McVeigh Worship: The New Extremist Trend
In extremist circles, there appears to be a bump of interest in Timothy James McVeigh.
Yes, that Timothy McVeigh. The guy who used a Ryder truck to bomb the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995, killing 168 innocent children and adults and wounding more than 600 others.
His act 22 years ago, for those who may have forgotten, was the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
McVeigh was convicted of terrorism and executed just three months before those attacks.
His name and heinous crime are not forgotten, nor should they be, while there seems to be a growing admiration for McVeigh in some extremist circles. One militia honcho even likened McVeigh to Jesus Christ.
Check out these recent mentions of McVeigh:
In mid-May, police in Tampa, Florida, responded to the scene of a double-murder involving young, self-described neo-Nazis.
, who shared the apartment with the murder suspect, was charged with possession of bomb-making materials and chemicals,聽 including ammonium nitrate 鈥� the same kind of material used by McVeigh.
In Russell鈥檚 bedroom at the apartment he shared with the murder suspect and the two slain neo-Nazis, police found a framed photograph of Timothy McVeigh. Russell, who鈥檚 in custody, hasn鈥檛 publicly explained that fascination.
In late May, police in Washington, D.C., arrested a man with an AR-15 assault rifle, a 40- caliber handgun and 90 rounds of ammunition at the Trump Hotel, not far from the Capitol and the White House.聽
Police said聽, 43, of Edinboro, Pennsylvania, told a tipster that聽 he wanted to 鈥済et close to Trump鈥� and 鈥渨anted to be like Timothy McVeigh.鈥澛�
Court document say Moles, who had worked as a physician, was armed with an assault rifle and a handgun and was in the nation鈥檚 capitol 鈥渢o see the president.鈥� He told an acquaintance, court documents say, that he had enough ammunition to make his car resemble Timothy McVeigh 鈥渙n a camping trip.鈥澛�
Before traveling to Washington, D.C., police learned Moles emptied his bank account, leaving behind a balance of $4.19 鈥� perhaps symbolic of the 4-19 date of McVeigh鈥檚 act of terrorism in 1995.
Then on May 26,聽Jeremy Christian, who held extremist views, went on a rampage聽in Portland, Oregon, slashing the throats and killing two men who attempted聽to come to the aid of two women Christian was harassing.
Just a month earlier,聽on the anniversaryof McVeigh's deadly act of terrorism, Christian praised the聽Oklahoma City bomber in a Facebook post.聽 鈥淢ay all the Gods Bless Timothy 聽McVeigh -- a TRUE PATRIOT!!!鈥� Christian wrote.
More recently, neo-Nazi聽Andrew 鈥榃eev鈥� Auernheimer, who writes for the racist web site 鈥淒aily Stormer,鈥� said he was serious in proposing a crowd-funding account to raise money to build a 鈥減ermanent monument鈥� in a memorial grove honoring McVeigh.
鈥淭hink of it, a gigantic bronze statue of Timothy McVeigh poised triumphantly atop a Ryder truck, arms raised as if to form an Algiz rune from his body, with a plaque that states the honest truth,鈥� Auernheimer wrote.聽鈥淣othing would be a greater insult to these pizza-party guarding federal swine than a permanent monument honoring [McVeigh鈥檚] journey to Valhalla or F贸lkvangr atop the piles of their corpses.鈥澛�
鈥淚 am not joking,鈥� Auernheimer wrote. 鈥淭his should be done. Imagine how angry it would make people.鈥�
Last year, during the illegal occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon by antigovernment figurehead Ammon Bundy and his militia followers,聽Norm Olson, another long-time militia activist and leader, made ominous public comments about McVeigh.
鈥淭he battle for the rights of the people rages on and it should be assumed聽 that lone wolf patriots may be planning another response to the central聽 government's abuses,鈥� Olson wrote. He claimed federal agents 鈥渕urdered鈥澛� Bundy associate LaVoy Finicum, inciting Patriots, during the 2016 refuge occupation.
鈥淥nce the fuse is lit, it will be hard to extinguish,鈥� Olson said. 鈥淭here's a place that we all should think about: Oklahoma City.鈥澛�
Two days later, Olson, who has been active in militia groups in Michigan and Alaska, said he was ready to tell members of Congress that 鈥淭imothy McVeigh DIED FOR YOUR SINS!!!!!!!!!鈥�
It's聽worth remembering that Olson had a unique glimpse of McVeigh. He and Oklahoma bombing co-conspirator, Terry Nichols, attended a meeting of the Michigan Militia, which Olson founded in 1994, a year before the Oklahoma City bombing.
鈥淎nger and frustration create a personal vendetta,鈥� Olson wrote last year, claiming that the U.S. government鈥檚 鈥渃ase against Tim McVeigh was based on his聽motive.鈥�
鈥淗is motive was VENDETTA, retaliation, retribution, eye-for-eye ..f. call it what you want, but there will be blood ... maybe not right away, but soon,鈥� Olson鈥檚 said in his ominous public warning.
Apparently referring to McVeigh, Olson said there are other 鈥淧atriots out there who 鈥渨ant to be remembered鈥� and are coming to the realization that THERE IS NO JUSTICE ... IT IS JUST US!
Of course, McVeigh may never be as popular as other extremist and far-right heroes and memes - - the swastika, the burning cross, Adolf Hitler, Pepe the Frog, George Lincoln Rockwell, the numbers 88 and 14 words, the KKK blood-drop cross, William Pierce.
But the question remains, why would anyone romanticize a modern-day, extremist serial killer and terrorist?
Tom Pyszczynski, a professor of psychology at University of Colorado who has written about the psychological makeup of extremists, said he believes only a 鈥渞elatively small number of people鈥� are enthralled with McVeigh.
鈥淭he psychological, social, economic and political forces that lead some Americans to idolize McVeigh are the same as those that lead disenfranchised or disillusioned young people in other parts of the world to idolize Osama bin Laden or ISIS,鈥� Pyszczynski told Hatewatch.
鈥淭hey see them [McVeigh, et al] as heroes who stand up for people like them,鈥� said Pyszczynski, who co-developed and tested a 鈥渢error management theory,鈥� dealing with the role of death in life and the role that meaning and self-esteem play in managing the fear of death.
鈥淥f course, the specifics of the issues and lives of the people who follow ISIS and those who idolize McVeigh are different, but beneath the surface it usually boils down to a feeling that one's people are disrespected and mistreated, that one's way of life is under siege from powerful forces, and that the world as they know it has gotten out of control,鈥� the university psychologist said.
鈥淎ll people crave meaning in life and a sense of personal or group heroism to protect them from their deepest fears,鈥� he said, explaining that ultimately boils down to the 鈥渇acts of life, involving death and vulnerability.鈥�
But some people, he said, aren't able to find this in their worlds. So they look elsewhere, to radical fringe groups, like ISIS for some, or white nationalist groups for others.
鈥淭hese groups typically have heroes who are idolized as standing up to powerful forces and if they die in that fight, they are considered martyrs,鈥� Pyszczynski said.
Clark McCauley, a research professor of psychology at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, offered similar brief views about those individuals enchanted with McVeigh.
鈥淢cVeigh is ... a symbol of resistance and a hero for those who hate and fear the U.S. Government,鈥� McCauley told Hatewatch. 鈥淭his includes a wide range of people, some who see themselves as neo-Nazis and some who do not.鈥�
McVeigh鈥檚 bombing plan generally followed a fictional account of a race war depicted in the 鈥淭urner Diaries,鈥� a novel written by William Pierce, a one-time college professor who went on to lead the National Alliance, a neo-Nazi hate group.
McCauley said he doesn鈥檛 personally believe McVeigh was a neo-Nazi, so 鈥渉e can therefore be a hero for many different anti-government groups.鈥�
Pyszczynski, who teaches at the Colorado Springs university, said people 鈥渨ho feel their way of life is under siege鈥� identify with 鈥渉eroes鈥� like McVeigh.
鈥淪o radical ideologies, whether they be Islamist or white nationalist, are appealing to people who struggle to find meaning and a sense of personal value in their own lives and view another group as the repository of evil against which they must fight to reclaim that meaning and value,鈥� he said.
