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Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism
The definitive account of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the enduring legacy of Timothy McVeigh, leading to the January 6 insurrection—from acclaimed journalist Jeffrey Toobin.
Timothy McVeigh wanted to start a movement.
Speaking to his lawyers days after the Oklahoma City bombing, the Gulf War veteran expressed no regrets: killing 168 people was his patriotic duty. He cited the Declaration of Independence from memory: “Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.” He had obsessively followed the siege of Waco and seethed at the imposition of President Bill Clinton’s assault weapons ban. A self-proclaimed white separatist, he abhorred immigration and wanted women to return to traditional roles. As he watched the industrial decline of his native Buffalo, McVeigh longed for when America was great.
New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin traces the dramatic history and profound legacy of Timothy McVeigh, who once declared, “I believe there is an army out there, ready to rise up, even though I never found it.” But that doesn’t mean his army wasn’t there. With news-breaking reportage, Toobin details how McVeigh’s principles and tactics have flourished in the decades since his death in 2001, reaching an apotheosis on January 6 when hundreds of rioters stormed the Capitol. Based on nearly a million previously unreleased tapes, photographs, and documents, including detailed communications between McVeigh and his lawyers, as well as interviews with such key figures as Bill Clinton, Homegrown reveals how the story of Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing is not only a powerful retelling of one of the great outrages of our time, but a warning for our future.
Timothy McVeigh wanted to start a movement.
Speaking to his lawyers days after the Oklahoma City bombing, the Gulf War veteran expressed no regrets: killing 168 people was his patriotic duty. He cited the Declaration of Independence from memory: “Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it.” He had obsessively followed the siege of Waco and seethed at the imposition of President Bill Clinton’s assault weapons ban. A self-proclaimed white separatist, he abhorred immigration and wanted women to return to traditional roles. As he watched the industrial decline of his native Buffalo, McVeigh longed for when America was great.
New York Times bestselling author Jeffrey Toobin traces the dramatic history and profound legacy of Timothy McVeigh, who once declared, “I believe there is an army out there, ready to rise up, even though I never found it.” But that doesn’t mean his army wasn’t there. With news-breaking reportage, Toobin details how McVeigh’s principles and tactics have flourished in the decades since his death in 2001, reaching an apotheosis on January 6 when hundreds of rioters stormed the Capitol. Based on nearly a million previously unreleased tapes, photographs, and documents, including detailed communications between McVeigh and his lawyers, as well as interviews with such key figures as Bill Clinton, Homegrown reveals how the story of Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing is not only a powerful retelling of one of the great outrages of our time, but a warning for our future.
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First published May 2, 2023
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About the author
Jeffrey Toobin
29 books718 followersJeffrey Ross Toobin (J.D., Harvard Law School, 1986; B.A., American History and Literature, Harvard University) is a lawyer, blogger, and media legal correspondent for CNN and formerly The New Yorker magazine. He previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Brooklyn, New York, and later worked as a legal analyst for ABC News, where he received a 2001 Emmy Award for his coverage of the Elian Gonzales custody saga.
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December 8, 2023
“As best as could be determined after the fact, there were about six hundred people inside the Murrah building’s nine floors on April 19…Of these, 163 were killed, including 15 of the 21 children in the day care center… Four people died nearby... One rescuer, a nurse named Rebecca Anderson, was killed inside the building when she was struck by falling debris… At 7 p.m. on April 19, a fifteen-year-old girl…was found alive and freed hours later. She was the last survivor. The bomb damaged 324 buildings in a fifty-block area of downtown Oklahoma City. The explosion was felt fifty-five miles away and registered 6.0 on the Richter scale…”
- Jeffrey Toobin, Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism
In writing, there is a fine line between laudable ambition and biting off more than you can chew. Jeffrey Toobin’s Homegrown aptly proves that point. Toobin certainly swings big, attempting to present the life story of infamous Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, while simultaneously providing a survey of America’s long drift toward anti-government extremism, which culminated in the shameful invasion of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Unfortunately, these two big, complicated subjects get shoehorned into a volume less than 400 pages in length, resulting in something that feels rushed and undercooked, and that often substitutes broad conclusions for careful analysis.
Don’t get me wrong: Homegrown is not a bad book. To the contrary, like everything else by Toobin, it’s enjoyably readable, and well-researched. Still, given Toobin’s extraordinary talent – Zoom abilities excepted – this should’ve been better.
***
The subtitle promises more, but Homegrown is first and foremost a biography of a mass murderer. McVeigh’s life, his crime, and his trial provide the spine of the book, with only a relatively small amount of space devoted to the general rise of extremism in America.
To that end, Homegrown works just fine. Toobin is not an elegant writer, but he has a well-honed ability to tell a fast-paced story. He briskly covers McVeigh’s early life, raised in a middle-class family with his sole trauma coming from his parent’s divorce. McVeigh tried college, couldn’t do it, and ended up in the U.S. Army, where he served with distinction in the First Gulf War. Toobin marks the turning point in McVeigh’s life as the moment he washed out of Special Forces training in two days. Instead of preparing himself better and trying again, McVeigh – who lived by the motto of “if at first you don’t succeed, quit and blame others” – left the Army.
McVeigh’s post-Army life consisted of marinating in racist and anti-government propaganda, misdirecting affection toward weaponry, and roaming the gun-show circuit selling bumper stickers with lame slogans. In short, he was a frustrated mooch who leeched off friends or acquaintances until they tired of him, then moved somewhere else. During this roving, parasitic existence, he nursed grievances – both real and perceived – against the Federal government’s exercise of police power.
***
It is well known that Timothy McVeigh was motivated by the twin F.B.I. blunders at Ruby Ridge and Waco. Given Homegrown’s subtitle and Toobin’s introduction, I expected him to spend a good deal of time on these events. Surprisingly, Toobin just glides over each with a bare minimum of explanation. In particular, the complex collision at Ruby Ridge is sketched so thinly that it won’t make any real sense unless you already know about it.
Homegrown does much better with McVeigh’s planning and execution of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Toobin methodically lays out the steps, explains the roles of Terry Nichols, and Michael and Lori Fortier, and dispenses with many of the lingering theories of the bombing, such as a Middle Eastern connection.
While Toobin’s handling of the bombing itself is subpar – clumsily narrated and dramatically inert – he excels at describing McVeigh’s criminal trial. This is unsurprising, as Toobin is a Harvard-trained lawyer, wrote an excellent book on the O.J. Simpson trial, and was a CNN legal analyst for many years before forgetting to turn off his computer camera during a private moment. As Toobin notes, there is a vast swath of material to draw from, much of it from McVeigh’s ethically dubious attorney, Stephen Jones. He arranges this abundance skillfully, and makes interesting points about the tension between then-prosecutor Merrick Garland’s narrow approach, and the desire of President Clinton for a broader attack on extremism.
***
Homegrown has to contend with the shadow of Dan Herbeck and Lou Michel’s American Terrorist, which is the touchstone book on McVeigh, written with his input and cooperation. American Terrorist is more in-depth, but Homegrown has better perspective and judgments.
Consciously or not, Herbeck and Michel tended to endorse McVeigh’s viewpoints, giving them logical credence they don’t deserve. Toobin rightly points out that McVeigh was an intellectual bottom-feeder who didn’t know the first thing about any of the topics on which he pompously opined.
McVeigh knew one undisputable thing, and that’s how he should be judged, today, tomorrow, and forever: How to mix together a few thousand pounds of ammonium nitrate, nitromethane, and diesel fuel, and then park it right in front of a daycare.
***
Homegrown falls short when dealing with the overall extremist shift we’ve seen since the 1950s and 60s. Toobin’s thesis is that there’s a direct link between McVeigh and the January 6 Insurrection. However, he doesn’t really describe this connection with any true insight. Instead, throughout the book, he periodically ends a section with a few sentences that broadly compare McVeigh’s actions to those of the Capitol mob.
To support his hypothesis, Toobin needed to do a lot more work, which would have required a lot more pages. Ultimately, though, it’s hard to pin January 6 on McVeigh, since the extremist shift started before his birth, and continued after his death in very different ways. Beyond that, the extremist movement is composed of many different sub-groups – white supremacists, anti-tax protestors, survivalists – that often overlap, but are not always on the exact same page. This makes them harder to track, harder to combat, and harder to define with precision.
***
Toobin does make an important point in his concluding chapter on the misuse of American history for political ends. Specifically, much of today’s anti-government movement is based on an entirely made-up – and anarchic – vision of the American Revolution, in which the central proposition is that you get to overthrow the government whenever you feel “tyrannized.” This essentially narcissistic belief is cobbled together from half-truths, myths, and Jeffersonian quotes ripped from their context.
The true essence of the American Revolution was in creating a new, democratic form of government, one that derived power from the bottom-up, rather than the top-down. Following ratification of the Constitution, this government was meant to endure. For that to happen – as Abraham Lincoln repeated endlessly during the American Civil War – elections have to be respected, especially by the losers. The idea that anyone with a gun and strong feelings can overturn electoral results is necessarily at odds with this basic requirement, and such a person is in fact practicing the “tyranny” they’re pretending to guard against.
***
Timothy McVeigh was fundamentally, profoundly ignorant. He didn’t learn so much as consume processed nonsense distilled by others just as uninformed.
Because of this, Tim McVeigh never stopped to think about the elements composing “the government” he so desperately despised. It’s a damn shame, because it’s right there in the preamble to the United States Constitution, the same Constitution McVeigh feigned to have read, understood, and respected. In fact, it’s in really big letters, making it hard to miss: “We the People…”
***
On the grounds of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum stands the Field of Empty Chairs, 168 bronze backed chairs with granite seats placed in nine rows, representing the nine floors of the Murrah Building. In terms of breathtaking power, it is a monument equal to the Vietnam War Memorial’s long black wall of names.
Within the museum itself is a more standard remembrance, though no less affecting: the Gallery of Honor. Here, the pictures of the dead have been placed in clear plastic boxes set in clusters against a wall. Each individual picture is at the back of the box; in the front, there is a small representative token of that person’s life: for Thompson Hodges, his pipe, and a small soccer ball to symbolize his years coaching; for Captain Randolph Guzman, a Marine Corps patch; for Antonio Ansara Cooper – who lived halfway to one year – a small stuffed animal.
That’s the “government” that McVeigh cowardly attacked. Trying to position him as the vanguard of something more runs the risk of obscuring this reality: McVeigh’s legacy is that of a murderer, a child-killer, and a charlatan.
- Jeffrey Toobin, Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism
In writing, there is a fine line between laudable ambition and biting off more than you can chew. Jeffrey Toobin’s Homegrown aptly proves that point. Toobin certainly swings big, attempting to present the life story of infamous Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, while simultaneously providing a survey of America’s long drift toward anti-government extremism, which culminated in the shameful invasion of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Unfortunately, these two big, complicated subjects get shoehorned into a volume less than 400 pages in length, resulting in something that feels rushed and undercooked, and that often substitutes broad conclusions for careful analysis.
Don’t get me wrong: Homegrown is not a bad book. To the contrary, like everything else by Toobin, it’s enjoyably readable, and well-researched. Still, given Toobin’s extraordinary talent – Zoom abilities excepted – this should’ve been better.
***
The subtitle promises more, but Homegrown is first and foremost a biography of a mass murderer. McVeigh’s life, his crime, and his trial provide the spine of the book, with only a relatively small amount of space devoted to the general rise of extremism in America.
To that end, Homegrown works just fine. Toobin is not an elegant writer, but he has a well-honed ability to tell a fast-paced story. He briskly covers McVeigh’s early life, raised in a middle-class family with his sole trauma coming from his parent’s divorce. McVeigh tried college, couldn’t do it, and ended up in the U.S. Army, where he served with distinction in the First Gulf War. Toobin marks the turning point in McVeigh’s life as the moment he washed out of Special Forces training in two days. Instead of preparing himself better and trying again, McVeigh – who lived by the motto of “if at first you don’t succeed, quit and blame others” – left the Army.
McVeigh’s post-Army life consisted of marinating in racist and anti-government propaganda, misdirecting affection toward weaponry, and roaming the gun-show circuit selling bumper stickers with lame slogans. In short, he was a frustrated mooch who leeched off friends or acquaintances until they tired of him, then moved somewhere else. During this roving, parasitic existence, he nursed grievances – both real and perceived – against the Federal government’s exercise of police power.
***
It is well known that Timothy McVeigh was motivated by the twin F.B.I. blunders at Ruby Ridge and Waco. Given Homegrown’s subtitle and Toobin’s introduction, I expected him to spend a good deal of time on these events. Surprisingly, Toobin just glides over each with a bare minimum of explanation. In particular, the complex collision at Ruby Ridge is sketched so thinly that it won’t make any real sense unless you already know about it.
Homegrown does much better with McVeigh’s planning and execution of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. Toobin methodically lays out the steps, explains the roles of Terry Nichols, and Michael and Lori Fortier, and dispenses with many of the lingering theories of the bombing, such as a Middle Eastern connection.
While Toobin’s handling of the bombing itself is subpar – clumsily narrated and dramatically inert – he excels at describing McVeigh’s criminal trial. This is unsurprising, as Toobin is a Harvard-trained lawyer, wrote an excellent book on the O.J. Simpson trial, and was a CNN legal analyst for many years before forgetting to turn off his computer camera during a private moment. As Toobin notes, there is a vast swath of material to draw from, much of it from McVeigh’s ethically dubious attorney, Stephen Jones. He arranges this abundance skillfully, and makes interesting points about the tension between then-prosecutor Merrick Garland’s narrow approach, and the desire of President Clinton for a broader attack on extremism.
***
Homegrown has to contend with the shadow of Dan Herbeck and Lou Michel’s American Terrorist, which is the touchstone book on McVeigh, written with his input and cooperation. American Terrorist is more in-depth, but Homegrown has better perspective and judgments.
Consciously or not, Herbeck and Michel tended to endorse McVeigh’s viewpoints, giving them logical credence they don’t deserve. Toobin rightly points out that McVeigh was an intellectual bottom-feeder who didn’t know the first thing about any of the topics on which he pompously opined.
McVeigh knew one undisputable thing, and that’s how he should be judged, today, tomorrow, and forever: How to mix together a few thousand pounds of ammonium nitrate, nitromethane, and diesel fuel, and then park it right in front of a daycare.
***
Homegrown falls short when dealing with the overall extremist shift we’ve seen since the 1950s and 60s. Toobin’s thesis is that there’s a direct link between McVeigh and the January 6 Insurrection. However, he doesn’t really describe this connection with any true insight. Instead, throughout the book, he periodically ends a section with a few sentences that broadly compare McVeigh’s actions to those of the Capitol mob.
To support his hypothesis, Toobin needed to do a lot more work, which would have required a lot more pages. Ultimately, though, it’s hard to pin January 6 on McVeigh, since the extremist shift started before his birth, and continued after his death in very different ways. Beyond that, the extremist movement is composed of many different sub-groups – white supremacists, anti-tax protestors, survivalists – that often overlap, but are not always on the exact same page. This makes them harder to track, harder to combat, and harder to define with precision.
***
Toobin does make an important point in his concluding chapter on the misuse of American history for political ends. Specifically, much of today’s anti-government movement is based on an entirely made-up – and anarchic – vision of the American Revolution, in which the central proposition is that you get to overthrow the government whenever you feel “tyrannized.” This essentially narcissistic belief is cobbled together from half-truths, myths, and Jeffersonian quotes ripped from their context.
The true essence of the American Revolution was in creating a new, democratic form of government, one that derived power from the bottom-up, rather than the top-down. Following ratification of the Constitution, this government was meant to endure. For that to happen – as Abraham Lincoln repeated endlessly during the American Civil War – elections have to be respected, especially by the losers. The idea that anyone with a gun and strong feelings can overturn electoral results is necessarily at odds with this basic requirement, and such a person is in fact practicing the “tyranny” they’re pretending to guard against.
***
Timothy McVeigh was fundamentally, profoundly ignorant. He didn’t learn so much as consume processed nonsense distilled by others just as uninformed.
Because of this, Tim McVeigh never stopped to think about the elements composing “the government” he so desperately despised. It’s a damn shame, because it’s right there in the preamble to the United States Constitution, the same Constitution McVeigh feigned to have read, understood, and respected. In fact, it’s in really big letters, making it hard to miss: “We the People…”
***
On the grounds of the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum stands the Field of Empty Chairs, 168 bronze backed chairs with granite seats placed in nine rows, representing the nine floors of the Murrah Building. In terms of breathtaking power, it is a monument equal to the Vietnam War Memorial’s long black wall of names.
Within the museum itself is a more standard remembrance, though no less affecting: the Gallery of Honor. Here, the pictures of the dead have been placed in clear plastic boxes set in clusters against a wall. Each individual picture is at the back of the box; in the front, there is a small representative token of that person’s life: for Thompson Hodges, his pipe, and a small soccer ball to symbolize his years coaching; for Captain Randolph Guzman, a Marine Corps patch; for Antonio Ansara Cooper – who lived halfway to one year – a small stuffed animal.
That’s the “government” that McVeigh cowardly attacked. Trying to position him as the vanguard of something more runs the risk of obscuring this reality: McVeigh’s legacy is that of a murderer, a child-killer, and a charlatan.
April 22, 2023
Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism is a thoroughly researched, fascinating account of Timothy McVeigh's 1995 bombing of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, OK. But the book is so much more than that. The eleven day siege at Ruby Ridge in 1992 was followed by the horrific Waco siege where 76 Branch Davidians died on April 19, 1993. Timothy McVeigh was at the side of the road in Waco selling bumper stickers during the Waco standoff.
McVeigh chose the two year anniversary of Waco to bomb the OKC federal building where 168 people perished, including 19 children at a daycare. He viewed the bombing as his patriotic duty to focus on the issue of the right to bear arms and to start a movement to overthrow the government. President Clinton and Congress had recently passed legislation that banned assault weapons.
Author, Jefrey Toobin, covered the Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols trials. McVeigh had been pulled over by a trooper approximately 90 minutes after the bombing because he did not have a license plate on the getaway car. McVeigh had a gun on him when he was pulled over and he was arrested for having a gun without a permit. In 2019, Oklahoma changed the law so that people can carry guns without permits.
The premise of the book is the link between the OKC bombing and the events on January 6, 2021 when a mob attacked the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC in an attempt to retain Donald Trump as President of the United States. As a country, we have tended to treat domestic terrorist situations as isolated, lone wolf scenarios rather than address the large, growing group of white supremacists who focus on freedom as the right to bear arms and want minimal federal legislation and oversight.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of the book for my honest feedback and opinion. The estimated publication date is May 2, 2023.
Highly recommend; a must read.
McVeigh chose the two year anniversary of Waco to bomb the OKC federal building where 168 people perished, including 19 children at a daycare. He viewed the bombing as his patriotic duty to focus on the issue of the right to bear arms and to start a movement to overthrow the government. President Clinton and Congress had recently passed legislation that banned assault weapons.
Author, Jefrey Toobin, covered the Tim McVeigh and Terry Nichols trials. McVeigh had been pulled over by a trooper approximately 90 minutes after the bombing because he did not have a license plate on the getaway car. McVeigh had a gun on him when he was pulled over and he was arrested for having a gun without a permit. In 2019, Oklahoma changed the law so that people can carry guns without permits.
The premise of the book is the link between the OKC bombing and the events on January 6, 2021 when a mob attacked the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC in an attempt to retain Donald Trump as President of the United States. As a country, we have tended to treat domestic terrorist situations as isolated, lone wolf scenarios rather than address the large, growing group of white supremacists who focus on freedom as the right to bear arms and want minimal federal legislation and oversight.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of the book for my honest feedback and opinion. The estimated publication date is May 2, 2023.
Highly recommend; a must read.
February 5, 2024
This is a highly readable account of Timothy Mcveigh's bombing in Oklahoma City, the ensuing trial, his life, and right-wing extremism in general.
I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, chilling as it is. Usually I'm bored with the build-up to trials but the details for this one, as the prosecution gathered evidence, was fascinating.
Mr Toobin ties McVeigh's actions in with the actions of the insurrectionists of January 6th, 2021, showing the mindset of right wing extremists who think violence is the answer and how this has become common thinking in Republicans in general, #45 supporters in particular.
I'm surprised by how much I enjoyed this book, chilling as it is. Usually I'm bored with the build-up to trials but the details for this one, as the prosecution gathered evidence, was fascinating.
Mr Toobin ties McVeigh's actions in with the actions of the insurrectionists of January 6th, 2021, showing the mindset of right wing extremists who think violence is the answer and how this has become common thinking in Republicans in general, #45 supporters in particular.
Read
June 9, 2023Pretty classic: McVeigh never owns up to any of his mistakes. He always blames others and resorts to conspiracy theories, if he thinks that gives him cover.
"As the legal historian Jared A. Goldstein has observed, right-wing extremists have long wrapped their views in twisted interpretations of the Constitution. This was as true for McVeigh as it was for the January 6 insurrectionists."
So true. I took entire courses at Berkeley and Stanford about the Framers and the Constitution. Context is key.
==========
The Oklahoma City bombing....
"some of the first victims to be found were the youngest. The firefighters on the scene brought out so many children that they began to line up their small bodies on the sidewalk, in a kind of temporary morgue."
McVeigh, and monsters like him are not patriots. They're self-absorbed cry babies that have no problem killing children. Disgusting.
==========
Lying to themselves and to others, continues to this day.
"McVeigh claimed he had been framed by the government, which had itself orchestrated the bombing, as a provocation to impose gun control. Olson said government agents had set off a second blast inside the Murrah building to cause maximum damage. Thompson, who had produced the video Waco, the Big Lie, which was McVeigh’s favorite, later said of Oklahoma City: “I definitely believe the government did the bombing. I mean, who’s got a track record of killing children?” The movement would return to this paradigm repeatedly. Acts of violence, whether the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012 or the January 6, 2021, insurrection, could always be explained away as the work of conspiracies by the government (or left-wing groups) to create a backlash and thus advance a liberal agenda."
========
Totally out of control fascist behavior....
"At one event before the 2022 midterm elections, many in the audience responded with the raised-right-arm gesture that signals affiliation with QAnon and recalls the Nazi salute. In another speech, Trump said the government should threaten journalists with prison rape in order to convince them to reveal their sources."
=====
June 9, 2023....
Two and a half years after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, an estimated 12 million American adults, or 4.4% of the adult population, believe violence is justified to restore Donald Trump to the White House.
"As the legal historian Jared A. Goldstein has observed, right-wing extremists have long wrapped their views in twisted interpretations of the Constitution. This was as true for McVeigh as it was for the January 6 insurrectionists."
So true. I took entire courses at Berkeley and Stanford about the Framers and the Constitution. Context is key.
==========
The Oklahoma City bombing....
"some of the first victims to be found were the youngest. The firefighters on the scene brought out so many children that they began to line up their small bodies on the sidewalk, in a kind of temporary morgue."
McVeigh, and monsters like him are not patriots. They're self-absorbed cry babies that have no problem killing children. Disgusting.
==========
Lying to themselves and to others, continues to this day.
"McVeigh claimed he had been framed by the government, which had itself orchestrated the bombing, as a provocation to impose gun control. Olson said government agents had set off a second blast inside the Murrah building to cause maximum damage. Thompson, who had produced the video Waco, the Big Lie, which was McVeigh’s favorite, later said of Oklahoma City: “I definitely believe the government did the bombing. I mean, who’s got a track record of killing children?” The movement would return to this paradigm repeatedly. Acts of violence, whether the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012 or the January 6, 2021, insurrection, could always be explained away as the work of conspiracies by the government (or left-wing groups) to create a backlash and thus advance a liberal agenda."
========
Totally out of control fascist behavior....
"At one event before the 2022 midterm elections, many in the audience responded with the raised-right-arm gesture that signals affiliation with QAnon and recalls the Nazi salute. In another speech, Trump said the government should threaten journalists with prison rape in order to convince them to reveal their sources."
=====
June 9, 2023....
Two and a half years after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, an estimated 12 million American adults, or 4.4% of the adult population, believe violence is justified to restore Donald Trump to the White House.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 28, 2023
An Intriguing 'Procedural' of the Oklahoma City Bombing
First, I need to emphasize that I like Jeffrey Toobin's work, based on his career as a journalist whose byline I have followed and on his previous book I read several years ago, "American Heiress," about the Patty Hearst case. And I like this new book, too, that lays out the Oklahoma City bombing and the legal process against perpetrators, including Timothy McVeigh.
The reason I'm giving this book 4 stars is the over-reaching claims of the title and the promotional material accompanying the book's launch by Simon and Schuster. Choosing a star rating was a tough decision for me, in this case, because I want to give Toobin's page-turning overview of the case 5 stars. But I want to give Simon and Schuster 1 star for claiming this book is about the overall sweep of "the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism." Publicity material Simon and Schuster is distributing with the book's release claims this is a book that "traces a direct line from the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing ... to the January 6 insurrection."
That simply wasn't Toobin's mission in writing this book and it's not what's between these two covers. Toobin is a journalist as well as an attorney and he's quite straight forward about his mission here. Releasing this book in 2023, he does point out that recent "militia" attacks and thwarted plots (including one against the governor of Michigan, where I live) prompted him to research and write this book about this major milestone in American terrorism that unfolded in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. The attack killed 168 people and injured 680. McVeigh intentionally scheduled the explosion on the second anniversary of the fiery end of the siege in Waco, Texas.
So, yes, Toobin's book quickly acknowledges some of the relevant history before Oklahoma City and, at the end of his book, he briefly sketches more recent home-grown terrorist activity, including the January 6 insurrection in Washington D.C. But he clearly never intended this book as a historical overview of "right-wing extremism." There's no mention of the Black Legion. The Ku Klux Klan is only briefly mentioned, because of McVeigh's connection with the KKK. There's no mention of the pro-Nazi movements in this country in the 1930s. The John Birch Society is mentioned on one page. You get the idea: There's no serious historical overview in these pages.
Then, the connections with January 6? Toobin makes a few observations in the final pages, but there's nothing new revealed in that section.
What this book does give us is a 5-star, true-crime overview in the "procedural" genre of true crime books: We know from the start "who did it" and the book takes us through the whole process through McVeigh's execution and the scattering of his ashes in the Rockies. That's page-turning narration by an expert journalist.
Toobin is not a psychologist or sociologist and doesn't claim to be one. However, as a veteran journalist, he does offer some important observations about how the participants in this horrific crime deluded themselves into thinking they were doing something noble. Deep in the book, there's a haunting four-word sentence about McVeigh's onetime buddy Mike Forier. Toobin writes: "His world was small." Indeed! Those four words speak volumes. Although McVeigh and his friends were able to widely network themselves with books, resources and personalities in the extremist communities across the U.S., they were able to believe the lies these folks were telling because their own lives were closed off from the rest of the real world. In Fortier's case, that isolation was deepened because he was addicted to meth for quite a while.
I don't regard this review as revealing any "spoilers," because I have to assume anyone reading this review already knows a good deal about the 1995 bombing and its aftermath. As a journalist myself, I welcome the "reality check" of this fresh accounting of the entire case by Toobin. There's a lot within the scope of what Toobin has accomplished here to warrant a good look. It's a fascinating book. It's just not a book you should judge by the cover.
First, I need to emphasize that I like Jeffrey Toobin's work, based on his career as a journalist whose byline I have followed and on his previous book I read several years ago, "American Heiress," about the Patty Hearst case. And I like this new book, too, that lays out the Oklahoma City bombing and the legal process against perpetrators, including Timothy McVeigh.
The reason I'm giving this book 4 stars is the over-reaching claims of the title and the promotional material accompanying the book's launch by Simon and Schuster. Choosing a star rating was a tough decision for me, in this case, because I want to give Toobin's page-turning overview of the case 5 stars. But I want to give Simon and Schuster 1 star for claiming this book is about the overall sweep of "the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism." Publicity material Simon and Schuster is distributing with the book's release claims this is a book that "traces a direct line from the 1995 Oklahoma City Bombing ... to the January 6 insurrection."
That simply wasn't Toobin's mission in writing this book and it's not what's between these two covers. Toobin is a journalist as well as an attorney and he's quite straight forward about his mission here. Releasing this book in 2023, he does point out that recent "militia" attacks and thwarted plots (including one against the governor of Michigan, where I live) prompted him to research and write this book about this major milestone in American terrorism that unfolded in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. The attack killed 168 people and injured 680. McVeigh intentionally scheduled the explosion on the second anniversary of the fiery end of the siege in Waco, Texas.
So, yes, Toobin's book quickly acknowledges some of the relevant history before Oklahoma City and, at the end of his book, he briefly sketches more recent home-grown terrorist activity, including the January 6 insurrection in Washington D.C. But he clearly never intended this book as a historical overview of "right-wing extremism." There's no mention of the Black Legion. The Ku Klux Klan is only briefly mentioned, because of McVeigh's connection with the KKK. There's no mention of the pro-Nazi movements in this country in the 1930s. The John Birch Society is mentioned on one page. You get the idea: There's no serious historical overview in these pages.
Then, the connections with January 6? Toobin makes a few observations in the final pages, but there's nothing new revealed in that section.
What this book does give us is a 5-star, true-crime overview in the "procedural" genre of true crime books: We know from the start "who did it" and the book takes us through the whole process through McVeigh's execution and the scattering of his ashes in the Rockies. That's page-turning narration by an expert journalist.
Toobin is not a psychologist or sociologist and doesn't claim to be one. However, as a veteran journalist, he does offer some important observations about how the participants in this horrific crime deluded themselves into thinking they were doing something noble. Deep in the book, there's a haunting four-word sentence about McVeigh's onetime buddy Mike Forier. Toobin writes: "His world was small." Indeed! Those four words speak volumes. Although McVeigh and his friends were able to widely network themselves with books, resources and personalities in the extremist communities across the U.S., they were able to believe the lies these folks were telling because their own lives were closed off from the rest of the real world. In Fortier's case, that isolation was deepened because he was addicted to meth for quite a while.
I don't regard this review as revealing any "spoilers," because I have to assume anyone reading this review already knows a good deal about the 1995 bombing and its aftermath. As a journalist myself, I welcome the "reality check" of this fresh accounting of the entire case by Toobin. There's a lot within the scope of what Toobin has accomplished here to warrant a good look. It's a fascinating book. It's just not a book you should judge by the cover.
May 22, 2023
From the Murrah building to the United States Capitol
On the 19th of April 1999 Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. 168 people died. On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. 5 people died. In this book, Jeffrey Toobin, lawyer and longtime legal analyst for CNN, states that although these events took place more than 20 years apart, the political reaction is different. The thoughts and ideals that motivated McVeigh 20 years ago, are now widely embraced by a former president, and possible again by a future president.
Toobin's writing is characterized by its factual approach, providing a comprehensive account of the subject matter. However, it does not focus on the full breadth of eyewitness testimonies concerning the bombing and the lasting effects on survivors and their families. Despite the limited instances, the narratives that do emerge are deeply poignant and unforgettable. One such instance is the harrowing story of a courageous doctor who made the difficult decision to amputate a woman's leg on the spot, ultimately saving her life. During the trial, several testimonies left a profound impact on those present. Among them was the heartrending account of a 12-year-old boy, whose father was an FBI serviceman. Following the funeral, the young boy consoled his grieving mother, declaring with unwavering strength, "Mum, I'm going to step up and take care of you now." Equally devastating was the tale of a woman injured in the blast, who was faced with the heart-wrenching task of burying her 5-month-old baby in a closed casket due to the disfiguring effects of a severe head wound. The overwhelming emotions invoked by these stories were palpable, bringing both the jury and myself to tears.
Perhaps for some readers, Toobin's writing, though factual, could benefit from delving further into the profound human experiences and emotions surrounding this tragic event, allowing readers to fully grasp the lasting impact on those affected by the bombing. But Toobin didn't intend to write such a story. Instead he wanted to remain factual, especially with the added storyline. More of that later.
“No plan B”
McVeigh was a competent soldier who fought in the first Iraq war. The army was his life and gave meaning to an otherwise meaningless life. His time in the military fostered a sense of camaraderie with like-minded individuals and exposed him for the first time to right wing extremist ideas. After he failed a try-out for the Green Berets his army life was over. As Toobin writes, “he had no plan B.” There was a terrible kind of momentum to the failure and frustration and outrage built up within him. What made McVeigh different from so many others that faced disappointments in their lives, was that he became determined to strike back. McVeigh’s failure began a spiral that ended four years later at the Murrah building.
The Turner Diaries, Waco and the shortwave radio
Disillusioned, he went home and started drifting towards a more and more radicalized right-wing view. His biggest ideological influence was a novel, The Turner Diaries, which depicts a fictional uprising against perceived government tyranny led by a white supremacist group who want to exterminate non-white races. The revolution served as a blueprint for McVeigh’s own radicalization and his belief in the necessity of violent action to bring about social change.
The standoff between the federal government and the Branch Davidians at Waco, Texas was also a big influence. McVeigh attended the siege during the stand-off and can be seen selling right-wing bumper stickers from the hood of his car during a television interview. He believed that the Waco incident demonstrated the government’s willingness to use violence against its own citizens. Such actions called for a response.
For some of the younger generations it might be hard to imagine, but McVeigh had no access to internet or social media. Instead, he listened to shortwave radio which quickly became a platform for various fringe groups to share their views on politics, religion and various conspiracy theories. Especially Rush Limbaugh was the voice of an ascending right-wing authoritarianism, the movement that McVeigh embraced. In particular, McVeigh took Limbaugh both seriously and literally. McVeigh spoke so warmly and openly about the need to fight back against the federal government because he knew that many other people agreed with him. His goal was to push the Republican revolution one step further. The bombing would be the fuse that led to a nationwide rebellion.
Preparing the bomb
Thus, the preparations for the Oklahoma City bombing began. Timothy McVeigh was determined to take action, and Jeffrey Toobin's account meticulously details the steps McVeigh and his accomplices took to construct the bomb. What struck me the most was the unsettling ease and casualness with which they went about their preparations, as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world. Buying 40 sacks of fertilizer didn't raise any suspicion in rural Kansas, and acquiring fuel for the bomb wasn't a problem either. They obtained the detonators by simply breaking into a deserted gravel mine, as if it were an inconsequential act. The moment when McVeigh casually demonstrated to an accomplice how to maximize the blast by adjusting the barrels sent shivers down my spine.
The bombing and arrest
The bombing took place on 9.02 AM in the 19th of April 1999. This was no coincidence: it was the second anniversary of the fiery end of the Waco siege. The human toll was devastating: 168 souls lost, including 19 children, with several hundred more injured. McVeigh drove northwards, only to be stopped by a trooper who noticed a beat-up Mercury missing a registration tag. During the subsequent investigation the suspect – Timothy McVeigh – admitted to having a weapon and said it was loaded. The trooper had drawn his own weapon and replied, “So is mine.” After just a few hours, McVeigh was already arrested.
The trial
Tobin extensively draws on the 635 boxes of documents that McVeigh’s lead lawyer donated to the university of Texas. Apart from that he had interviews with lots of participants, including then president Bill Clinton.
This explains why a significant part of the book is reserved for the trial. Toobin sheds light on the way the defense team worked on the case and the rift that soon emerged between defense attorney Stephen Jones and McVeigh. Jones employed various defense strategies to mitigate McVeigh’s culpability and secure a more favorable outcome for his client. He challenged the evidence by questioning the credibility and reliability of both evidence and witnesses but most importantly raised the possibility of a ‘second John Doe’, firmly believing that other individuals were involved in the bombing, suggesting a broader conspiracy. This caused a rift between Jones and McVeigh who wanted the sole responsibility and subsequent fame.
Toobin, who himself as an analyst covered the McVeigh trial, acknowledged he made a mistake: thanks to journalists covering the case, the impression lingered that McVeigh was an aberration: a lone and lonely figure who represented only himself. This notion, as history would show, was mistaken.
Right-wing extremism
This brings me to the other main theme for this book. Toobin sees the Oklahoma bombing not as a random act of terror by a demented individual, but a targeted political act of right against left. The political response to right-wing terror followed a pattern as well. Conservatives have long minimized the threat of right-wing violence and as in Oklahoma City, sought to blame terrorism on foreigners or left-wing groups. This was especially true after the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, because those attacks were genuinely the work of radical Muslim extremists. The right created almost a presumption that all terrorism originates with Muslims. This has included an enduring if futile effort to tie the Oklahoma City bombing to Muslim operatives. McVeigh understood the potential for his right-wing compatriots for joining him in action. He believed there was an army out there ready to rise. McVeigh failed to find his army because he had no efficient way to locate and mobilize potential allies. In other words, McVeigh didn’t have the internet and in particular social media. As it turned out, there was an army of McVeigh’s heirs out there, but it took the invention of cyberspace for the soldiers to find one another.
Donald Trump broke the pattern of right-wing terror rising under Democratic administrations and falling during Republic ones for a simple reason: he encouraged it. Trump won election as president, served in office and saw to remain there after he lost in 2020 by embracing political violence. From his earliest campaigning to his final moments as president, Trump employed the language of not so veiled physical threat. The resurrection of January 6th represented the apotheosis of Trump’s presidency when the implicit menage in Trump’s language, amplified by social media, was translated into unprecedented violence.
After the storming of the Capitol, the language of violence became standard within the modern Republican party. The kind of language that inspired McVeigh to destroy the Murrah building, just as it incited the January 6th rioters. This kind of language led to violence in the past, and will do so in the future.
Summary
Toobin has basically written two books in one. His first book is a factual account of McVeighs thoughts, preparations for the bombing and the trial that followed. The second book is a warning for the United States. After Oklahoma City, no politician defended the attack. But after January 6th, Republican politicians did just that. The Republican establishment has embraced many of the same convictions that caused McVeigh to attack holds dire warnings for the future.
From the Murrah building to the United States Capitol, Jeffrey Toobin's book examines the shared motivations behind acts of terror separated by two decades, offering a stark warning about the political reaction to right-wing violence.
Read more of my reviews here
On the 19th of April 1999 Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. 168 people died. On January 6, 2021, following the defeat of U.S. President Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election, a mob of his supporters attacked the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. 5 people died. In this book, Jeffrey Toobin, lawyer and longtime legal analyst for CNN, states that although these events took place more than 20 years apart, the political reaction is different. The thoughts and ideals that motivated McVeigh 20 years ago, are now widely embraced by a former president, and possible again by a future president.
Toobin's writing is characterized by its factual approach, providing a comprehensive account of the subject matter. However, it does not focus on the full breadth of eyewitness testimonies concerning the bombing and the lasting effects on survivors and their families. Despite the limited instances, the narratives that do emerge are deeply poignant and unforgettable. One such instance is the harrowing story of a courageous doctor who made the difficult decision to amputate a woman's leg on the spot, ultimately saving her life. During the trial, several testimonies left a profound impact on those present. Among them was the heartrending account of a 12-year-old boy, whose father was an FBI serviceman. Following the funeral, the young boy consoled his grieving mother, declaring with unwavering strength, "Mum, I'm going to step up and take care of you now." Equally devastating was the tale of a woman injured in the blast, who was faced with the heart-wrenching task of burying her 5-month-old baby in a closed casket due to the disfiguring effects of a severe head wound. The overwhelming emotions invoked by these stories were palpable, bringing both the jury and myself to tears.
Perhaps for some readers, Toobin's writing, though factual, could benefit from delving further into the profound human experiences and emotions surrounding this tragic event, allowing readers to fully grasp the lasting impact on those affected by the bombing. But Toobin didn't intend to write such a story. Instead he wanted to remain factual, especially with the added storyline. More of that later.
“No plan B”
McVeigh was a competent soldier who fought in the first Iraq war. The army was his life and gave meaning to an otherwise meaningless life. His time in the military fostered a sense of camaraderie with like-minded individuals and exposed him for the first time to right wing extremist ideas. After he failed a try-out for the Green Berets his army life was over. As Toobin writes, “he had no plan B.” There was a terrible kind of momentum to the failure and frustration and outrage built up within him. What made McVeigh different from so many others that faced disappointments in their lives, was that he became determined to strike back. McVeigh’s failure began a spiral that ended four years later at the Murrah building.
The Turner Diaries, Waco and the shortwave radio
Disillusioned, he went home and started drifting towards a more and more radicalized right-wing view. His biggest ideological influence was a novel, The Turner Diaries, which depicts a fictional uprising against perceived government tyranny led by a white supremacist group who want to exterminate non-white races. The revolution served as a blueprint for McVeigh’s own radicalization and his belief in the necessity of violent action to bring about social change.
The standoff between the federal government and the Branch Davidians at Waco, Texas was also a big influence. McVeigh attended the siege during the stand-off and can be seen selling right-wing bumper stickers from the hood of his car during a television interview. He believed that the Waco incident demonstrated the government’s willingness to use violence against its own citizens. Such actions called for a response.
For some of the younger generations it might be hard to imagine, but McVeigh had no access to internet or social media. Instead, he listened to shortwave radio which quickly became a platform for various fringe groups to share their views on politics, religion and various conspiracy theories. Especially Rush Limbaugh was the voice of an ascending right-wing authoritarianism, the movement that McVeigh embraced. In particular, McVeigh took Limbaugh both seriously and literally. McVeigh spoke so warmly and openly about the need to fight back against the federal government because he knew that many other people agreed with him. His goal was to push the Republican revolution one step further. The bombing would be the fuse that led to a nationwide rebellion.
Preparing the bomb
Thus, the preparations for the Oklahoma City bombing began. Timothy McVeigh was determined to take action, and Jeffrey Toobin's account meticulously details the steps McVeigh and his accomplices took to construct the bomb. What struck me the most was the unsettling ease and casualness with which they went about their preparations, as if it was the most ordinary thing in the world. Buying 40 sacks of fertilizer didn't raise any suspicion in rural Kansas, and acquiring fuel for the bomb wasn't a problem either. They obtained the detonators by simply breaking into a deserted gravel mine, as if it were an inconsequential act. The moment when McVeigh casually demonstrated to an accomplice how to maximize the blast by adjusting the barrels sent shivers down my spine.
The bombing and arrest
The bombing took place on 9.02 AM in the 19th of April 1999. This was no coincidence: it was the second anniversary of the fiery end of the Waco siege. The human toll was devastating: 168 souls lost, including 19 children, with several hundred more injured. McVeigh drove northwards, only to be stopped by a trooper who noticed a beat-up Mercury missing a registration tag. During the subsequent investigation the suspect – Timothy McVeigh – admitted to having a weapon and said it was loaded. The trooper had drawn his own weapon and replied, “So is mine.” After just a few hours, McVeigh was already arrested.
The trial
Tobin extensively draws on the 635 boxes of documents that McVeigh’s lead lawyer donated to the university of Texas. Apart from that he had interviews with lots of participants, including then president Bill Clinton.
This explains why a significant part of the book is reserved for the trial. Toobin sheds light on the way the defense team worked on the case and the rift that soon emerged between defense attorney Stephen Jones and McVeigh. Jones employed various defense strategies to mitigate McVeigh’s culpability and secure a more favorable outcome for his client. He challenged the evidence by questioning the credibility and reliability of both evidence and witnesses but most importantly raised the possibility of a ‘second John Doe’, firmly believing that other individuals were involved in the bombing, suggesting a broader conspiracy. This caused a rift between Jones and McVeigh who wanted the sole responsibility and subsequent fame.
Toobin, who himself as an analyst covered the McVeigh trial, acknowledged he made a mistake: thanks to journalists covering the case, the impression lingered that McVeigh was an aberration: a lone and lonely figure who represented only himself. This notion, as history would show, was mistaken.
Right-wing extremism
This brings me to the other main theme for this book. Toobin sees the Oklahoma bombing not as a random act of terror by a demented individual, but a targeted political act of right against left. The political response to right-wing terror followed a pattern as well. Conservatives have long minimized the threat of right-wing violence and as in Oklahoma City, sought to blame terrorism on foreigners or left-wing groups. This was especially true after the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001, because those attacks were genuinely the work of radical Muslim extremists. The right created almost a presumption that all terrorism originates with Muslims. This has included an enduring if futile effort to tie the Oklahoma City bombing to Muslim operatives. McVeigh understood the potential for his right-wing compatriots for joining him in action. He believed there was an army out there ready to rise. McVeigh failed to find his army because he had no efficient way to locate and mobilize potential allies. In other words, McVeigh didn’t have the internet and in particular social media. As it turned out, there was an army of McVeigh’s heirs out there, but it took the invention of cyberspace for the soldiers to find one another.
Donald Trump broke the pattern of right-wing terror rising under Democratic administrations and falling during Republic ones for a simple reason: he encouraged it. Trump won election as president, served in office and saw to remain there after he lost in 2020 by embracing political violence. From his earliest campaigning to his final moments as president, Trump employed the language of not so veiled physical threat. The resurrection of January 6th represented the apotheosis of Trump’s presidency when the implicit menage in Trump’s language, amplified by social media, was translated into unprecedented violence.
After the storming of the Capitol, the language of violence became standard within the modern Republican party. The kind of language that inspired McVeigh to destroy the Murrah building, just as it incited the January 6th rioters. This kind of language led to violence in the past, and will do so in the future.
Summary
Toobin has basically written two books in one. His first book is a factual account of McVeighs thoughts, preparations for the bombing and the trial that followed. The second book is a warning for the United States. After Oklahoma City, no politician defended the attack. But after January 6th, Republican politicians did just that. The Republican establishment has embraced many of the same convictions that caused McVeigh to attack holds dire warnings for the future.
From the Murrah building to the United States Capitol, Jeffrey Toobin's book examines the shared motivations behind acts of terror separated by two decades, offering a stark warning about the political reaction to right-wing violence.
Read more of my reviews here
August 24, 2023
This was fifth Toobin book that I've been fortunate to read. I liked them all as he is an exceptionally clear writer. The single day impact of this terrorist crime - the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in OKC on April 19 1995 - that McVeigh committed was only exceeded by Nathan Bedford Forrest in the Civil War and the attack on 9/11.
Next to his book on the O.J. trial, this is Toobin's best book. He hints at why in the acknowledgments. A treasure trove of defense interviews with McVeigh, thousands of pages were made available to him through the University of Texas. This allowed Toobin to write a detailed factual narrative. He does tie this act to January 6th which wasn't as strong. I think we are all well aware of militias and white nationalists (McVeigh was one) and their role in trying to destroy our democracy but this has been going on for a very long time. Long before McVeigh showed up on the scene.
4.5 stars. This is now the definitive account of the bombing and most importantly the reasons behind why it happened.
Next to his book on the O.J. trial, this is Toobin's best book. He hints at why in the acknowledgments. A treasure trove of defense interviews with McVeigh, thousands of pages were made available to him through the University of Texas. This allowed Toobin to write a detailed factual narrative. He does tie this act to January 6th which wasn't as strong. I think we are all well aware of militias and white nationalists (McVeigh was one) and their role in trying to destroy our democracy but this has been going on for a very long time. Long before McVeigh showed up on the scene.
4.5 stars. This is now the definitive account of the bombing and most importantly the reasons behind why it happened.
April 17, 2023
So Toobin is a big snob who thinks Denverites haven’t heard of D. H. Lawrence and that guns are a gateway drug for white supremacy, but I did learn some things (turns out my teen self did not fully grasp the societal tensions underlying the Oklahoma City bombing, go figure). I also resent the subtitle of this book, which really oversells Toobin’s asides about Jan 6, but hopefully this book is just one piece of a larger examination.
![Profile Image for laurel [the suspected bibliophile].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1645808644i%2F7494844._UX200_CR0%2C6%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
January 5, 2024
A fascinating and horrifying look at the rise of Timothy McVeigh and his right wing extremist contemporaries...and their connection to today's militant extremist.
Toobin points out often and accurately that McVeigh wasn't a lone wolf in the attacks. While he acted alone (with one other person), there were others he told his plans, and still many, many more who supported his ideology against the federal government. These people, fueled on by pundits like Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh, are white people under the interesting impression that their rights are under attack. Specifically, their rights to own whatever firearm they wish...and to act however they wish, and their fervent belief that a second civil war is coming and they will prevail against the evils of the world.
I kinda wish Toobin connected this people more to their still deeper roots—he mentions white supremacy but doesn't really delve into the history of this kind of extremism (read: white supremacy. Where the fuck do you think all the lynch mobs went???), nor does he really spend a lot of time connecting the twenty-five years between McVeigh and January 6th, just that these two moments are intrinsically linked.
What Toobin does a great job at is showing how prevalent these types of thoughts are among military and police, and how recruitment often attracts individuals prone to this behavior and line of thinking.
It's a worthwhile read, but I need something weird and light so I can get out of McVeigh's mind, where this book spends a whole heck of a lot of time.
Anywho, if you're reading this little review and you're for some reason on the side of the QAnon asshats and the people who attempted to overthrow the government on January 6th (or if you think they have some semblance of a point in their grievances), please go outside and touch grass. And then attempt to name three women who see you as a point of safety. Those three women cannot be related or married to you. After that, please seek therapy.
Toobin points out often and accurately that McVeigh wasn't a lone wolf in the attacks. While he acted alone (with one other person), there were others he told his plans, and still many, many more who supported his ideology against the federal government. These people, fueled on by pundits like Glen Beck and Rush Limbaugh, are white people under the interesting impression that their rights are under attack. Specifically, their rights to own whatever firearm they wish...and to act however they wish, and their fervent belief that a second civil war is coming and they will prevail against the evils of the world.
I kinda wish Toobin connected this people more to their still deeper roots—he mentions white supremacy but doesn't really delve into the history of this kind of extremism (read: white supremacy. Where the fuck do you think all the lynch mobs went???), nor does he really spend a lot of time connecting the twenty-five years between McVeigh and January 6th, just that these two moments are intrinsically linked.
What Toobin does a great job at is showing how prevalent these types of thoughts are among military and police, and how recruitment often attracts individuals prone to this behavior and line of thinking.
It's a worthwhile read, but I need something weird and light so I can get out of McVeigh's mind, where this book spends a whole heck of a lot of time.
Anywho, if you're reading this little review and you're for some reason on the side of the QAnon asshats and the people who attempted to overthrow the government on January 6th (or if you think they have some semblance of a point in their grievances), please go outside and touch grass. And then attempt to name three women who see you as a point of safety. Those three women cannot be related or married to you. After that, please seek therapy.
March 11, 2023
Deepest gratitude to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for early access to this phenomenal book.
I was 7 at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, and raised by parents who watched the news avidly and tried to educate me about what was happening in the country and around the world in an age-appropriate way. I have a few vivid memories of footage of the wreckage on TV, and of course the name and expressionless face of Timothy McVeigh are etched in my brain. I don’t think I ever understood why he did what he did at that time, short of, “sometimes when people are filled with hate, hurt, and anger, they make the choice to respond in really hurtful and violent ways.” At 7, that’s all I knew. Wasn’t sure what exactly or who exactly he hated. I don’t know that my parents knew enough to tell me, either.
I remember some cursory references to the OKC bombing coming up when 9/11 happened. At that point, I was a freshman in high school, and I realized that McVeigh was a terrorist. His beliefs and motivations were a bit different than those of the terrorists who crashed into the towers, but he was a terrorist through and through.
One thing I did come to realize over the years, though, is that domestic terrorism — as it is referred to — seemed to be a massive problem. Much bigger, actually, in my estimation than the attacks coming from folks on the outside. And yet, somehow, much less talked about, and almost dismissed to a degree, it would seem. I couldn’t quite understand why until I learned that domestic terrorism was really a product of white supremacy, and then it made perfect sense why it was swept under the rug so often.
Toobin’s work is so critical and relevant to our past AND our present. His research is extremely thorough while also covering a wide breadth — a testament to his journalistic talent. Through his book, we are able to follow the path of right-wing extremism over generations, and see how it has persisted and been passed on, and how people continue to become indoctrinated into this violent and dangerous ideology. Toobin shows the direct line between McVeigh and his compatriots and the insurrectionists of January 6th. These extremist armies have always existed, but the advent of the internet has made it much easier for them to find one another, increase their numbers, build community, and plot acts of terror.
Although this book is long, it never drags, and the writing is so accessible to a wide range of readers. I think it is so critical for everyone to deepen their understanding of how this kind of ideology takes hold, cultivates roots, and grows, and understand the nature of the beast and the threat it has always posed — and very much still does pose.
I was 7 at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, and raised by parents who watched the news avidly and tried to educate me about what was happening in the country and around the world in an age-appropriate way. I have a few vivid memories of footage of the wreckage on TV, and of course the name and expressionless face of Timothy McVeigh are etched in my brain. I don’t think I ever understood why he did what he did at that time, short of, “sometimes when people are filled with hate, hurt, and anger, they make the choice to respond in really hurtful and violent ways.” At 7, that’s all I knew. Wasn’t sure what exactly or who exactly he hated. I don’t know that my parents knew enough to tell me, either.
I remember some cursory references to the OKC bombing coming up when 9/11 happened. At that point, I was a freshman in high school, and I realized that McVeigh was a terrorist. His beliefs and motivations were a bit different than those of the terrorists who crashed into the towers, but he was a terrorist through and through.
One thing I did come to realize over the years, though, is that domestic terrorism — as it is referred to — seemed to be a massive problem. Much bigger, actually, in my estimation than the attacks coming from folks on the outside. And yet, somehow, much less talked about, and almost dismissed to a degree, it would seem. I couldn’t quite understand why until I learned that domestic terrorism was really a product of white supremacy, and then it made perfect sense why it was swept under the rug so often.
Toobin’s work is so critical and relevant to our past AND our present. His research is extremely thorough while also covering a wide breadth — a testament to his journalistic talent. Through his book, we are able to follow the path of right-wing extremism over generations, and see how it has persisted and been passed on, and how people continue to become indoctrinated into this violent and dangerous ideology. Toobin shows the direct line between McVeigh and his compatriots and the insurrectionists of January 6th. These extremist armies have always existed, but the advent of the internet has made it much easier for them to find one another, increase their numbers, build community, and plot acts of terror.
Although this book is long, it never drags, and the writing is so accessible to a wide range of readers. I think it is so critical for everyone to deepen their understanding of how this kind of ideology takes hold, cultivates roots, and grows, and understand the nature of the beast and the threat it has always posed — and very much still does pose.
August 10, 2023
Good history on McVeigh and Nichols, and the lead-up and aftermath of the Oklahoma City Bombing weakened by the author’s attempt to equate this horrible slaughter with the LARPing that took place at the Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.
June 30, 2025
Quit about halfway through. Jeffrey Toobin has upper class credentials, (Harvard Law) and a brilliant legal mind but he has no sympathy for McVeigh and no insight into his character. The whole book is like a character assassination of Right Wing America, guilt by association, sneering innuendoes, and general snobbery.
A lot of drooling over Bill Clinton as a tower of strength and symbol of rectitude. He really was all those things, of course. He looked good chasing Monica around with his pants down too! Great quote from Bill: "you can't hate the government and love the country." Unless you're a draft-dodger hiding out in England!
But leaving Bill Clinton out of it, you know what name never came up? Charlie Manson. I mean, how soon they forget! When Manson stunned America with his brutal murders, everyone wanted to know what "Helter Skelter" was all about. Turns out it was actually the name of a Beatles song. And Charlie Manson was a big fan. When I was a kid everyone knew this. But nobody tried to pretend that *all* Beatle fans wanted to stab Sharon Tate with knives.
This book actually makes that stupid argument. Anyone who listens to Rush Limbaugh is a mad bomber. Anyone who loves guns in a murderer. Anyone who serves in the military is a racist. Jeffrey Toobin makes exactly the stupid argument Richard Nixon types used to make about Charlie Manson and the Beatles. Irony is lost on some people, I guess.
A lot of drooling over Bill Clinton as a tower of strength and symbol of rectitude. He really was all those things, of course. He looked good chasing Monica around with his pants down too! Great quote from Bill: "you can't hate the government and love the country." Unless you're a draft-dodger hiding out in England!
But leaving Bill Clinton out of it, you know what name never came up? Charlie Manson. I mean, how soon they forget! When Manson stunned America with his brutal murders, everyone wanted to know what "Helter Skelter" was all about. Turns out it was actually the name of a Beatles song. And Charlie Manson was a big fan. When I was a kid everyone knew this. But nobody tried to pretend that *all* Beatle fans wanted to stab Sharon Tate with knives.
This book actually makes that stupid argument. Anyone who listens to Rush Limbaugh is a mad bomber. Anyone who loves guns in a murderer. Anyone who serves in the military is a racist. Jeffrey Toobin makes exactly the stupid argument Richard Nixon types used to make about Charlie Manson and the Beatles. Irony is lost on some people, I guess.
August 4, 2023
"If you appropriate our sacred symbols for paranoid purposes and compare yourselves to colonial militias who fought for the democracy you now rail against, you are wrong. How dare you suggest that we in the freest nation on earth live in tyranny! How dare you call yourselves patriots and heroes! I say to you, all of you, the members of the Class of 1995, there is nothing patriotic about hating your country or pretending that you can love your country but despise your government." Excerpt from President Clinton's address to Michiganders.
In 2023 we can see how far we've come, and not in a good way, with the availability of the internet, our current inability to accept and agree on simple, self evident truths, and our cowardly, lying politicians fanning the flames, we have no where to go but to a very bad place.
This is an excellent account of the Oklahoma City massacre and its perpetrator Timothy McVeigh, I recommend it to all history lovers. The pictures at the end of the book broke my heart all over again.
In 2023 we can see how far we've come, and not in a good way, with the availability of the internet, our current inability to accept and agree on simple, self evident truths, and our cowardly, lying politicians fanning the flames, we have no where to go but to a very bad place.
This is an excellent account of the Oklahoma City massacre and its perpetrator Timothy McVeigh, I recommend it to all history lovers. The pictures at the end of the book broke my heart all over again.
November 2, 2024
I have wanted to read a thorough account of McVeigh and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and this one may be the definitive book on this horrific event. It was the worst terrorist attack on US soil, until 9/11, killing 168 people, many of them children. Jeffrey Toobin has quickly become one of my favorite narrative nonfiction authors. His book on Patty Hearst is also fantastic. What he effectively does, in Homegrown, is that he links this bombing with Trump and the January 6 Capital attacks, mapping out the rise of nationalism and right-wing media, which has led to many violent incidents and mass shootings over the past two decades. It is a meticulous and terrifying read. I am not a proponent of the death penalty, but I have no problem making an exception for McVeigh.
June 27, 2023
Right-wing extremism and conservative movement history are two topics that have special interest for me. This book does a great job touching on both subjects. I would have selected a professional narrator for the audiobook. That is why I only given it 4 stars.
August 31, 2023
Terrifyingly parallel to whatever is going on right now. Conspiracy, paranoia, right wing extremism. What the f is wrong with people and how can the same shitte be spouted for 40+ years and people still get mired in it? Crazy crazy.
May 16, 2023
I will never forget the day of the Oklahoma bombing; seeing the destruction, the screaming, the smoke - it is something that stays with you for forever and as the horrific details came out, trying to understand Timothy McVeigh and just WHY he would do such a horrific thing with such disregard for human life was something I have struggled with for years. So, when I saw this book was being published, I knew I had to request it and dive into the not-so-distant past.
This was an amazingly researched and detailed book. Intermingled with the story of Timothy McVeigh is the story of January 6th and how the events of that day were directly affected by the actions of TMcV [as many of the mass shootings have as well; several of the shooters had photos and information about TMcV in their house and their "manifesto's" directly quote him] and it is really terrifying to see just how the "far right" has evolved and just how truly dangerous they all really are [just look at the chaos caused daily by the likes of Tucker Carlson, MTG, Lauren Boebart and others].
IF you were around in 1995, this is a must-read. It is so interesting to see how TMcV evolved and the extensive planning that went into the whole thing [people were SO wrong in calling him stupid; if nothing else was clear by the end of this book, his NOT being stupid is made abundantly clear] and how, right until the end, he was never sorry, never expressed remorse and continued to blame the government he hated.
**Even though I waited and got an audiobook from Scribd and not from NetGalley, I'd be remiss for not mentioning it here. The author narrates and he is as good a narrator as he is a writer/researcher and it was a very good listen. I highly recommend listening to this book - it really enhances the overall story.
Thank you to NetGalley, Jeffrey Toobin, and Simon and Schuster for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was an amazingly researched and detailed book. Intermingled with the story of Timothy McVeigh is the story of January 6th and how the events of that day were directly affected by the actions of TMcV [as many of the mass shootings have as well; several of the shooters had photos and information about TMcV in their house and their "manifesto's" directly quote him] and it is really terrifying to see just how the "far right" has evolved and just how truly dangerous they all really are [just look at the chaos caused daily by the likes of Tucker Carlson, MTG, Lauren Boebart and others].
IF you were around in 1995, this is a must-read. It is so interesting to see how TMcV evolved and the extensive planning that went into the whole thing [people were SO wrong in calling him stupid; if nothing else was clear by the end of this book, his NOT being stupid is made abundantly clear] and how, right until the end, he was never sorry, never expressed remorse and continued to blame the government he hated.
**Even though I waited and got an audiobook from Scribd and not from NetGalley, I'd be remiss for not mentioning it here. The author narrates and he is as good a narrator as he is a writer/researcher and it was a very good listen. I highly recommend listening to this book - it really enhances the overall story.
Thank you to NetGalley, Jeffrey Toobin, and Simon and Schuster for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
August 10, 2023
I remember there was a time back when I was still a strapping youth in college. I was driving my mom around when a car swerved in front of me. I, of course layed on the horn. Mom looked at me and said what the heck are you doing? You have no idea who that person is and they may be crazy and have a gun. But obviously, Mom didn't say what the heck. She was always a creative cusser and never missed a chance to let loose with the swears.After reading Jeffry Toobin's Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism, I realized she was right. Mothers are usually right about many things like this, such as the importance of personal hygiene, getting my entire back tattooed with a likeness of my favorite singer, Paula Abdul may be cool at first but could lead to thoughts of regret in my later years. For those that do not remember, Timothy McVeigh blew up a building in Oklahoma City. While the death numbers were not enormous,the fact that most of them were young children attending their daily day care was horrible. McVeigh has been roasting in Hell for many decades now, but his reasoning for this act of terroism is still current. In fact it may sound familiar to the many folks who attacked the Capital building on January 6th: the federal government has abused their power. Toobin draws other similarities such as an unnatural love (and I suppose longing to fornicate with firearms). A feeling that these folks understand the constitution better than anyone else outside of the founding fathers. It can all be a little exhausting. lThink back to that time at the last family bbq when your MAGA cousin kept talking on and on about his newest rifle and something about drag shows and Bud light beer.McVeigh like these Jan 6 rioters thought he was going to make a statement and expose tyranny. Interestingly enough, I work with many folks in their twenties and thirties and none of them can recall McVeigh or the Oklahoma City bombing.This will probably be the case down the road for the Jan 6 folks. Overall, Toobins book is enlightening if a littl soul- scucking.
June 25, 2023
More about Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing than about the rise of right-wing extremism. Toobin will spend a chapter detailing some aspect of McVeigh’s life and the horrible act he committed only to throw in a sentence or two at the end pointing out the differences (or the similarities) between McVeigh and the January 6th insurrectionists. There is no depth to the comparison though, no path drawn between the two, except to note that Rush Limbaugh was probably the most radicalizing influence on both. I was hoping to read more about the journey from 1995 to 2021, but instead we just leap-frogged between one and the other. However, I now know more about the OKC bombing than I ever did, despite remembering it happening when I was in 8th grade.
April 8, 2023
This book brought back a lot of memories. The information was spot on. Interesting to learn about the defense team and reminders of how the same philosophy is in bigger force today. Thought it was dryly presented and no follow up on other potential coconspirators. Also, Nichols dead baby was a red herring that was touched on in the beginning but never properly addressed again. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.
April 29, 2024
3.5 stars--HOMEGROWN is a page-turner account of a shocking act of terrorism on U.S. soil that has seared itself into the memory of anyone who lived through the time period. The book isn't just an account of the crime itself, but also ties the perpetrators' political motivations with the hard-right extremists of today, who are much more visible than they were during the mid-1990s.
January 4, 2024
I feel like this book was falsely advertised to me. For something that claims to tell “the story of the historic arc” connecting the OKC bombing and the Jan 6 insurrection, this was about 95% the story (and Toobin’s MANY opinions) of Timothy McVeigh and 5% the author saying, “Kind of reminds you of the rioters on January 6th, doesn’t it?” Also, for claiming to be based off of “millions of new documents” there are several chapters with no references at all in the back of the book, and more with just one. Just a bit of a disappointment, but at least I learned about a piece of history I wasn’t very wise on.
January 6, 2024
Ironic that I finish on Jan 6th! This book was really interesting and kept my attention but I thought there were some cringey takes and it seems like this author is obsessed with Bill Clinton. Learned a lot about this event and would recommend overall
July 31, 2024
Feels good to stretch those non-fic muscles again. This book is great, and was a good read in considering the current state of extremism, nationalism and right wing violence. The Venn diagram of Timothy McVeigh and Jan 6th has a big ol’ overlap.
September 15, 2023
As someone who was nine at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing, I have vivid memories of learning about it and reading the contemporaneous news reports. Although it's not my earliest major news story memory, it is one of them. The pictures of the day care victims in particular have stayed with me all these years. Nearly 20 years later and a lawyer now, this was an incredibly interesting read for me on a number of levels.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the reason I sought this book out in the first place was the interview Chris Hayes did with Toobin on Why Is This Happening. The real hook, for me, was that I wanted to read about Stephen Jones' decision to donate his entire case file to a library, when that decision seems so obviously to be a dereliction of his duties under the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility. For the record, I'm still not convinced that it wasn't, but I suppose I see a colorable argument, even if I find it (very) unpersuasive. That said, that ship sailed years ago and the access to Jones' entire case file made this a very informative read.
The first 2/3 of this are particularly informative, as it focuses on McVeigh's life and the build up to the bombing, really putting into perspective how he got there and how he was truly more than just a lone wolf. In the latter 1/3 of the book, I found myself at times frustrated with how much Toobin's own opinions of the lawyers and how they constructed and argued their cases were prevalent in the writing. I don't even really think Toobin's opinions were wrong, but something about the way that he made them known just didn't work for me. (For one, he seemed to think that Tigar, who represented Nichols, did a much better job than Jones and his team, responsible for representing McVeigh. That's probably true! But Tigar also had a much better case to make to a jury, and McVeigh himself didn't make the representation easy. I had plenty of questions about the way Jones conducted the defense, but I'm not completely sure it's fair to compare his team and Tigar's.)
The other thing I will say is that the subtitle somewhat oversells the contents of the book. It's a very good book about Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing. Toobin's observations about the rise of right-wing extremism are certainly present in this story, but they are often more asides than any in depth analysis and I generally found them lacking. For example, Toobin spends a lot of time criticizing the prosecutors and politicians for not hitting the ties to right-wing extremism hard, and rarely, if ever, mentions the failings of, say, CNN for the same thing. It was noticeable for me, as I was very aware of who wrote this book and in what primary industry he works as I was reading. And as above, his observations weren't necessarily unfair. Just very incomplete and often out of context. (Not even acknowledging the unique difficulties faced by the first Black president in responding to right-wing extremism, for example, felt like a glaring omission, particularly given the media's constant both-sidesing coverage of these issues.) If you do want to dive more into the overall rise of right-wing extremism in the US in the past 30 years, I would recommend season two of Garrett Graff's Long Shadow podcast.
This was a good book, at times a very powerful one. The notes on some of the stories the prosecution wove into the McVeigh trial come immediately to mind. As a trial tactic, the prosecution's first witness from the water resources board and the idea of the mundane tape recording of a 9 am hearing left an impression on me. I do recommend this book, particularly if you are old enough to remember the bombing from contemporaneous news reports. There is a lot more here than I knew about at the time.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the reason I sought this book out in the first place was the interview Chris Hayes did with Toobin on Why Is This Happening. The real hook, for me, was that I wanted to read about Stephen Jones' decision to donate his entire case file to a library, when that decision seems so obviously to be a dereliction of his duties under the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility. For the record, I'm still not convinced that it wasn't, but I suppose I see a colorable argument, even if I find it (very) unpersuasive. That said, that ship sailed years ago and the access to Jones' entire case file made this a very informative read.
The first 2/3 of this are particularly informative, as it focuses on McVeigh's life and the build up to the bombing, really putting into perspective how he got there and how he was truly more than just a lone wolf. In the latter 1/3 of the book, I found myself at times frustrated with how much Toobin's own opinions of the lawyers and how they constructed and argued their cases were prevalent in the writing. I don't even really think Toobin's opinions were wrong, but something about the way that he made them known just didn't work for me. (For one, he seemed to think that Tigar, who represented Nichols, did a much better job than Jones and his team, responsible for representing McVeigh. That's probably true! But Tigar also had a much better case to make to a jury, and McVeigh himself didn't make the representation easy. I had plenty of questions about the way Jones conducted the defense, but I'm not completely sure it's fair to compare his team and Tigar's.)
The other thing I will say is that the subtitle somewhat oversells the contents of the book. It's a very good book about Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing. Toobin's observations about the rise of right-wing extremism are certainly present in this story, but they are often more asides than any in depth analysis and I generally found them lacking. For example, Toobin spends a lot of time criticizing the prosecutors and politicians for not hitting the ties to right-wing extremism hard, and rarely, if ever, mentions the failings of, say, CNN for the same thing. It was noticeable for me, as I was very aware of who wrote this book and in what primary industry he works as I was reading. And as above, his observations weren't necessarily unfair. Just very incomplete and often out of context. (Not even acknowledging the unique difficulties faced by the first Black president in responding to right-wing extremism, for example, felt like a glaring omission, particularly given the media's constant both-sidesing coverage of these issues.) If you do want to dive more into the overall rise of right-wing extremism in the US in the past 30 years, I would recommend season two of Garrett Graff's Long Shadow podcast.
This was a good book, at times a very powerful one. The notes on some of the stories the prosecution wove into the McVeigh trial come immediately to mind. As a trial tactic, the prosecution's first witness from the water resources board and the idea of the mundane tape recording of a 9 am hearing left an impression on me. I do recommend this book, particularly if you are old enough to remember the bombing from contemporaneous news reports. There is a lot more here than I knew about at the time.
May 9, 2023
Five stars for me means I wouldn't change a single thing about this book.
McVeigh was secretive about who he "trusted" with his story, so there's not much out there that came straight from his mouth. He trusted one biographer to write his story, which I've read, and evidently, he trusted his lawyer, with whom he shared his entire life story. HOW sharing with your lawyer your entire sexual history, let alone your instances where you were "unable to perform" is something a defense lawyer needs to know (these are not mitigating factors!), I'll never understand.
In any case, I never thought about the similarities between McVeigh and the January 6 Capitol "rioters." Yes, both are right-wing extremists, but what the author points out in the beginning, and then circles back to at the end of the book, is McVeigh "knew" there was an "army" out there of people just like him. He just hadn't found them yet. And his actions, evidently, were going to start a revolution, much like Lexington and Concord, he said. But as we know, that didn't happen. Instead, his action that took 168 lives, trying to "teach the government a lesson" about "taking our freedom" (the assault weapon ban Clinton signed, apparently) is the EXACT action that ended up taking away HIS ultimate freedom: his life. Hmmm.
Fast forward to now, and here they are. The "army" that McVeigh had been looking for and was out there all along. And how did they find each other? Through the internet. It connected them, far and wide, and fueled their "fire." This is what McVeigh did not have as his hatred grew in 1993, 1994, and finally, exploded in 1995. The internet. And thus, connectivity.
McVeigh was secretive about who he "trusted" with his story, so there's not much out there that came straight from his mouth. He trusted one biographer to write his story, which I've read, and evidently, he trusted his lawyer, with whom he shared his entire life story. HOW sharing with your lawyer your entire sexual history, let alone your instances where you were "unable to perform" is something a defense lawyer needs to know (these are not mitigating factors!), I'll never understand.
In any case, I never thought about the similarities between McVeigh and the January 6 Capitol "rioters." Yes, both are right-wing extremists, but what the author points out in the beginning, and then circles back to at the end of the book, is McVeigh "knew" there was an "army" out there of people just like him. He just hadn't found them yet. And his actions, evidently, were going to start a revolution, much like Lexington and Concord, he said. But as we know, that didn't happen. Instead, his action that took 168 lives, trying to "teach the government a lesson" about "taking our freedom" (the assault weapon ban Clinton signed, apparently) is the EXACT action that ended up taking away HIS ultimate freedom: his life. Hmmm.
Fast forward to now, and here they are. The "army" that McVeigh had been looking for and was out there all along. And how did they find each other? Through the internet. It connected them, far and wide, and fueled their "fire." This is what McVeigh did not have as his hatred grew in 1993, 1994, and finally, exploded in 1995. The internet. And thus, connectivity.
July 16, 2023
I was drawn to this book not for the details of McVeigh's inhuman act of violence but for the connections Toobin makes to those on the far-right who came before and after McVeigh. Although I wish Toobin had spent more time on this, the book contains plenty of evidence that the issues that animated McVeigh's outrage 30 years ago---absurd fixation with gun rights, preposterous fears that the FBI and the "government" is "at war" with the far-right---are alive and well among Trump's MAGA supporters and the January 6th rioters. Toobin easily dispels, as others have, the false equivalence between political violence from the right and left. And he credits the FBI with using the time between the Murrah Building bombing and 9/11 to infiltrate, disrupt, and prosecute far-right militia groups who were planning violent attacks, which significantly reduced the numbers of far-right attacks before Obama took office. But those numbers rose again after the 2008 financial crisis and the election of our first Black president, and Toobin rightly faults the Obama Administration for not responding as forcefully as Clinton and now Biden have done during their presidencies.
One of the book's most insightful moments in the book was an exchange McVeigh had with an FBI investigator after he was arrested. "We're at war with the government, and we're defending the Constitution," McVeigh tells the agent. "That's too bad," the agent says. "Because the government is not at war with you. If we were, you'd be dead. And we'll be using the Constitution to prosecute you for what you did." Exactly the same response to the Trump-inspired attacks on the Capitol in 2021.
One of the book's most insightful moments in the book was an exchange McVeigh had with an FBI investigator after he was arrested. "We're at war with the government, and we're defending the Constitution," McVeigh tells the agent. "That's too bad," the agent says. "Because the government is not at war with you. If we were, you'd be dead. And we'll be using the Constitution to prosecute you for what you did." Exactly the same response to the Trump-inspired attacks on the Capitol in 2021.
July 26, 2023
Homegrown taught me much about the Oklahoma City Bombing that I never knew, let alone understood. Toobin also persuasively draws a through-line between Timothy McVeigh’s horrific act of terrorism, and it’s political and philosophical underpinnings, and the right-wing extremism today, including (but certainly not limited to) the January 6th insurrection.
May 28, 2023
This was fine. The first part of the book was more interesting. I would have liked more on the rise of right-wing extremism. I didn't really get any new material and what there was was seriously lacking.
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March 4, 2025This was really interesting to me. I remember it sort of on tv, but never knew the full story. Feel much better equipped to fight Americans in beer gardens now. Oh, it's Trump is it? Nah, this has roots
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