09:02am, April 19, 1995. That’s the moment when 27-year old Timothy McVeigh exploded his way into the US history books, blowing up a gigantic truck bomb outside the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The blast annihilated the building. It ended 168 lives, including 19 children. It also sent a shockwave through the nation. No-one could believe such an atrocity was carried out by a fellow American, especially one as normal seeming as McVeigh.
Yet McVeigh’s callousness didn’t spring from nowhere. He was a decorated war veteran, a Second Amendment crusader, and a far-right activist. More than that, he was a product of his time, a monster born from some of the most controversial actions the Federal government has ever been involved in. A quiet loner, a bullied kid who never fit in, McVeigh was the most average boy imaginable. This is the story of how that boy became America’s deadliest terrorist.
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