FBI says bomb found on Spokane MLK Day parade route could have caused multiple injuries.

SPOKANE, Wash. - The FBI offered a reward Tuesday for information about a potentially lethal bomb found in a backpack along the downtown route of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade.

The discovery before Monday's parade for the slain civil rights leader raised the possibility of a racial motive in a region that has been home to the white supremacist Aryan Nations.

"The confluence of the holiday, the march and the device is inescapable," said Frank Harrill, special agent in charge of the Spokane FBI office. "But we are not at the point where we can draw any particular motive."

He called the planting of the bomb an act of domestic terrorism that was clearly designed to advance a political or social agenda.

The suspicious backpack was spotted by three city employees about an hour before the parade was to start, Harrill said. They looked inside, saw wires and immediately alerted law enforcement.

The parade route was changed to avoid the device. A bomb disposal unit disabled it without incident, he said.

Spokane Mayor Mary Verner said the attempted bombing was unacceptable.

"I was struck that on a day when we celebrate Dr. King, a champion of non-violence, we were faced with a significant violent threat," Verner said. "This is unacceptable in our community, or any community."

Harrill declined to release details of the device, other than to call it a functional bomb that could have caused multiple casualties.

"The potential for injury and death were clearly present," Harrill said.

The FBI received no warnings in advance and did not have a suspect, Harrill said. No one has claimed credit for planting the bomb.

The agency decided to appeal to the public for information and offered the $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.

"Subject should be considered armed and dangerous," the agency said in its announcement.

The agency released photos of the backpack and two shirts found inside.

Another explosive device was found March 23 beside the Thomas S. Foley U.S. Courthouse in downtown Spokane. No arrests have been made in that investigation, Harrill said, and agents didn't know if the two incidents were related.

The Spokane region and adjacent northern Idaho have had numerous incidents of anti-government and white supremacist activity during the past three decades.

The most visible was by Aryan Nations, whose leader Richard Butler gathered racists and anti-Semites at his compound for two decades. Butler was bankrupted and lost the compound in a civil lawsuit in 2000 and died in 2004.

In 1996, white supremacists placed a pipe bomb outside City Hall. The bomb exploded, blowing out a window and sending nails and screws across the street into Riverfront Park. There were no injuries. Two men arrested for the blast said it was part of a plot to spark a revolution and set up a whites-only nation.

In December, a man in nearby Hayden, Idaho, built a snowman on his front lawn shaped like a member of the Ku Klux Klan holding a noose. The man knocked the pointy-headed snowman down after getting a visit from sheriff's deputies.

http://www.startribune.com/nation/114160354.html

interesting,,,,Ill be looking for developments in the story,,,,thanx

Who ever placed that bomb was not an Amateur.

so much of that information is widely accessible in the form of 'fiction' on prime time television and cable, that I wouldnt put it past a disgruntled teenager to figure it out


nothing will surprise me,,,

I don't think so. Besides the construction, whoever placed that bomb knew to place it against a solid back stop so that the explosion would all be directed toward the parade route and it would create the most casualties.

Laughner was an amateur. He used a 30 round magazine, but the wrong round and he knew nothing of sustaining a correct rate of fire. That's what caused his weapon to jam.

Take it from a peaceful trained professional. Whoever placed that bomb in Spokane was a trained professional.

In Washington? Nah, I'm willing to bet money that it was some supremacist group up there...they literally have droves of them in Washington.

Domestic Terrorist

Not Enough Information Yet!

No one knows for sure and whoever planted it will be mad they failed. the question is who?

The technique smacks of Al Quieda BUT it could be a copy cat or an Anarchist too. Even a "lone wolf" is possible too.

MLK day would be a good target day to cause wide spread panic. But there are a number of organizations that could see an act like this as a vehicle to advance their agendas and oddly people get a martyr complex going on to achieve that end.

I would not go jumping to conclusions yet. What if it was Islamic extremists just for the sake of argument and not a Ted Kazinski Part Deux?

Tell that to the FBI.

They say it's domestic terrorism.



They could be jumping to conclusions,
but I'd say they know more about it than anyone and I doubt they're telling all they know!

But we are not at a point where we can draw any particular motive.........

Anotherwards, they aren't sure what the motive was....but bcs it was MLK day they are believing it may have been racially motivated but aren't completely convinced.......

He called the planting of the bomb an act of domestic terrorism that was clearly designed to advance a political or social agenda.

That statement, without any other knowledge of the situation would lead me to believe it could have been a Gov. job, placed there by an Extremist Progressive Liberal.

i agree with fear, it's probably a white hate group...they are a dime a dozen up there...

Anyone remember the protest at the WTC in Seattle?

The trouble makers were Gov plants. Black clothes and their faces covered.

Shortly after that, it became illegal to protest downtown.

the libs do that, then blame the repubs...happens all the time

Really? It didn't go off. Neither did the one they found a year ago. Sounds pretty flimsy to me.

This reeks of White Suprem's, AQ knows how to detonate bombs.

yea, some stupid white kid, trying to be cool

A wanna-be Robert Matthews.

This also wreaks of a scare tactic.

Personally from the stand point of tactics if this was a real attempt to set off a bomb the best place to put it is in a trash can or mail box in the area. The mail box is the best since they have the pickup schedule on every one so you can set the timer appropriately. Trash cans are trickier since the pickup schedules differ in each city. This allows the bomb to remain out of sight in plain view. That is how the real pros do it. To set a semi obvious bomb in plain sight is Amateur. Frankly I think this was a scare tactic. The bomb may have been real enough. Likewise was any manifesto or claim to the attempt, warning or threat tendered of an attack? I did not see any claims to a threat or warning media wise. Likewise Washington State is full of tree hugging voters who scare easily. Finding a bomb will make the sheeple there stampede for more police and more government for sure. Hell, just finding a loose stick of dynamite in the street would have them all freaking the hell out!

Yeah there are white pride groups up there like there is a lot of Black and Hispanic and Asian and White gangs here. The Mexican drug wars are seeing Car Bombs and we had one found here recently that thankfully was an amateur attempt in New York. The one in New York was pulled by a Pakistani immigrant. They said he acted alone.

Now this is coming from someone who knows the subject of explosives and military tactics very well... Had this bomb been a real ClusterFucquer it would have been rigged to go off the moment someone lifted it, opened it, bumped it wrong, looked at it wrong, or was stupid enough to be curious. Sorry but whoever rigged that one was a amateur or they were out to scare people. Frankly if it was a real statement intended to get the message across and declare war it would have gone off.

Oddly why did they leave a cell phone on top of the backpack in plain sight? That just screams "something is wrong here!"

On top of that there are a LOT of places things like the "Claymore" type device can be hidden in plain sight to really mess up a parade! Hell, a well placed home made "Bouncing Betty" would really be a hit at a parade! Frankly there are too many evil people who are willing to put human life at risk behind the scenes while saying they are against the violence to get ahead. You can pay any homeless schmuck to put a backpack anywhere you want it no questions asked.

Now for an innate problem with using a stolen cell phone as a detonator, you have no idea who or when someone will call that number and it could be right as you arm the weapon. BAD IDEA! Likewise Cell Phones have trails the FBI could easily follow. First rule of the Assassination game, be clean of your work! That means leaving no trail. But then again if these terrorists have a message they always have to get the word out after the act to back their claims.

Oddly Dumb Bombs are the best! All the 'gee whiz' just makes things more complicated. The Oklahoma City Bombers were caught because of the parts of the truck used as a bomb that was recovered. The fools used a rental truck. Had it have been stolen the trail would have gone cold! Frankly people who do terrible acts like this want the attention. That was what got Ted Strazinsky captured! He was damn good but no pro. He just had the wherewithal but likewise he had the motivation and half a brain at least. His rampage lasted years! And look at what happened when he was caught. Another lunatic runs in to fill the void!

I am not buying the FBIs disinformation at all. I think they are stonewalled on this one! So are the local authorities. Why was the device not rigged to detonate if tampered with? Then again what if the trail pointed somewhere politically sensitive? Well, the FBI and local Authorities will LIE LIE LIE to us!

We have 'no need to know' of course! now granted if they did take down some major politico because of this I would have to commend them as long as they came clean later. But for now, NOT ENOUGH FACTS!



I only deal in the facts ma'am!