Editing Oklahoma City bombing (section)

===Arrests===
Initially, the FBI had three hypotheses about responsibility for the bombing: international terrorists, possibly the same group that had carried out the [[1993 World Trade Center bombing|World Trade Center bombing]]; a [[drug cartel]], carrying out an act of vengeance against DEA agents in the building's DEA office; and anti-government radicals attempting to start a rebellion against the federal government.{{sfn|Hamm|1997|pp=62-63}}

[[File:Aa McVeigh sketch and pic.jpg|thumb|left|alt=An FBI sketch is shown on the left of the image on the suspected bomber looking forward, and on the right, an image of McVeigh looking at the camera. Two brown bars are visible on the top and bottom of the comparison image.|FBI sketch (left) and McVeigh (right)]]
McVeigh was arrested within 90&nbsp;minutes of the explosion,<ref name="ISOCB">{{cite news |url=http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/crime/national/1995/oklahoma_city_bombing/ok.html |title=Library Factfiles: The Oklahoma City Bombing |work=[[The Indianapolis Star]] |date=August 9, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110428230852/http://www2.indystar.com/library/factfiles/crime/national/1995/oklahoma_city_bombing/ok.html |archive-date=April 28, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=March 31, 2006 }}</ref> as he was traveling north on [[Interstate 35 in Oklahoma|Interstate 35]] near [[Perry, Oklahoma|Perry]] in [[Noble County, Oklahoma|Noble County]], Oklahoma. [[Oklahoma Highway Patrol|Oklahoma State Trooper]] Charlie Hanger stopped McVeigh for driving his yellow 1977 [[Mercury Marquis]] without a license plate, and arrested him for having a concealed weapon.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36557212 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012173827/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/36557212 |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 12, 2013 |title=Timothy McVeigh is apprehended |publisher=NBC News Report |date=April 22, 1995 |format=Video, 3 minutes}}</ref><ref name="LAW">{{cite news|last=Crogan |first=Jim |title=Secrets of Timothy McVeigh |work=[[LA Weekly]] |url=http://www.laweekly.com/2004-03-25/news/secrets-of-timothy-mcveigh/ |date=March 24, 2004 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525202850/http://www.laweekly.com/2004-03-25/news/secrets-of-timothy-mcveigh/ |archive-date=May 25, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> For his home address, McVeigh falsely claimed he resided at Terry Nichols's brother James's house in Michigan.<ref name="JamesTerryN">{{Cite news |last=Zucchino |first=David |date=1995-05-14 |title=Tracing a trail to destruction |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-philadelphia-inquirer-tracing-a-trai/169464509/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]] |page=E1 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> After booking McVeigh into jail, Trooper Hanger searched his patrol car and found a business card which had been concealed by McVeigh after being handcuffed.<ref name="TrooperShares">{{cite news |last=Morava |first=Kim |title=Trooper who arrested Timothy McVeigh shares story |work=[[Lerner Newspapers|Shawnee News-Star]] |url=http://www.news-star.com/localnews/x844642367/Trooper-who-arrested-Timothy-McVeigh-shares-story |date=February 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609033905/http://www.news-star.com/localnews/x844642367/Trooper-who-arrested-Timothy-McVeigh-shares-story |archive-date=June 9, 2011 |url-status=dead |access-date=April 18, 2010 }}</ref> Written on the back of the card, which was from a Wisconsin military surplus store, were the words "TNT at $5 a stick. Need more."<ref name="BusinessCard">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|title=Turning to evidence: axle and fingerprints|work=[[Kingman Daily Miner]]|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=J3kNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5576,5737178&dq=mcveigh+business+card+fingerprint|date=April 21, 1997|access-date=June 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125212943/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=J3kNAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0VIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5576,5737178&dq=mcveigh+business+card+fingerprint|archive-date=November 25, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> The card was later used as evidence during McVeigh's trial.<ref name="BusinessCard"/>

While investigating the [[Vehicle Identification Number|VIN]] on an axle of the truck used in the explosion and the remnants of the license plate, federal agents were able to link the truck to a specific Ryder rental agency in Junction City, Kansas. Using a sketch created with the assistance of Eldon Elliot, owner of the agency, the agents were able to implicate McVeigh in the bombing.{{sfn|Serano|1998|pp=139-141}}<ref name="TimeWeight"/>{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=65}} McVeigh was also identified by Lea McGown of the Dreamland Motel, who remembered him parking a large yellow Ryder truck in the lot; McVeigh had signed in under his real name at the motel, using an address that matched the one on his forged license and the charge sheet at the Perry Police Station.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ottley |first=Ted |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/snag_2.html |title=License Tag Snag |publisher=[[truTV]] |date=April 14, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829095824/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/snag_2.html |archive-date=August 29, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="TimeWeight"/> Before signing his real name at the motel, McVeigh had used false names for his transactions. McGown noted, "People are so used to signing their own name that when they go to sign a phony name, they almost always go to write, and then look up for a moment as if to remember the new name they want to use. That's what [McVeigh] did, and when he looked up I started talking to him, and it threw him."<ref name="TimeWeight"/>

[[File:TimothyMcVeighPerryOKApr2195.jpg|thumb|right|alt=McVeigh is located at the center of the image in a dark hallway wearing an orange jumpsuit and looking to the side. Around him are several FBI agents and police officers.|McVeigh about to exit the Perry, Oklahoma, courthouse on April 21, 1995]]
After an April 21, 1995, court hearing on the gun charges, but before McVeigh's release, federal agents took him into custody as they continued their investigation into the bombing.<ref name="TimeWeight"/> Rather than talk to investigators about the bombing, McVeigh demanded an attorney. Having been tipped off by the arrival of police and helicopters that a bombing suspect was inside, a restless crowd began to gather outside the jail. McVeigh's requests for a bulletproof vest or transport by helicopter were denied,<ref name="OttleyInnocence">{{cite news|last=Ottley |first=Ted |url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/lost_3.html |title=Innocence Lost |publisher=truTV |date=April 14, 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110112165510/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/lost_3.html |archive-date=January 12, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> but authorities did use a helicopter to transport him from Perry to Oklahoma City.<ref name="Charged">[http://archive.newsok.com/Default/Skins/Oklahoman/Client.asp?skin=Oklahoman&AW=1391108403156&AppName=2 April 22, 1995 Bomb Suspect Charged], ''The Oklahoman'', April 22, 1995. (accessed January 30, 2014, Registration Required)</ref>

Federal agents obtained a [[search warrant|warrant]] to search the house of McVeigh's father, Bill, after which they broke down the door and wired the house and telephone with [[listening device]]s.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=270}} FBI investigators used the information gained, along with the fake address McVeigh had been using, to begin their search for the Nichols brothers, Terry and James.<ref name="JamesTerryN"/> On April 21, 1995, Terry Nichols learned that he was being hunted, and turned himself in.<ref name="TerrorFamily">{{cite news|last=Witkin |first=Gordon |author2=Karen Roebuck |url=https://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/971006/archive_007972.htm |title=Terrorist or Family Man? Terry Nichols goes on trial for the Oklahoma City bombing |work=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |date=September 28, 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018010025/http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/971006/archive_007972.htm |archive-date=October 18, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Investigators discovered incriminating evidence at his home: ammonium nitrate and blasting caps, the electric drill used to drill out the locks at the quarry, books on bomb-making, a copy of ''[[Hunter (Pierce novel)|Hunter]]'' (a 1989 novel by [[William Luther Pierce]], the founder and chairman of the [[National Alliance (United States)|National Alliance]], a [[white nationalist]] group) and a hand-drawn map of downtown Oklahoma City, on which the Murrah Building and the spot where McVeigh's getaway car was hidden were marked.<ref name="HomelandStudyEpisode1107">{{cite episode|title=A Study of the Oklahoma City Bombing|series=Homeland Security Television|minutes=11:07|airdate=2006}}</ref>{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=274}} After a nine-hour interrogation, Terry Nichols was held in federal custody until his trial.<ref name="CTVN2">{{cite web|title=The Oklahoma City Bombing Case: The Second Trial|publisher=CourtTV News|url=http://www.courttv.com/archive/casefiles/oklahoma/reports/index.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080213083520/http://www.courttv.com/archive/casefiles/oklahoma/reports/index.html|archive-date=February 13, 2008}}</ref> On April 25, 1995, James Nichols was also arrested, but he was released after 32&nbsp;days due to lack of evidence.<ref name="James32days">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-02-20-moore-nichols_x.htm?POE=LIFISVA |title=Michael Moore didn't libel bomber's brother, court says |work=USA Today |date=February 20, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070224065552/http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-02-20-moore-nichols_x.htm?POE=LIFISVA |archive-date=February 24, 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> McVeigh's sister Jennifer was accused of illegally mailing ammunition to McVeigh,<ref name="JenniferBullets">{{Cite news |last1=Michel |first1=Lou |last2=Schulman |first2=Susan |date=1995-04-29 |title=McVeigh Tried to Have Ammo Mailed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-mcveigh-tried-to-have-a/169464576/ |access-date=2025-04-03 |work=[[The Buffalo News]] |pages=[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/169464576/ A1], [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/169464621/ A5] |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> but she was granted immunity in exchange for testifying against him.<ref name="JenniferImmunity">{{cite magazine |last=Church |first=George J. |author2=Patrick E. Cole |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983291-1,00.html |title=The Matter of Tim McVeigh |magazine=Time |page=2 |date=August 14, 1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105071748/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983291-1,00.html |archive-date=November 5, 2012 |url-status=dead |accessdate=June 27, 2009 }}</ref>

A Jordanian-American man traveling from his home in Oklahoma City to visit family in Jordan on April 19, 1995, was detained and questioned by the FBI at the airport. Several Arab-American groups criticized the FBI for [[racial profiling]], and the subsequent media coverage for publicizing the man's name.<ref name="AJR">{{cite news|last=Fuchs |first=Penny Bender |title=Jumping to Conclusions in Oklahoma City? |work=[[American Journalism Review]] |date=June 1995 |url=http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=1980 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101205081115/http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=1980 |archive-date=December 5, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{sfn|Hamm|1997|p=63}} Attorney General Reno denied claims that the federal government relied on racial profiling, while FBI director [[Louis J. Freeh]] told a press conference that the man was never a suspect, and was instead treated as a "witness" to the Oklahoma City bombing, who assisted the government's investigation.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kempster|first=Norman|title=TERROR IN OKLAHOMA CITY : Man Returned to United States Is Not a Suspect|newspaper=[[LA Times]]|date=April 1995|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-04-22-mn-57461-story.html}}</ref>