The Hidden Third

Snapshot · The Hidden Third

He Was a Violent Neo-Nazi Leader. Then He Found Out He Is Jewish.

Explore episode May 27, 2026

Where this was said

Oklahoma City, Walking Into the FBI, and Going Public

At 1:32:03 · chapter starts 1:27:30

The Oklahoma City bombing is Meeink's final jolt. He hears the news at a corner deli, notes the truck bomb method he'd discussed in safe houses, and tells his neighborhood friends he might know who did it. The next day — before Timothy McVeigh's name is public — he walks into the FBI. He doesn't know McVeigh personally, but the circles overlap. The FBI refers him to the ADL, which asks him to speak to community groups. His first talk to a classroom of 10-year-olds is a disaster of graphic oversharing and snot-soaked shirts, but an organizer tells him he did well. He finds his footing, pitches the Philadelphia Flyers on an inner-city hockey programme called Harmony Through Hockey, and begins building the activist identity he carries today.

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