Outpost of Freedom
May 15, 1995
What Really Happened in
OKC? #3
There has been much speculation as to what occurred in OKC on April 19, 1995. Probably the most interesting theories develop around the motive - who had the most to gain out of the bombing. The obvious conclusion is the Clinton Administration. This, however, needs to be supported by evidence, even just a little bit, to pass muster. There are some omissions that may, or may not, support this conclusion, and we will discuss them later.
Probably the greatest obstacle to overcome is that some good old patriots had the knowledge to make what happened happen. Some say the sophistication of the bomb was beyond the abilities of simple patriots. A friend of mine, who was Special Forces during Vietnam, says that even he doesn't have the knowledge to make such a bomb. I asked him if he felt that he could learn how to make the bomb, and to make it capable of doing the damage that was caused on April 19 if he studied the subject for six months. With a rather dejected look on his face, he answered that he definitely could learn that much in six months, with available resources at libraries, bookstores and access to computer bulletin boards. The only area he might be deficient in would be practical application, but, that if he were able to set off a few bombs, even relatively small ones, he felt that he could achieve the objective.
The question, then, is whether McVeigh and/or associates could accomplish this task. The only evidence we have comes from affidavits filed by the FBI. Now, many will argue that the FBI could lie in the affidavits. After all, we know that there are falsehoods in the David Koresh affidavits. I will concede that there may be lies in the affidavit (the FBI has not had a problem with lies and misrepresentations in the past). But, let's give the benefit of the doubt, at least for the sake of this discussion, that the affidavits are correct, or at least partially so. The first is an affidavit that was filed along with the criminal complaint against Timothy James McVeigh, the Affiant is Henry C. Gibbons, Special Agent, FBI, dated 21 April, 1995. Quotes from the affidavit will be the quotations shown below, with reference to the numbered paragraphs in the affidavit.
"3. Investigation by federal agents at the scene of the explosion have determined that the explosive was contained in a 1993 Ford owned by Ryder Rental Co. A vehicle identification number -VIN- was found at the scene of the explosion and determined to be from a part of the truck that contained the explosive. The VIN was traced to truck owned by Ryder Rentals of Miami, Fla. Ryder Rentals informed the FBI that the truck was assigned to a rental company known as Elliot's Body Shop in Junction City, Kan.
Although it might appear that the truck would have been vaporized, it is also very possible that the rear end (axle) did survive and had enough of the serial number to track the VIN. From that point on, identification of the truck and it's whereabouts would be relatively easy.
"4. The rental agent at Elliot's Body Shop in Junction City, Kan., was interviewed by the FBI on April 19, 1995, and advised that two persons had rented the truck on April 17, 1995.... The person who signed the rental agreement identified himself as Bob Kling, Social Security number: 962-42-9694, South Dakota driver's license No. YF942A6,... Subsequent investigation conducted by the FBI determined all this information to be bogus.
"5. On April 20, 1995, the rental agent was recontacted and assisted in the creation of composite drawing...
"6. On April 20, 1995, the FBI interviewed three witnesses who were near the scene of the explosion at Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building prior to the detonation of the explosives.... identified him [Unsub 1 McVeigh] as closely resembling a person the witnesses had seen in .front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building where the explosion occurred on April 19, 1995,... just minutes before the explosion.
"8. The composite drawings were shown to employees at… the Dreamland Motel in Junction City, Kan., advised FBI agents that an individual resembling Unsub 1 ... had been a guest at the motel from April 14 through April 18, 1995.... had registered at the motel under the name of Tim McVeigh, listed his automobile as bearing an Arizona license plate with an illegible plate number, and provided a Michigan address, on North Van Dyke Road in Decker, Mich. ...
"9. A check of Michigan Department of Motor Vehicles records shows a license in the name of Timothy J. McVeigh, date of birth April 23, 1968, with an address of 3616 North Van Dyke Road, Decker, Mich....
"12. On April 21, 1995, a former co-worker of Tim McVeigh's reported to the FBI that he had seen the composite drawing of Unsub 1 on the television and recognized the drawing: to be... Timothy McVeigh.... that McVeigh was known to hold extreme right wing views, was a military veteran, and was particularly agitated about the conduct of the federal government at Waco, Texas, in 1993... He further advised that the last known address he had for McVeigh is 1711 Stockton Hill Road, No. 206, Kingman, Ariz.
"13. On April 2l, 1994, investigators learned that a Timothy McVeigh was arrested at 10:30 a.m. on April 19, 1995, in Perry, Okla., for not having a license tag and for possession of a weapon approximately 1˝ hours after the detonation of the explosive device at the Alfred P. Murrah ,Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Okla. Perry, Okla., is approximately a 1˝-hour drive from Oklahoma City, Okla. ...
Based upon those provisions of the affidavit, McVeigh was charged with a violation of 18 U.S.C. 844(f). Perhaps not as strong as you or I might think necessary for an arrest, but surely strong enough for the FBI. Within this affidavit there is nothing that shows that McVeigh had any means or knowledge with which to prepare a bomb.
On May 9, 1995, an affidavit was attached to the criminal complaint against Terry Lynn Nichols, again, by Henry C. Gibbons. This affidavit, if true, demonstrates the means with which to make the bomb.
"9. [O]n April 19, 1995, Timothy James McVeigh was arrested in Noble County, Oklahoma,... When booked into jail... McVeigh listed 3616 North Van Dyke Road Decker, Michigan, as his address... the property at 3616 N. Van Dyke Road, Decker, Michigan is owned by the Nichols family. James Nichols is the brother of Terry Nichols.
"12. On April 21, 1995, at approximately 3:00 p.m., after hearing his name on the radio in connection with the Oklahoma City bombing, Terry Nichols voluntarily surrendered to the Department of Public Safety in Herington, Kan. Herington authorities... awaited the arrival of the FBI. Thereafter, a Special Agent of the FBI arrived and advised Nichols of his Miranda rights, which Nichols agreed to waive.
"13. Terry Nichols was subsequently interviewed and provided the following information:
a. He first met McVeigh at U.S. Army Basic Training in 1988 in Georgia. He later served with McVeigh at Fort Riley, Kan. Over the years they have occasionally lived together, operated a business together involving the sale of army surplus items and firearms at gun shows throughout the United States, and otherwise stayed in close contact.
"b. Nichols was with McVeigh in downtown Oklahoma City, Okla., on April 16, 1995.
"c. On Tuesday, April 18, 1995, McVeigh and Nichols met in Junction City, Kan., where Nichols said he loaned his dark blue 1984 GMC half-ton diesel pickup to McVeigh. Nichols said McVeigh had the vehicle for approximately five hours...
"e. Nichols knows how to make a bomb by blending ammonium nitrate with diesel fuel which could he detonated by blasting caps. Nichols also stated that he had ammonium nitrate at his residence until Friday, April 21, 1995, at which rime he placed it on his yard as fertilizer. Nichols said that he did this after reading in several different newspapers that ammonium nitrate was used in the Oklahoma City bombing.
"f: He had a fuel meter in his garage which he said he had purchased for resale.
"g. Nichols stated several rimes that if they searched his residence, he hoped that agents 'would not mistake household items' for bomb-producing materials. In particular, Nichols told agents that he had several containers of ground ammonium nitrate which he said he sells as plant food fertilizer at gun shows.
"j. Nichols denied involvement in or knowledge of the bombing.
"14. While Terry Nichols was being interviewed, he gave consent for agents to search his residence, 109 South Second Street, Herington, Kansas, and his pickup truck,... A search warrant was obtained and executed on Terry Nichols' residence in Herington, Kansas, on April 22, 1995. During that search, agents seized the following items:
"a. Five 60 foot 8 primadet cords non-electric blasting caps...
"b. Four white barrels with blue lids made from material resembling the blue plastic fragments found at the bomb .scene in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
"c. One fuel meter... such a device could be used to obtain the proper volume of diesel fuel to ammonium nitrate for a bomb.
"d. One receipt... for 40 fifty-pound bags of 34-0-0 ammonium nitrate fertilizer.
"e. Five gas cans of various sizes.
"f. Several containers of ground ammonium nitrate....this substance can be used as one ingredient of a booster for a fertilizer-fuel oil bomb.
"15. On September 30, 1994, forty (40) fifty-pound bags of 34-0-0 ammonium nitrate fertilizer were purchased ... by a 'Mike Havens.' A receipt for that purchase, referred to in paragraph 14(d), was found at the residence of Terry Nichols. The FBI has identified a fingerprint on the receipt as belonging to Timothy McVeigh.
"16. On October 18, 1994, forty (40) additional fifty-pound bags of 34-0-0 ammonium nitrate fertilizer were purchased… by a 'Mike Havens,' who was driving a dark colored pickup with a light-colored camper shell.
"18. On September 22, 1994, a storage unit, identified as unit 2, was rented at Herington, Kansas, in the name of Shawn Rivers....
"19. On October 17, 1994, a storage unit identified as unit 40, was rented at Council Grove, Kansas, in the name Joe Kyle.... The FBI has obtained from Terry Nichols' home a document with the location of this storage unit and the name Joe Kyle.
"20. On November 7, 1994, an additional storage unit, identified as unit 37, was rented at Council Grove, Kansas, in the name Ted Parker. The FBI has obtained from Terry Nichols' home a document with the location of this storage unit and the name Ted Parker.
"21. The FBI has obtained a letter from Terry Nichols to Tim McVeigh, dated on or about November 22, 1994, the day Nichols left the United Stares for a visit to the Philippines. In the letter, Terry Nichols tells Timothy McVeigh that he will be getting this letter only in the event of Nichols' death. Nichols instructs McVeigh to 'clear everything: out of CG 37' and to 'also liquidate 4O.' Terry Nichols also tells McVeigh he is on his own and to 'Go for it!'
"23. On April 15, 1995, Terry Nichols purchased diesel fuel from a Conoco service station in Manhattan, Kansas.
"24. On April 16, 1995, Terry Nichols purchased an additional 21.59 gallons of diesel fuel from a Conoco service .station in Junction City, Kansas.
"25. On April 17, 1995, a call was placed from Room 25 at the Dreamland Hotel to the residence of Terry Nichols in Herington, Kansas....
"26. During the evening of April 17, 1995, a Ryder truck was seen parked behind the residence of Terry Nichols, 109 South 2nd Street, Herington, Kansas.
"27. On April 17 or 18, 1995, an older model pickup with a camper shell was seen backed up to the second garage door on the east end of the storage shed in Herington. This unit is 2.…
"28. During the week of April 17th, a Ryder truck was seen backed up to the east end of the storage shed in Herington near storage unit 2....
"29. On the morning: of April 18, 1995, a witness at the Geary State Fishing Lake, approximately six milts south of Junction City, Kansas, observed a yellow Ryder truck parked next to a pickup truck for several hours.... the pickup truck was a dark blue or brown 1980-1987 Chevrolet or GMC truck… there was something white, possibly a camper shell, on the back of the pickup truck.
"30. On April 28. 1995, the witness accompanied an FBI agent to Geary State Fishing: Lake and took him to the area where the two vehicles had been parked... the agent observed a circular area of brown vegetation surrounded by green vegetation.... he noticed an oily substance and detected the distinct odor of diesel fuel.
Why are we so reluctant to admit that there may be some, who consider themselves to be patriots, that have reached a point where the recognition that it is time to "fight back" against the tyranny of government has come. After all, on April 19, 1775, the British sought to seize the arms that were stored in Concord, Massachusetts. After killing only a handful of "Americans" at Lexington, the wrath of the colonists was felt by the British until they were able to struggle back to Boston, seeking refuge from the onslaught brought by patriots who had become fed up with tyranny. Those events, two hundred twenty years ago, resulted in the "world turned upside down."
Now, we argue that what happened in Oklahoma City could not be the work of patriots. The act was one of terrorism. Who are we to decide what and when will be the event that turns the wrath of true Americans against the despotic government in Washington? Considering the bills submitted in Congress, prior to the bombing, it would appear that there is no legislative remedy, anyway. The "Contract ON America" makes painfully clear the course that the free spending, Constitution ignoring, Congress is on. Perhaps some of us are just a bit slow in seeing the necessity to act, in whatever way we can, to begin countering the oppression that slowly encompasses us.
If, however, there is any government involvement (as some suggest) in the bombing, it may well be that we will find out the truth of that involvement when we find the truth about Waco, John Kennedy, and other matters filed away in the bowels of the monster. The military record of McVeigh was seized by the FBI, as was the surveillance video from across the street. It is possible that one, or the other, of these items might answer questions, and, perhaps, implicate government in the misdeeds. We can continue to argue that point, or we can proceed as if the facts laid out by the FBI are true. If the government was involved, we need the act to BACKFIRE on them, and it has already begun to do so.
Waco has opened up again. The deaths of Vicki and Sammy Weaver are becoming known to those who lived in blissful ignorance just a few years ago. There is an awakening going on right now, and we need to continue that awakening with level heads. There is no sense in attempting to prove what we cannot prove at this time There is, however, a need to provide the truth of previous incidents to those who have, finally, begun to question the assertion of unlawful authority by the government.
If justice is to be had, it must be applied to Waco and Idaho before it is applied to Oklahoma City. Justice, however, cannot be administered by a Congressional hearing. There is no provision in the Constitution that allows justice to be applied by any other means than a trial jury The trial jury cannot convene until indictments are issued by a Grand Jury. If you want to encourage your representatives to look into what happened at Waco and Idaho, demand that they convene a Grand Jury, not under the control of one of General Reno's hand picked attorneys, rather under the control of the people, as the Constitution, and the Founding Fathers intended. Only when justice can consider crimes by government, will the threat of continuation of events, such as occurred in Oklahoma City, become no longer a threat in our country.
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