In a letter of personal correspondence dated November 13, 1787, Thomas Jefferson wrote, “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants” on the subject of rebellion, specifically in response to a recent uprising in Massachusetts. Centuries later, the phrase would be adopted by two of the world’s deadliest domestic terrorists in pursuit of their own revolutionary cause.
Behind the wheel of a rented Ryder truck on the morning of April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh headed to the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, lighting the fuses to an explosive device in the cab of the truck, as he went. Abraham Lincoln’s face appeared on the front of his white T-Shirt with “Sic semper tyrannis,” Latin for “Thus always to tyrants,” lettered underneath it. On the back was an illustration of the Tree of Liberty surrounded by three blood droplets and an overlay with text of the quote. He parked the vehicle in a drop-off zone, and while he made his getaway, the bomb detonated, killing 168 people. McVeigh was arrested on an unrelated charge within two hours, and the shirt is visible in his mugshot.
Anders Breivik empathized with McVeigh during the manufacture of his explosive device, believing the process to have been just as fatiguing for him. On July 22, 2011, a Crafter van carrying the bomb made of similar material was left outside the reception area of the Tower Block that housed several of Norway’s government offices. The blast killed eight people, as Breivik started his drive towards Utøya, where a summer camp for the Labour Party’s youth organization gathered. He gained passage to the island by disguising himself as a policeman, then stalked through the terrain, shooting 69 people to death. Before the attacks, Breivik sent an email of his manifesto entitled 2083: A European Declaration of Independence that reached only a thousand of its 8,000 recipients. The Thomas Jefferson line is quoted repeatedly within the document, particularly in statements he prepared for court appearances, which were later recited from print-outs made available to him throughout the course of his trial.
