McVeigh book reaction

A victim's reaction to Timothy McVeigh's never before heard confession to the Oklahoma City bombing. In a new book, called "American Terrorist" McVeigh admits he blew up the Murrah Federal Building

Thursday, March 29th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

A victim's reaction to Timothy McVeigh's never before heard confession to the Oklahoma City bombing. In a new book, called "American Terrorist" McVeigh admits he blew up the Murrah Federal Building on April 19th, 1995.

The book was written by two reporters from Buffalo, New York, which is near McVeigh's hometown. They spent 75 hours interviewing him in prison and say he told them he did the bombing to avenge the deaths at Ruby Ridge, Idaho and Waco, Texas. In the book, McVeigh says he was two blocks away when the bomb went off and the force of it lifted him off the ground. He said he was disappointed that part of the building remained standing after the blast.

The book says McVeigh did the bombing alone and it wasn't until he threatened Terry Nichols' family that Nichols helped load the explosives, an account McVeigh's original attorney disputes. A Tulsa woman, Dawn DeArmon, who lost her mother in the bombing, told KOTV McVeigh is a sick human being. "How can you kill 168 people and be upset you didn't knock the whole building down. That's the whole point. He's mad because he didn't level it. That makes no sense to me." The book says McVeigh targeted the Murrah building partly because federal agents worked there and it had glass front that would give TV cameras a good view of the damage.

He called the children killed in the blast "collateral damage" that undercut his message. And says, "I understand what they felt in Oklahoma City. I have no sympathy for them." "American Terrorist" is expected in stores in a few weeks.

McVeigh is set to be executed May 16th.