In partnership with The WNET Group
Extremism in America: The Oklahoma City Bombing
A bomb went off at a federal building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, killing 168 people and injuring hundreds. The police soon arrested Timothy McVeigh, a Gulf War veteran, along with an accomplice, for carrying out the attack. McVeigh said the bombing was to avenge the F.B.I.’s siege on the compound of a religious sect in Waco, Texas, in 1993.
The bombers were tried and convicted in 1997. But the movement they belonged to has not disappeared, a counterterrorism expert told us: “They bide their time.”
“Tim McVeigh is the epitome of a lone wolf," Tom O’Connor, a former F. B.I. agent, told Retro Report. “But even a lone wolf still has to be part of something that gets them to that point.”
The Oklahoma City bombing fueled government action against right-wing militia groups. But while membership in organized groups decreased, some members went underground.
“It wasn’t until 1995 that the message of domestic terrorism really came home in this country, unquestionably,” said Bill Morlin, an investigative journalist who covered neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups. “It was after the Oklahoma City bombing that the Justice Department woke up.”
This is the second episode of a five-part series produced in collaboration with The WNET Group’s reporting initiative Exploring Hate, on the roots and rise of hate in America and across the globe. Leadership support for Exploring Hate is provided by the Sylvia A. and Simon B. Poyta Programming Endowment to Fight Antisemitism. To learn more about Exploring Hate and for a full list of funders, visit pbs.org/exploringhate.
Extremism in America: Emergence of The Order
The killing of radio host Alan Berg exposed a new kind of right-wing extremism. This is the first episode of a five-part series released in collaboration with The WNET Group’s reporting initiative Exploring Hate. This series was recognized with a 2022 Online Journalism Award for Best Digital Storytelling.
Extremism in America: Missed Warnings
In the years before Barack Obama was elected, many groups on the extreme right kept a relatively low profile. With the election of a Black president, that changed. This is the third episode of a five-part series produced in collaboration with The WNET Group’s reporting initiative Exploring Hate.
Extremism in America: A Surge in Violence
Violent attacks involving extremist ideology, like the Buffalo rampage, began to rise in the last decade, but officials were slow to recognize homegrown threats. This is the fourth episode of a five-part series produced in collaboration with The WNET Group’s reporting initiative Exploring Hate.
Extremism in America: Out of the Shadows
According to experts who monitor the radical right, the white supremacist ideology that police say drove the Buffalo gunman has begun moving from the extremes into the mainstream. This is the fifth episode of a five-part series produced in collaboration with The WNET Group’s reporting initiative Exploring Hate.