Originally Posted by Agent 488

Target selection


Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building as it appeared before its destruction
McVeigh initially intended only to destroy a federal building, but he later decided that his message would be better received if many people were killed in the bombing.[25] McVeigh's criterion for potential attack sites was that the target should house at least two of three federal law-enforcement agencies: the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), or the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He regarded the presence of additional law-enforcement agencies, such as the Secret Service or the U.S. Marshals Service, as a bonus.[26]
McVeigh, a resident of Kingman, Arizona, considered targets in Missouri, Arizona, Texas, and Arkansas.[26] McVeigh stated in his authorized biography that he wanted to minimize nongovernmental casualties, so he ruled out a 40-story government building in Little Rock, Arkansas, because of the presence of a florist's shop on the ground floor.[27] In December 1994, McVeigh and Fortier visited Oklahoma City to inspect their target: the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.[22] The nine-story building, built in 1977, was named for a federal judge and housed fourteen federal agencies including the DEA, ATF, Social Security Administration, and recruiting offices for the Army and Marine Corps.[28] The Murrah building was chosen for its glass front?which was expected to shatter under the impact of the blast?and its adjacent large, open parking lot across the street, which might absorb and dissipate some of the force, and protect the occupants of nearby non-federal buildings.[27] In addition, McVeigh believed that the open space around the building would provide better photo opportunities for propaganda purposes.[27] The attack was planned to take place on April 19, 1995, to coincide with the anniversary of the Waco Siege and the 220th anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord.[29]