On April 19, 1995, the building was the target of the Oklahoma City bombing by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, which ultimately killed 168 people and injured 684 others.

[3] By the 1990s, the building contained regional offices for the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the United States Secret Service, the Department of Veterans Affairs vocational rehabilitation counseling center, the Drug Enforcement Administration (D.E.A.

[5] In October 1983, members of the Christian militia group The Covenant, The Sword, and the Arm of the Lord (CSA), including founder James Ellison and Richard Snell plotted to park "a van or trailer in front of the Federal Building and blow it up with rockets detonated by a timer.

Convicted of murder in Arkansas in an unrelated case, Snell was executed on April 19, 1995, the same day the bombing of the federal building was carried out, after U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas declined to hear further appeal.

[7] At 9:02 a.m. local time on April 19, 1995, a Ryder rental truck, containing approximately 7,000 pounds (3,175 kg) of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, nitromethane, and diesel fuel was detonated in front of the building, destroying a third of it and causing severe damage to several other buildings located nearby.

[10] Fort Smith-based federal prosecutor Steven Snyder told the FBI in May 1995 that Snell previously expressed a desire to target the Murrah building in 1983 as revenge for the IRS raiding his home.

Nineteen pieces of art recovered from the Murrah Building are on permanent display on the first floor of the University of Central Oklahoma's Max Chambers Library.

[16] These pieces include: Lost[citation needed] works are as follows: An untitled acrylic sculpture by Fred Eversley was severely damaged, but survived the blast.

However, McVeigh's attorney, Stephen Jones, called for a motion to delay the demolition until the defense team could examine the site in preparation for the trial.

Some of it was used as evidence in the conspirators' trials, incorporated into parts of memorials, donated to local schools, or sold to raise funds for relief efforts.

The art in architecture component of the building incorporates a water feature that acts as an additional security barrier.