Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, a devastating event that changed Americans' mutual trust. It also changed our understanding of terrorism, for a time, thought it remained easier to believe this event was a fluke and our "real" enemy sat plotting outside our borders. - ThreadSky

amycooter.bsky.social • 1 day ago

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing, a devastating event that changed Americans' mutual trust. It also changed our understanding of terrorism, for a time, thought it remained easier to believe this event was a fluke and our "real" enemy sat plotting outside our borders.

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hollywoodindc.bsky.social•1 day ago

I was 24 and had just moved to Houston for my first job. I went home to my apartment after work and cried watching the news. The pictures of people pulling babies out of the building. Desks about to fall out buildings because the side was gone.

amycooter.bsky.social•1 day ago

This was a key event for me, when my school teachers wheeled a TV into my classroom for us to watch footage of the aftermath, further stoking my interest in the social science behind extremism. I later read this book in undergrad, adding another layer of understanding. https://www.amazon.com/Unfinished-Bombing-Oklahoma-American-Memory/dp/0195161076#detailBullets_feature_div

amycooter.bsky.social•1 day ago

Today, beyond honoring everyone directly impacted by this horror, I can't help thinking about how our ability to monitor and stop new domestic terrorists has been deeply impacted both by funding cuts and mandated shifts in focus within DOJ and other agencies.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/03/25/domestic-extremism-database-trump-cuts/

amycooter.bsky.social•1 day ago

I also can't help but think about what a difficult time we still have acknowledging the truth of domestic terror. We still usually call the OKC bombing the "worst act of domestic terror." And it was truly awful.

amycooter.bsky.social•1 day ago

Be we exclude from that assessment actions like the 1921 massacre of Black Wall Street in Tulsa, just over 90 minutes away. We do not know the exact number of victims, but fatalities may have been as many as 300 people, with more than 800 others injured. https://www.tulsahistory.org/exhibit/1921-tulsa-race-massacre/

amycooter.bsky.social•1 day ago

We don't include acts of systematic white terror like slavery or Indigenous genocide done in the name of forming the US.

Until we can have those hard, honest reckonings, it is unlikely we will effectively address the "acute" or "stochastic" acts we more typically associate with "domestic terror."

sunzion.bsky.social•1 day ago

Three administrations have failed to deal with right wing extremists in 30 years. The Biden administration failed to put this rabid dog down after Jan 6th

megintheshire.bsky.social•1 day ago

I will never forget that day. Innocent people cut down by a right wing maniac.

anthonyscorona.bsky.social•1 day ago

There’s a new documentary on Netflix about it. I was 9 when it happened so I didn’t understand it. For them to just straight to it being Waco related was surprising to me.

enrich12.bsky.social•1 day ago

I miss the days when the criminals were in the streets---not in the Oval Office.

madukes.bsky.social•1 day ago

The tipping point of white nationalism and white supremacy

It’s been writhing around ever since

jasdoutho.bsky.social•1 day ago

Now we are all paying the price for sweeping the threat of far right terrorism under the rug.

lorihjschaffer.bsky.social•10 hours ago

"The rise in right-wing extremism,the Jan 6 insurrection, & much in the contemporary conservative movement, show how Timothy McVeigh’s values, views, & tactics have endured & flourished. That makes the story...of the Oklahoma City bombing a warning about the future".
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/07/book-excerpt-of-jeffrey-toobins-homegrown/

birdydownunder.bsky.social•1 day ago

Reagan radicalised the right wing when he deregulated the media. Domestic terrorism has exploded thanks to Limbaugh, Fox News and their many disciples.

claybellsring.bsky.social•1 day ago

Yup. Out worst enemy is right here. Born and bred in the good ‘ol USA.

sleeplessinamerica.bsky.social•1 day ago

I remember when it happened and people talking about it who were absolutely convinced that it must have been an "Islamic terrorist."

It was, and still is, very rare for anyone to refer to it as terrorism of any kind when the (white) culprit was caught, tried, and convicted.

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