Oklahoma City bombing

====Gathering materials====
[[File:Detailed map of Herington, Kansas.png|thumb|A detailed map of [[Herington, Kansas]], the general location where McVeigh and Nichols stored the [[ammonium nitrate]] fertilizer used for the construction of the bomb. The actual location of the storage unit was located along [[U.S. Route 77|US Highway 77]], adjacent to a [[Pizza Hut]].]]
McVeigh and Nichols purchased or stole the materials they needed to manufacture the bomb, and stored them in rented sheds. In August 1994, McVeigh obtained nine binary-explosive [[Kinestik]]s from gun collector Roger E. Moore, and with Nichols ignited the devices outside Nichols's home in [[Herington, Kansas]].<ref name="PBSTimeline">{{cite news|last=Smith |first=Martin |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/documents/mcveigh/ |title=McVeigh Chronology |work=Frontline |publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728134240/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/documents/mcveigh/ |archive-date=July 28, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="ForIntNine">{{cite news|last=Scarpa|first=Greg Jr.|url=http://forensic-intelligence.org/RRudman.pdf|title=AP Report of Possible Subcommittee Inquiry into Oklahoma City Bombing, Recent Intelligence Concerning (a) Involvement of FBI Informant; and (b) Imminent Threat|publisher=Forensic Intelligence International|access-date=June 5, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029095407/http://forensic-intelligence.org/RRudman.pdf|archive-date=October 29, 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> On September 30, 1994, Nichols bought forty {{convert|50|lb|kg|adj=on}} bags of [[ammonium nitrate]] fertilizer from Mid-Kansas Coop in [[McPherson, Kansas]], enough to fertilize {{convert|12.5|acre|ha|abbr=off}} of farmland at a rate of {{convert|160|lb|kg}} of nitrogen per acre (.4 ha), an amount commonly used for corn. Nichols bought an additional {{convert|50|lb|kg|adj=on}} bag on October 18, 1994.<ref name="TimeWeight"/> McVeigh approached Fortier and asked him to assist with the bombing project, but he refused.<ref name="trutvImitatingTurner">{{cite news|url=http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/turner_7.html|title=Imitating Turner |last=Ottley |first=Ted |publisher=truTV |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120119012918/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/mcveigh/turner_7.html |archive-date=January 19, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=201}}

McVeigh and Nichols robbed Moore in his home of $60,000 worth of guns, gold, silver, and jewels, transporting the property in the victim's van.<ref name="trutvImitatingTurner"/> McVeigh wrote Moore a letter in which he claimed that government agents had committed the robbery.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=197–198}} Items stolen from Moore were later found in Nichols's home and in a storage shed he had rented.<ref name="MooreStuff">{{cite news|agency=Associated Press|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=w_wSAAAAIBAJ&pg=3391,28284&dq=were+later+found+in+storage+shed+roger+moore+nichols|title=Evidence builds up against Nichols in trial|work=[[Boca Raton News]]|date=December 16, 1997|access-date=June 29, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125184354/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=w_wSAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VI4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=3391,28284&dq=were+later+found+in+storage+shed+roger+moore+nichols|archive-date=November 25, 2015|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="MooreStuff2">{{cite news|last=Thomas |first=Jo |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/20/us/bomb-suspect-hid-cash-ex-wife-testifies.html |title=Bomb Suspect Hid Cash, Ex-Wife Testifies |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 20, 1997 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605134938/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/20/us/bomb-suspect-hid-cash-ex-wife-testifies.html |archive-date=June 5, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In October 1994, McVeigh showed Michael and his wife Lori Fortier a diagram he had drawn of the bomb he wanted to build.<ref name="McVeighBomb33"/> McVeigh planned to construct a bomb containing more than {{convert|5000|lb|kg}} of ammonium nitrate fertilizer mixed with about {{convert|1200|lb|kg}} of liquid [[nitromethane]] and {{convert|350|lb|kg}} of [[Tovex]]. Including the weight of the sixteen 55 gallon [[Drum (container)|drums]] in which the explosive mixture was to be packed, the bomb would have a combined weight of about {{convert|7000|lb|kg}}.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=163–164}} McVeigh originally intended to use [[hydrazine]] rocket fuel, but it proved too expensive.<ref name="trutvImitatingTurner"/>

McVeigh and his accomplices then attempted to purchase {{convert|55|U.S.gal|impgal L|adj=on}} drums of nitromethane at various [[NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series|NHRA Drag Racing Series]] events during the season. His first attempt was at the Sears Craftsman Nationals, held at [[Heartland Motorsports Park]] in [[Pauline, Kansas]]. World Wide Racing Fuels representative Steve LeSueur, one of three dealers of nitromethane, was at his unit when he noted a "young man in fatigues" wanted to purchase nitromethane and hydrazine. Another fuel salesman, Glynn Tipton, of VP Racing Fuels, testified on May 1, 1997, about McVeigh's attempts to purchase both nitromethane and hydrazine. After the event, Tipton informed Wade Gray of Texas Allied Chemical, a chemical agent for VP Racing Fuels, who informed Tipton of the explosiveness of a nitromethane and hydrazine mixture. McVeigh, using an assumed name, then called Tipton's office. Suspicious of his behavior, Tipton refused to sell McVeigh the fuel.<REF> [https://libertarianinstitute.org/documents/1997_05_01-McV_Trial_Transcript-2-afternoon.pdf Transcript of May 1, 1995 hearing]</REF>

The next round of the NHRA championship tour was the [[Chief Auto Parts]] Nationals at the [[Texas Motorplex]] in [[Ennis, Texas]], where McVeigh posed as a motorcycle racer and attempted to purchase nitromethane on the pretext that he and some fellow bikers needed it for racing. However, there were no nitromethane-powered motorcycles at the meeting, and he did not have an [[National Hot Rod Association|NHRA]] competitors' license. LeSeuer again refused to sell McVeigh the fuel because he was suspicious of McVeigh's actions and attitudes, but VP Racing Fuels representative Tim Chambers sold McVeigh three barrels.<ref name="SisterFuel">{{cite news|last=Florio|first=Gwen|title=McVeigh's Sister Takes the Stand Against Him He Spoke of Moving From Antigovernment Talk to Action, She Testified, and of Transporting Explosives|work=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|date=May 6, 1997}}</ref> Chambers questioned the purchase of three barrels, when typically only 1–5 gallons would be purchased by a Top Fuel Harley rider, and the class was not even raced that weekend.

McVeigh rented a storage space in which he stockpiled seven crates of {{convert|18|in|cm|adj=mid|-long}} Tovex "sausages", 80 spools of [[Shock tube detonator|shock tube]], and 500 electric [[blasting cap]]s, which he and Nichols had stolen from a Martin Marietta Aggregates quarry in [[Marion, Kansas]]. He decided not to steal any of the {{convert|40000|lb|kg}} of [[ANFO]] (ammonium nitrate/fuel oil) he found at the scene, as he did not believe it was powerful enough (he did obtain 17 bags of ANFO from another source for use in the bomb). McVeigh made a prototype bomb that was detonated in the desert to avoid detection.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=165}}

{{quote box|width=30em|bgcolor=#c6dbf|quote=Think about the people as if they were [[Stormtrooper (Star Wars)|storm troopers]] in ''[[Star Wars]]''. They may be individually innocent, but they are guilty because they work for the [[Galactic Empire (Star Wars)|Evil Empire]].|source=—McVeigh reflecting on the deaths of victims in the bombing{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=166}}}}

Later, speaking about the military mindset with which he went about the preparations, he said, "You learn how to handle killing in the military. I face the consequences, but you learn to accept it." He compared his actions to the [[atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]], rather than the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]], reasoning it was necessary to prevent more lives from being lost.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=166}}
[[File:Detailed map of Junction City, Kansas.png|thumb|A detailed map of [[Junction City, Kansas]] (city limits in dark yellow), the general location where McVeigh purchased the [[Ryder]] truck used for the bomb. [[Grandview Plaza, Kansas|Grandview Plaza]], the former location of the Dreamland Motel where McVeigh stayed in, is just to the east of Junction City along [[Interstate 70]] (pink).]]
On April 14, 1995, McVeigh paid for a motel room at the Dreamland Motel in [[Junction City, Kansas]].{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=209}} The next day, he rented a 1993 [[Ford F-700]] truck from [[Ryder]] under the name Robert D. Kling, an alias he adopted because he knew an Army soldier named Kling with whom he shared physical characteristics, and because it reminded him of the [[Klingon]] warriors of ''[[Star Trek]]''.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=199, 209}}<ref>{{cite news|first=Peter|last=Chronis|title=Key a 'stroke of genius'|url=http://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/bomb216.htm|work=[[The Denver Post]]|access-date=November 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616073544/http://extras.denverpost.com/bomb/bomb216.htm|archive-date=June 16, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> On April 16, 1995, he and Nichols drove to Oklahoma City, where he parked a getaway car, a yellow 1977 [[Mercury Marquis]], several blocks from the Murrah Federal Building.{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|p=212}} The nearby Regency Towers Apartments' lobby security camera recorded images of Nichols's blue 1984 GMC pickup truck on April 16.<ref name="RTASecurityCamera">{{cite news|first=Diana|last=Baldwin|title=FBI Will Follow Up Bomb Case Forever|url=http://newsok.com/article/2636391|publisher=News OK|date=December 13, 1998|access-date=September 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170510090822/http://newsok.com/article/2636391|archive-date=May 10, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> After removing the car's license plate, he left a note covering the [[Vehicle Identification Number]] (VIN) plate that read, "Not abandoned. Please do not tow. Will move by April 23. (Needs battery & cable)."<ref name="TimeWeight"/>{{sfnp|Michel|Herbeck|2001|pp=206–208}} Both men then returned to Kansas.