Also, in 1992, members of the Mujahideen-e-Khalq,
an organization that is against the Islamic Republic
of Iran, attacked the Iranian mission to the United
Nations. However, the incident ended without any
casualties, and the members who took part in the at-
tack were arrested.
In Canada, the Iranian embassy in Ottawa was
also occupied, but no injuries occurred. The most
prevalent attacks in the United States stemmed from
domestic terrorist organizations. Within Canada,
immigrant communities largely played out their sec-
tional differences on the Canadian stage.
1993-1995 The year 1993 saw a growing dichotomy
between domestic terrorist attacks and so-called new
terrorism in the United States. New terrorism is
characterized by the shift to an international, non-
state actor that is usually not sponsored by any par-
ticular government. In January of 1993, the Ser-
bian National Defense Council was set on fire by
three Molotov cocktails. However, no organization
claimed responsibility for the incident. Also in Janu-
ary, Mir Aimal Kasi, a Pakistani, shot five Central In-
telligence Agency (CIA) employees outside the CIA
headquarters during rush hour. He fled and was
eventually caught in Pakistan in 1997. In February,
1993, a car bomb exploded at the World Trade Cen-
ter, killing six and injuring more than one thousand
people. Four individuals responsible were arrested
and convicted in 1994. Other conspirators were con-
victed later in the decade.
On the domestic side, 1993 saw the Waco, Texas,
standoff at the Branch Davidian compound, which
eventually was ended when the building caught fire.
This incident drew widespread public condemnation
because of the high casualties to women and chil-
dren. Also, in June of 1993, Theodore Kaczynski, also
known as the Unabomber, sent mail bombs to profes-
sors at the University of California and Yale Univer-
sity. The Unabomber sent numerous mail bombs to
university officials and airline workers during his
reign of terror. In Tacoma, Washington, members of
the American Front skinhead group bombed a Na-
tional Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP) building and a homosexual bar
called the Elite Tavern. ALF also firebombed various
stores in Chicago, extending their activities in sup-
port of fair treatment of animals.
In early 1994, explosives were discovered outside
buildings housing Jewish American organizations in
New York City that supported the peace process in
the Middle East. Also, a Lebanese man fired at a car
carrying Jewish rabbinical students in New York City,
killing one individual. Both of these incidents are at-
tributed to sectarian and religious violence carried
over from the Middle East.
The U.S. government also cracked down on ter-
rorist fund-raising in the United States, convicting
five individuals for violating the Racketeer Influ-
enced and Corrupt Organizations Act because of
their attempts to participate in the Abu Nidal Orga-
nization, a split from the Palestine Liberation Orga-
nization.
Canada experienced a relatively quiet period in
terrorist activity. However, in 1995, the Militant Di-
rect Action Task Force, an antifascist organization,
mailed four pipe bombs to various individuals, some
white supremacists. Also, in 1995, letter bombs were
sent to the McKenzie Institute and the Alberta Ge-
netics Laboratory. No organization claimed respon-
sibility for the bombs.
In April, 1995, Timothy McVeigh and Terry
Nichols bombed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Build-
ing in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in which 168 indi-
viduals were killed. This was the deadliest terrorist
attack on U.S. soil until September 11, 2001.1996-1999 In April of 1996, Kaczynski was finally
apprehended by federal agents, ending close to two
decades of domestic terrorist activity. The Phineas
Priesthood, a right-wing Christian Identity move-
ment, bombed a newspaper office (The Spokesman-
Review) and robbed a Spokane Valley bank. In July of
1996, a pipe bomb exploded at Planned Parenthood
in Spokane, Washington. Three individuals subse-
quently attempted to rob the same Spokane Valley
bank. In April, 1996, President Bill Clinton signed
the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act.
The act attempted to halt terrorist fund-raising in-
side the United States and banned U.S. aid to coun-
tries that support terrorism. In Washington, Ari-
zona, and West Virginia, members of domestic
militia units were arrested in 1996 for planning the
bombings of various government complexes. Also,
during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Geor-
gia, a pipe bomb exploded in Centennial Park, kill-
ing one and injuring over one hundred people.
In early 1997, letter bombs were mailed in the
Washington, D.C., area, New York City, and Fort
Leavenworth, Kansas. The domestic terrorist, ArmyThe Nineties in America Terrorism 847