NatGeo's Latest Iteration of 'One Day In America' Looks at the Oklahoma City Bombing

On April 19, 1995, 168 people were killed when a 4,800-pound bomb detonated at the north entrance of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. The explosion wounded nearly 800 more, collapsed a third of the building and damaged hundreds of other buildings in the area. It remains the deadliest single act of domestic terrorism in American history.

National Geographic's Emmy-winning series "One Day in America" marks the 30th anniversary of this tragedy with a three-part docuseries that recounts the events of the day as told by the people who survived it. "The Oklahoma City Bombing: One Day in America," from award-winning executive producer David Glover and BAFTA award-winning director Ceri Isfryn, will premiere on April 2, 2025, at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on National Geographic and streams the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.

In our post-9/11 world, it might be hard to remember a time when domestic militias and illegal firearms were America's primary security concern. The 1992 Ruby Ridge standoff saw law enforcement agencies locked in a 10-day siege at the Idaho cabin of Randy Weaver, one that resulted in the death of Weaver's wife and son along with a U.S. marshal. Weaver later sued the government for overreaching its authority, but settled before going to trial.

Federal law enforcement agencies were again at the center of a deadly controversy when it laid siege to the Waco, Texas, compound of David Koresh and his Branch Davidian Mount Carmel Center. Because Koresh was believed to have a stockpile of illegal weapons, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) attempted to execute a search warrant on the building, but the religious group refused, resulting in a 51-day standoff that the FBI soon joined. On April 19, 1993, the FBI fired tear gas into the compound, and it soon went up in flames. The fire killed around 80 Branch Davidians, including dozens of children, but no one is entirely certain of how it started.

These two bloody events were the reasons why Timothy McVeigh, an Army veteran, filled a rented truck with thousands of pounds of ammonium nitrate fuel oil explosives and blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City. The bombing of the Murrah Building came two years to the day after the siege at Waco.

"The Oklahoma City Bombing: One Day in America" takes a deeper look at the attack, first responders and survivors. It also explores the aftermath, when a stunned American population learned that the perpetrators were vindictive American military veterans who were unrepentant about their actions.

McVeigh and co-conspirator Terry Nichols were enraged at the government's response in Waco and vowed to exact revenge. The two raised funds to make the bomb by robbing a gun dealer, stored the components in storage units and then built it together. Nichols even helped set up a getaway car in Oklahoma City. Some 90 minutes after the bombing, McVeigh was arrested during a traffic stop for not having a license plate and carrying a concealed firearm. It took authorities three days to realize he was the Oklahoma City bomber. Nichols was at his home in Kansas during the attack, but turned himself in to authorities when he learned he was wanted for questioning.

McVeigh would receive a death sentence for detonating the bomb and was executed by lethal injection on June 11, 2001. Unrepentant to the last, he told two journalists his only regret was not to have leveled the entire building.

Nichols would receive 161 consecutive life terms without the possibility for parole. Now 69 years old, he is still incarcerated at the ADX Supermax Prison in Florence, Colorado.

Viewers might be familiar with "One Day in America," from its previous shows, which provided in-depth revisits to the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. Using rare archival footage and firsthand accounts from survivors of the bombing, the upcoming limited series tells the story of those who were working in the federal building in Oklahoma City that day.

The three-part limited series "The Oklahoma City Bombing: One Day in America" will air on April 2 at 8 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on National Geographic and can be watched the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.

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