Andreas Strassmeir

Andreas Carl Strassmeir former soldier who was the head-of-security for the white separatist community of Elohim City, Oklahoma. He gained media attention for his alleged connection to the Oklahoma City Bombing and has become an important figure in its conspiracy theories.

Early life Strassmeir was born in Berlin-Wilmersdorf, the son of , leader of the Berlin branch of the Christian Democratic Union between 1989 and 1991, who served as the Chief of Staff to Chancellor Helmut Kohl.

Strassmeir studied at a military university in Hamburg, where he majored in museology and theology. After briefly joining a charismatic Christian commune in Berlin, he entered the German Army in 1979, training as a Panzergrenadier. His military service lasted for a total of five years, during which he reached the rank of lieutenant. Petruskie confirms that he had assisted Andreas Strassmeir in finding such a job, but denies having any connection to the CIA.

After spending some time in a kibbutz in Israel, Strassmeir moved to Houston, Texas, in 1989 where he started working as a salesman for a computer company. Afterwards, he became active in right wing and neo-Nazi circles, where he eventually met his future attorney, Kirk Lyons.

Strassmeir initially had a two-year tourist visa for his stay in the United States,

Elohim City In 1991, Kirk Lyons introduced Andreas Strassmeir to Elohim City - a white separatist community in Oklahoma. A year later, Strassmeir moved there and became the chief of security and weapons training. At the time, Carol Howe was unaware of Strassmeir's full name, and simply knew him as "Andy the German".

After the OKC Bombing, Strassmeir fled the compound with fellow Elohim City residents Pete and Tony Ward.

Departure from the United States Robert Millar, Elohim City's founder, quickly "expelled" Andreas Strassmeir soon after he became aware that the FBI was looking at Strassmeir for possible ties to McVeigh and the bombing. On May 2, 1996, the U.S. Department of Justice messaged the German government to question Strassmeir, on account of him still being registered in Berlin, in order to have him testify as a witness. The Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection denied the request unless Strassmeir was rendered ineligible for the death penalty in case of prosecution as an accomplice.

Notes from a 1997 FBI investigation state that sometime after the bombing, CIA pilot Dave Halloway flew Andreas Strassmeir out of the United States. While that same report records that Strassmeir was flown to Berlin, many have speculated that he was instead flown to Mexico.

Strassmeir had reportedly disavowed the right-wing extremist movement upon his return to Germany. After temporarily moving back in with his parents in Berlin, Strassmeir relocated to an "impoverished corner of Europe" with two friends, and by 2013, he ran a miniature model business based out of Berlin.