Mcveigh Had Hate Literature Also Had Gun, Earplugs When He Was Stopped
Timothy McVeigh had earplugs in his pocket, a loaded handgun in a shoulder holster and an envelope full of violent anti-government writings when he was pulled over for a traffic violation about 75 minutes after the Oklahoma City bombing, witnesses testified Monday.
Among the papers stuffed in an envelope in his car was a page from the racist novel, “The Turner Diaries,” with a passage about government bureaucrats: “We can still find them and kill them,” according to an FBI agent who searched McVeigh’s car.
Prosecutors say the tale about an attack on FBI headquarters was a blueprint for the Oklahoma City bombing. Another passage from the novel found in McVeigh’s car read: “The real value of our attacks today lies in the psychological impact, not in the immediate casualties.”
The sealed envelope was labeled with the handwritten message “Obey the Constitution of the United States and we won’t shoot you,” and inside were also quotations from Samuel Adams and John Locke about the dangers of overzealous governments, said FBI agent William Eppright III.
The car was searched two days after it was impounded following McVeigh’s arrest on gun violations unrelated to the bombing of federal building in Oklahoma City.
Offering a detailed account of the chance arrest, Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Charles Hanger said McVeigh appeared relaxed.
“He said he was in the process of moving to Arkansas and that he had taken a load of his belongings down there,” Hanger said.
Prosecutors contend McVeigh was fleeing the bombing when he was stopped, and have said explosives residue was found on the ear plugs, his clothing and the knife.
A couple of days after the arrest, Hanger cleaned out the squad car, and found a business card from a military supply store with a hand-written message, “Dave (TNT at $5 a stick) need more.”
The 29-year-old Gulf War veteran could face the death penalty if convicted of federal murder and conspiracy charges. The April 19, 1995, truck bombing of Oklahoma City’s federal building killed 168 people and injured more than 500.
Hanger told the jury he pulled over McVeigh’s yellow Mercury Marquis on Interstate 35 about 80 miles north of Oklahoma City because the car was missing a rear license plate.
A person driving the speed limit from the bomb site to the site of the arrest near Billings, Okla., would have made the 77.9-mile trip in 75 minutes and 15 seconds, he said.
McVeigh was stopped at 10:17 a.m., 75 minutes after the bomb ripped through the federal building at 9:02 a.m.
Hanger said he hid behind the door of his cruiser as McVeigh got out of the car and walked toward him. As McVeigh reached for his wallet, Hanger said he noticed a bulge under his light jacket.
“I told him to take both hands and slowly pull back his jacket,” Hanger said. “He said, ‘I have a gun.’ I pulled my weapon and stuck it to the back of his head.”
In the chamber of the pistol, Hanger found a round of Black Talon ammunition, bullets designed to inflict maximum damage.