Timothy McVeigh on Oklahoma City bombing's 15th anniversary: "Get over it"

Today's fifteenth anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing resonates in Denver, where the trial of bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols took place. As such, locals are likely to feel a very personal kind of anger when hearing recordings of McVeigh being shared for the first time tonight on MSNBC's...

By Michael Roberts

April 19, 2010

Audio By Carbonatix

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Today's fifteenth anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing resonates in Denver, where the trial of bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols took place.

As such, locals are likely to feel a very personal kind of anger when hearing recordings of McVeigh being shared for the first time tonight on MSNBC's The McVeigh Tapes: Confessions of an American Terrorist.

At one point, the since-executed McVeigh says, "I'll use the phrase, and it sounds cold, but I'm sorry, I'm going to use it, because it's the truth: Get over it."

Such sentiments are shocking -- but it some way, they help to explain why more American-born McVeighs haven't attempted to repeat or better his body count in the decade and a half since then. Simply put, his actions gave homegrown terrorism an exceedingly bad name even among those loonbags who agreed with his politics. And now, Al-Qaeda's veritable branding of the strategy makes politically motivated bombings seem even more un-American -- something that likely connects with even those dangerously unhinged enough to sympathize with a man capable of such a despicable act.

Look below for a preview of the doc, including the statement above:

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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