Editing Oklahoma City bombing (section)

===Planning===
====Motive====
[[File:Mountcarmelfire04-19-93-l.jpg|thumb|right|alt=An aerial view from a helicopter of the Mount Carmel Center building. Large columns of smoke are arising from the left side of the building from a fire. One side of the building shows extensive damage. The building is surrounded by dirt paths.|McVeigh and Nichols cited the federal government's actions against the [[Branch Davidian]] compound in the 1993 [[Waco siege]] (shown above) as a reason why they perpetrated the Oklahoma City bombing.]]
The chief conspirators, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, met in 1988 at [[Fort Benning]] during [[Recruit training|basic training]] for the U.S. Army.<ref name="1988McNichols">{{cite news |last= Swickard |first= Joe |url= https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19950511&slug=2120431 |title= The Life of Terry Nichols |date= May 11, 1995|work         = The Seattle Times |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120927221940/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19950511&slug=2120431|archive-date = September 27, 2012|url-status= live |access-date= May 23, 2023}}</ref> McVeigh met Michael Fortier as his Army roommate.<ref name="PBSRoommate">{{cite news|url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/may97/trial_5-13.html|title=Bombing Trial|work=Online Focus|date=May 13, 1997|publisher=[[PBS|Public Broadcasting Service]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110125163535/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/may97/trial_5-13.html |archive-date=January 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=September 7, 2017 }}</ref> The three shared interests in [[survivalism]].<ref name="Militia">{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-04-16-militia-movement-on-the-rise_N.htm |title=As Okla. City date nears, militias seen as gaining strength |last=Johnson |first=Kevin |work=[[USA Today]] |date=April 16, 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130105124606/http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-04-16-militia-movement-on-the-rise_N.htm?csp=34 |archive-date=January 5, 2013 |url-status=live |access-date=May 23, 2023}}</ref><ref name="Militia2">{{Cite news |last=Means |first=Marianne |date=1996-04-20 |title=Search for meaning produces scapegoats |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-tampa-tribune-search-for-meaning-pro/169464457/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[The Tampa Tribune]] |page=15 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> McVeigh and Nichols were radicalized by [[white supremacist]] and antigovernment propaganda.{{sfn|Belew|2019|p=210}}<ref name="SPLC">{{Cite web|title=25 years later, Oklahoma City bombing still inspires antigovernment extremists|url=https://www.splcenter.org/news/2020/04/17/25-years-later-oklahoma-city-bombing-still-inspires-antigovernment-extremists|access-date=December 23, 2020|website=Southern Poverty Law Center|date=April 17, 2020 |language=en}}</ref> They expressed anger at the federal government's handling of the 1992 [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] (FBI) standoff with [[Randy Weaver]] at Ruby Ridge, as well as the [[Waco siege]], a 51-day standoff in 1993 between the FBI and [[Branch Davidians|Branch Davidian]] members that began with a botched [[Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms]] (ATF) attempt to execute a [[search warrant|search]] and [[arrest warrant]]. There was a firefight and ultimately a siege of the compound, resulting in the burning and shooting deaths of [[David Koresh]] and 75 others.<ref name="Waco76">{{cite news |last=Caesar |first=Ed |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5324263.ece |title=The British Waco survivors |date=December 14, 2008|work=The Sunday Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629115153/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5324263.ece |archive-date=June 29, 2011|location=London|url-status=dead}}</ref> In March 1993, McVeigh visited the Waco site during the standoff, and again after the siege ended.<ref name="WacoVisit">{{cite news |last1=Baker |first1=Al |last2=Eisenstadt |first2=Dave |last3=Schwartzman |first3=Paul |last4=Ball |first4=Karen |date=April 22, 1995 |title=Revenge for Waco Strike Former Soldier is Charged in Okla. Bombing |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1995/04/22/1995-04-22_revenge_for_waco_strike_form.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20110227225536/http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/news/1995/04/22/1995-04-22_revenge_for_waco_strike_form.html |archive-date=February 27, 2011 |work=[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]] |location=New York}}</ref> He later decided to bomb a federal building as a response to the raids and to protest what he believed to be U.S. government efforts to restrict rights of private citizens, particularly those under the [[Second Amendment]].<ref>{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |title=McVeigh offers little remorse in letters |url=http://www.cjonline.com/stories/061001/new_mcveigh.shtml |date=June 10, 2001 |work=[[The Topeka Capital-Journal]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120527165230/http://cjonline.com/stories/061001/new_mcveigh.shtml |archive-date=May 27, 2012 |url-status=dead |access-date=June 1, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="TimeWeight">{{cite magazine |last1=Collins |first1=James |last2=Cole |first2=Patrick E. |last3=Shannon |first3=Elaine |author-link3=Elaine Shannon |date=April 28, 1997 |title=Oklahoma City: The Weight of Evidence |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986240-1,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211193636/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986240-1,00.html |archive-date=February 11, 2012 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |pages=1–8 |accessdate=March 25, 2009}}</ref><ref name="FOXLetter">{{cite news |url= http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,17500,00.html |title= McVeigh's Apr.&nbsp;26 Letter to Fox News |date= April 26, 2001 |publisher= [[Fox News Channel]] |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110209151723/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,17500,00.html |archive-date = February 9, 2011 |url-status= dead}}</ref><ref name="WASHPostOrdinary">{{cite news |last1=Russakoff |first1=Dale |last2=Kovaleski |first2=Serge F. |date=July 2, 1995 |title=An Ordinary Boy's Extraordinary Rage |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/bg/mcveigh.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110131234415/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/oklahoma/bg/mcveigh.htm |archive-date=January 31, 2011 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>{{sfn|Brannan|2010|pp=68-69}} McVeigh believed that federal agents were acting like soldiers, thus making an attack on a federal building an attack on their command centers.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E2DC1339F934A15757C0A9679C8B63 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20120714023654/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E2DC1339F934A15757C0A9679C8B63 | url-status=dead | archive-date=July 14, 2012 | work=[[The New York Times]] | title=McVeigh Says He Considered Killing Reno | first=Susan | last=Saulny | date=April 27, 2001 | access-date=March 28, 2010 }}</ref>