The Oklahoma City Bombing: A Cautionary Tale
The bomb attack on the federal building in Oklahoma City 12 years ago today ushered America into the modern age of terrorism. But for me it was a professional nadir and resulted in a cautionary tale worth telling and retelling.
I was covering the O.J. Simpson criminal trial full time when a rental truck loaded with more than two tons of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil was detonated by anti-government militia sympathizer Timothy McVeigh at the foot of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Some 168 people were killed, including Baylee Almon (see photo) and 14 other children at a day care center in the building.
I was pulled off of The Trial of the Century and tasked with writing my newspaper’s main story on the bombing while our reporter and photographer were still in the air en route to the scene of the tragedy.
The Internet was in its infancy and blogging was a few years off, and so I hastily assembled my story based on wire service reports and other information I was able to glean as I raced against an early deadline for our paper and the national wires. I came upon a reference to Oklahoma City having a largish Muslim community and the fact that was a source of some friction.
Desperately needing the WHO piece of the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY and HOW that every news story should include, I mentioned that Muslim population in the fifth paragraph, not so high in the story as to give it too much importance, but not so low that it would get lost. The implication was unmistakable: The bombing might have been a terrorist act stemming from members of that community.
How utterly wrong I was, so wrong that I sometimes use my egregious lapse in judgment as a talking point — one that is even more relevant today in this age of rampant racial stereotyping — when I speak to university journalism classes.
I set up the students by distributing photocopies of my story and then ask them to point out a major error in it.
I have yet to find one student who is able to do so.
who died shortly after the bombing. Charles H. Porter IV won the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography for the image.
8 Responses to “The Oklahoma City Bombing: A Cautionary Tale”
[...] Remembering the <b>Oklahoma</b> City Bombing [...]
Shaun, that’s a very good lesson to keep in mind. Thanks for posting this.
It’s impossible to know exactly how many bloggers were spouting off prematurely about the horror at Virginia Tech. Too many of the ones I read, I know. Even now it seems that are up for debate.
This is not to say that America does not have Muslim enemies, however. It’s my hope that there won’t be so many cries of “Wolf!” that we will give up the habit of vigilance.
Very interesting reminder that the event that ushered in “the terrorism age in America” was committed by a NEOCON.
And
That the early and obviously unsubstantiated accusations made with comments on THIS BLOG that a Muslim was killing students at Virginia Tech….also came from a NEOCON.
Brain dead political ideology or just stupid people?
White Agent, McVeigh was not a neocon. He had become a violent member of the far right, which is obviously not neocon (such people are similar to paleocons). Why do you see (and blame) a neocon everywhere (for everything)?
Neocons are far right. I believe Bush’s poll numbers are a fair implication of this.
> Neocons are far right.
Incorrect.
> I believe Bush’s poll
> numbers are a fair
> implication of this.
And right after 9/11?
The attack MO was similar to that of Islamic extremists (e.g. the Beirut truck bombing and the 1993 WTC bombing) and there is some history of radical Islamic activity in the area. It isn’t racism to notice things like that; don’t feel too guilty, Shaun.
DLS- No No No, Tim McVeigh was MOST CERTAINLY a Neocon! By his OWN words McVeigh attacked the Murrah federal building in retaliation for the FBI’s action at Waco, against the “Branch Dividian” nutjobs. An action based on the suspected violation of firearm laws. A violent action against the Federal government would be classified as politically Reactionary.
The word Reactionary was replaced by Neocon on the political spectrum.