A major terrorist attack conducted by a U.S. citizen against the Homeland was the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK, on 19 April 1995. Watch Oklahoma City Bombing Animation to see the bombing in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EphsWl6ZbEQ

This attack, perpetrated by U.S. Army veteran Timothy McVeigh, killed 168 persons, injured more than 680, and caused the destruction of the Federal Building and destroyed or damaged more buildings. The financial impact of the bombing itself has been estimated to be at least $652 million. In the days and months that followed, numerous investigations were undertaken both to determine who perpetrated the attack and if McVeigh has any links to domestic and/or foreign terrorist groups.

Other investigations examined how McVeigh was able to build the massive bomb used in the attack, to include the materials used, and how he was able to obtain them without alerting authorities. These questions have largely been answered and today there is a great deal of publicly available information that makes it possible to understand this act of domestic terrorism and its impact on Homeland Security.

Required:

Define the methods used by Timothy McVeigh to conduct his attacks, the results of the bombing, his motivation(s), and how he was able to conduct his attack against the Murrah Federal Building without detection by the FBI or other domestic law enforcement organizations. -Briefly discuss which federal agencies are most directly responsible for ensuring that such a domestic terrorism attack does not occur in the future.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

The Threat of Domestic or Homegrown Terrorism Introduction The bombing that took place in 1995 at Oklahoma City happened when a truck that was heavily loaded with explosives was detonated near the Mur... View the full answer