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| | [[Image:Mcveighmugshot.jpg|right|145px|thumb]] | | [[Image:Mcveighmugshot.jpg|right|145px|thumb]] |
| − | '''Timothy McVeigh''' (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was the main perpetrator in the [[Oklahoma City Bombing]] on April 19, 1995, which killed 168 people in the worst act of domestic terrorism in American history. He was pulled over that afternoon by Lieutenant Charles Hanger for driving without a license plate, and arrested after Lt. Hanger found an unregistered firearm in his car. <ref>http://www.nleomf.com/TheFund/programs/OOM/hanger_oct01.htm</ref> | + | '''Timothy McVeigh''' (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was the main perpetrator in the [[Oklahoma City Bombing]] on April 19, 1995, which killed 168 people in the worst act of domestic terrorism in American history. He was pulled over that afternoon by Lieutenant Charles Hanger for driving without a license plate, and arrested after Lt. Hanger found an unregistered firearm in his car.<ref>http://www.nleomf.com/TheFund/programs/OOM/hanger_oct01.htm</ref> |
| | McVeigh was a veteran of [[Operation Desert Storm]]. Contrary to the popular and oft-repeated belief among [[liberal]]s and [[Atheism|atheists]], McVeigh was not a right-wing evangelical Christian. In fact, McVeigh was raised Roman Catholic, but professed [[agnosticism]].<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/jun/11/mcveigh.usa4</ref> His political beliefs were [[libertarian]]. | | McVeigh was a veteran of [[Operation Desert Storm]]. Contrary to the popular and oft-repeated belief among [[liberal]]s and [[Atheism|atheists]], McVeigh was not a right-wing evangelical Christian. In fact, McVeigh was raised Roman Catholic, but professed [[agnosticism]].<ref>http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/jun/11/mcveigh.usa4</ref> His political beliefs were [[libertarian]]. |
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| | ==Motivations== | | ==Motivations== |
| − | McVeigh intended to avenge the deaths among the [[Branch Davidians]] at [[Waco]], [[Texas]], a third of which were members of minority groups, including 30 blacks, as well as 6 Hispanics and 7 Asians and including a number of interracial marriages. <ref>David B. Kopel and Paul H. Blackman, ''No More Wacos: What’s Wrong With Federal Law Enforcement and How To Fix It'', Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1997, 409-411.</ref> McVeigh's accomplice, [[Terry Nichols]] was himself married to a Philippine national despite widespread allegations spread through the mainstream media of racial motivations behind the bombings. McVeigh was [[politically profiled]] in Brandon Stickney's ''All-American Monster - The Unauthorized Biography of Timothy McVeigh''. In an interview with Lawrence W. Myers in ''Media Bypass'' magazine: | + | McVeigh intended to avenge the deaths among the [[Branch Davidians]] at [[Waco]], [[Texas]], a third of which were members of minority groups, including 30 blacks, as well as 6 Hispanics and 7 Asians and including a number of interracial marriages.<ref>David B. Kopel and Paul H. Blackman, ''No More Wacos: What’s Wrong With Federal Law Enforcement and How To Fix It'', Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books, 1997, 409-411.</ref> McVeigh's accomplice, [[Terry Nichols]] was himself married to a Philippine national despite widespread allegations spread through the mainstream media of racial motivations behind the bombings. McVeigh was [[politically profiled]] in Brandon Stickney's ''All-American Monster - The Unauthorized Biography of Timothy McVeigh''. In an interview with Lawrence W. Myers in ''Media Bypass'' magazine: |
| | {{Cquote|McVeigh said he considers unfair and unfounded the notion that the mainstream press has classified him as a racist simply because he had read ''The Turner Diaries''. He said he responded to a gun magazine advertisement for the book around 1988 because it was being billed as a novel about what may happen when the government comes to confiscate privately owned firearms. | | {{Cquote|McVeigh said he considers unfair and unfounded the notion that the mainstream press has classified him as a racist simply because he had read ''The Turner Diaries''. He said he responded to a gun magazine advertisement for the book around 1988 because it was being billed as a novel about what may happen when the government comes to confiscate privately owned firearms. |
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| | Although there were no African-Americans in McVeigh’s graduating class, and few in his hometown, according to the U. S. Army there are no reported incidents of him having any professional problems as a soldier dealing with other races. | | Although there were no African-Americans in McVeigh’s graduating class, and few in his hometown, according to the U. S. Army there are no reported incidents of him having any professional problems as a soldier dealing with other races. |
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| − | Furthermore, McVeigh’s platoon sergeant was black and his platoon leader was black, and both gave him the highest ratings an infantry soldier can attain. <ref>Lawrence W. Myers, ''Tim McVeigh: An Interview'', Media Bypass, February 1996, pg. 36.</ref>}} | + | Furthermore, McVeigh’s platoon sergeant was black and his platoon leader was black, and both gave him the highest ratings an infantry soldier can attain.<ref>Lawrence W. Myers, ''Tim McVeigh: An Interview'', Media Bypass, February 1996, pg. 36.</ref>}} |
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| | ==Leftist conspiracy theories== | | ==Leftist conspiracy theories== |
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| | {{Cquote|There is every reason to believe that the attack was a call for revolution by the far [[rightist|right wing]] of this country, organized through the widespread militia movement and carried out by one of the leaderless terror cells created by that movement. | | {{Cquote|There is every reason to believe that the attack was a call for revolution by the far [[rightist|right wing]] of this country, organized through the widespread militia movement and carried out by one of the leaderless terror cells created by that movement. |
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| − | It is probable that the three men being held in connection with the bombing—Timothy McVeigh, James Nichols and his brother Terry Nichols—are all members of that same militia cell. <ref>James Ridgeway and Leonard Zeskind, ''Revolution U.S.A.,'' Village Voice, 2 May 1995.</ref>}} | + | It is probable that the three men being held in connection with the bombing—Timothy McVeigh, James Nichols and his brother Terry Nichols—are all members of that same militia cell.<ref>James Ridgeway and Leonard Zeskind, ''Revolution U.S.A.,'' Village Voice, 2 May 1995.</ref>}} |
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| | None of this proved true, and one of the most intensive investigations in FBI history has failed to link these three to any militia organization in any significant way whatsoever. In addition, James Nichols was not even a defendant in the case. The article also refers to the Posse Comitatus, a radical tax protest group of mythical proportions, as a precursor to the militias. | | None of this proved true, and one of the most intensive investigations in FBI history has failed to link these three to any militia organization in any significant way whatsoever. In addition, James Nichols was not even a defendant in the case. The article also refers to the Posse Comitatus, a radical tax protest group of mythical proportions, as a precursor to the militias. |
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| − | In 1996 Zeskind was also a contributor along with [[Chip Berlet]] and others to ''Conspiracies: Real Grievances, Paranoia, and Mass Movements'', edited by Eric Ward and published by PeanutButter Publishing. The general thrust of their contributions was to attack conspiracy theories of the right while ignoring those of the left. <ref>Eric Ward, editor, ''Conspiracies: Real Grievances, Paranoia, and Mass Movements'', (Washington: Peanut Butter Press, 1997) See also: James A. Jones, ''Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment''. (NY: The Free Press, 1981).</ref> | + | In 1996 Zeskind was also a contributor along with [[Chip Berlet]] and others to ''Conspiracies: Real Grievances, Paranoia, and Mass Movements'', edited by Eric Ward and published by PeanutButter Publishing. The general thrust of their contributions was to attack conspiracy theories of the right while ignoring those of the left.<ref>Eric Ward, editor, ''Conspiracies: Real Grievances, Paranoia, and Mass Movements'', (Washington: Peanut Butter Press, 1997) See also: James A. Jones, ''Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment''. (NY: The Free Press, 1981).</ref> |
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| | == Other theories == | | == Other theories == |
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| | <sup><references/></sup> | | <sup><references/></sup> |
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| − | {{DEFAULTSORT: McVeigh, Timothy}} | + | {{DEFAULTSORT:McVeigh, Timothy}} |
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| | [[Category:Media]] | | [[Category:Media]] |