Threat of far-right domestic terrorism remains as nation marks 20 years since Oklahoma City bombing
The SPLC has documented a powerful resurgence of the extremist movement that motivated McVeigh. In fact, the movement has spawned numerous acts of terror and violence in recent years.
On April 19, 1995 – 20 years ago Sunday – a truck bomb brought down the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, including 19 children in a day care center.
The bombing by antigovernment zealot Timothy McVeigh and several co-conspirators shocked the nation, awakening it to the threat of terrorism from far-right extremists. It remains the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.
Today, the threat from extremists like McVeigh remains very real.
The SPLC has documented a powerful resurgence of the extremist movement that motivated McVeigh. In fact, the movement has spawned numerous acts of terror and violence in recent years.
The SPLC today offers both a look at the movement’s history and an assessment of the current threat:
- MSNBC: “20 years after Oklahoma City bombing, domestic terror threat remains,” by SPLC President Richard Cohen.
- POLITICO: “Don’t Ignore the Homegrown Terror Threat,” by SPLC Senior Fellow Mark Potok.
In October of 1994, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote to Attorney General Janet Reno and warned about the "mixture of armed groups and those who hate" as a "recipe for disaster." Read the full letter here.
Here's Mark Potok discussing his personal experience as a reporter on the scene in Oklahoma City, as well as the current state of the militia movement:
- Terror from the Right, a list of more than 100 domestic terrorist attacks, plots and racist rampages since Oklahoma City.
An extended audio interview with Mark Potok:
