Madison Police Chief reflects on 25th Anniversary of Oklahoma City bombing

By TERESA TAYLOR-DUNCAN

MPD Communications Officer

MADISON – April 19, 1995 saw FBI First Line Supervisor Dave Jernigan managing an FBI Bomb Technician road school for local and state bomb technicians in Forsythe, Georgia.  Shortly after 9:00am, he was approached by a student who told him that there were news reports of a bombing in Oklahoma City.  For an agent assigned to the FBI Bomb Data Center, this was a call to action that would forever change the way he and this country defined terrorism.

Until that spring day in 1995, our country defined terrorism as foreign agents or actors who were intent on using violence against persons or property to advance their idealisms.  This mindset was shattered when an estimated 7,000-pound bomb in a Ryder truck driven by Timothy McVeigh was detonated, creating chaos at the north entrance of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.

There was an eerie silence for a brief moment before the rubble of nine stories emerged from the smoke and falling debris. Within minutes, the air would be filled with sirens, screams, and first responders who began trying to sort out the reality of the chaos that took only seconds to unfold.  It was clear at that moment to those on the ground that the world had changed, but in the days to come, the phrase “domestic terrorism” would give a name to a new reality.

After receiving a pager notification, Special Agent Dave Jernigan was directed to report to Oklahoma City along with almost 1,400 other FBI employees as part of the response to the major case referred to by the FBI as “OKBOMB”.

Before he left, the images he saw on the television indicated that this was a type of explosion never before seen in this country. Historically there had been two car bombs targeting the general public. These were the University of Wisconsin bombing in 1970 and the World Trade Center bombing in 1993. Until 1995, the use of large commercial vehicles to create widespread death and destruction had not been seen in this country.

At the end of day one in Oklahoma, the mission moved from search and rescue to recovery at the massive crater site. With over 300 adjacent buildings damaged or destroyed, the perimeter encompassed numerous square blocks and was extremely difficult to contain due to the piles of rubble. Every scrap was potential evidence including debris which was recovered from rooftops using heavy equipment and cranes.

The first key piece of evidence recovered was an axle which included a VIN number traced back to a Ford truck owned by Ryder Rental. This would be vital information that would lead to the identification and conviction of Timothy McVeigh.

When Special Agent Jernigan’s Evidence Response Team arrived three days later their task was to sort through the debris to recover the more than three tons of evidence which would be collected.

From 3 p.m. to 1 a.m., he and his team worked daily for two weeks as they separated everything from car parts, to personal items such as jewelry and photographs, to the remains of body parts. While he says this was a gruesome task, he felt that it was a way to provide a modicum of comfort to families of the victims who had been incinerated or crushed to death when the nine floors came down.

These were the families who would not experience closure by viewing their loved ones in the peace and silence of a funeral home. Their last memories would be those mementos and keepsakes found deep inside the remains of what was once the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building where 168 of their loved ones worked or attended day care.

In addition to the agents on the ground following more than 43,000 leads, there were hundreds of FBI employees in areas such as evidence technicians, records specialists, and others with the expertise to assist the massive investigation.

The investigation took 840 days although the remains of the building were demolished and removed in less than 30 days. Agents conducted over 28,000 interviews, searched hotel registrations, truck rental records, and airline reservations in a time when the internet was in its infancy.  The ability to simply plug in the numbers of a Vehicle Identification Number in a search engine was not available.

Cataloging evidence required tedious handwritten entries and logs. At the time, photography was not digital and over 238,000 photographs were taken, developed, and documented.

Because of the events in Waco, the Ruby Ridge stand-off in Idaho, and the Oklahoma City bombing, the FBI increased the number of field office joint Terrorism Task Forces around the country to allow local and state law enforcement agencies an officers to work together with the FIB to investigate and counter the threats of an ever increasing movement of Domestic and Special Interest terrorists.

Special Agent Jernigan recounts the outpouring of aid provided by the people of Oklahoma City and non-governmental agencies during his time on the ground.  A deserted post office was opened as a makeshift convenience store where those working on the site could come in 24 hours a day for anything they might need.

From nail clippers and protective gloves, to hot coffee and sandwiches, the “store” was kept stocked with the necessities that made their lives just a bit easier. The store was manned by volunteers and not one person was asked to pay for anything.  Local restaurants provided hot meals which were a welcome relief after the long 10-14 hour shifts.

While the “store” was a place to escape from the harshness of the job and remove the respirators protecting their lungs from the dusty debris cloud, it was the phone calls home that allowed the agents a brief opportunity to disengage and connect to a semblance of normalcy. Calling home where their families were continuing their daily routines meant sharing limited information that was often “sugar coated” to protect them from the brutality of what had happened to our nation.

Special Agent Jernigan also recalls the sights and sounds from the crater. Rescue dogs worked 24 hours a day to recover bodies pancaked between floors of concrete and granite. Noise from heavy equipment moving tons of debris created a constant din. As trained search and rescue dogs showed indicators of scent, their handlers would call for silence as they listened intently for any signs of life.  If nothing was heard, the beehive of activity would resume until someone requested a moment of silence as a body was removed. Work came to a halt and silence was observed as the remains of a Marine officer were reverently removed from the rubble.

For some people, memories are sparked by smells or sounds but it was the depths of darkness emanating from the remains of the building pierced only by the blinding intensity of the portable emergency lighting over the crater site that is etched in the mind.  It is this memory that brings a falter to now Chief Jernigan’s words.

Ninety minutes following the bombing, Timothy McVeigh was arrested by an Oklahoma State Trooper when he was stopped for speeding and driving without a tag. He was arrested for carrying a weapon without a permit. Within three hours, the FBI had identified him as a suspect and helicoptered agents to the small town of Perry, OK where they interviewed the suspect and his cell mates.

Using information gained from truck rental records,  chemical evidence found on his clothing and inside the car, he was driving, recent attempts to purchase ammonium nitrate and race car fuel, and interviews with co-conspirators, Timothy McVeigh was indicated as the primary bomber.

With mountains of evidence collected, the FBI called on Special Agent Jernigan to assist in the Federal Grand Jury hearing. He was tasked with presenting evidence as a subject matter expert on explosives, how they worked, and how the bomb was constructed. Using synchronized security video from an adjacent building, Jernigan was able to describe for the Grand Jury, in detail, how the bomb was placed and what effect it had as the tons of explosive material wreaked havoc on the building and surrounding areas.

It was testimony such as this from numerous areas of expertise that helped to return indictments against Timothy McVeigh for conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction to kill persons and destroy federal property, using a truck bomb to kill people, and malicious destruction of federal property. In addition he was indicted on eight counts of murder for the deaths of federal law enforcement officials. Timothy McVeigh was ultimately found guilty, denied all appeals and was executed in 2001.

His co-conspirator Terry Nichols was found guilty and sentenced to life without parole while Michael Fortier served 10 years and is now in the witness protection program after testifying against McVeigh and Nichols.

When asked what we learned from the Oklahoma City bombings, Chief Jernigan provides a laundry list of ways that Federal agencies operate and  how they monitor the activities of would be domestic terror suspects.  Using design strategies, federal buildings are now less easily accessed using barriers and standoff distances to prevent vehicles from entering restricted spaces.

Federal agencies closely monitor the distribution or transfer of certain agricultural and industrial chemicals such as the ammonium nitrate used in the Oklahoma bomb. ATF regulates the exchange and possession of dynamite and explosive detonating devices. On the investigative level, law enforcement agencies use intelligence banking to track movements and understand the mentality of domestic terrorists.

Jernigan says that McVeigh was so successful because “we never saw it coming”. There were no indicators because we were not looking for them.  With the bombing of the Murrah Building, domestic terrorism rose to the forefront of our radar. We began looking at groups such as the Patriot movement as an example of what havoc can be created by using structure and organization to gain radical support of anti-government factions.

It was discovered during the investigation that McVeigh felt it was his duty to exact vengeance for the events that had occurred in Waco, Texas exactly two years to the day prior to the Oklahoma bombing.  His relationships with Terry Nichols and Michael Fortier brought us a greater understanding of homegrown radicalization and how government agencies must work together to identify and monitor the actions of these entities.

Today Police Chief Dave Jernigan is retired from the FBI and is leading the Madison Police Department during an unprecedented crisis just as he led his FBI team in Oklahoma.  He is using the skills of pooling resources, communication, and education to keep his officers and staff safe so that they can provide necessary services to the citizens who depend on them during the COVID-19 pandemic.

If you have the opportunity to sit in his office, he might show you the jagged piece granite associated with what he has come to know as collateral damage from one of the most tragic days in the history of our country.  Civilians might call them souvenirs, but to those who have worn the respirators and gloves, stood on piles of granite straining to listen for the sounds of life, they are pieces of a much larger puzzle. They are pieces to the puzzle of “Why?”