How did people react towards the first WTC attack? (bomb, general, 90s)

[Johnpolybious]

Obviously it wasn't near the scale of 9/11 but for those that remember, what was the reaction like when it happened? Was there lots of fear about other attacks, or terrorism in general? Was there any real remembrance of it the years after?

[Grandstander]

I don't recall it making that huge of a splash, certainly not Guy Fawkes fame....can anyone here identify any of the people associated with that attack? Or the date on which it occurred?

Part of the publicity problem for that incident was that the '90's provided some heavy duty competition for national interest. We were wrapped up in one scandal or another for most of that decade. First there was the Rodney King beating, followed by the police officer's trial and subsequent rioting in reaction. Then along came Tanya Harding and the bizarre saga of Olympic athletes assaulting one another, and this one dragged on through Harding's tear laced performance in the Olympics.

Then came O.J. and Nicole which gripped the nation for a couple of years, and finally there was the Clinton/Lewinsky mess and the subsequent impeachment.

Where does a failed attack on a building fall on that scale of public interest?

[CookieSkoon]

Yeah the O.J. trial definitely squashed it.

However, I was a child at the time but I recall my parents being rather upset about it. We were hundreds of miles away from NYC but we were still citizens of NY state. It hurt us all in a way.

I distinctly remember my grandma commenting on how lucky we were that the buildings were still standing, which became an ironic memory about a decade later.

[TXsurburbanmom]

I worked at a huge company with giant parking garages and military ties at that time. After the first bombing the campus locked down hard. Where they’d been somewhat lax about about checking who came on site, security got much more serious. I was fresh out of college getting started in life so I admit that was about the extent it affected me but I do recall being very nervous for awhile.

[nc17]

Being a little young then, I remember coverage of the incident leaving the airwaves shortly afterward. Even when tragic events like the 93 bombing, Waco, the OKC bombing and others unfolded on live television, there seemed to be a short attention span during the 90s. Possibly because life was overall good for a lot of Americans.

There wasn't fear as much as fascination. The 90s saw a lot of terror-themed fiction in books, movies and TV in response to these attacks, wondering if a major terrorist attack could ever hit continental American soil. Movies like Arlington Road, The Siege, books like Debt of Honor, etc. The TV series 24 was greenlit in response to this fascination before 9/11 happened.

In the years after the 93 bombing, I remember being able to visit my relatives on a military base with hardly any acknowledgement from gate security, which ended abruptly after 9/11 and will stay that way for good.

[prospectheightsresident]

I was a child when it happened, so my experience is pretty limited to recollection of news coverage of the attack, which described the attack as one could expect.

[North Beach Person]

Since it wasn't really considered a terrorist act by the Clinton Administration it was treated as a law enforcement issue.

[Led Zeppelin]

Originally Posted by Johnpolybious

Obviously it wasn't near the scale of 9/11 but for those that remember, what was the reaction like when it happened? Was there lots of fear about other attacks, or terrorism in general? Was there any real remembrance of it the years after?

Not much. Islam wasn't on the radar screen STILL after two decades of bombings, shootings and hijackings all over the world. Most people weren't really worried about it.

[Dd714]

Originally Posted by Johnpolybious

Obviously it wasn't near the scale of 9/11 but for those that remember, what was the reaction like when it happened? Was there lots of fear about other attacks, or terrorism in general? Was there any real remembrance of it the years after?

I was in NYC on business when it happened. I don't remember any focus on terrorism at all, and while it was on the news I was more concerned about a light snow that day that could have made a mess of traffic or the airport.

[don1945]

I really don't remember it as being much of an issue at all at the time. Certainly nowhere near the 9/11 attacks, and just a blip on the screen. Even today, I really know very little about that first attack, but I sure do know a lot about the 9/11 attack.