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Oct. 3, 1996 - Bill Cooper
02:01:51
OKC Day One – Chapter 10
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Time Text
The voice of freedom is on the air.
Light hour of the hour.
Is the hour of all time.
Light hour for the perfect.
You will see me.
I will be back.
You're listening to the Hour of the Tide.
I'm Pooh.
And I'm William Cooper.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Thank you, my dear.
You're welcome.
And I wanted to say something else, too.
What's that?
And everybody, don't forget about the pledge.
That's right.
Okay, I'll see you later.
All right.
Let's go to Phoenix, folks, now for the Metal Report.
Frank Marzullo is no longer with Swiss America Trading, and I really don't have any answers for you because I know that some of you are used to dealing with Frank and talking to Frank and listening to him every Thursday night on our Metal Report feature.
And all I can tell you is he's no longer with Smith's America Trading.
I don't know what the circumstances are or what he's doing.
I hope that he calls me and lets me know because we became friends over a long period of time.
And I'm sure that he will.
And for whatever reason hasn't yet, I'm sure that he will.
So now we have another representative, Rob Wetzel.
That's Rob Wetzel who will be with us from now on on Thursday night.
who will be giving special attention to all of the listening audience of the hour of the time
and of course of the worldwide freedom radio network so let's welcome rob wessel to the
hour of the time and to our thursday night metal report and he's going to get rolling tonight with
the with his own brand of personality and style and i'm sure you're gonna you're gonna like it
well good evening mr cooper and to your listeners hello it's a pleasure being able to work with you
I've listened to your program for years and have worked here with Swiss America for years.
It's a real blessing to me to be able to work with you and serve you in a capacity like this.
Well, thank you, and you're certainly welcome, and I know that everybody out there is going to warm up to you real quick, and since you've listened to this broadcast for so long, you certainly understand what the message is and what their needs are.
So, without further ado, it's your night.
All right, well, gold today on a spot price out of New York, COMEX Martin, closed at $379.90.
was up $0.60 on the day.
Silver closed at $4.88.
It was down or off $0.02 on the day.
And platinum closed at $384.50, down $0.80.
The market seems to be still overshadowed, I'm sure your listeners have heard by a cloud of rumors brought about from the possibility of the International Monetary Fund selling a large portion of its gold reserves.
To the tune of about $2 billion.
What they're planning on doing is helping to raise cash to build a financial crisis fund, they call it, to the amount of about $50 billion.
This is also the fund that Robert Rubin, our Secretary of Treasury, was whispered or rumored about just about 30 days ago at the possibility of selling off about $50 billion of our gold reserves to raise capital for this fund also.
Isn't $50 billion an awful lot of money?
It's a large amount of money, especially when you see where our funds have gone into this International Monetary Fund as a whole.
Where these funds have gone to, generally the loans are given at very low interest rates and never paid back.
They never have any intentions of paying them back.
And to keep on putting good money after bad, as I'm sure you and your listeners know, is not a very good, responsible, Way of handling things.
I think as well as the front pages tend to have us lulled into sort of a sleepy state of believing now with Mr. Greenspan's comments that inflation is completely gone.
We have everything under control.
I do know that you and you've helped your listeners understand that because of that we know better than this.
Yes, as long as we have paper money backed by nothing, there's always going to be inflation.
And it's never ending.
Exactly.
I do tend to think that this is, actually this is the lowest point that gold has reached this year.
We are coming off a high of $416 at a time when inflation was looking that it was coming back and starting to raise its head again.
Our dollar was starting to weaken in foreign markets.
It was also a point when it hit that high when Japan was looking at liquidating portions of their bond holdings they have in this country.
There were some concerns in the market.
Gold breached the $400 level and shot immediately within a two-day process to $416.
Since then, it has peeled back.
In my mind, for those people that have been a little uncertain, a little unsure, it's obviously a bargain time, too.
It's a time to look at beginning To start when prices are lower this and a little more comfortable, a little more controllable when they run like this.
I agree wholeheartedly.
So I want to encourage your listeners out there if they do have any further questions or they'd appreciate a little better evaluation of the market, a little more personal.
If they have any needs, they're more than welcome to call me at 1-800-BUY-COIN.
1-800-BUY-COIN. That's 1-800-289-2646. My extension in my office, you're welcome to
ask for is 2139, and again, my name is Rob Westhall.
If you'd like I'd be glad to send you out any current information or a complimentary copy of our newsletter and I'll be glad to help you listeners out any way I possibly can.
Do you guys have any special sales or promotions going on right now Rob?
Actually, we've dropped some of the very low-grade numismatic coins recently in reflection of this.
They find, generally, their value based upon their gold content.
So, we've dropped the prices back on some of those by anywhere from about 7 to 10 percent.
Well, as the typical coins that most people are very comfortable and familiar with like
the American Eagle gold coin, the Canadian Maple Leaf, which is a 24 carat or .999 fine
gold coin, are at very excellent prices now too because they've dropped down along with
the market as well.
Well, that sounds like something that people should be looking into.
You can pick up a 10% gain right off the bat, right off the top.
That's worth looking into.
It allows you to start at a little more comfortable pace, a little less than you might have planned
originally dollar-wise.
And it actually, at some of the lower prices right now, allows you to purchase a little
more of it if you had a set amount in your mind that you were thinking about working
with.
The lower prices now allow you to actually purchase a little more and put a little away for that day when you're going to hope and know that you need this all.
Well good.
Any final thoughts you want to leave us with?
That's pretty much it other than again I appreciate the opportunity to serve you and your listeners.
I am glad to see that again you're settled in and you're on a program now where we can look forward to hearing from you on a regular basis.
I'm glad that that's all been worked out and I look forward to again building a relationship with you and your listeners as well.
Wonderful Rob.
I want to thank you for jumping in here at such short notice and for agreeing to be the
focal point for the business, for the listening audience, and to be able to bring them every
Thursday the metal report and whatever news they need to know about the commodities markets
and specifically the precious metals, gold and silver, platinum, things like that.
And we look forward to hearing from you.
And anytime you have something special that's going on, don't hesitate to call me because I can always fit you in for five minutes at the beginning of any night.
And, of course, you'll be here every Thursday.
All right, sir.
I appreciate it, Mr. Cooper.
Thank you, Rob.
Thanks for your time.
And good night. 520... well, it's not either. It's 1-800-289-2646 or 1-800-BUY-A-COIN is the number for Space America Trading.
And remember from now on, Frank is no longer there.
Call Rob.
Rob is the person who's going to be helping the listeners of this broadcast and of the Worldwide Freedom Radio Network.
That will be his specialty now.
And, you know, he had such short notice to do this and wasn't prepared for it.
He's never done any radio before, folks.
I think he did an admirable, excellent, fantastic job.
I don't know about you, but anyway.
Be that as it may.
From Steve Voss.
This is fantastic and I love it.
This sacred ground preserves my heart.
No less for God, a freedom called.
Let my life be laid down.
Let it be on sacred ground.
It was purchased with the blood of patriots, consecrated for liberty.
Protected through the generations.
Now the future rests with me.
This sacred ground, serves my home.
No less for God, for freedom's cause.
Give my life, If he lays down, let it be on sacred ground.
Who will answer the cry of the warrior?
Who will be there at the battle line?
Who will lift up a prayer in every country?
Who will bury me beside the sky?
This sacred ground deserves my own.
No rest for God, for freedom's cause.
I'm just my life's creation.
Let it be on paper shroud.
If I could die, I'd watch over my family.
Brother said no need for me.
I will be among the angels, who give it all to the King of Kings.
Let's face this now, I deserve my fall.
No less for God, the freedom call.
If my life he lays down, let it be on sacred ground.
If my life is a shell, let it be on sacred ground.
On Sacred Ground by Steve Voss I think that's the best thing he's ever done.
And it really, really strikes a chord in my heart.
I can certainly tell you that.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, everything has sort of fallen back to a relaxed state around here.
Bob left early this morning.
Actually, it wasn't early this morning.
It was about mid-morning.
And then he came back because he forgot something.
And then he left and I know he'll be back again because he forgot something else.
Then Michelle left this afternoon and is on the way home.
And so the family and the The house is a little quiet now.
Everybody is sort of resting from all the turmoil, from the excitement of having visitors, and visitors that were welcome and desired and contributed quite a bit of humor and happiness around here for a few days.
Again, at the first shipment of books today, some of you will be receiving them soon.
We're sending them by UPS, unless you gave us a P.O.
box.
And we always ask for physical addresses because we can't guarantee the post office will ever deliver anything.
I don't think they can either, although most of the time they seem to do OK for some people.
UPS, we found always delivers the goods and so that's how we send these things and I think you're going to be amazed when you open your package and to take a look at what you have there and to just give you some something to wet your whistle with tonight I'm going to read you chapter 10 and maybe chapter 11 if we get that far
From Oklahoma City, day one.
Pay attention.
I just hope I can hold this up for two hours.
It weighs over two pounds.
I'm not sure I can hold it up for quite a while, but as some of you know, holding two pounds up in one hand for two hours can be strenuous, even if you're in excellent shape.
Which I'm not, by the way.
Chapter 10 is entitled, Other Hands.
And remember, this whole book takes place on April 19, 1995.
Our extensions of events that happened on that day, an explanation of those events.
For about an hour, there was no present tense.
Everything was future now.
We all waited uneasily for something.
For the discovery of missing loved ones.
For the rescuers to remove the victims.
For the apprehension of the suspects.
For the final official death toll.
For the President to address the nation.
For the arrival of the experts.
For the next weather update monitoring the approaching severe storms.
The present had become a seemingly endless empty moment of not knowing.
The period of waiting was unlike any others that had already occurred that day.
The initial numbing shock of the event was wearing thin, and the emotional blow was beginning to be fully felt and experienced.
There was no expectation of happy outcome here, and the greatest anxiety is always produced while expecting the worst.
But unspoken in every heart was the troubling sensation that we were really waiting for the return of the innocent lives we had once lived.
It was an odd sort of nostalgia because the change had occurred so abruptly.
No matter what privations may have been suffered in life previously, no matter what great misery may have been experienced, no matter how many years those and other problems had been endured, those times were now the good old days.
No one really wanted to talk about that, but we all knew it instinctively.
A mere seven hours before, there had been a certain atmosphere of calm predictability to life.
There had been a great deal of freedom in knowing that each day would be much like the one before.
Anticipating that kind of predictability, it seemed that problems were more surmountable, dreams and ambitions more achievable.
Plans could be made and projects could be undertaken with a real possibility of completion.
Of course, we all knew that accidents happen, that illnesses strike without warning, that criminal acts occur, that the world could be a dangerous and evil place.
But Oklahoma still had a quality not always observed elsewhere.
People still looked out for the well-being of their neighbors, called the police when
something appeared suspicious, came to the aid of those in trouble, and banded together
for righteous causes.
And it was, we thought, because we were Oklahomans.
It was, we thought, Because we were of frontier pioneer stock with a drive to make things work, to overcome adversity by religious faith, strength of will, and sheer determination.
Our community heritage was one of rising above one day's troubles by simply enduring into the next day, always with the conviction that good triumphs over evil, and that virtue is its own reward.
It wasn't naïveté.
It really was life the way we knew it.
It was life the way we had made it, sustained it, and practiced it.
It was simply how things were.
We had trusted that those qualities of steadfast faithfulness and an honest work ethic would always be the right way to overcome any adversity.
We knew that evil men did evil things, usually to somebody else someplace else.
But we also believed that crime doesn't pay.
It was the original family values lifestyle, and it had stood us in good stead since the first Oklahoma settlers had built sod homes in what was then Indian territory.
It had carried us safely from the rough and tumble days following the land run of 1889 to statehood in 1907.
It had held life together even during the wild and lawless days of the Dalton Gang, the easy money of the first big oil boom, the bootleggers' bathtub gin of the Prohibition era, and the debilitating poverty of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.
We had survived all of those things with our values intact, and no matter what trouble might overtake us, we knew that there was always a way to endure and overcome, and it had always been merely a matter of working together, helping each other, and petitioning Heaven with prayer.
But somehow, this situation was different.
Everyone felt it, but no one could quite put his finger on it.
Many moving speeches were made by the media about the loss of our innocence, but it was really much more than that.
The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building had been a disaster of incredible proportion.
It happened quickly and unexpectedly.
and had affected simultaneously the lives of a vast number of people.
This was a devastation beyond the experience or even the imagination of anyone in Oklahoma.
Instinctively, because it was what we knew to do, we turned to each other, looked for
ways to help, sought comfort and solace in our churches, prayed with our families and
friends, found means of demonstrating compassion to strangers whom we knew were hurting, and
we all hugged our children longer, more closely and protectively.
Thank you.
There was a discernible sensation of movement in the mind.
Some tried to resist it, others succumbed immediately.
This change was what now separated the good old days, which had existed only seven hours ago, from this new and unknown future before us.
Without conscious decision, many had begun to live in fear.
Additional details were being released about the suspects being sought by law enforcement.
The original All Points Bulletin had been amended now to involve only two men of Middle Eastern appearance, both approximately six feet tall, both of dark complexion with dark beards, both wearing dark blue jogging suits, one in his mid-twenties, the other in his mid-to-late thirties.
But we never knew what became of the unidentified third man believed to have been the driver of the suspect vehicle.
was announced that law enforcement officers had communicated this information to officials
in the neighboring state of Arkansas, but it was never quite clear why this was done.
The next report we heard about the suspects was that they were being sought in Texas.
The Arkansas connection was generally believed to have little to do with the possible direction
of travel of the suspects of Middle Eastern appearance.
Reporters assumed that it was simply a matter of all law enforcement agencies in the region being alerted.
But the revelation by the news media that Arkansas was entering the picture rang alarm bells in the minds of members of the so-called Patriot community.
There were dangerous associations linked to Arkansas that could spell real trouble for militia members who had long fought to maintain a reputation of lawful organization, personal liberty with responsibility, and respectful behavior toward all Americans, regardless of racial heritage or religious affiliation.
And although the search for the suspects of Middle Eastern appearance was only a few hours old, Other matters were now in play that would reach new heights of hysteria only two days later, just as William Cooper had predicted that morning.
Within two days, patriots—more specifically, militias, which had been legally and lawfully organized under the laws of the individual states—would officially become terrorists, simply because the media said so, and the media said so because federal officials said so.
For many years, freedom-loving Americans, of which there were many in Oklahoma, had been fighting a growing specter of media stereotyping brought about by an implied guilt by philosophical association.
From time to time, over a twenty-year period, white supremacist and separatist groups self-proclaimed prophets of doom and bigot reactionaries, all of whom also professed a strong devotion to constitutional liberty, had been violating the constitutionally protected rights of others.
They had been performing felonious acts, getting into sometimes deadly scrapes with local state and federal law enforcement officers, and at times provoked those encounters themselves.
The result had been events of great sensationalism in the news.
Legitimate militia organizations and patriotic political groups were being given a black eye by a few obnoxious reactionaries.
And without fail, patriotism was mentioned in the same breath with such terms as religious fundamentalists, right-wing extremists, white separatists, anti-Semites, neo-Nazi conservatives and anti-government terrorists.
Gradually, the public perception of the militias and outspoken patriots had been carefully directed to mentally link those undesirable classifications of extremism with any basic, homegrown love of freedom.
Most of the media knew well that most patriots were honest, hard-working, law-abiding citizens who had astutely observed the encroachment of big government, the decline of personal responsibility in American society, and the death of many freedoms once held dear.
Some members of the media had been patriots themselves, but had slowly and unconsciously been led to compromise their beliefs for the sake of a salary.
The media also knew that the oddball, off-the-edge, high-visibility groups who profess a love of constitutional liberty did not themselves practice it because of their warped devotion to racism, religious bigotry, lawlessness, and provocative violence.
The fact that such groups comprised a definite, documented, and infinitesimal minority in the class of people termed patriots was seldom, if ever, mentioned.
But quiet, unobtrusive, law-abiding citizens do not make big news.
No matter how large their number, there is no titillating story in that.
There is no sensationalism in minding your own business and tending to the needs of your own family and community.
The true patriots of this country received no publicity.
to counteract the bad press that had always spotlighted the stupidity and ignorance of radicalism.
Extremism became the synonym of patriotism, even though it was not true, and even though the media knew it was a misapplication of terms.
Eventually, the print media would publicly admit that they could find no militia membership connection with the then-named suspects in the Oklahoma City bombing.
But that would come months after the damage had been done.
The retractions and corrections would, of course, be offered as quietly and invisibly as possible.
Buried in a small article published by U.S.
News & World Report, August 14, 1995, journalists admitted, quote, despite lingering suspicions, Attached to right-wing supremacists or heavily armed militia groups, there is no evidence suggesting that the bombing was the work of a broad conspiracy and prosecutors have been careful to downplay talk of conspiracy."
Some nationally televised news sources, most notably CNN and ABC, would continue proclaiming militia ties to the bombing, even after the absence of such ties had been firmly established by federal law enforcement agents.
Militia groups were facing a propaganda attack of ever-increasing intensity.
The switch from the focus of suspicion from Middle Eastern terrorists to American patriots began in Arkansas, shifted into Michigan, and thereafter quickly engulfed the entire country.
Alert Patriots observed this transformation of public mood and sentiment with great alarm.
At 9.10 p.m.
on the night of April 19th, convicted murderer and white separatist Richard Wayne Snell, formerly of Mews, Oklahoma, was executed at the Cummins Unit of the Arkansas Department of Corrections at Varner, Arkansas.
Snell had been sentenced to die for the November 1983 slaying of William Stump, a Texarkana pawn shop owner.
The murder had occurred during a robbery of Stump's business.
The sensationalist rumor mill stated that Stump was murdered because he was Jewish and Snell was a white separatist.
The robbery motivation was not often mentioned.
But even after it was made known that Stump had been an Episcopalian, the rumors persisted.
The sensationalist rumor mill stated that Stump was murdered because he was Jewish, and Snell was a white separatist.
Snell had been captured by law enforcement officers in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, in June
1984, after he shot and killed Arkansas State Trooper Louis Bryant when the officers stopped
Snell's van near Ashdown.
And even after it was made known that Stump had been an Episcopalian, the rumors persisted.
Thanks.
Bye.
Snell had at one time received a stay of execution on a judicial technicality, but on March 7, 1995, U.S.
District Judge Susan Weber Wright reinstated Snell's death sentence and dissolved the stay of execution.
Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker had been responsible for selecting the date of Snell's execution, and he chose that date within two weeks after he received the paperwork on the case from the Arkansas State Attorney General's office.
Snell was executed by lethal injection on the night of the Murrah Building bombing.
A media witness, Associated Press writer James Jefferson, Reported Snell's last threatened words.
Snell said, Well, I had a lot to say, but you have me at an inconvenience.
My mind is blurred, and I'm going to say a couple of words.
Governor Tucker, look over your shoulder.
Justice is on the way.
I wouldn't trade places with you or any of your political cronies.
Hell has victory.
I am at peace in Quirk."
When Snell's final words were made public, there was much media speculation that the
object over Governor Tucker's shoulder might have been the Muir Building, and the justice
of which Snell had spoken might have been the bombing itself.
Thank you.
This would have made the bombing an act of vengeance for an event other than the Waco Massacre.
But there were some insurmountable problems with that hypothesis, not the least of which was the fact that Snell had seen the television coverage of the bombing during the day.
His execution had occurred twelve hours after the bombing.
The justice to which Snell referred was on the way, had not yet arrived.
If the bombing of the Muir Building had been the act of justice Referenced by Snell, his final comments would surely have reflected his understanding that the bombing had already happened.
However, Snell did not say justice is done, or justice has been achieved.
He said, justice is on the way!
It is highly improbable that a man, given a final opportunity to speak his peace to the world, would confuse his verb tenses in such a vital matter.
The attempts by the media to equate Snell's threatening words with the Mirror Building bombing simply did not work.
There was no way to manufacture a threat of future retribution out of an event which had already occurred and of which Snell was fully aware.
The true meaning of Snell's final message remains a mystery.
Given the degree of rampant corruption that exists in Arkansas state politics, there is a wide variety of possibilities Nevertheless, no one can with any certainty determine the true meaning of Snell's last words.
In accordance with Arkansas state law, Richard Wayne Snell's execution was followed by an autopsy performed at the State Crime Laboratory in Little Rock.
Snell's wife, Mary, then claimed the body, and he was buried on the grounds of the white separatist community in Elohim City, located in the southeastern portion of Oklahoma, just west of the Arkansas border.
The Elohim city connection would later be milked for all it was worth, not because of the white separatist beliefs of its inhabitants, but primarily because that private, self-contained community was very well armed.
In addition, they considered themselves freedom-loving patriots.
They viewed their white separatism as a matter of freedom of religious expression, not one of political policy.
They did not actively discriminate against the other races.
They simply withdrew from the world and disappeared inside their closed community.
Now, that ready-made combination of racism, religious fervor, patriotism, and illegal ownership of firearms was incredibly convenient to anyone looking for yet another means of smearing the legitimate malicious The connection with Richard Wayne Snell added fuel to the fire, especially when it became known that Robert Mylar, the spiritual leader of Elohim City, had been Snell's pastor.
For a while, that line of media reporting was exploited to maximum effect.
Media representatives, particularly in the national level, did their best to paint the Elohim City community as a militia.
But Elohim City had never been a militia, and the group had never existed as a political entity.
According to people in the local area, the inhabitants of Elohim City are inwardly focused isolationists who practice organic gardening, homeschooling, self-sufficiency, self-governance, and self-defense, if warranted.
But it has never been warranted.
Police officers from the nearby town of Muldrow spoke highly of the small community, reporting that the inhabitants of Elohim City never bothered anyone, never broke the law, allowed the citizens of Muldrow to enjoy hunting privileges on Elohim City property, and that they kept quietly to themselves for many, many years.
The inhabitants were peaceful, honest, And they minded their own business.
There were no records of any criminal complaints against the community in its long history.
The association of Pastor Robert Miller with criminals such as Richard Wayne Snell and Jim Ellison, former leader of the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord, now living in Elohim City under the Federal Witness Protection Program, may have seemed a great opportunity to connect Elohim City with criminal acts.
But Mylar was no more responsible for Snell's actions than any other minister who might counsel wayward members of his religious flock.
A review of past incidents revealed that on all occasions Mylar had had a remarkably calming effect on his people.
During the Arkansas event that had involved Jim Ellison ten years earlier, Mylar had encouraged Ellison to give himself up to federal authorities rather than respond with violence.
But the Ellison incident would not become a factor in this whole media blitz for several months.
That is a matter for the next volume.
In spite of Elohim City's undesirable practice of white separatism, it was going to be difficult
for federal officials or the media to turn this community into an anti-government militaristic
hate group with radical, violent leanings.
The inhabitants may well have been irritated with the corruption in government, but they
had never taken an offensive stance in response to it.
Corruption with government in combination with the legal ownership of firearms was not
going to be enough to blindly demonize this particular group.
Such irritation was too widespread, even among non-patriots and millions of harmless Americans
own legal firearms.
.
There was simply no basis in fact for categorizing Elohim City as a militia, nor as any other kind of military organization.
The only truthful statements that could be made were that the community practiced white separatism, they owned firearms, And because Mary Snell lived in the community, Richard Wayne Snell's body was buried there.
Arkansas police had been in a state of heightened alert for several days before Snell's execution because of his ties to white separatist and supremacist groups.
It was reported that members of those groups had called Snell an American patriot.
A year later, when the Snell connection again made the news, it was speculated that the Muir Building bombing might have been a gift to Snell on the date of his death.
Much was made of reports that Snell had chuckled when he learned of the event.
There were many other things to consider, but by that time, media propaganda had made
every patriot with a gun a militia member, and every militia member a terrorist.
Media representatives, terrorism experts, and federal officials tried to make connections
between the Miro Building bombing, Snell's April 19th execution, the murderous government
siege on the Branch Pavilion Church at Waco, Texas in 1993, and the beginning of the raid
on the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord in Arkansas in 1985, as well as the
start of the Revolutionary War in 1775.
Thank you.
The only real connection with any of those events was the date.
Snell was definitely guilty of two violent murders.
He had been rightfully and properly arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death.
On the other hand, the sacrifice victims at Mount Carmel had been innocent pawns who were murdered by government agents.
No one could ever say that Snell was even remotely innocent.
He was not a martyred victim, but a criminal.
He had been executed as the just retribution for the lives he had once and re-destroyed.
And what kind of connection, other than the date, could be made with the start of the Revolutionary War?
There really was no connection whatsoever, but the Revolutionary War had been the supreme patriotic movement of all times.
What better historical event to use against the militias than the original rebellion that had established American independence?
It certainly appeared that federal officials, terrorism experts, and the members of the news media were hanging by a fraying theoretical thread that they hoped might sound somewhat convincing.
To any student of history, their ignorant and seemingly desperate wranglings were a complete embarrassment to the entire country.
It was those kinds of speculative leaps that caused patriots and legitimate militia members everywhere to cringe inwardly.
Too many times the patriot label had been dragged through the mud and compared and equated with unlawful acts of extremism, racism, bigotry and violence.
Too many in-depth investigations into those unlawful acts have revealed the presence of government-paid informants acting in the role of agent provocateurs.
But that kind of documentation rarely, if ever, made the evening news broadcast.
Propaganda is an interesting phenomenon.
What you hear most often, you are most likely to believe.
Another artfully crafted media blitz was about to be organized, and this time its target was American patriots in general, and more specifically, the militias.
Before it was all over, the Snell execution, the 1985 raid on the Covenant of the Sword and the Arm of the Lord, another Arkansas event, the Amtrak train derailment in Arizona, and almost all occurrences of violent extremism would be attributed to the militias of this country.
In addition, if you took the media seriously, it began to seem that every conceivable unlawful act throughout all of American history had also taken place on April the 19th.
There would be some interesting juxtapositions, but no proof.
There would be much speculation and grabbing for the elusive positive connection, but it never solidly materialized.
In these vain attempts to implicate the militias, there would be the blatant manipulation of times, dates, and places to try to make some of the more sensationalistic events fit the April 19th pattern.
These were so easily disproved that it was amazing that anyone could even attend such a thing.
It could not fly then, and it will not fly now.
The almost desperate search for significantly related dates and events, especially if they would implicate patriots or militias, would not reach its pinnacle of absurdity for another nine months, at which time the state of Arkansas and Elohim City would again be closed.
But that situation was still in the future.
On April 19, 1995, life remained at a standstill.
Oklahomans were still stuck in that endless moment of not knowing on that endless Wednesday
afternoon.
.
It was an uncomfortable, often frightening place to be, because the bombing and its consequences were miles distant from that quiet place where we knew what to do and how to handle things many people were becoming more fearful and anxious.
When that anxiety reached a certain fever pitch, It was time to get help from any available source.
KWTV Channel 9 Television opened its phone banks to those in need of advice and counsel.
Dr. Mary Ann Baumann from Baptist Medical Center coordinated the counseling effort.
We are just opening our lines and as you can hear the phones are ringing.
We've put together a panel of psychiatrists who will answer questions, both child and adult psychiatrists, Keep in mind that they tell us it is most important to get help for people in the first 24 hours.
So if there are questions about your kids and what they should watch, questions about victims, whatever, please call us with those questions now.
The Oklahoma Psychiatric Association has activated its disaster response team.
They will be responding to ERs, cancer centers, hospitals and surgical areas, so we will take care of patients' problems and families' problems as they come about.
Already the telephones were in constant use, and when any of the doctors was between calls, Dr. Baumann asked the panelists to offer an indication to the public of the kinds of questions that were being handled.
said one child psychiatrist who was associated with St.
Anthony Hospital.
This question was about a daughter who was coming home from school who has not seen or had any visual impressions about this disaster.
The mother was asking how should she introduce this topic of disaster hitting the city to her daughter and how she should be protected from getting the early visual impressions of what happens to children and adults.
I told her That the child should know about the reality.
As she is an eight-year-old girl, she may be terribly frightened about the concept of death, and she may come up with nightmares and things like that if she has received visual impressions.
Maybe it would be better to protect her from visual impressions, but let her have the details.
She may hear about it from others, but should know that it is at a distant place, and should understand that none of her family members are involved in it at this time.
That will be reassuring to the child.
There may be temporary aggravation of separation anxiety, as the child might think that it could happen to her when she goes to school, and she will need some support and reassurance that that is not going to happen."
Dr. Twyla Smith, an adult psychiatrist in association with St.
Anthony's Hospital, stated that she had taken a call from a woman whose husband was a firefighter working in the rescue operation.
Said Dr. Smith, quote, The caller was wondering how to be supportive of her husband this evening when he comes home.
I encouraged her to listen to him as he could talk about it.
He may have been numbed from the day, just pushing himself back from everything he had to do.
Maybe run him a tub of water, let him get his sensory input down, listen to him, be supportive of him.
When he's able to connect the events that he has experienced today with the thoughts that he had during those events and with the feelings connected with those events, it is important to weave those back together as quickly as possible, either to write it down or to tell it to someone.
Keeping those components together is one of the most helpful things to do in coming through a trauma."
Dr. Bauman asked, How do you work with someone with post-traumatic stress?
What can you do to help them?
What you do, replied Dr. Smith, is to help that person put himself in a safe place to re-establish a sense of control in his life, to re-normalize his life as much as possible, and then to once again weave together the events that have happened with the thoughts that he experienced, with the feelings that he was experiencing.
So that those memories get stored as a complete whole, rather than in fragments and different components of the brain.
One woman telephoned the psychiatric panel because she had been in the Journal Record Building at the time of the explosions.
She had had much debris fall upon her and she was still very shaken, but she was most horrified by the fact that she had been planning that morning to put her baby in America's Kids Daycare Center But had most fortunately not done so.
The circumstances were very frightening to her.
The doctor handling her questions remarked that many people who survived would wonder why they survived when others died.
Some would feel guilty because they made it and others did not.
That these were known and predictable reactions to an event of this kind was comforting even though the knowledge itself did not heal the trauma.
People did not know anymore what normal was.
Another woman called because she had been involved in covering up deceased infants and children with blankets in their own playground area.
She was feeling great anger, and its intensity frightened her.
She was told that anger was a normal and acceptable emotion to experience after such a day as this.
A man called who had been a resident in the YMCA.
because of the explosions, he was now homeless, without any possessions, and had nowhere to
go. He needed to be directed to a relief agency. An unidentified individual called to ask if
it was safe to indulge in alcoholic beverages after the stress and horror of the day. Such
an activity was highly discouraged by the doctors. It was more important to keep the
events of the day as whole thoughts and whole memories, rather than to artificially scatter
aminathutazim.
It was felt that only in that way could those painful memories be confronted and resolved.
Leaving the studio phone banks, the television cameras took viewers to the Civic Center in downtown Oklahoma City, where the first official press conference was scheduled.
Said KWTV Channel 9 reporter Robin Marsh, The White House has called Bob Ricks asking us to hold off our news conference until after the President has spoken.
We know that the Mayor, Ron Norick, will be here.
Bob Ricks from the FBI.
Also, Governor Keating is here.
Lieutenant Governor Mary Fallin and District Attorney Bob Macy are here.
I talked with the District Attorney.
state murder charges to be filed against whoever is responsible for this bombing if they are
apprehended. The governor is going to be here, and then he will be going over to the site
of the blast at the Federal Building after the news conference. It should start about
4.30, but of course all of this is pending the situation with the White House briefing.
According to Bill Citty with the Police Department, from this point on, the FBI will be the ones
who are handling this since it did happen in a Federal Building. The buzzword around
here is, quote, terrorist attack, end quote.
Thank you.
And if this is one, why in the heartland of America in Oklahoma City?
It does bring back reminders of the World Trade Center bombing.
It was getting closer to the time for the President's address.
For the next twenty minutes, miscellaneous general announcements were made by the media as we waited.
This was filler to pass the time, accompanied by visual images of the activities around the bombsite and file footage from the morning.
Reporter Tammy Payne announced, The magnitude of this terrorist attack, if that is in fact what it is, is being felt across the country, but certainly here at home.
The call for help is going out right now from Brigadier General Neal Balkin.
He is imploring all members of the Oklahoma Reserve Force, every member of the Oklahoma Reserve, to call their headquarters.
You will probably be needed.
Some have already called.
They are at work helping out, but Brigadier General Neal Balkin is asking that all members
of the entire Oklahoma Reserve Force call headquarters.
Said Anchor Kelly Ogle, If you are thinking of going downtown, all of the off-ramps
on Interstates 40, 35, and the Centennial Expressway, I-235, are shut down.
You are not going to have any success getting into the downtown area.
They don't need you down there.
They need people to stay away so they can see if they can save some of these people
who may be trapped in the rubble of the Federal Building at 5th and Robinson.
♪♪♪ ♪♪♪
♪♪♪ This is the Voice of Freedom.
You're listening to the Worldwide Freedom Radio Network.
Light the hour of the hour.
This is our hour.
Help us now.
and you'll be safe.
Once upon a time, there were two fairies.
I see you.
uh one
uh welcome back everybody
To the hour of the time.
I am, for those of you who have just joined us, reading Chapter 10 from the newly published book, Oklahoma City, Day One, by Michelle Marie Moore, with a foreword by William Cooper.
And imparting to you some incredible literature and astounding information.
For those of you who may wish to order this tome, which weighs over two pounds, 640 pages, all documented, all sourced, all thoroughly indexed.
Half of the books is text and narration and the other half is documentation.
An incredible piece of work.
The results of the investigation of the intelligence service of the Second Continental Army of the Republic into the bombing of the Oklahoma City, Which occurred, of course, on April the 19th, 1995.
This book covers only the first day, ladies and gentlemen, April the 19th, 1995.
And it does elaborate on certain issues and events beyond that day, simply because not to do so would break the continuity of events and leave you hanging without solutions to some obvious questions that arise here.
We are looking at the possibility of a particular form of creation, and this is a whole sphere of physics.
The eyes are, like, ghost attacks.
I will never forget our agreement.
Do I?
I think we're finally...
I spent my time on the internet, the Internet, and I can't help but see that they're not all compatible.
...on the same page.
I think so.
I think so.
And I can't wait to be an American, can I?
I've got a lot of friends who are on the Internet, and I've got a lot of friends who are on the Internet.
I've got a lot of friends who are on the Internet.
This should be a house.
And look how long the cracks have appeared on it.
Now I've got two things to help me.
I hate them.
I love them. That's all I know. That's all.
and it is not so in this sense.
As I look around, I am struck by the beauty of the center area
I hate them.
and the precious, cleansing air and the mind is there to disrupt the rest.
I can't say to who I am.
I clearly see a center area and there I can see a center.
Thank you.
Yeah, I should probably leave.
That makes way worse, I think.
I'm going to go down to the next level.
Let's have a look at the second stage.
Oh, yes.
Yes, I'd love it.
Today's a great day.
And I'm going to lie about that as long as I live.
I see you've lost your Christian faith and I need your blessing, my Lord.
Thank you.
And that's why I have come to worship and call you my servant.
You are a true believer in this faith.
And this American country won't keep their course
won't reach the other side And because you can see what they did
you cry and you cry and you cry
And because you can see what they did you cry and you cry and you cry
And because you can see what they did Okay, for some reason the tape machine just shut itself off.
Bye.
And I know that many people like to order these tapes, so I had to correct that discrepancy.
Make check or money order payable in the amount of $34.95 to Harvest, H-A-R-V-E-S-T, Post Office Box 1970.
That's P.O.
to Harvest, H-A-R-V-E-S-T, Post Office Box 1970. That's P.O.
Box 1970, Eager, spelled E-A-G-A-R, Arizona, 8-7-7-7.
Once again, $34.95.
Make check or money order payable to Harvest, and send it to Harvest at P.O.
Box 1970, Eager, spelled E-A-G-A-R, Arizona, 8-5-9-2-5.
money order payable to Harvest and send it to Harvest at P.O.
Box 1970, Eager, spelled E-A-G-A-R, Arizona, 85925. If you would like
a Collector's hardbound limited and signed edition, and limited to 500
copies, It is a first edition, and it says so on the title page.
Only $500 in the whole world.
Printed on top quality, acid-free, archival paper.
Quality abound.
Sewn.
You will be amazed at the quality of the collector's edition of the book, and even of the paper trade edition.
We spared no expense to make sure that this was a quality, excellent book.
The Collector's Hardbound Edition is limited to 500 copies only in the whole world and no more will ever be printed.
It will be signed both by Michelle Marie Moore and myself, William Cooper.
And the price is $65 postpaid.
is $65 postpaid. $65 postpaid. Now that is a specialty item that we did just for bibliophiles,
those people who love books and collect books.
Thank you.
And we did it at great expense for those people because we had many requests to do a collector's edition.
So if you are one of those people or if you would like to be one of those people or if you would just like to have a copy, Make your check or money order payable to Harvest in the amount of $65 and send it to Harvest, APO Box 1970, Eager, spelled E-A-G-A-R, Arizona 85925.
And now I will continue with the reading of Chapter 10, where I left off on page 202.
Then, without warning, this unexpected information was offered by KWTV Channel 9 News anchor
Jennifer Reynolds.
Thank you.
Somebody called me just a little bit ago who has some past experience in the military and working with explosives.
One of the things that he has said is that we've been saying this was a car out front that may have had a bomb in it.
He said we should probably keep ourselves open to the possibility that it may have been a truck or a van because of the amount of explosives, just the poundage, that would be required to set off that big of an explosion.
It may be a larger vehicle than a car, and so that's something that we'll keep in mind as we get more information.
Go anchor Kelly Ogle and change the subject.
The news from the corner is not good.
The death toll has now reached twenty.
We are told that fifty-eight people have been rescued from the building so far today.
That is good news," added Ms.
Reynolds.
By that I assume they mean they were carried out, hundreds got out, ran out, or walked out, and the fifty-eight, I guess were either helped out or extricated from the wreckage.
And we have a death toll of twenty now.
The expectation is that it will go higher from there.
But I think authorities are probably trying to be very cautious in terms of making sure that everyone they list as a fatality is confirmed.
Reporter Cynthia Gunn conducted an interview downtown.
We have Larry Jones here with Feed the Children who has a list, said Mrs. Gunn.
He's been talking with medical officials down here and knows what they need.
So we're asking for help at this moment.
What do we need, Larry?
Always a great coordinator of community support, Larry Jones offered new ways that the public could assist in the rescue effort.
We need some tents, raincoats, umbrellas, flashlights and batteries.
We need some CO2 tanks and masks.
We need medical gloves and masks.
We need anything for a triage center and also we need hot coffee.
So if people would take these items to 333 North Meridian, then our trucks and our vans will get it to all the people who need it, and it's going to be a long night, so if you can't do it right now, but could a little bit later, we're going to be here all night.
If you could do that, we'd really appreciate it.
And the critical thing about this, emphasized Ms.
Gunn, is that we don't want people coming down here and bringing it.
Larry Jones was adamant.
You can't get in.
It's impossible to get in.
I almost didn't get in and they knew who I was, but they've really got tight security because there's so many other buildings where the windows are blown out and for security purposes to protect other people's belongings.
So if people would just take those items to 333 North Meridian, that's the Feed the Children Center, then we'll get it on down here.
And also if people are here with family and friends and they want a free meal, they can go there also because we're collecting food from restaurants.
So many people are helping.
But we do have these few needs, and we could use them as quickly as you can get them to us.
Ms.
Gunn asks, You've been talking to and working with the medical professionals.
What is going through their minds?
Are they feeling the deep sense of loss here as they try to save those who can be saved?
I'm sure that you can understand, replied Jones, that everyone's adrenaline flows when you know that you can go help somebody.
But when you get here and you see the devastation and you realize that there are so many who are dead, all of a sudden there's a silence.
There are so many medical people who want to help, but they cannot help simply because of what's happened.
There are going to be so many people that they carry out in body bags.
I think Oklahoma City needs to brace itself for what is getting ready to happen.
Because it's not good.
I've been over there, and it's not good.
I haven't been in the building, but I've been in front of the building, the back of the building, and I've been with the people who are coming out of the building.
The best way to describe it is a silence and a look of despair.
I go to a lot of these This is the first time I've ever been to one in my hometown of Oklahoma City.
My heart is very low right now.
This looks exactly like Bosnia.
I went to the Armenian earthquake.
I went to the one in Iran.
I went to the one in Mexico City.
But when you think that people actually caused this, this is devastating.
And all those children in there.
This is so sad.
And there are going to be a lot of people who are going to need a lot of counseling and a lot of prayer, so I think that the pastors and the churches are going to brace for this, but I think we're getting ready to be really impacted.
The bomb's gone off, but now the emotional bomb is getting ready to go off.
This is really a sad day for Oklahoma City.
There is so much bad news coming out of that building.
Then, suddenly, the moment was upon us.
With little fanfare, the cameras cut directly to President Bill Clinton addressing the nation from the White House.
Speaking very slowly and deliberately, Clinton said, The bombings in Oklahoma City was an attack on innocent children and defenseless citizens.
It was an attack of cowardice and it was evil.
The United States will not tolerate And I will not allow the people of this country to be intimidated by evil cowards.
I have met with our team, which we assembled to deal with this bombing, and I have determined to take the following steps to assure the strongest response to this situation.
First, I have deployed a crisis management team under the leadership of the FBI, working with the Department of Justice, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, military and local authorities.
We are sending the world's finest investigators to solve these murders.
Second, I have declared an emergency in Oklahoma City, and at my direction, James Lee Witt, the Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is now on his way there to make sure we do everything we can to help the people of Oklahoma deal with the tragedy.
Third, we are taking every precaution to reassure and to protect people who work in or live near other federal facilities.
Let there be no room for doubt.
We will find the people who did this.
When we do, justice will be swift, certain, and severe.
These people are killers, and they must be treated like killers.
Finally, let me say that I ask all Americans tonight to pray.
To pray for the people who have lost their lives, to pray for the families and friends of the dead and the wounded, to pray for the people of Oklahoma City.
May God's grace be with them.
Meanwhile, we will be about our work.
Thank you.
Bowing his head, Clinton left the press conference without another word.
Immediately, United States Attorney General Janet Reno took her place at the podium.
She, too, spoke very slowly and deliberately.
This has been a tragic and heartbreaking day, said Ms.
Reno.
I can tell you this, the FBI and the law enforcement community will pursue every lead and use every possible resource to bring the people responsible to justice.
The FBI has established a command post in Oklahoma City, and it is in 24-hour contact with the FBI headquarters command post in the Department of Justice.
Four FBI special agents in charge have been dispatched to the scene to provide 24-hour operation of the command post.
The FBI has sent four evidence response teams and explosives ordnance teams to Oklahoma City.
Five of the very best FBI agents experienced in this type of investigation are arriving in Oklahoma City, as have bomb technicians from Boston, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
13 members of the Rapid Start team will be entering data as the evidence is collected.
50 more agents are available for arrival tomorrow, and more will be used as needed.
The FBI and federal law enforcement have received superb cooperation from local authorities in Oklahoma City, and the federal law enforcement agencies are working together.
The ATF has sent two national response teams and a mobile command center.
It has three explosives technicians and three laboratory technicians in Oklahoma City, and it is prepared to send 20 to 25 more personnel tomorrow.
The Secret Service is also sending explosives experts.
In addition, the Oklahoma National Guard has been deployed to assist in control of the area and the evacuation of the injured.
The United States Army has deployed the 61st Ordnance Detachment with a robot from Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
The Tulsa Police Department has deployed two bomb technicians, two dogs, and a robot, and the FEMA is playing a major role in aid and assistance.
We cannot tell how long it will be before we can say with certainty what occurred and who is responsible, but we will find the perpetrators And we will bring them to justice."
This was the end of Attorney General Reno's speech.
She then took questions from the press, but offered very few conclusive, meaningful responses.
What follows is the text of that press interview.
Question.
There are reports that there are descriptions of a couple of people who were seen there.
What can you tell us about that?
What I can say about all evidentiary issues and all leads is that it would hinder the investigation to discuss any action that we are taking pursuant to the leads, but we are pursuing absolutely every shred of evidence available.
Question.
If people are to be on the lookout for someone, isn't there a way that you can describe those people?
Reno.
No response.
Question.
It sounds from everything you have said is that you concluded that this was a terrorist attack of some kind.
Can you confirm that?
We know.
I would not characterize it as such until the evidence is in, but we are pursuing every piece of evidence with whatever motivation behind it.
Question.
Do you have statistics on the casualties?
We know.
We have some statistics on the casualties, but they are increasing every moment.
What we are trying to do is to make sure that we pursue every lead.
What we have been told is that there were 550 people assigned in the building.
Only 250 have been accounted for before I came in.
There may be as many as 100 to 250 more people to account for.
The casualty figures are climbing.
100 victims have been treated.
Six children who were in the daycare center have been confirmed as dead, and we are just pursuing absolutely every lead that we can.
Question.
Have there been any other threats at any other federal buildings across the country?
We know.
In a situation like this, there are sometimes terribly misguided, horrible people who create copycat situations.
We've responded in each instance and so far nothing has materialized.
Question.
Was there any indication, was there any warning that anything like this could happen?
There have been reports that Not specific warnings, per se, but warnings that there might be terrorist activities in the period after March.
Reno.
Again, I can't comment on any specific lead or any of the evidence that we have developed.
Question.
Is there a tie-in with Waco?
Reno.
No response.
Question.
The crime bill that the President has signed includes a death penalty provision.
Assuming you do catch these people, will you go for that?
Reno.
18 United States Code Section 844 relates to those who maliciously damage or destroy a federal building.
If there is death, if death occurs, the death penalty is available and we will seek it.
Question.
General Reno, is there any more indication of where this device exploded?
Reno.
Again, that would be commenting on the evidence that is being developed and we would not want to do that because to do so could possibly hinder the investigation.
Question.
Are we crossing a new threshold of concern about security in this country?
We know.
I think this has been a matter of concern for all Americans anytime you see acts like this around the world, and I think it is a matter that has got to be pursued with all vigor.
I can't tell you if it is a crossroads.
I can tell you that any time something like this occurs, we have to do everything possible to ensure that the people who are responsible are held accountable and that we do everything we can to prevent a future occurrence.
Question.
What cautions would you urge other people who work in federal buildings or who live near them to take?
We're working with the General Services Administration, the United States Marshal Service, and the FBI to take sensible precautions, and the federal employees who have been involved have just been wonderful.
Q. Is it just a coincidence that it happened on the second anniversary of the Waco siege?
R. Again, we are pursuing all leads.
We cannot tell exactly what happened or who is responsible.
And it would be better not to comment until we can conclusively talk about it.
Q. Has anyone called to claim responsibility for this?
R. Again, I don't think that I should comment on the evidence because to do so would hinder the investigation.
Q. Was it a car bomb?
R. Again, I cannot confirm any evidentiary lead that we are pursuing because I think that would hinder the investigation.
If another government, our governments are found to be involved, will military retaliation be appropriate?
Will it be carried out?
Reno, I don't think that we should deal with what-ifs.
I think we should make sure that those people who are responsible are pursued and brought to justice.
Question.
The government of Israel has offered to help because it has vast experience with this sort of thing.
Do you know if we are accepting that help?
We will, of course, rely on any additional resource that can possibly be involved and be utilized appropriately in bringing these people to justice.
Thank you.
Following the brief news conference, all news media reiterated that President Clinton had promised swift, certain, and severe retribution for the perpetrators of the bombing.
And having been told six different times by Attorney General Janet Reno that the government was pursuing all leads, the impression of determined intensity of purpose had been conveyed.
The local press uniformly thought it strange that Attorney General Janet Reno had been very hesitant to call the Muir Building bombing an act of terrorism, while agents here in Oklahoma City indicated that they felt certain it was.
Of greater interest was the fact that Ms.
Reno had promised the death penalty, which, given the amount of information she would not or could not discuss, seemed a bit premature, especially if the bombing had not been a terrorist act, but merely some terrible accident.
Her responses had all seemed rather unusual.
Would there ever be, or had there ever been, a circumstance in which federal law enforcement had not pursued every available lead?
Had this been some form of emphatic government speak?
Did it mean something else?
Was it merely a non-answer of the type to which most had become accustomed when asking questions of a sensitive nature of our government leaders?
If that was the case, what was it that had been so sensitive about the questions asked?
Why was the nation not urged by Ms.
Reno to be alert for specific suspects or vehicles at a time when that same information was being freely broadcast by all media sources at the local level?
But what no one mentioned was that we had now crossed an important line in the situation.
From this moment on, the entire investigation and everything that it would entail in the future had been taken out of the hands of local officials on the scene.
many of whom had been early witnesses to the disaster, and placed officially, firmly, and unmovably in the hands of federal government agencies.
Quoted in Murray Tempton's America Comes of Middle Age, 1963, Adlai Stevenson said, quote, The future has waited long enough.
If we do not grasp it, other hands grasping hard and bloody will."
Shortly before five o'clock, the first official press conference was held by state and local authorities at the Civic Center, located approximately one-half mile to the southwest of the Murr Building.
There were clearly two different agendas being pursued by the presenters at this conference.
Gradually, over the weeks that followed, the local perspective would be overtaken by the federal agenda until the two were indistinguishable.
One agenda was represented by the reports offered to the press and public by Oklahoma City Police Chief Sam Gonzalez, Oklahoma City Mayor Ron Norek, and Oklahoma City Fire Chief Gary Mars.
Their statements reflected factual reports of actions taken on the scene by local participants, and no attempts were made to avoid questions or to carefully word responses in order to disguise the truth.
The other agenda was cautiously directed by FBI Special Agent in Charge Bob Ricks, former FBI spokesman during the Waco Massacre.
and was supported fully by former fellow law enforcement brother, Governor Frank Keating, who with Ricks had joined the FBI in 1969.
While it is true that Governor Frank Keating was a state official, he was and is completely aligned with the federal perspective and approach.
Keating has never been a state's right loyalist, but is in fact a sworn supporter of Socialist Globalism as documented in Appendix A.
Also clumsily participating in this second agenda was the somewhat slow and lumbering Regional Director of FEMA, Buddy Young.
Mr. Young is the former Arkansas Highway Patrolman who had been rewarded for his silence concerning then-Governor Bill Clinton's involvement in miscellaneous illicit sexual liaisons and the questionable occurrences at the small airport in Mena.
The apparent payment for Young's silence was the regional FEMA directorship, a position that brought with it a $90,000 a year salary.
It was an interesting lineup of players.
After this first press conference, Bob Ricks would have little to say to the media about the federal investigation, but he would be very much at work behind the scenes.
In terms of visibility, Rick's would be almost immediately supplanted by FBI spokesman Weldon Kennedy, who would later be promoted for his Oscar-quality performances in Oklahoma City.
Several months after the bombing, Kennedy was advanced into the FBI's national second-in-command position, which had been formerly held by Larry Potts.
Potts was soon to be demoted and transferred out of Washington, D.C.
because of his unethical and unlawful actions in the Ruby Ridge-Randy Weaver incident.
At first, it appeared that this investigation was going to be another version of the Locals vs. the Feds, and for a very short time, it was.
But there was something else going on here, something so critical that within three weeks the local players would be completely squeezed out of the picture.
As the local officials and witnesses were forced into repression, the local media followed suit.
As long as the federal agencies, most notably the Federal Bureau of Investigation, controlled the content of the official press releases, local and national media reports were going to be essentially identical.
This did not occur overnight.
But there was a rapid merging between local and national news reports until what became known as the official story literally took over the world.
It was during the pressure plays that the locals began to retract former statements, change their stories, deny their reports, cease participation entirely, or in some cases, disappear completely from the area.
During the transitional period, We observed some of the finest, most artistically created masterworks of propaganda of all time.
All of the money, power, and resources rested at the national media level, and eventually what they said was truth would become what most people believed.
In studying this first official press conference, it is helpful to separate the two agendas.
When compared side-by-side, there is a remarkable distinction in style between local and federal statements, especially when one recalls the evidence and witnesses' statements that had already been made public during the first eight hours following the bombing.
The conference itself was something of a jumble.
The statements of the local authorities were interspersed with those of the federal players, especially during the question-and-answer period.
For the sake of more clearly demonstrating the differences, the text of this press conference will be separated into its two distinct camps.
Presented first are the statements, questions, and answers that involved local Oklahoma City authorities, followed by those of the federal representatives.
Oklahoma City Police Chief Sam Gonzalez, and I quote, Thank you very much for your patience.
We appreciate you waiting so patiently.
My name is Sam Gonzalez.
I'm the Chief of Police in Oklahoma City.
At 9.04 a.m.
this morning, the Federal Building, located at 200 Northwest 5th Street, was almost completely destroyed by what we believe was a car bomb.
The City of Oklahoma City, the State of Oklahoma, and all of the Federal agencies have combined our efforts to handle this incident.
The Area Hospitals, the Area EMSA Service, The local medical personnel have been working relentlessly all day long at the site getting people out of the building.
The Oklahoma City Police Department has the lead responsibility for perimeter control and for ensuring our streets stay accessible for emergency equipment.
We are utilizing officers from our police department and from numerous local agencies Officers from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and tonight we will also have members of the Oklahoma National Guard in to assist us with perimeter security.
All of the search and rescue efforts are being coordinated by the Oklahoma City Fire Department and any questions related to that should be addressed to Chief Gary Mars of the Fire Department.
The FBI is the lead agency for investigating the incident, and any questions related to the investigations should be addressed to the Oklahoma City FBI Special Agent in Charge, Bob Ricks.
Mayor Ron Norick is with us, and he will speak to you in just a few moments about the other city efforts, what we are doing.
We also have Governor Frank Keating with us, who will tell us about the state's involvement.
Oklahoma City Mayor Ron Norick, quote, For the record, I am Mayor Ron Norick.
The community is a little bit in shock, as you can imagine right now, but I appreciate very much their efforts.
Immediately this morning, I got on the news media and requested that people do not come downtown so that emergency personnel and emergency vehicles could come down.
Our citizens responded ably, and we kept the lines open.
We are setting up a phone line that will be operational within a few minutes, and I want to give you the numbers.
It is for any people that were in the building at the time of the explosion.
We need them to call.
The numbers to call are both at my office across the street.
It's 297-2424.
The other number is 297-2345.
Any people that were in the building at the time of the explosion, we need to have contact with those individuals.
So if they would please do that.
The Oklahoma City Police Department is in charge of the perimeter area, as Chief Gonzalez said.
The FBI is in charge of the current scene.
We will secure the area.
It has been secured and we are making sure that all medical personnel and that the rescue efforts of the Oklahoma City Fire Department and the other fire departments are not hindered.
I want to thank all of the communities from around the country who have called and volunteered their services, their rescue squads, dog teams, a variety of things.
Some are on the way, some we have told that we don't need right now, but we do appreciate that.
We have interlocal agreements with all of the communities in central Oklahoma, of which there are twenty-three.
All of those police officers and fire departments are all involved in support activities or in immediate rescue activities.
The area will be cordoned off for several days.
It is going to take some time to get through the debris.
All the natural gas lines have been cut off in this particular area until we determine whether we have any major gas leaks.
At the time, we are not aware of any water leaks or sewer leaks, but the gas lines have been turned off until we can get more information.
I requested from the Governor this morning that the National Guard be sent in.
He immediately responded.
That was at about eleven-thirty this morning.
The National Guard will be coming in to assist with security tonight at approximately six o'clock.
Again, we encourage citizens from the area, people that are not involved in the rescue effort, do not come to the downtown area.
Do not impede what we are trying to do to determine if we have any more survivors in the properties.
So it is important that they do that.
The National Guard will be assisting with the police and the sheriff's department to make sure that we keep the area secure.
Also for the investigators that will be brought in by the FBI.
Question.
Are any repair efforts underway downtown in the businesses?
Norrick.
I was down there about an hour ago and I noticed a number of them had already started boarding up the windows and the broken glass.
I would imagine that they'll be closed for several days because we're going to keep the area cordoned off and we'll just have to go on a day-to-day basis.
But it will be several days, but most of them have extensive repairs that they're having to do to their own buildings right now.
Question.
How much of downtown is closed?
Norrick.
It's approximately two blocks in all directions that's cordoned off.
It may vary a little as the police move that barrier back and forth to find out exactly where they want it, but it's a large area.
Question.
What about evacuations?
Norrick.
We sent everybody home from basically the downtown area today, this morning.
We encouraged employers to turn people loose, which they did, because we weren't sure of the soundness of some of the structures.
Until we knew, all of the city buildings, county buildings, and I think all of the private employers turned loose very quickly this morning and sent those folks home.
Question.
Is there any estimate of how much damage was done?
Norick.
I have no damage estimates yet.
Question.
Were there people hurt in other buildings?
Norick.
Yes, there were several injuries in the surrounding buildings that have been treated at the local hospitals.
Question.
Do you have any information about injuries?
Norick.
No.
You'll need to talk to Chief Mars on all of that.
He'll issue all of the injury reports.
Question.
Are you going to try to relocate those offices that were in the building?
Norick.
Well, those are federal offices.
I'll let them handle that.
But there are a number of private businesses, there are some apparent houses, there's a senior citizen's home, there are a number of things, and those are obviously, right now they're trying to seal them off.
It's not raining now, but it was 45 minutes ago, and we also have the gas turned off, so these people will obviously be having to move out for a few days."
Oklahoma City Fire Chief Gary Marsh.
Question.
Do you have any estimates of casualties?
Mars.
The only numbers we have right now that I want to give out would be the ones that are confirmed.
We don't want to give estimates or anything that we've seen in the building at this time.
So I choose only to give numbers that have actually been extricated and confirmed.
We have 58 critical transports that have occurred up to this point.
We have 20 confirmed dead at a portable morgue at this point.
We are sure that that number will go up because we have seen fatalities in the buildings that have not been removed yet.
But again, I don't want to start speculation on numbers.
We'll update you from time to time, but what you'll get from us are the confirmed numbers at this point.
Question.
I heard the Attorney General say that there were persons unaccounted for.
Do you have numbers for those unaccounted?
Mars.
We haven't been able to get any unaccountability at this point.
I know the agencies are all getting hold of their people and trying to do some unaccountability, but we don't have any idea at this point.
Question.
What is the potential for the rest of the building coming down?
Mars.
Well, we've had the architect early on show up at the building with his blueprints.
He has looked through the building.
We had some concerns about the stability on the west side at some point early on.
That was confirmed to be more of a decorative effect on the outside and not structural members.
We have some level of confidence that the structure is sound at this point with what is left standing.
There is one stairway left in the rear of the building is the report I have at this point.
Question.
Can you tell us how many children were inside and where the daycare center was located?
Mars.
I don't have the numbers.
Question.
Can you tell us where the daycare center was located?
Mars.
We understand the daycare was on the second floor at the west end of the building toward the front.
Question.
Is there any confirmation on if it was actually a car bomb, the original bomb that blew up?
Mars.
You'll have to talk to the FBI on that.
Question.
How are you going about retrieving those who are still trapped in the building?
Mars.
Well, initially we had to put numerous crews.
We had about six other buildings also that had damage that ranged all the way from windows being blown out to actual structural damage.
So we had to spread our resources and do those.
All of the other buildings have been searched at this point, and the main building itself, now we've got about 30% of that building that we have completed primary search in.
We have crews, not only fire crews, but we have Some county sheriff rescue personnel, numerous rescue personnel.
We have some dog teams that are in there that are trained in rescue situations and finding people in the building.
Question.
Do you know who any of the survivors were?
Mars.
I have no report of that at this time.
Question.
How much did you say was done?
Mars.
About 30% of it.
We started that effort in the upper floors.
What we refer to as the pancake collapse on the lower floors is going to be a long, tedious job.
We'll need to get the cranes in and the heavy equipment so we can certainly concentrate it on the upper floors first to get that search done.
Question.
Can you talk about the medical response?
How many ambulances?
Did you have enough?
How many hospitals were called in?
That kind of thing.
Well, I can't give you numbers of ambulances.
I know they had everything they had on the street at that time and what they could put in service later.
All the hospitals became aware early, either through notification or the arrival of injured.
We had numerous what we consider walking wounded who either got out of the building and went themselves to a hospital or a clinic or actually came up for some minor treatment from us and then left and went to the hospital.
So early on in the incident, I was notified that all the hospitals were aware and on alert and somewhat packed at that point.
Question.
How did they get their staffing levels up to full speed?
Did they call people in?
What were they doing?
Mars.
Who?
Question.
The hospitals.
Mars.
I don't know.
You'll have to talk to the hospitals about that.
Question.
What is the window of time you are looking at to reach any possible survivors who may have been buried alive?
Do you have a time frame?
Mars.
No, I don't.
The collapsed portion is, you've got to realize all the floors of the building are down, pancaked on each other, so you're going to have to lift those floors by floor, and that's going to be a long, tedious process.
I'm sure we'll be days into it.
What about the Water Resources Board across the street?
Did everybody get out of that building alright?
Mars.
We did an initial search.
Early on, there was some concern about the stability of that building.
It was pretty well devastated on one corner, so we had to really monitor the crews searching that one, but it was finally completed later on.
Question.
What about the underground concourse, the underground tunnels that connect most of the buildings in downtown Oklahoma City?
Is it safe at this point?
Is there a danger there because of this explosion?
Mars.
I have no reports that the concourse is in danger at this point.
No.
We did have some concerns over water in the basement from the broken water pipes, but that got turned off early on, so I'm not aware of any damage.
Question.
What number should people call if they need information about family members in the building?
Mars.
The Red Cross County Chapter is handling that part of it.
Question.
How many floors pancaked?
Mars.
All of them.
Nine.
From the roof down.
The whole front of the building is gone all the way from the roof down.
The center core of what we believe might have been the elevator core of the building is gone even further, deeper in the building.
So you have a plane and then a cut-out effect to the building.
But any of the building that is collapsed is collapsed from the roof down.
Question.
How much of the building is still standing?
Mars.
I would say probably a little less than half of it.
And now we get to the federal representatives, ladies and gentlemen.
And I'm not going to have time to get into it all the way, but we will finish Chapter 11 tomorrow night, and then we will not go into any more of the book.
The Federal Representatives beginning with Governor Frank Keating.
And that sounds strange to put him with the Federal Representatives, ladies and gentlemen, but once you have studied his history, you will understand why we have grouped him in that category.
Governor Frank Keating.
Quote, As Governor of the State of Oklahoma today, I took specific action in response to this evil, despicable, outrageous act.
First, I ordered the Army and Air National Guard to cooperate fully with the local authorities and the federal authorities to share resources to provide emergency assistance as well as crowd control assistance.
These individuals will be on duty until such time as they are no longer needed.
Secondly, I instructed the Department of Public Safety to utilize the full services of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and other personnel to assist in emergency assistance as well as in crowd control and property protection.
Third, I declared a state of emergency in Oklahoma City, with a view toward seeking to coordinate all of the state and local response to assist the federal family in not only assisting the injured, but also identifying and quickly apprehending those evil individuals who are responsible for this outrage.
Fourth, our emergency team will be in place around the clock to assist.
We will do anything we can as a state to participate in the successful investigation and resolution of this event.
Lastly, I want to thank President Clinton.
We spoke this afternoon on the telephone.
He indicated to me what he announced shortly ago about the involvement of ATF and the FBI in this case, the bringing in of outside experts to assist us in this state in investigating and solving this terrible tragedy.
I do appreciate his willingness to help, and certainly I am grateful for the involvement of the state and local folks.
I also want to thank the people of Oklahoma and the people of Oklahoma City for their outpouring of courage and commitment and compassion for those who have been injured.
It really is remarkable, the lines that have appeared in front of the Red Cross and in front of hospitals to give blood.
We intend to honor the dead and honor the living by finding out who did this and never permitting this conduct to recur.
FEMA Regional Director Buddy Young Mr. Young arrived late for the press conference and his brief remarks came as an interruption to comments being made by Bob Ricks at the midpoint of Young's speech The camera signal from the news conference to the television station was lost, and part of Mr. Young's comments were also lost.
What follows is the transcript of both portions of Mr. Young's speech that were actually broadcast.
Thank you.
I'm Buddy Young.
I'm the Regional Director for Region 6 of FEMA.
I would like to express my concern and sympathy for the families and the victims of this incident.
This is a very tragic thing to happen.
We have been setting up to support the local authorities, the State Office of Emergency Services, the FBI, and the Governor's Office with whatever federal support that may be needed here.
We've got everything in place to offer them any type of support that the federal government has.
We'll be working with the federal, state, and local governments.
We're here to do that, and we'll be here as long as they need us.
Thank you."
FBI Special Agent in Charge Bob Ricks, President Clinton has declared this a federal emergency.
FEMA will be responding, and they had intended to be here by now, but they should be here shortly to assist in the cleanup efforts.
The FBI has been designated by President Clinton as the lead federal agency in this investigation.
All the agencies, however, in that building have pledged their full cooperation, and of course, they were the ones most injured.
The FBI did not have an office at that federal building, and we did not suffer any casualties.
However, many of our federal law enforcement brothers were injured, and we still do not have a count with regard to the extent of that injury.
We have at this time no assumptions with regard to who caused this particular bombing, and we have had hundreds, if not thousands, of leads from individuals calling in to reputed eyewitnesses.
Each one of those is treated very seriously, but at this point we cannot speculate with regard to who is responsible.
Other than that, I think we have very little else to add to that.
We will throw it out to questions.
The Chief of the Police Department indicated that we have individuals here that will be glad to respond to any questions that you might have.
Question.
We understand there have been at least two suspects the police are looking for in a blue pickup.
What can you tell us about them?
The Attorney General came on right before we began this press conference, and I think she's absolutely correct when she indicated that we are not going to discuss individuals at this time.
As I indicated earlier, we have hundreds of potential suspects and a number of coincidences that have occurred.
However, to say that it's one particular group or one individual, we're not anywhere near making any statement with regard to that.
Is there anything in the investigation to indicate who did this or why?
Ricks.
We have no indication with regard to a group, nor do we have any indication with regard to reasons, so it would be total speculation at this time as to why Oklahoma City was picked out.
Is there any link to the two-year anniversary of Waco?
Ricks.
As the Attorney General indicated, we are not excluding anyone at this time.
It is the two-year anniversary, so there is an obvious coincidence that exists.
However, there is no indication that there is any reason why this would be the cause of the bombing.
Question.
Were there any warning signs a week ago, a threat that this might happen?
Ricks.
The FBI in Oklahoma City has not received any threats to indicate that a bomb was about to take place.
Note, ladies and gentlemen, and I read directly from the text.
The FBI had also telephoned a warning to the Oklahoma City Fire Department on Friday, April 14, 1995, five days before the explosions occurred.
This information was confirmed by Oklahoma City Fire Chief Gaines, Assistant Fire Chief
Charlie Weathers, and Dispatcher Carl Purser.
In a press conference on October 24, 1995, the media asks, You said earlier that the fire department has confirmed
that there was a warning about a bomb.
Charles Key.
Yes.
Media.
Who?
What person?
Charles Key.
You can call Chief Gaines, Chief Hanson, Assistant Chief Weathers.
I believe a dispatcher named Purser can tell you.
And then there were people in the offices there that know about this.
Daniel J. Adamides said, quote, As I was passing the back side of the county courthouse, I
noticed a truck with a trailer, and the truck said, disposal. I.
I remember thinking as I passed that, gee, I wonder if they had a bomb threat at the county courthouse.
End quote.
Dr. Randall Heather said, and I quote, I do know that there had been a threat phoned in to the FBI last week.
End quote.
Michael Hinton said, and I quote, the federal building had received a bomb threat one week prior to that morning of the bomb explosion, end quote.
Tony Garrett said, and I quote, there had been bomb threats two weeks prior to this bomb.
The FBI and the ATF knew that these bomb threats were real and they did nothing about it, end quote.
John Calhoun said, and I quote, the FBI received a bomb threat last week and their offices are on four floors of that building, end quote.
Norma Smith said, and I quote, As I walked through my building's parking lot, I remember seeing the bomb squad.
There was some talk about the bomb squad among employees in our office.
We did wonder what it was doing in our parking lot.
Now back to the interview with Bob Ricks.
Question.
What about the Marshal Service memo that warned about the possibility of a bombing that the Federal Building could be a target?
If one such memo existed, I am not familiar with that memo.
Notes, ladies and gentlemen, and I quote.
This is from Pat Briley, an investigator.
I can't imagine that if the U.S.
Marshals had put everybody within their forces on alert like that, that the FBI and the BATF didn't know about it.
This alert that I'm referring to was reported at length.
There was a memo on this, as well, issued by the U.S.
Marshals, and it was quoted at length in an article in the Star-Ledger newspaper, end quote.
From the Star-Ledger, quote, the disclosure was made in a confidential memorandum issued by the U.S.
Marshals Service in Washington calling for stepped-up security at federal facilities throughout the nation, end quote.
Also from the Star-Ledger, and I quote, The Marshall Service memo said the agency believes that there is sufficient threat potential to request that a heightened level of security awareness and caution be implemented at all Marshall Service protected facilities nationwide.
The memo was issued by Eduardo Gonzalez, Director of the U.S.
Marshall Service."
Bob Ricks lied.
And that's not all, ladies and gentlemen.
We will continue tomorrow night.
Good night, and God bless each and every single one of you.
God bless you.
You're listening to the World Wide Freedom Radio Network.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to purchase a copy of Oklahoma City, Day One, send $34.95, make check or money order payable to Harvest, P.O.
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