Domestic Terrorism Seen as Becoming More Violent

As security was beefed up Friday at government buildings in preparation for today’s anniversary of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing and the 1993 FBI assault on the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, a report indicated that anti-government terrorism is becoming increasingly violent and more difficult to track.

Despite two years’ and $159 million worth of heightened security measures at federal installations around the country, many Americans still fear terrorist acts by paramilitary groups, and law enforcement officials are not equipped to deal with the groups’ increased use of explosives, high-tech weapons and heightened secrecy, according to the report. Released on the eve of the second anniversary of the country’s deadliest act of domestic terrorism, it suggests that concern--if not alarm--about the possibility of future terrorist attacks is well-founded.

Since the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168 people and injured at least 500, the government has heightened security at 7,000 federal buildings, with increased patrols and routine checks of identification, briefcases and vehicles. The anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing is cause for extra precaution, said Hap Connors, spokesman for the General Services Administration.

Adding to the concern is the trial of bombing suspect Timothy J. McVeigh, now in the jury-selection phase in Denver.

*

The Federal Bureau of Investigation also issued an advisory and federal officials were monitoring courthouses, military installations, FBI offices and historic monuments across the country. Street barricades, extra security guards and metal detectors have been installed, according to government officials.

Such anti-terrorism measures are warranted by a growing threat of domestic terrorism, said Brian Levin, director of the Center on Hate and Extremism at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and author of the new report.

While the violence of the Oklahoma City bombing caused many of the more moderate members of anti-government militia groups to drop out of the movement, according to Levin, those that remain in what he calls the “leaderless resistance” may be more dangerous.