Considering Timothy McVeigh’s Last Meal in the Era of Coronavirus

Disclaimer: This piece is not intended to portray Timothy McVeigh as an Underground Groundbreakers hero. It is simply exploring the idea and fascination with last meals, a generally unexplored topic.

“Death is not a penalty, it’s an escape.”

— Timothy McVeigh, better known as the Oklahoma City bomber, on the subject of the death penalty, which he received when he was executed in 2001

You might be wondering why a picture of lovely-looking mint chocolate chip ice cream is paired with a (rather chilling) quote from one of the most infamous domestic terrorists in U.S. history.

Late last night (but who’s really keeping track of time during this pandemic anyway?), I was watching a PBS documentary on the Oklahoma City bombing (preview clip here). I was very young when the bombing took place in 1995, so I don’t have any memory of it. The only things related to it that I do remember are that my elementary school later planted a tree dedicated to the 168 people killed, including 19 children in a day care center; and that when the bomber, Timothy McVeigh, was executed for the horrific crime in 2001, he chose as his last meal two pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

This last meal selection stuck in my head long enough that when I was learning more about the bombing and his background, it popped up in my mind. I found the choice of the ice cream rather fascinating, which is probably why I still remembered it almost 20 years after McVeigh’s execution. I decided to look further into this idea of last meals and, of course, fell into an Internet rabbit hole.

One article that I found that had a great deal of information and food for thought was a piece by the British food critic Jay Rayner in The New York Times published just a couple of weeks ago, titled “Last Meals on Death Row, a Peculiarly American Fascination.” The piece includes books such as No Seconds, Meals to Die For, Last Suppers: Famous Final Meals from Death Row, and …last meal.

The piece raises many issues that I never thought would have stemmed from something as seemingly simple as death row inmates’ last meals, things like:

feelings about our own mortality and what our own last meal would be

views on the death penalty in America

the idea that Americans’ fascination with death row inmates, execution and “true crime” is a modern version of watching hangings, as well as a fascination with lives other than our own

the sense of individuality in choosing a last meal, how the choice of food may empathize/humanize the otherwise inhuman criminals

At first I was surprised that so much has been written about this subject, and for centuries — but knowing that there really is a community for everything, I guess I shouldn’t have been!

The points Rayner brings up could explain why I still remembered McVeigh’s choice of mint chocolate chip ice cream all these years later. I mainly just wondered: why the ice cream instead of an actual meal? And why mint chocolate chip? It made me wonder if that was McVeigh’s favorite treat growing up that he just wanted one last taste of, which is literally the only humanizing thought I’ve ever had about him.

Most of us will likely never know when we are having our last meal, unless we happen to plan it for whatever (perhaps morbid) reason. This may be another reason why I find the choice of ice cream so interesting; as Rayner suggests, death row inmates like McVeigh have the extremely rare (but not exactly desirable) opportunity to control their destiny, in at least some small way. This may also provide some insight behind McVeigh’s chilling words about death as an escape rather than a punishment.

The idea of being able to choose one’s last meal seems especially relevant now during the era of the coronavirus pandemic, when food is very much a central focus and we yearn for a sense of control when we have so little of it. Thinking about the specifics surrounding our death is unpleasant and makes many squeamish, and I’m certainly not suggesting that we do that. I’m simply suggesting that in these troubling times the idea of having some kind of control over anything, especially something as central to our lives as food, is very appealing. Even if it’s something as simple as ice cream.

If you enjoy my writing, please check out my new ebook on women’s history, Underground Groundbreakers: Women’s History! Learn about women who never got the credit they were due, like Pauli Murray, Shirley Chisholm, Florence Price, and more.

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