A McVeigh Stay

by: Jenni Vinson
May 11, 2001

The FBI appears to have botched the United States’ case against Timothy McVeigh in the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma, which resulted in the death of 168 people.

3,135 pages of documents have been brought forth by the FBI as evidence that was not shared with the McVeigh lawyers during the trial. The problem is that both sides have a responsibility in a court of law to share all evidence with each other that pertains ot the case. In this case, specifically, it was imperative that the federal government presented every piece of evidence regardless of whether is was for or against McVeigh because his case is og great historical importance.

The Federal government has not prosecuted such a case in over 38 years, since the case against the Rosenberg’s, the spies that were found to be treasonous. And McVeigh’s entire rationale for bombing the Murrah Federal Building was that he and the group he affiliated himself with content that the Ferdeal government is corrupt, evil and not to be trusted and the bombing was his way of getting back at the government.

In light of all that, this turn of events on behalf of the FBI is inexcusable and irresponsible. The behvaior of the FBI in this matter should be carefully investigated to assess why and how in the world such a thing could happen. Here we are, five days before McVeigh is scheduled to die by lethal injection and an archivist, a person who is responsible so sorting through, cataloguing and putting away a case’s paper work, found over 3000 sheets of documents pertaining to this case that were NOT marked by the court as having been entered into evidence.

The documents, it is being said, are interviews that were conducted immediately after the bombing. They could be of consequential importance. No one knows for sure. At this point, the documents need to be read and injested by the presiding judge. He will have to decide the importance of these documents and decide how to proceed. No matter how horrible the crime, no matter how much we, as Americans may hate the person who comitted the crime, that person is entitled, but virtue of being an AMERICAN, to Due Process, as set forth by the Constitution of the United States.

We are proposing that Timothy McVeigh die because of the case that was presented against him. Well, if that case was flawed or hindered by the incompetance of the FBI, at the very least, we should expect that the blunder be scrutinized. We do know that the judge presiding over this case is known for being cautious and deliberate and we will ahve to trust him to do the right thing.