April 19

Terrorists have been known to time their attacks to coincide with a specific anniversary of a particular historical event or the birthday of someone special to them. Sometimes the date can even be the anniversary of a past terrorist or terrorist-related event. One example is October 16, the annual “Worldwide Action Against McDonald's,” started in 1984 to coincide with United Nations' World Food Day; activists target the McDonald's as a protest against animal cruelty, exploitation of workers, the global domination of corporations. However, by far the most infamous of these terror anniversaries is April 19.

April 19, 1993, ended the 51-day siege at David Koresh's Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, where Koresh and 75 followers, including 21 children, perished in a fire. Known as the Mount Carmel Center, the compound was occupied by members of an apocalyptic religious cult led by Koresh. Rumored to be stockpiled inside was an arsenal of explosives and weapons. After the day that Waco burned, April 19 became known as the “Date of Doom” or “Militia Day.” The militia movement, made up of armed paramilitary groups, exploded on the scene in the mid-1990s believing that the American public needed protection against a tyrannical federal government controlled by international interests.

The significance of April 19 dates back even further, however. April 19 (1775) marks the battle of Lexington, which ushered in the American Revolution; April 19 (1943) was the day Nazis turned flame-throwers on apartment buildings and gunned down Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto. Adding to the presumed significance of the 19th is that Adolf Hitler's birthday is the following day.

These events are celebrated anniversaries within extremist camps within the United States. They have come to symbolize the beginning of a pure Aryan society within North America and an attempt to exterminate the Jews, who are viewed as something less than human by neo Nazis and Aryan extremists of all stripes.

On April 19, 1985, local, state, and federal officers surrounded the compound of the paramilitary terrorist organization the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of The Lord. The resulting stand off lasted four days and was resolved peacefully.

April 19, 1992, was also the date surveillance of the Randy Weaver family atop Ruby Ridge, Idaho, began. Weaver, a white separatist, was wanted by federal marshals for failing to appear in court on a weapons charge. The stakeout ended tragically with the deaths of Weaver's son, Sammy; wife, Vicki; and federal officer, William Degan. And on April 19, 1995, the Covenant, the Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA) member and white supremacist Richard Wayne Snell was executed for 1983 murder of Texarkana pawnshop owner.

However, the most famous April 19 event was the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City in which 168 individuals lost their lives. Many believe that Timothy McVeigh, executed for carrying out the bombing, selected April 19 to take revenge against the U.S. federal government for its role in the Waco and Ruby Ridge tragedies, as well as the upcoming execution of Snell.

Terrorists commemorate anniversaries with further attacks primarily as a way of wringing every possible drop of publicity out of their actions. Scheduling an operation on the anniversary of a past one almost certainly guarantees press coverage, even if the new operation is a rather insignificant one. Counter-terrorism experts have learned to keep an eye on the calendar when trying to anticipate terrorists' next moves. April 19 will continue to be a hot-button date, and experts now fear that September 11 will become another popular date for future attacks.

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