An eight-page essay from homegrown terrorist Timothy McVeigh, in which he compares his April 19, 1995 truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City to U.S. attacks on Baghdad, Hanoi and Hiroshima, is heading to auction with a $15,000 price tag on it.
Handwritten in black ink on yellow legal paper, McVeigh tried to make the case that it was hypocritical for the nation to execute him for his actions while cheering U.S. military strikes on foreign targets.
In a chilling section, he wrote, “Whether you wish to admit it or not, when you approve, morally, of the bombing of foreign targets, by the U.S. military, you are approving of acts morally equivalent to the bombing in Oklahoma City. The only difference is that this nation is not going to see any foreign casualties appear on the cover of Newsweek magazine…”
The manifesto and a package of photos McVeigh wanted to run with it, was sent to and published by the now defunct conspiracy magazine Media Bypass in June 1998, three years before he was executed by lethal injection for the bombing that killed 168 and injured 680.
Two accomplices, Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier, were also convicted as conspirators in the plot.
The package is being sold by Maryland-based Alexander Historical Auctions, well known for offering critical and sometimes sensational historical artifacts. This is the first time McVeigh’s essay has been offered for sale.
The auction is likely to draw criticism, but Alexander President Bill Panagopulos said, “This horrifying but nonetheless historic document serves to remind us that contrary to popular notion, not all terrorists are Muslims born abroad. We need to be constantly vigilant.”
He has put an estimated price of $12,000-$15,000 on the artifact. The package includes a copy of Media Bypass and the photographs McVeigh sent in to be published with his writings.
McVeigh wrote that he thought only Media Bypass would run his essay. “I have chosen Media Bypass as a possible forum for this piece because, frankly, I realize that it is quite provocative – and I doubt that any mainstream media would touch it,” he wrote.
But when it was published, it made headlines all around the globe.
