Conspiracy Theorists Gear Up After Release of Oklahoma City Bombing Video

Recently, the FBI released some video footage from cameras in the area around the site of the Oklahoma City Bombing on April 19th, 1995.  The video came from a variety of cameras from sites surrounding the Murrah Federal Building, the target of the bombing.  And, true to form, conspiracy theorists have already jumped all over the release of the videos…

Attorney: OKC bombing tapes appear edited

Long-secret security tapes showing the chaos immediately after the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building are blank in the minutes before the blast and appear to have been edited, an attorney who obtained the recordings said Sunday.

“The real story is what’s missing,” said Jesse Trentadue, a Salt Lake City attorney who obtained the recordings through the federal Freedom of Information Act as part of an unofficial inquiry he is conducting into the April 19, 1995, bombing that killed 168 people and injured hundreds more. …

… The tapes turned over by the FBI came from security cameras various companies had mounted outside office buildings near the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. They are blank at points before 9:02 a.m., when a truck bomb carrying a 4,000 pound fertilizer-and-fuel-oil bomb detonated in front of the building, Trentadue said.

“Four cameras in four different locations going blank at basically the same time on the morning of April 19, 1995. There ain’t no such thing as a coincidence,” Trentadue said. …

… “The interesting thing is they spring back on after 9:02,” he said. “The absence of footage from these crucial time intervals is evidence that there is something there that the FBI doesn’t want anybody to see.“

Nothing like an argument from ignorance to fill in the gaps, eh folks?  Some people fill in the gaps in our knowledge with fairies, others with god, still others with aliens — while Mr. Trentadue seems to prefer some kind of scary government cover-up.  And, in true conspiracy-mongering fashion which illustrates the unfalsifiable nature of the argument, everything points to THE CONSPIRACY!!!

… The FBI in the past refused to release the security camera recordings, leading Trentadue and others to contend the government was hiding evidence that others were involved in the attack. …

So because the FBI wasn’t sharing the video with him, Trentadue claimed they were hiding evidence. Yet when the FBI gave him the videos, because they apparently didn’t show what he wanted them to show, Trentadue continues to allege some kind of cover-up or conspiracy.  Wow, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t with these CT folks.

Cue spooky music in 3… 2… 1…

Also, I find it interesting that Mr. Trentadue, in his “quest for the truth”, laments the absence of video footage in the minutes leading up to the explosion, yet  apparently there was video footage from the area leading up to the explosion at 9:02AM on April 19th, 1995 outside the Murrah Federal Building. It’s all right here at Wikipedia’s link on the Oklahoma City Bombing…

… At 8:57 a.m. CST the same Regency Towers Apartments’ lobby security camera—which had recorded Nichols’ pickup truck three days earlier—recorded the Ryder truck [containing the bomb] heading towards the Murrah Federal Building.

It took me all of five minutes to find this information online and easily debunk Trentadue’s claim.  Nice cherry-picking there, Mr. Trentadue.  Never let something as trivial & annoying as the facts get in the way of a good conspiracy.