"The right-wing in the U.S.
is incredibly easy to penetrate if you know how to talk to
them. Of course it's easier for a foreigner with an accent.
Nobody would ever suspect a German of working for the
federal government." (Andreas Carl Strassmeir)
Andreas Carl Strassmeir, the son of Guenter Strassmeir who is said to be the architect of German Reunification, first came to the United States because he claimed that he had
hoped to work in the operations section of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Things didn't quite pan out the way "Andy the German" planned. He had several unsuccessful attempts at gaining employment with both the DEA and the INS despite assistance from a retired Air Force Colonel and reported CIA agent. But that didn't dissuade Andy because he let his visa expire and continued to live in the U.S. illegally.
Stassmeir had an attorney, Kirk Lyons. Lyons is most notable for his defending Klan memebers and others from the radical racist right. According to Lyons, he "placed" Andy at
Elohim City claiming that Strassmeir needed a place that was rural and where he could eke out a small living. This writer, however, believes that the facts speak for themselves and that Lyons is merely attempting to run one of his infamous smoke-screens. Strassmeir not only lived in Elohim City, he became Chief of Security where he trained terrorists groups in guerilla warfare. This suited Strassmeir well given the fact that he had once served with an elite German Intelligence group called the Panzer Grenadiers during his seven year stint in the German Army.
During Strassmeir's time at Elohim City there were at least five members of the Aryan Republican Army who resided there and used the compound as home base. Strassmeir has never been named as one of the ARA members, but his affiliation with them is well
documented. It was also during this time that Andy met Timothy McVeigh. It wasn't until recently that McVeigh's involvement with the Aryan Republican Army and the bank robberies have become public knowledge. What was once wondered about and a casually mentioned probability, has now become a given. And as the facts seep out, little-by-little the pieces to the puzzle begin to fit. Andy Strassmeir had found a friend in McVeigh. In an article published on the American Patriot Friends Network (APFN) we are told that a young woman living in Herington, Kansas, the home town of Terry Nichols, remembers seeing Strassmeir and McVeigh together. Catina Lawson, who once dated McVeigh, claims that in 1992, the two men were in town. In describing him Lawson says that Strassmeir "liked to dress in black and he was real cold and arrogant - a real jerk." There are others who claim to have seen Strassmeir at a lake north of Herington a week before the bombing.
Dennis Mahon, the third person in line in the Tom Metzger organization, White Aryan Rseistance, was also living at the Elohim City compound prior to the bombing. An avowed 
neo-Nazi and former Imperial Wizard of the Oklahoma Ku Klux Klan, Mahon once operated "Dial-A-Racist" a racist hotline that promulgated pure hate. Dennis Mahon was subpoenad to the Grand Jury on the bombing case and pled the Fifth when questioned about McVeigh, Strassmeir and Elohim City. Yet, Strassmeir has referred to Mahon as a "good friend," and the two have been labeled as "known associates." Mahon claims to have met McVeigh numerous times but as Tim Tuttle, an alias used by McVeigh. Mahon also knew Carol Howe, the ATF informant that was in Elohim City. He didn't know that she was an informant but they were very close. In a report sent to the ATF by Howe she claimed that in late 1994, she overheard Andreas Strassmeir & Dennis Mahon discussing a plan to blow up Federal buildings including the Tulsa IRS Office, the Tulsa Federal Building and the Oklahoma Federal Building. Howe's further reports indicated that Strassmeir and Mahon made three separate trips to Oklahoma City in November, 1994, December, 1994, and February, 1995. Mahon denies any involvement but in an interview with Jon Ronson, a reporter for the British newspaper, "The Guardian," Mahon responds to a question about who was involved:
"I think Andy Strassmeir was," he said. "Or at least he knew about it. I've been trying to contact him for years. I've always defended him. And now he won't return my phone calls. And I've been banned from Germany. Why is that? So I'm taking all the heat and he's run off to Germany."
The enigma surrounding Andy the German is not whether he was involved in the bombing, but in what capacity? In 1991, Strassmeir raised the concerns of a group calling themselves "The Texas Light Brigade." Just across the Red River from Oklahoma, Strassmeir had taken up attending the meetings of this survivalist outfit. When things started adding up, some of the members began to question Andy's "ulterior" motives. One night they followed Strassmeir who went to a Federal building. They witnessed him walk up to the locked door, enter the correct code on the keypad and gain admittance. From that point on, Strassmeir was no longer welcome at their meetings. One of the members claims that after Strassmeir's rebuke by the group he was set up by ATF agents and his life beacame "pure hell."
Another incident recounted gives one even more reason to raise the overstated eyebrow. 
In 1992, Andreas was stopped at a roadblock on the highway right outside of Elohim City. He was driving and the police were doing a routine check for license's and proof of insurance. Of course Andy had no personal documents, he was, after all, an illegal. He also had no license plate on the car. Strassmeir told the officer his name was Peter Ward, a friend of his from Elohim City. (Peter was actually a passenger in the car at the time.)He was cited for not having a valid license and not having a legal plate on the car. The car was impounded. Inside the vehicle was a briefcase that caught the eye of the officer and the contents were eventually inspected. It is what took place after the impound, however, that gives one the idea that something smells in all of this.
The person impounding the car was one Kenny Pence of Muldrow, Oklahoma and he had this to say:
"That guy was some kind of weird cookie, I tell ya..the next day-- after I locked his car up in my yard--I started gettin' calls from all over the place. Some high-powered lawyer in Houston called. Some general or major or somethin' in the Carolinas called. The district office for the Highway Patrol called. And then someone at the State Department called.
Everyone was telling me to turn that car back and give those papers back to that boy and don't charge him nothin'. They all kept telling me this was one big boo-boo. And the guy at the State Department said this boy had immunity or something. You know, he was some kinda diplomat.
That general in the Carolinas wanted to know about the briefcase. Heck, you know...those troopers inventoried all of it...but those folks were sure worried about what was in there.
Man I couldn't get that car out of here fast enough. And when that nut showed up to pick up his car, he got real upset when he saw that the briefcase had been gone through. He settled down in a while and said, 'Well, no one will be able to understand what these are anyway.'"
What was in the briefcase? We don't know. Who were the people calling Pence? The attorney might have been Lyons - but the State Department? This is the stuff that conspiracy theorists thrive upon. And they did. However, there were some excellent journalists who became vilified when they reported what they had found after the bombing. Knowing now that the FBI and the ATF botched the investigation and failed to connect the dots doesn't ease the pain of the stigma of "conspiracy theorist" that was attached to so many - but it is sweet to know that all of the hard work and the perserverence that has been expended might begin to pay off.
The John Doe Times has been following the events of the investigation for years. They tell us that after the incident listed above, Strassmeir was able to obtain a valid Social Security number, and was issued a photo driver's license from the state of Tennessee. It was then that he began to make the gun-show circuit and it was on that circuit that he met Timothy McVeigh. The question that arises to most people is whether or not the FBI knew what was going on both in Elohim City and with Strassmeir. The John Doe Times gives us our answer:
A May 10, 1995 FBI investigative report says:
"Strassmeir is alleged to be a German citizen whose father was a former member of the German parliament. Strassmeir was a member of the German military and according to sources the principal militia trainer at Elohim City."
"Strassmeir has an outstanding federal warrant issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) since failing to leave this country in 1991.
"Strassmeir is alleged to train platoon-sized groups consisting of approximately 30 to 40 individuals approximately every three months at the Elohim City facility. These individuals are comprised of members of various militia groups throughout the United States."
"Additional documents reveal that at one time Strassmeir was attempting to purchase a 747 aircraft from Lufthansa; however the reason for the purchase is not reflected in the documents."
"Sources have advised that in 1992 Elohim City had approximately 122 truck loads of concrete transported from a local concrete company. Sources have indicated the existence of 'bunkers' and weapons storage facilities at Elohim City."
Much of this report was based upon information provided to the ATF by Carol Howe, the confidential informant. It is necessary to note that Timothy McVeigh's attorney, Stephen Jones, on appeal requested that Carol Howe's findings on others involved in the bombing be admitted into evidence- the findings were not allowed. Although there were many accounts of Strassmeir being seen with McVeigh - and many witnesses who swore that they saw McVeigh accompanied by others on the morning of the bombing, Andreas Strassmeir was never questioned by the authorities. Families of the victims have had no luck in convincing authorities that there were those in Elohim City who were complicit in the deaths of 168 people. Yet, the most recent information disclosed by the Associated Press in February of this year, clearly shows that the FBI and ATF knew of the involvement of others and that the investigation had been aborted before it ever began.
Andreas Strassmeir fled the country after the bombing and is currently back in Berlin. In one interview that has been widely reported, Strassmeir is quoted as saying:
"It's obvious that it was a government 'op'
that went wrong, isn't it? The ATF had something
going with McVeigh. They were watching him, of
course they were. What they should have done is
make an arrest while the bomb was still being
made instead of waiting till the last moment for
a publicity stunt. They had everything they
needed to make the bust, and they screwed it up."
"Whoever thought this thing up is an idiot, in my
opinion. I am told they thought it would be
better to put a bigger bomb in there. The bigger
the better. It would make them more
guilty....McVeigh knew he was delivering a bomb,
but he had no idea what was in that truck. He
just wanted to shake things up a little; you
know, make a gesture."
"The bomb was never meant to explode. They were
going to arrest McVeigh at the site with the bomb
in hand, but he didn't come at the right time...
Maybe he changed the time, you never know with
people who are so unreliable."
"I have heard that the truck was expected in the
middle of the night, between two and three in the
morning. The truck had a transmitter, so they
could track it with a radio receiving device. I
don't know how they could have lost contact. I
think there was misinformation that the operation
had been canceled."
This writer, for one of many, would like to know where Strassmeir got his information. Many believe that Strassmeir was a government informant involved in a sting operation that went terribly wrong. They believe that Andreas Strassmeir is the John Doe #2 and that once
the authorities realized it was one of their operatives who they were looking for, they ceased the search and covered it up by denying any evidence to another person. I am inclined to agree with that summation.
Having been in Oklahoma City on the day of the bombing and for several days thereafter, I can attest to the fact that there were many anomalies which took place at the time. The reporting of a second and third bomb that took place and was later swept aside; the search for John Doe which was summarily aborted; and the failure of the federal agents to seek out others who seemingly everyone but them knew were involved. Because of the heinous nature of the act and the tremendous impact that it had upon the citizens, it was relatively easy for the government to slip some of these things by us. But, after the dust settled and lives were put back into some semblance of normalcy, the questions arose. Now it appears that many people knew what the government refused to tell us - and the cover-ups, the manipulations and machinations and the mishandlings are just now starting to surface. The only justice is a true justice. We must demand a reopening of the OKC bombing case. We must demand that all involved be brought to justice. And we must demand not only efficiency but integrity from our government and the entities that represent it.
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