Today is Sunday, September 20th, 2020.

On this day in 2000, members of the Real Irish Republican Army launched a rocket at the MI6 office in London.

Those responsible were never arrested. Welcome to today in True Crime, a parcast original.

Today we're covering the attack of M I6's SIS building in London,

widely believed to be perpetrated by the real IRA. Let's go back to the evening of September 20, 2000, just before 10 p.m. In the Vauxhall District of South London, overlooking the River Thames,

lies the headquarters of the United Kingdom's Foreign Intelligence Agency,

The Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6.

The building design drew inspiration from Aztec and Mayan architecture, cobbled together with a postmodern

touch. It was criticized for its looks, even dubbed the Babylon-on-Tems, and the Vauxhall Trollup. Working inside the SIS building are Britain's top

spies, counterterrorism, cyber security, counterproliferation, all of the UK's top-secret clandestine departments reside here.

Naturally, it would make a perfect target for one of Britain's enemies.

The night of the 20th was like any other London September evening,

cold and a little damp, but that didn't seem to stop London's from walking along the Thames

or on the Vauxhall Bridge.

Then around 945 PM,

a deafening explosion rocked the area. People turned at the noise and

were stunned to see smoke and debris coming from the eighth floor of the SIS

building.

When law enforcement and the fire department arrived,

they were relieved to discover that no one was killed or injured,

and the building itself only received minor superficial damage.

However, MI6 was shocked.

...