From This Day in History -- April 19
On April 19
● 1993 - Federal agents attack Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas; incinerating about 80 members. Later revelations suggest government munitions started the deadly fire and that agents prevented compound residents from fleeing the burning building. Because of the nature of the Branch Davidians - - a tiny evangelical sect -- and the weaponry charges being pursued by the government, the deaths become a rallying point for far right activists, but are largely ignored by the left.
● 1995 - The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK, was destroyed by a bomb. It was the worst bombing on U.S. territory. 168 people were killed including 19 children, and 500 were injured. Bombing is initially blamed on Arab terrorists; later found to be the work of Timothy McVeigh who was found guilty of the bombing on June 2, 1997 and later executed. He was a far right American "patriot" striking back to commemorate Waco.
With Timothy McVeigh's execution, this pair of events only appears to have concluded. I really hope they have but McVeigh himself believed otherwise. He viewed himself as another martyr in the fight against an over-powerful Federal government. He made no apologies for having killed children at the Federal building since so many children were killed at Waco. When 9-11 occurred, my first thoughts were was this another McVeigh. Many more acts of violence from the right side of spectrum occur across America everyday. Make no mistake about it the attackers in 9-11 were ultra-conservative not liberals.
My view of McVeigh is that he was one of the continuing casualties of the first Gulf War. The way we treat our returning service members it is surprising there haven't been more Oklahoma City type of attacks.
As an aside, let us remember that Roger Johnson the head of the GSA (Government Services Administration) lost his job over Oklahoma City. What a difference in accountability, even though there was probably nothing he could have done differently to prevent the attack.
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