapon of mass destruction, destruction with the use of explosives, and eight counts of first degree murder for the deaths of law enforcement officers.[68][69] On February 20, 1996, the Court granted achange of venue and ordered that the case be transferred fromOklahoma City to the District Court inDenver, to be presided over by District JudgeRichard Paul Matsch.[70]
McVeigh instructed his lawyers to use anecessity defense, but they ended up not doing so.[71] They would have had to prove that McVeigh was in "imminent danger" from the government. McVeigh argued that "imminent" did not necessarily mean "immediate". They would have argued that his bombing of the Murrah building was a justifiable response to what McVeigh believed were the crimes of the U.S. government atWaco, Texas, where the 51-day siege of theBranch Davidian complex resulted in the deaths of 76 Branch Davidians.[72] As part of the defense, McVeigh's lawyers showed the jury the controversial videoWaco, the Big Lie.[73]
On June 2, 1997, McVeigh was found guilty on all 11 counts of the federal indictment.[74] Although 168 people, including 19 children, were killed in the April 19, 1995, bombing, murder charges were brought against McVeigh for only the eight federal agents who were on duty when the bomb destroyed much of the Murrah Building. Along with the eight counts of murder, McVeigh was charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, and destroying a federal building. Oklahoma City District Attorney Bob Macy said he would file state charges in the other 160 murders after McVeigh's co-defendant, Terry Nichols, was tried. After the verdict, McVeigh tried to calm his mother by saying, "Think of it this way. When I was in the Army, you didn't see me for years. Think of me that way now, like I'm away in the Army again, on an assignment for the military."[75]
On June 13, the jury recommended that McVeigh be sentenced to death.[76] The U.S. Department of Justice brought federal charges against McVeigh for causing the deaths of eight federal officers leading to a possible death penalty for McVeigh; they could not bring charges against McVeigh for the remaining 160 deaths in federal court because those deaths fell under the jurisdiction of the State of Oklahoma. Because McVeigh was convicted and sentenced to death, the State of Oklahoma did not file murder charges against McVeigh for the other 160 deaths.[77] Before the sentence was formally pronounced by Judge Matsch, McVeigh addressed the court for the first time and said: "If the Court please, I wish to use the words of Justice[Louis] Brandeis dissenting inOlmstead [v. United States] to speak for me. He wrote, 'Our Government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or for ill, it teaches the whole people by its example.' That's all I have."[78]
McVeigh claimed that the bombing was revenge against the government for the sieges at Waco and Ruby Ridge.[79] McVeigh visited Waco during the standoff. While there, he was interviewed by student reporter Michelle Rauch, a senior journalism major atSouthern Methodist University who was writing for the school paper. McVeigh expressed his objections over what was happening there.[80][81]
McVeigh frequently quoted and alluded to thewhite supremacist novelThe Turner Diaries; he claimed to appreciate its interest in firearms. Photocopies of pages sixty-one and sixty-two ofThe Turner Diaries were found in an envelope inside McVeigh's car. These pages depicted a fictitious mortar attack upon theU.S. Capitol in Washington.[82]
In a 1,200-word essay[83] dated March 1998, from the federal maximum-security prison at Florence, Colorado, McVeigh claimed that the terrorist bombing was "morally equivalent" to U.S. military actions againstIraq and other foreign countries. The handwritten essay, submitted to and published by the alternative national news magazineMedia Bypass, was distributed worldwide by theAssociated Press on May 29, 1998. This was written in the midst of the 1998Iraq disarmament crisis and a few months beforeOperation Desert Fox.
On April 26, 2001, McVeigh wrote a letter toFox News, "I Explain Herein Why I Bombed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City", which explicitly laid out his reasons for the attack.[84] McVeigh read the novelUnintended Consequences (1996), and said that if it had come out a few years earlier, he would have given serious consideration to using sniper attacks in awar of attrition against the government instead of bombing a federal building.[85]
McVeigh's accompliceTerry Nichols was convicted and sentenced in federal court to life in prison for his role in the crime.[86] At Nichols' trial, evidence was presented indicating that others may have been involved.[87] Several residents of central Kansas, including real estate agent Georgia Rucker and a retired Army NCO, testified at Terry Nichols' federal trial that they had seen two trucks at Geary Lake State Park, where prosecutors alleged the bomb was assembled. The retired NCO said he visited the lake on April 18, 1995, but left after a group of surly men looked at him aggressively. The operator of the Dreamland Motel testified that two Ryder trucks had been parked outside her Grandview Plaza motel where McVeigh stayed in Room 26 the weekend before the bombing.[88] Terry Nichols is incarcerated atADX Florence in Florence, Colorado.[89]
Michael and Lori Fortier were also considered accomplices, due to their foreknowledge of the bombing. In addition to Michael assisting McVeigh in scouting the federal building, Lori had helped McVeigh laminate a fake driver's license which was used to rent the Ryder truck.[90] Fortier agreed to testify against McVeigh and Nichols in exchange for a reduced sentence and immunity for his wife.[91] He was sentenced on May 27, 1998, to twelve years in prison and fined $75,000 for failing to warn authorities about the bombing.[92] On January 20, 2006, Fortier was released for good behavior into theWitness Protection Program and given a new identity.[93]
An ATF informant, Carol Howe, told reporters that shortly before the bombing she had warned her handlers that guests of the private community ofElohim City, Oklahoma,[94] were planning a major bombing attack.[95] McVeigh was issued a speeding ticket there at the same time.[96] Other than this speeding ticket, there is no evidence of a connection between McVeigh and members of theMidwest Bank Robbers at Elohim City.[97]
Some witnesses claimed to have seen a second suspect, and there was a search for a "John Doe #2", but none was ever found.[98]
McVeigh's death sentence was delayed pending an appeal. One of his appeals forcertiorari, taken to theSupreme Court of the United States, was denied on March 8, 1999. McVeigh's request for a nationally televised execution was also denied. Entertainment Network Inc., an Internet company that produces adult-themed websites, unsuccessfully sued for the right to broadcast the execution.[99][100] AtUSP Florence ADMAX, McVeigh and Nichols were housed in what was known as "bomber's row".Ted Kaczynski,Luis Felipe, andRamzi Yousef were also housed in this cell block. Yousef made frequent, unsuccessful attempts to convert McVeigh toIslam.[101]
The day before his execution, McVeigh said in a letter toThe Buffalo News: "I am sorry these people had to lose their lives, but that's the nature of the beast. It's understood going in what the human toll will be."[102] An agnostic, he said that if there turned out to be an afterlife, he would "improvise, adapt and overcome",[102] noting: "If there is a hell, then I'll be in good company with a lot of fighter pilots who also had to bomb innocents to win the war."[103] He also said: "I knew I wanted this before it happened. I knew my objective was state-assisted suicide and when it happens, it's in your face. You just did something you're trying to say should be illegal for medical personnel."[100]
TheFederal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) transferred McVeigh from USP Florence ADMAX to the federal death row atUSP Terre Haute inTerre Haute, Indiana, in 1999.[104] McVeigh dropped his remaining appeals, saying that he would rather die than spend the rest of his life in prison.[105] On January 16, 2001, the BOP set May 16 as McVeigh's execution date.[106] McVeigh said that his only regret was not completely destroying the federal building.[107] Six days prior to his scheduled execution, the FBI turned over thousands of documents of evidence it had previously withheld to McVeigh's attorneys. As a result, U.S. Attorney GeneralJohn Ashcroft announced McVeigh's execution would be stayed for one month.[105] The execution date was reset for June 11. McVeigh also requested a Catholic chaplain. Hislast meal consisted of twopints ofmint chocolate chip ice cream.[108]
McVeigh choseWilliam Ernest Henley's 1875 poem "Invictus" as his final written statement.[109][110] Just before the execution, when he was asked if he had a final statement, he declined. Jay Sawyer, a relative of one of the victims, wrote, "Without saying a word, he got the final word."[111] Larry Whicher, whose brother died in the attack, described McVeigh as having "a totally expressionless, blank stare. He had a look of defiance and that if he could, he'd do it all over again."[112] McVeigh was executed bylethal injection at 7:14 a.m. on June 11, 2001, the first person to be executed by the United States federal government sinceVictor Feguer was executed in Iowa on March 15, 1963.[113]
On November 21, 1997, PresidentBill Clinton had signed S. 923, special legislation introduced by SenatorArlen Specter to bar McVeigh and other veterans convicted of capital crimes from being buried in any military cemetery.[114][115][116] His body was cremated at Mattox Ryan Funeral Home in Terre Haute. His ashes were given to his lawyer, who said "the final destination of McVeigh's remains would remain privileged forever."[6] McVeigh had written that he considered having them dropped at the site of the memorial where the building once stood, but decided that would be "too vengeful, too raw, too cold."[6] He had expressed willingness to donate organs, but was prohibited from doing so by prison regulations.[55] Psychiatrist John Smith concluded that McVeigh was "a decent person who had allowed rage to build up inside him to the point that he had lashed out in one terrible, violent act."[13] McVeigh'sIQ was assessed at 126.[117]
According toCNN, his only known associations were as a registeredRepublican while inBuffalo, New York, in the 1980s, and a membership in theNational Rifle Association while in the Army.
After returning home from war he signed up for a trial membership in theKu Klux Klan, although he did not ultimately continue with the Klan.[118] There is no conclusive evidence that he ever belonged to any other extremist groups.[80]
McVeigh was raisedRoman Catholic.[119] During his childhood, he and his father attendedMass regularly.[120] McVeigh wasconfirmed at the Good Shepherd Church in Pendleton, New York, in 1985.[121] In a 1996 interview, McVeigh professed belief in "a God", although he said he had "sort of lost touch with" Catholicism and "I never really picked it up, however I domaintain core beliefs."[119] In McVeigh's biographyAmerican Terrorist, released in 2002, he stated that he did not believe in ahell and that science is his religion.[122][123] In June 2001, a day before the execution, McVeigh wrote a letter to theBuffalo News identifying himself asagnostic.[124] However, he took thelast rites, administered by a priest, just before his execution.[125][126] Father Charles Smith ministered to McVeigh in his last moments on death row.[127]
In the 2023 historical drama miniseriesWaco: The Aftermath, McVeigh is portrayed byAlex Breaux.[128]
In 2024,HBO produced the documentaryAn American Bombing: The Road to April 19.[129]
In the 2024 filmMcVeigh, he is played byAlfie Allen.[130]
It was the worst act of homegrown terrorism in the nation's history.
{{cite web}}:|archive-url= is malformed: timestamp (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)The city's guest list over the years has been a veritable Who's Who of the radical right. Tim McVeigh called Elohim two weeks before the Oklahoma bombing.
Six months ago, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a bulletin to law enforcement agencies across the country, highlighting the "persistent and evolving" threat from violent white supremacists and other domestic terrorists. The bulletin noted that due to McVeigh's attack, 1995 was the nation's most lethal year for domestic terrorism attacks. Last year was the nation's second-most lethal year for domestic terrorism attacks, the bulletin said. In 2019, domestic terrorists were responsible for at least 31 deaths, 23 of which were linked to white supremacists, according to the bulletin.
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| Preceded by | Timothy McVeigh June 11, 2001 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Timothy McVeigh –Federal government June 11, 2001 | Succeeded by |
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