Oklahoma City Bombing free essay sample

This started a big government investigation. The bombing was quickly solved, but the investigation turned out to be one of the most exhaustive in FBI history. By the time it was over, the Bureau had conducted more than 28,000 interviews, followed some 43,000 investigative leads, amassed three-and-a-half tons of evidence, and reviewed nearly a billion pieces of information. In the end, the government that McVeigh hated and hoped to topple swiftly captured him and convincingly convicted both him and his co-conspirators. This was a great day for the government and the American people. At 9:45 am, minutes after the Oklahoma City bombing Governor Frank Keating declared a state of emergency and ordered all non-essential workers in the Oklahoma City area to be released from their duties for their safety. President Bill Clinton was the president at this time and was in a meeting when he learned about the bombing; he then addressed the nation of the tragedy that had occurred. President Clinton wanted to ground all planes in the Oklahoma City area to prevent the bombers from escaping by air, but decided against it; President Clinton declared a federal emergency in Oklahoma City to help the victims. The bombing in Oklahoma City was an attack on innocent children and defenseless citizens. It was an act of cowardice and it was evil. The United States will not tolerate it, and he will not allow the people of this country to be intimidated by evil cowards. He ordered that flags for all federal buildings be flown at half-staff for 30 days in remembrance of the victims. Four days later, on April 23, 1995, Clinton spoke from Oklahoma City. No major federal financial assistance was given to the survivors of the Oklahoma City bombing, but the Murrah Fund set up in the wake of the bombing attracted over $300,000 in federal grants. Over $40 million was donated to the city to aid disaster relief and to compensate the victims. Funds were initially distributed to families who needed it to get back on their feet, and the rest was held in trust for longer-term medical and psychological needs. By 2005, $18 million of the donations remained, some of which was earmarked to provide a college education for each of the 219 children who lost one or both parents in the bombing (Terror Hits Home: The Oklahoma City Bombing). Although all of these things where made available to the survivors, nothing and change the pain the victims felt and the everlasting pain of the families that lost love ones. The U. S. government mounted a massive manhunt for Islamic terrorists. Three Arabs were supposedly seen fleeing the scene. Cable news shows, fed by tips from a former CIA official, reported that the bombing may have been the work of Saddam Hussein. The FBI had no doubt have been looking for suspicious Arab (Oklahoma City Bombing’s Unanswered Questions in New Book). Prosecutor Joseph Hartzler asked Timothy McVeigh if he knew that the bomb would cause a lot of deaths. Timothy stated that he considered all those people to be as if they were the storm troopers in the movie Star Wars. They may be individually innocent; but because they are part of the evil empire, they were they were guilty by association (Famous Trials Oklahoma City Bombing Trial ) I find this very alarming he had no heart for the children that he killed, totaling in 168 people lost their lives for the poor decision that he made. He had no heart for the innocent people that he kill for the hate he had towards the government. After over twenty-three hours of deliberation, the jury returned its verdict: guilty on all eleven counts. McVeigh sat expressionless at the defense table as the verdict was read. The jury listened to evidence in the penalty phase of the trial, with McVeighs life hanging in the balance. Stories of the victims sounded throughout the court. Doctors spoke of legs and arms being torn from the victims bodies. Wives told of husbands who would never see their children graduate or get married. Firefighters told of the nightmares they had seen. Police officers described finding dead babies in what was once the econd-floor daycare center at the Murrah Building. The last two witnesses were his divorced parents, Bill and Mickey McVeigh. Mickey cried as she read a statement she had composed the previous night. She told jurors that Tim was a child any mother could be proud of; I still to this day cannot believe he would have caused this devastation (Famous Trials Oklahoma City Bombing Trial ). For two days, the jury where debating on guilty or not guilty. The decision was then announced that death would be the sentence for the heinous crime that he had commented. Two months later, McVeigh returned to court to hear the formal pronouncement of his sentence. After Mc Veigh’s sentence was announced, he was then asked if he had anything to say. McVeigh then quoted from a 1928 dissenting opinion by Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis: Our government is the potent, the omnipresent teacher. For good or ill, it teaches the whole people by its example. I wonder what his intentions were when stating this message. Mc Veigh was then transport to Florence, Colorado, the site of a federal prison known as Supermax† to spend the rest of his life. After this McVeigh for appeal, than later in December 2000, McVeigh asked a federal judge to stop all appeals of his convictions and to set a date for his execution(Oklahoma City Bombing: McVeigh and Nichols Sentenced). Mc Veigh was given a fair trial by the government; just like anyone else although he didn’t give the innocent lives he had taken the same opportunity. The government had already had laws made against this crime which was called â€Å"man slander† and this was taken into account when prosecuting Mc Veigh. I believe that government handled this crime as firm as possible. The government really did their research to build this case; they didn’t leave out any details of the day at hand. Because of their hard work they got a murder off the streets. During the time for the jury to be selected McVeigh believed that there was jury misconduct. McVeigh contended that one of the jurors committed misconduct by deciding his guilt before the case was submitted to the jury. I don’t believe that this was true at all; McVeigh was trying to drag out the process. McVeigh even tried to get retired for this crime, as if he had been wrong in the trail. I believe that all evidence has been presented correctly in court and true fully, some of the evidences were based on a video that caught McVeigh leaving the Ryder truck. When everything came to light and got the attention of the citizens, American’s found out that the Oklahoma City bombing was a retaliation of on the killing of David Koresh and 76 others including two pregnant women and over twenty children in the famous â€Å"Waco siege† of 1993, the government became cognizant of the fact that fringe elements existed in the country that could potentially seek to attack it in response to any controversial actions that it might make. This, together with the threat of foreign sponsored terrorism, initiated a process of securing and protecting government facilities that received new impetus after the 9/11 attacks and continues until this day and is a continuing impact of that terrible day in American history(The continuing impact of the Oklahoma City bombing). The Oklahoma City bombing has impacted our society because it was politicized by the President of the United States, Bill Clinton at the time of the bombing. It’s been many years later and the people that where harm from this ordeal is still in pain from the change that this made to their lives. I had the opportunity to speak with a woman who lost her mother in this ordeal. She described details of her mother such as height, skin color, and the hair style she would wear. Her mother had been missing for days and no one knew of her where a bout’s, at the time of her mother’s disappearances the woman was 17 years of age and her younger brother was 9. She and her family had thought her mother had gone out of town, but this was not the case. Her mother’s body was one of the last to be found in the rubble at the end of the search and rescue mission. She spoke of the gruesome seen she saw, of her mother deteriorating body. I can’t imagine the pain she and her family must have felt at the time they had received the news; and to instantly know that you where now homeless and would never see your parent again, would have left me breathless. As she told the story to me I could she see the pain she felt, her mother was taken from her a young age when she needed her most. Although this woman suffered a lot of pain at a young age, I know that God is still with her and will bring her through. She is now a mother of two young girls and she is trying her best to do what she can for them, because she knows how important it is to have a mother and not everyday is promised. In conclusion, I have learned a lot while doing this assignment. This assignment has given me a two sided view of how the government works, and also how a mass murder didn’t think his plan out very well. I’m happy to see how the government reacted fast in this case and put the victim’s families and America at ease. I hope that nothing like this would ever happen again. My heart goes out to the families that lost love ones on that April day. This horrible thing happened when I was five years old and I still remember the ground shaking in Tulsa Oklahoma, by Oklahoma City exit. I was shocked when I found out what had happened, even at a young age I was still very sadden for the children that lost their lives. Works Cited Terror Hits Home: The Oklahoma City Bombing. Famous Cases amp; Criminals. FBI. Web. 5 May 2013. lt;http://www. fbi. gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/oklahoma-city-bombinggt;. Oklahoma City Bombing’s Unanswered Questions in New Book. . The Daily Beast . Web. 5 May 2013. lt;http://www. thedailybeast. om/articles/2012/04/18/oklahoma-city-bombing-s-unanswered-questions-in-new-book. htmlgt;. Famous Trials Oklahoma City Bombing Trial . . N. p. , n. d. Web. 6 May 2013. lt;http://law2. umkc. edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/mcveigh/mcveightrial. htmlgt;. The continuing impact of the Oklahoma City bombing. Helium. N. p.. Web. 9 May 2013. lt;http://www. helium. com/items/1809275-the-continuing-impact-of-the- oklahoma-city-bombinggt;. Oklahoma City Bombing: McVeigh and Nichols Sentenced. Oklahoma City Bombing. N. p.. Web. 11 May 2013. lt;http://www. history. com/topics/oklahoma-city-bombinggt;.