Oklahoma City bombing

On April 19, 1995, American anti-government extremist Timothy McVeigh, assisted by Terry Nichols, detonated a makeshift bomb stored in a rental truck parked in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in an act of domestic terrorism. The explosion killed 167 people, injured 684, and destroyed more than a third of the building. The attack also destroyed or damaged 324 other buildings, destroyed 86 vehicles and caused an estimated $652 million in damage. During rescue operations after the bombing, a rescue worker was killed after being struck on the head by falling debris, bringing the total death toll to 168.

Within 90 minutes of the explosion, McVeigh was stopped by Oklahoma Highway Patrolman Charlie Hanger for driving without a license plate and was arrested for illegal weapons possession. Forensic evidence quickly linked McVeigh and Nichols to the attack; within days, both men were charged. Michael and Lori Fortier were later identified as accomplices. McVeigh, a combat veteran of the Gulf War, had rented a Ryder truck, which he later filled with the explosives used in the attack. Nichols assisted McVeigh in planning the attack and making the bomb.

McVeigh and Nichols were primarily motivated by their anger at the U.S. federal government, particularly its handling of the law enforcement sieges at Ruby Ridge in 1992 and Waco in 1993, as well as the 1994 Federal Assault Weapons Ban. McVeigh had timed the retaliatory attack to coincide with the second anniversary of the end of the siege in Waco and the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the first engagements of the American Revolutionary War.