Homegrown: OKC

Timothy McVeigh is executed. Three months later, to the day, was September 11th, 2001. Government concerns about the threat of homegrown terrorism evaporate into the air. Still, the right wing spreads conspiracy theories that the Oklahoma City Bombing was committed by foreign terrorists. McVeigh’s desire for a civil war and his belief in the legitimacy of violence lives on in mainstream American politics.

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It was the largest number of murders prosecuted in a single case. The stakes for the trial of Timothy McVeigh were high and the media scrutiny was intense. Enter McVeigh’s smooth-talking defense attorney. McVeigh was an impossible client, and his attorney suspects others are involved in the bombing. But the defense falls apart before the trial begins.

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Inside the White House, President Clinton immediately suspects that the bombing was a domestic attack on the federal government. That hunch proves to be correct, and the President tries to warn the American public about the threat from the far right. But the investigation is soon handed to a then-obscure lawyer inside the Justice Department named Merrick Garland. Garland narrows his focus down to a single case to try and to win.

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April 19th, 1995. The explosion in downtown Oklahoma City can be felt 55 miles away. 168 people, including 19 children, are killed. Immediately, a heroic rescue effort begins in the ruins of the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building. Meanwhile, Timothy McVeigh is speeding up a highway, getting away. Investigators work around the clock to find him. A lot of hard work (and a fair amount of luck) pays off.

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McVeigh and Nichols go underground, devoting themselves to an attack on a federal building. The plot takes months of secret, detailed preparation. There were so many moments where it could have all fallen apart. But finally, McVeigh drives towards Oklahoma City in a truck loaded with twelve barrels filled with fertilizer and fuel. But despite all the careful planning, McVeigh left behind a trail of clues.

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Stuck in a dead-end job, living at home with his dad, and fuming about a football team that can’t seem to win a championship, McVeigh decides to hit the road. He drives to Michigan to stay at the farm of his old Army buddy, Terry Nichols. McVeigh is introduced to a steady stream of outrage from the far right. But it was a siege at a cult compound in Texas that whipped McVeigh into an uncontrollable frenzy.

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McVeigh enlists in the Army and quickly gains a reputation as an “exemplary soldier.” For his service in the First Gulf War, McVeigh is awarded medals and commendations. He seems destined for a successful career as a focused member of the military. But soon after McVeigh returns to the United States, he suffers a devastating defeat. And McVeigh blames his failures on the supposed special treatment granted to minorities.

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The Oklahoma City Bombing seemed to come out of nowhere. Initially, America assumed that the attack was committed by Islamic terrorists. But just days later, America found out the truth. The perpetrator was Timothy McVeigh: a white man, a decorated Army veteran, a right wing extremist. Investigators search Timothy McVeigh’s car and find a highlighted excerpt from a racist novel. That book was the blueprint for the bombing, and it connects McVeigh to a movement that still thrives today.

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Coming March 5

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