Oklahoma City

I did live through Oklahoma City and remember it well, and I remember Ruby Ridge and Waco also. Ruby Ridge and Waco had nothing to do with Oklahoma City, and neither did the militia movement or white supremacist organizations. This documentary is little more than the official government story, a story orchestrated at the highest levels of the Justice Department and the White House, placing all of the blame upon a disillusioned ex-soldier and his loser Army buddies and ignoring the obvious presence of more sophisticated conspirators. The film barely mentions the existence of "John Doe #2" who actually DID mastermind the bombing. There was a nationwide manhunt for this person during the week after the bombing until the FBI decided that they had their man and no further suspects were being sought. We are supposed to believe that McVeigh was smart enough to plan this elaborate scheme and yet stupid enough to drive a getaway car without a license plate attached? The film completely ignores the pre-bombing trips to the Philippines that were taken by Terry Nichols and clear evidence that he was meeting there with Ramzi Yousef (the mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing in 1993). Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying McVeigh was innocent. He was in this conspiracy up to his eyeballs and he deserved to be convicted, but there were other conspirators higher up the food chain that got away, for purely political reasons. That is the real story of Oklahoma City.

I don't remember Oklahoma City, or Waco, or Ruby Ridge. These events, if they were in my young subconscious mind at all, were crowded out by 9/11, which happened when I was only ten years old. For a generation that has been inundated with images of terrorism, violence, and war, it's difficult to grasp just how explosive and unjust this event was, and how it shocked the nation to learn that born and bred Americans could be just as responsible for the destruction of the country's goodwill than foreign invaders.

This film was directed by Emmy winning PBS documentarian Barak Goodman (Scottsboro: An American Tragedy). He begins the film's narrative at Oklahoma City, but then flashes back to the inception of the Aryan Nation in the mid-to-late eighties, and the ensuing terrorist institutions that created a platform for an army vet named Timothy McVeigh. Tracing this critical history of white held terrorism within the United States, we see the quick succession of violent white men who have taken arms against their government, and the almost unending paranoia that it created. People like David Koresh and Randy Weaver were the inspiration for an angry, xenophobic young man without many options and a plethora of military knowledge at his disposal.

McVeigh chose the building because he wanted retribution for those who stood against the government and died because of it. In our current political climate terrorism is almost a give-in, an accepted cross to bear in our everyday lives. McVeigh was the first major figure in a long line of American born white men who have taken arms against their own citizenry (Eric Robert Rudolph, Dylann Roof, Wade Michael Page, and thirty-six others since Oklahoma City). This documentary not only sheds light on the horrific act of three disillusioned youths, but the greater trend of discontented, hate- filled teens who later become violent terrorists. These events are more common than ever, and it's not a problem that goes away with prayers and acceptance. It stops because we don't let it happen again. We protect our fellow man, our children, and those who don't have a voice. This film is illuminating in all the right ways, and emotionally devastating in a million others.

The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in April 1995 is the worst act of domestic terrorism in American history; this documentary explores how a series of deadly encounters between American citizens and federal law enforcement - including the standoffs at Ruby Ridge and Waco - led to it.

There is the matter of what this film is and what it isn't. If you want a broad view of Ruby Ridge, Waco and Oklahoma City in under two hours, this is the perfect primer or refresher. However, if you want to learn more, and were around in the 1990s, there is very little here you did not already read in the news at the time.

I suppose if nothing else, this would be great for catching the younger generation up on what happened just twenty years ago, when "terrorism" and 9/11 were not yet synonymous.

25 mins in and still no mention of the main perpetrator. Instead of summarising what angered and motivated Timothy McVeigh to commit the crimes the producers want to give you a detailed backstory. Sheesh! It's history now, just spit it out already😡

All this movie tries to do is humanize a terrorist.

The documentary is well made and researched. It is effective in what is trying to do. The problems is that this documentary tries to make people understand Timothy McVeigh's point of view. We are exposed to different events that eventually led to the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City and that is what's wrong with this film. It is not acceptable to humanize someone that hurt so many people.

I understand that everyone has reasons to act the way they do and it is very interesting to know them, specially in relation to this event that marked the USA, but doing this is as preposterous as making a documentary of 9/11 and including a mini bio of Osama Bin Laden and events that pushed him to plan it. This documentary would never have been done if a person of color was the perpetrator. The director almost tries to excuse the actions of the terrorist because of their background.