Terre Haute Waits for the Execution Onslaught

June 8, 2001 -- Planning for the execution of America's deadliest mass murderer — and the first federal execution since 1963 — has been more like preparing for the Olympics than a lethal injection.

But the Olympic Games usually have a concrete start date, and are not subject to legal technicalities or the whims of a judicial system. In Terre Haute, Ind., however, everyone from prison officials to restaurateurs to hotel owners have prepared not once but twice for the execution that has thrust the Midwestern city into the world spotlight.

After extensive preparations for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh's first scheduled execution date of May 16, Terre Haute residents were as shocked as the rest of the world when Attorney General John Ashcroft postponed the event with just days to go. The delay was intended to give defense attorneys time to analyze more than 4,000 pages of evidence the FBI had not previously disclosed.

Now that a federal judge has rejected McVeigh's request for a stay to further analyze the documents, the show is back on in Terre Haute. Unless a last resort reprieve comes through, Monday is McVeigh's last day.

Striving for Dignity in a Circus Atmosphere

What's made the execution of McVeigh such a massive undertaking, of course, is the media and public interest in the death of such a notorious criminal.

By late this weekend, the population of Terre Haute, usually about 60,000, will swell with the influx of visitors.

About 1,600 members of the news media applied for credentials to cover the execution, at least 800 law enforcement officers will help keep the peace and an undetermined number of demonstrators — perhaps thousands — will set up camp near the prison.

Despite the obvious "media circus" aspect of McVeigh's execution, prison officials have repeatedly told reporters in the last few months that their goal is to carry out the day's proceedings without garishness.

"The objective is to carry it out with great dignity, compassion, and respect for everyone involved," Terre Haute prison warden Harley G. Lappin said.

Security Concerns: Protecting the Nerve Gas and a No-Fly Zone

Lappin has held public meetings for months to describe the intricate procedures in place — the product of two years of planning by prison officials. The logistics are daunting, ranging from plans for accessible buses for disabled protesters to the construction of a new cell phone tower on the edge of the prison grounds.

Although officials have said they want to retain as much normalcy as possible for the residents of Terre Haute, the city will be under a lockdown of sorts. County and federal courts will be closed.

All of Terre Haute's 124 police officers will report for duty, helping to direct traffic and maintain crowd control along with hundreds of federal agents, state troopers and prison guards, some in SWAT teams.

A "no-fly" zone within a mile of the city will be instituted for 24 hours before the 7 a.m. local time Monday execution, and federal officials said violators would be dealt with harshly. Also, extra guards will be posted at an army depot that houses 1,269 tons of deadly nerve gas 30 miles north of Terre Haute.

At the penitentiary, contingency plans are in place to handle scenarios such as a prison riot, a hostage situation and an outside assault on the facility.

Officials say they hope it won't come to that. "We're not here to lock up a bunch of people, that's not the intent," said Frank Anderson of the U.S. Marshals Indianapolis office. "We hope that this will be a mission that will be without incident."

Although security will be tight in the western Indiana city, an FBI spokesman assured an audience of townspeople recently that the agency had uncovered no specific threats to the community.

Tent City for Reporters, Complete With Golf Carts and Bottled Water

As with any major news happening, accommodating the influx of thousands of reporters from around the world has been a major part of planning McVeigh's execution.

To avoid chaos in the community, prison officials permitted the establishment of a 25-acre tent city on the prison's front lawn complete with facilities for cameras, laptops and phones.

For a fee of $1,146.50, reporters can purchase the "deluxe" plan offered by Terre Haute company Meetings & Events Professionals: chilled bottled water, a padded chair, writing tables with table skirts, phone service and the use of a golf-cart-like vehicle to get around the complex.

Prison officials plan to control what information gets made public on the day of the execution, and when it is announced.

Only 10 reporters chosen by their peers three hours before the execution actually will watch McVeigh die. Those media witnesses will leave the death chamber after the execution to a podium where they will brief those who did not attend after the warden makes a statement.

Other witnesses will have a chance to speak to the media, but measures are being taken to protect those who do not wish to face reporters, officials said. Reporters will be stationed almost a mile away from the protesters, but will be able to drive their carts over to the demonstration area.

For Demonstrators: Bibles, Cell Phones, Signs and Candles Allowed

Prison officials are also strictly monitoring the activities of those who wish to demonstrate on prison grounds.

Demonstrators are allowed to start gathering in two separate Terre Haute parks — pro- and anti-death penalty groups will be kept separate — at 6 p.m. the day before the execution. Starting at midnight, they will pass through metal detectors and board buses that will take them from the parks to two separate sites on the prison grounds.

Demonstrators on opposing sides will be spaced a thousand feet apart and sectioned off with the kind of orange tape seen at parades and marathons. They are only allowed to carry medicine, cell phones, beepers, protest signs, candles with windscreens and Bibles. Following the execution, buses will begin carrying demonstrators back to the parking areas.

Compounding the public safety needs surrounding the execution, 250 relatives and survivors will watch the execution — a closed-circuit broadcast — under top security in Oklahoma City.

At 5 a.m. local time, registered victims and family members will be transported from a U.S. Marshals air operations hangar to the federal prison holding facility in Oklahoma City, where they will watch the execution.

Witnesses must consent to being searched and cannot bring cell phones or pagers, but keys, prescription medication and "religious materials, e.g. rosary, religious medallion," are allowed, according to a Federal Bureau of Prisons memo.

Another phalanx of reporters, cameras and television anchors will be camped outside the Oklahoma City facility. Several news organizations said they wanted to pay as much attention, or more, to the proceedings there, where the bulk of survivors' and victims' families will be gathered, as to Terre Haute.

Consulting With the Condemned

Prison officials in Terre Haute have also had to work with McVeigh to plan some aspects of his death.

On April 6, the warden met with the condemned inmate to finalize his witness list. They also discussed the disposal of his body and belongings. In recent days, McVeigh selected his final meal for a second time, apparently choosing a different menu than for his first scheduled execution date. Officials would not disclose what meal McVeigh chose.

Unlike the extraordinary hype outside prison walls, the mundane details of McVeigh's execution are similar to any other. In planning the execution itself, prison officials must follow the federal Bureau of Prisons Execution Protocol, a 54-page document put to use for the first time with McVeigh's execution.

McVeigh, 33, was convicted in the April 19, 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168.