Posted on April 10, 2001 at 10:40 a.m.

WHAT:

On May 16, Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh will be put to death. As the nation’s attention turns to McVeigh’s execution, the public will reflect on the proliferation of anti-government militias in the United States, their philosophy and what they might do next. Terrorism expert Brent Smith, Ph.D., at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), author of the 1994 book, Terrorism in America: Pipe Bombs and Pipe Dreams, will be available to provide analysis on Timothy McVeigh and the anti-government movement in the United States.

WHO:

Smith is professor and chairman of the UAB Department of Justice Sciences. Following the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, Smith testified before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime on May 3 and on November 2, 1995. He talked about the proliferation of militia groups in the United States and he listed his recommendations for investigative and prosecutorial strategies.

Smith also has developed a database, which now contains the names of hundreds of federally indicted terrorists under the FBI’s Counterterrorism Program.

Smith is prepared to:

Discuss the possible impact of McVeigh’s death on the anti-government movement in the United States;


Give a historical summary of the anti-government militias and terrorists in the U.S.;


Discuss how the federal government has prosecuted terrorism cases in the past, including the types of charges and the prosecutorial strategies used;


Outline the success rates of different federal charges used against terrorist defendants and how the post-arrest and plea decisions of left and right-wing defendants have influenced charging decisions.