Timothy James McVeigh

McVeigh was never a member of, or formally affiliated with, any organized militia group; militia leaders publicly disclaimed him after the bombing, with Militia of Montana spokesman John Trochmann stating "we or no one that we know of feel he is a martyr for anything," per ABC News reporting.

• Experts: McVeigh Won't Be Militia Martyr — ABC News [Primary]

ExtremismLedger classifies Timothy McVeigh's ideology as anti-government extremism, based on his own documented statements about his motivation (Waco and Ruby Ridge) and his conduct in carrying out the bombing; this classification does not assert that McVeigh was a member of, or formally tied to, the organized militia movement, ties to which the underlying reporting describes as informal at most.

• Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing — Bill of Rights Institute [Primary]
• Experts: McVeigh Won't Be Militia Martyr — ABC News [Corroborating]

McVeigh was sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection at the Federal Correctional Complex in Terre Haute, Indiana, on June 11, 2001 -- the first federal execution in the United States in 38 years -- after a one-month postponement from the original May 16, 2001 date so the FBI's belated disclosure of investigative documents to the defense could be reviewed.

• Statement of Attorney General John Ashcroft Regarding the Execution of Timothy McVeigh — U.S. Department of Justice (06/06/2001) [Primary]
• Statement of Attorney General John Ashcroft on the Postponement of the McVeigh Execution — U.S. Department of Justice (05/11/2001) [Corroborating]
• Executions Under the Federal Death Penalty — Death Penalty Information Center [Corroborating]

McVeigh was indicted in August 1995 on 11 federal counts -- conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction, use of a truck bomb to kill people, malicious destruction of federal property resulting in death, and eight counts of murder of federal law enforcement officers -- and was found guilty on all 11 counts on June 2, 1997.

• McVeigh, Nichols and Fortier Indicted in Oklahoma City Bombing — U.S. Department of Justice (08/10/1995) [Primary]
• Oklahoma City Bombing — The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture, Oklahoma Historical Society [Corroborating]

Timothy McVeigh rented the Ryder truck used in the bombing, participated in assembling the ammonium nitrate/fuel oil explosive device, and drove and parked the truck at the north entrance of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building before it detonated, per the Department of Justice's account of the case.

• The Oklahoma City Bombing Case: A Review of the FBI's Investigation of Belatedly Discovered Documents (Executive Summary) — U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General [Primary]
• McVeigh, Nichols and Fortier Indicted in Oklahoma City Bombing — U.S. Department of Justice (08/10/1995) [Corroborating]

McVeigh said he was motivated to bomb the Murrah Building by the 1993 Waco/Branch Davidian siege and the 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff, which he viewed as examples of unjustified, lethal federal government force against citizens, and deliberately chose April 19 -- the second anniversary of the fatal end of the Waco siege -- as the date of the bombing, according to the Bill of Rights Institute's account of the case.

• Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City Bombing — Bill of Rights Institute [Primary]

04/19/1995

• The Oklahoma City Bombing Case: A Review of the FBI's Investigation of Belatedly Discovered Documents (Executive Summary) — U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General [Primary]
• McVeigh, Nichols and Fortier Indicted in Oklahoma City Bombing — U.S. Department of Justice (08/10/1995) [Corroborating]