It’s April 19th 1995, the 220th anniversary of the start of the American War of Independence, and two years since the violent end of the Waco, Texas siege. In Oklahoma City, a disaffected army veteran named Timothy McVeigh leaves a truck outside the Alfred P Murrah Federal Building. Inside the truck is a bomb. At 9am, McVeigh lights the two minute fuse. When the bomb explodes, it kills 168 people and wounds 680 more.
In An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th, Marc Levin retraces McVeigh’s footsteps, showing how he went from being a war hero to a terrorist. Rather than look at McVeigh in isolation, however, Marc places his actions in the context of the evolution of political violence in the US. It is an evolution that continues to the present day.
In this episode of Factual America, Marc and Daphne discuss the making of the film. They look at how the bombing has become an almost forgotten moment in American history; the economic and military as well as historical background to the outrage; whether McVeigh acted alone; and how views that in the 90s were regarded as being extreme have now entered the mainstream.
As we head towards the 2024 US presidential election on November 5th, An American Bombing: The Road to April 19th reflects upon the dangerous journey of American democracy and the high price Americans have had to pay for their freedoms.
Watch the episode at https://factualamerica.com
“He may be dead but the ghost of McVeigh lives, and there are lots of people out there that subscribe to some of his thinking.” – Marc Levin
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