Michael William Brescia (born February 10, 1972) is an American convicted bank robber who has also been alleged to have been involved in the

Oklahoma City bombing The Oklahoma City bombing was a domestic terrorism in the United States, domestic terrorist truck bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, on April 19, 1995. Perpetrated by two anti-federal go ...

Background

Of Italian and Irish ancestry, he was born to William and Kathleen ( McNulty) Brescia. He has one brother. He grew up in the

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

neighborhood of

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, where his father was a firefighter and his mother was an accountant. Brescia was both a member of the Aryan Republican Army and a part-time student at La Salle University, at the time of his arrest.

Extremism involvement

While a student at La Salle University, Brescia attempted to create a

white supremacist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

group on campus. In 1993, during his third-year at the school, he abruptly dropped out of school and told friends he was moving to Oklahoma for a job. He actually moved to

Elohim City Elohim City'' Elohim'' is a Hebrew word usually translated as "God", sometimes "Gods" because in Hebrew most plural masculine nouns end in ''–im''. (also known as Elohim City Inc. and Elohim Village) is a private community in Adair County, Ok ...

, a

white separatist White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White s ...

community in Eastern Oklahoma. While staying at Elohim City, Brescia was roommates with Andreas Strassmeir, a German national who was phoned by

Timothy McVeigh Timothy James McVeigh (April 23, 1968 – June 11, 2001) was an American domestic terrorist responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, 19 of whom were children, injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one-third ...

two weeks prior to the bombing.

Aryan Republican Army

Brescia was recruited for the Aryan Republican Army (ARA) by Aryan Nations Pennsylvania state leader, Mark W. Thomas. The ARA committed 22 bank robberies across the Midwest between 1994 and 1996, seven of which Brescia was accused of being involved in. Brescia was arrested for bank robbery on January 30, 1997 and later pleaded guilty to bank robbery charges and was sentenced to 57 months in federal prison. Brescia was released from prison on March 22, 2001.

"John Doe #2" Allegations

The '' Daily Telegraph'' ran an interview with a witness named Connie Smith who said "I kept telling them that the man in the (John Doe II) sketch was that Mike guy, a nice-looking guy, dark-skinned. But the FBI made me feel guilty, then ignorant, as if I didn't know what I was saying. Then, later, I tried to call in with more information and they wouldn't even talk to me." Strassmeir claimed that on the day of the bombing, Brescia was in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

attending a rally protesting the execution of

Richard Wayne Snell Richard Wayne Snell (May 21, 1930 – April 19, 1995) was an American white supremacist convicted of killing of two people in Arkansas between November 3, 1983 and June 30, 1984. Snell was sentenced to death for one of the murders, and execut ...

. Federal officials have stated that there is no link between the ARA robberies and the Oklahoma City bombing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brescia, Michael 1972 births American bank robbers American neo-Nazis Oklahoma City bombing Criminals from Philadelphia Living people La Salle University alumni American people of Italian descent American people of Irish descent