McVeigh Prosecutors Begin to Present Evidence

DENVER: Prosecutors began to present their view of Timothy McVeigh as an anti-government zealot by telling jurors he had earplugs in his pocket, a loaded handgun in a shoulder holster and an envelope full of violent anti-government writings in his car when he was pulled over 75 minutes after the Alfred P. Murrah building bombing. After state trooper Charles Hanger described how he found a gun, knife and ammunition on McVeigh when he stopped him on I-35 north of Oklahoma City, FBI agent Danny Atchley detailed the political writings found in McVeigh's car at the time of arrest. "The jury and the audience were riveted on the testimony regarding the anti-government literature found in the car," reports TIME's Patrick Cole. "A lot of time was spent discussing pages 61 and 62 of 'The Turner Diaries', which discuss how the book's fictional bombing of a federal building was done to wake up America. Some time was spent on other writings, such as John Locke's 'Second Treaties on Government.'" Defense lawyers countered by pointing out that not all the writings advocated violence. "I would rather fight with pencil lead than bullet lead," read one passage--evidence, lawyers said, that possession of political writings don't necessarily prove anything.