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Oklahoma City Prepares to Commemorate 30 Years Since Devastating Bombing

Survivors reflect on enduring trauma and warn of the ongoing dangers posed by extremist ideologies ahead of the anniversary ceremony.

Aren Almon poses for a portrait next to the memorial chair for her daughter, Baylee Almon, at the Oklahoma City National Memorial on Wednesday, April 9, 2025 in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nick Oxford)
FILE - Rescue workers dig through the rubble from the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building explosion in downtown Oklahoma City on April 20, 1995. (AP Photo/J.Pat Carter, File)
FILE - This aerial view shows the destroyed north side of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City after a massive bomb blast, April 19, 1995. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - Aren Almon, center, whose daughter Baylee became a national symbol in an iconic photo of a firefighter holding her lifeless body following the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City, is comforted by her father Tommy Almon and mother Debbie Almon, during a funeral service for Baylee at Arlington Memorial Park Cemetery in Oklahoma City, April 24, 1995. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan, File)

Overview

  • The Oklahoma City bombing on April 19, 1995, killed 168 people in the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history.
  • A 30-year remembrance ceremony is scheduled for April 19, 2025, at the Oklahoma City National Memorial Museum to honor the victims and their families.
  • Survivors continue to share their personal stories, including lifelong physical and emotional scars, as a reminder of the tragedy's human cost.
  • The bombing's perpetrators, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, were motivated by anti-government ideologies influenced by events like Waco and Ruby Ridge.
  • Many survivors express concern that modern political rhetoric echoing extremist views could lead to future acts of violence.