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34-503: The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building was a United States federal government complex located at 200 N.W. 5th Street in downtown Oklahoma City , Oklahoma. On April 19, 1995, the building was the target of the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols , which ultimately killed 167 people and injured 684 others. A third of the building collapsed seconds after the truck bomb detonated. The remains were demolished

68-557: A 12-year prison term for Michael and immunity for Lori. Michael was released into the witness protection program in January 2006. McVeigh said that he bombed the building on the second anniversary of the Waco siege in 1993 to retaliate for U.S. government actions there and at the siege at Ruby Ridge . However, it is also rumored that the bombing was connected to Covenant, the Sword, and

102-435: A Ryder rental truck, containing approximately 7,000 pounds (3,175 kg) of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, nitromethane , and diesel fuel was detonated in front of the building, destroying a third of it and causing severe damage to several other buildings located nearby. As a result, 168 people were killed, including 19 children, and over 800 others were injured. It remains the deadliest domestic terrorist attack , with

136-509: A customer, were recovered. For several days after the remains' demolition, trucks hauled 800 tons of debris a day away from the site. Some of it was used as evidence in the conspirators' trials, incorporated into parts of memorials, donated to local schools, or sold to raise funds for relief efforts. Several remnants of the building stand on the site of the Oklahoma City National Memorial . The plaza (on what

170-461: A day care center was in the building and that, had he known, "It might have given me pause to switch targets." The FBI said that he scouted the interior of the building in December 1994 and likely knew of the day care center before the bombing. Many works of art were in the building when it was destroyed in the Oklahoma City bombing . The Oklahoma City National Memorial displays art that survived

204-765: A half bars of C-4 explosives . Much of this arsenal had been stolen. Snell was involved in the filming of planes that landed at Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport in Mena , Arkansas, thought of by Snell and many conspiracy theorists to be used in a government-sanctioned operation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to smuggle drugs into the United States. Snell had claimed that law enforcement agencies, both state and those local to that area of western Arkansas, were involved in

238-435: A month after the attack, and the Oklahoma City National Memorial was built on the site. The building was designed by architects Stephen H. Horton and Wendell Locke of Locke, Wright and Associates and constructed by J.W. Bateson Company, Dallas, Texas, using reinforced concrete in 1977 at a cost of $ 14.5 million. The building, named for federal judge Alfred P. Murrah , an Oklahoma native, opened on March 2, 1977. By

272-621: A non-capital charge of first degree murder. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with 15 years suspended. Snell was held at the Tucker Maximum Security Unit until April 15, 1995, when he was transferred to the execution site. Snell's death sentence was carried out on April 19, 1995, at the Cummins Unit in Lincoln County, Arkansas . He was executed on the same day that Timothy McVeigh carried out

306-604: A private community located in Oklahoma . The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) had ongoing investigations into the organization. By the end of their operations, the ATF obtained 155 Krugerrands (gold coins), one live light antitank rocket (LAW), 94 long guns, 30 handguns, 35 sawed-off shotguns and machine guns, one light machine gun (a Japanese copy of the World War I Lewis , in .303 caliber), and three and

340-578: A sign that God didn't want him to go ahead with the plan. Snell had repeatedly predicted there would be a bombing on the day of his execution. Snell watched televised reports of the Oklahoma City bombing on the day of his execution. Reports of his reaction varied, and Snell was either appalled at what he saw or was "smiling and chuckling and nodding." One theory holds that Timothy McVeigh committed his bombing in retaliation for Snell's execution. McVeigh, however, said that his primary motivation for

374-610: A water feature that acts as an additional security barrier. Alfred P. Murrah Born on October 27, 1904, in Tishomingo , Indian Territory (now Oklahoma ), Murrah received a Bachelor of Laws in 1928 from the University of Oklahoma College of Law . He entered private practice in Oklahoma City , Oklahoma from 1928 to 1929, then continued his practice in Seminole , Oklahoma and Oklahoma City from 1929 to 1937. Murrah

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408-543: The General Services Administration broke ground on a replacement building in 2001 which was completed in 2003. The new 185,000-square-foot building was designed by Ross Barney Architects of Chicago, Illinois, with Carol Ross Barney as the lead designer. Constructed on a two-city-block site, one block north and west of the former site, the new building's design maximized sustainable design and workplace productivity initiatives. Security design

442-552: The Oklahoma state line. A truck driver who witnessed the killing of Officer Bryant followed him and contacted the Broken Bow police department. The police officers there set up a roadblock , where they engaged Snell in a shootout that resulted in Snell being hit six times in the abdomen, knee, and ankle. Snell was then arrested and returned to Arkansas for trial, where he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for

476-709: The Oklahoma City bombing , which destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building . Snell had been accused of plotting to bomb the Murrah Building in 1983. Fort Smith-based federal prosecutor Steven Snyder told the FBI in May 1995 that Snell wanted to blow the Oklahoma City building as revenge for the IRS raiding his home. Snell abandoned his plan after the rocket launcher he'd been practicing with exploded in his hands. He took this as

510-772: The 1990s, the building contained regional offices for the Social Security Administration , the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the United States Secret Service , the Department of Veterans Affairs vocational rehabilitation counseling center, the Drug Enforcement Administration (D.E.A.), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF). It also contained recruiting offices for

544-705: The Arm of the Lord (CSA) white supremacist Richard Snell , who was executed in Arkansas the day of the bombing and who also "predicted" that a bombing would happen on the day of his execution. Fort Smith-based federal prosecutor Steven Snyder told the FBI in May 1995 that Snell previously expressed a desire to target the Murrah building in 1983 as revenge for the IRS raiding his home. Before his execution, McVeigh said that he did not know

578-455: The CSA had essentially fallen into inactivity due to most of its members having been either killed or incarcerated. Snell, known to his friends as "Wayne", was an anomaly amongst the militants of the CSA, in that he operated autonomously, using the CSA compound as his base of operation. Steven Scott, a frequent collaborator with Snell, gave this information in a federal prison holding cell to one of

612-548: The CSA was building a rocket launcher to attack the building, the ordnance accidentally detonated in a member's hands. The CSA took this as divine intervention and called off the planned attack. Convicted of murder in Arkansas in an unrelated case, Snell was executed on April 19, 1995, the same day the bombing of the federal building was carried out, after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas declined to hear further appeal. At 9:02 a.m. local time on April 19, 1995,

646-591: The Chair of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation from 1968 to 1975. He assumed senior status on May 1, 1970. He was the last appeals court judge who continued to serve in active service appointed by President Roosevelt. He served as Director of the Federal Judicial Center from 1970 to 1974. His service terminated on October 30, 1975, due to his death in Oklahoma City. Murrah was

680-692: The Tenth Circuit. Murrah was nominated by President Roosevelt on August 5, 1940, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit vacated by Judge Robert E. Lewis . He was confirmed by the Senate on August 29, 1940, and received his commission on September 4, 1940. He served as Chief Judge and as a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States from August 7, 1959 to May 1, 1970. He served as

714-536: The U.S. military. It housed approximately 550 employees. It also housed America's Kids, a children's day care center. In October 1983, members of the Christian militia group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA), including founder James Ellison and Richard Snell plotted to park "a van or trailer in front of the Federal Building and blow it up with rockets detonated by a timer." While

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748-408: The alleged video footage Snell had taken at the airport. In 1983, Snell, accompanied by fellow CSA members William Thomas and Steven (Stephen) Scott, attempted to dynamite a natural gas pipeline near Fulton, Arkansas , unsuccessfully. Scott was eventually captured and convicted of that crime, while several other CSA members were arrested on various other charges, mostly weapons violations. By 1985,

782-445: The bodies of all but three victims recovered. For safety reasons, the remains were to be demolished shortly afterward. However, McVeigh's attorney, Stephen Jones , called for a motion to delay the demolition until the defense team could examine the site in preparation for the trial. More than a month after the bombing, at 7:01 am on May 23, the remains were demolished. The final three bodies, those of two credit union employees and

816-575: The bombing was retaliation against the government for its Waco siege that took place exactly two years prior on April 19, 1993, and the government's handling of the Ruby Ridge crisis. McVeigh never testified as to why he chose the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. In his last words before being executed, Snell addressed then-Governor Jim Guy Tucker : Well, I had a lot to say, but you have me at an inconvenience. My mind

850-403: The bombing. Nineteen pieces of art recovered from the Murrah Building are on permanent display on the first floor of the University of Central Oklahoma 's Max Chambers Library. These pieces include: Lost works are as follows: An untitled acrylic sculpture by Fred Eversley was severely damaged, but survived the blast. Rescue and recovery efforts were concluded at 11:50 pm on May 1, with

884-460: The cover-up of the Mena airport drug smuggling. He had also made claims that he had filmed the then- governor of Arkansas , Bill Clinton , at Mena Intermountain Municipal Airport, but that claim has never been proven. Snell further claimed that one of the Arkansas state troopers assigned to Clinton's security team at that time had beaten Snell's wife in an attempt to force her to reveal the location of

918-420: The most property damage, in the U.S. Timothy McVeigh , a U.S. Army veteran, was found guilty of the attack in a jury trial and sentenced to death. He was executed in 2001. A co-conspirator, Terry Nichols , is serving multiple life sentences in a federal prison. Third and fourth subjects Michael Fortier and his wife, Lori, assisted in the plot. They testified against both McVeigh and Nichols in exchange for

952-426: The murder of Bryant and death for the murder of Stumpp. Snell never denied the allegations made against him, or the crimes he was accused of having committed. In exchange for testimony against Snell, Thomas was allowed to plead guilty to a federal racketeering charge. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison, to run concurrently to other sentences imposed by Missouri and federal courts. In 1987, Scott pleaded guilty to

986-452: The namesake of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building , a federal office complex which was destroyed in the Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995. Richard Snell (criminal) Richard Wayne Snell (May 21, 1930 – April 19, 1995) was an American white supremacist convicted of killing two people, a black police officer and a pawn shop owner whom he mistook for a Jew, in Arkansas between November 3, 1983, and June 30, 1984. Snell

1020-402: The then members. On November 3, 1983, Snell, accompanied by Thomas and Scott, shot and killed pawn shop owner William Stumpp, who he mistakenly believed was of Jewish descent, in Arkansas. Thomas waited outside while Scott followed Snell inside. On June 30, 1984, Snell killed black Arkansas State Trooper Louis P. Bryant near De Queen, Arkansas . Snell then left the scene and drove across

1054-885: Was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 8, 1937, to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma , the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma and the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma , to a new joint seat authorized by 49 Stat. 1804. He was confirmed by the United States Senate on February 25, 1937, and received his commission on March 3, 1937. His service terminated on September 9, 1940, due to his elevation to

Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building - Misplaced Pages Continue

1088-439: Was once its south side) has been incorporated into the memorial; the original flagpole is still in use. The east wall (within the building's footprint) is intact, as well as portions of the south wall. The underground parking garage survived the blast and is used today, but is guarded and closed to the public. Consideration was given to not replacing the Murrah Building and to renting office space for agencies affected. Ultimately,

1122-506: Was paramount to the Federal employees and its neighbors. Secure design was achieved based on the GSA's current standards for secure facilities including blast resistant glazing. Structural design resists progressive collapse . Building mass, glazing inside the courtyard, and bollards help to maintain a sense of openness and security. The art in architecture component of the building incorporates

1156-539: Was sentenced to death for one of the murders, and executed by lethal injection in 1995. Richard Snell was a member of the white supremacist group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (known as the CSA), which was started in 1971 in the small community of Elijah , Missouri, by polygamist James Ellison . He was also a believer in the Christian Identity religion, and frequented Elohim City ,

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