January 17, 2011: ’Backpack Bomb’ Found at Martin Luther King Day Event; Removed without Incident

An FBI photograph of the backpack containing the bomb. [Source: FBI / TPM Muckraker]A “backpack bomb” is found planted on or next to a bench near the “Unity March” planned for downtown Spokane, Washington, as part of the scheduled Martin Luther King Jr. Day festivities. Three contract workers spot the black Swiss Army-brand backpack near a bench on the southeast corner of Washington Street and Main Avenue. The backpack contains a powerful bomb. Spokane police quickly reroute the march to avoid any potential danger. A bomb squad using remote-controlled robots successfully removes the bomb without detonating it. Officials later say the bomb is a sophisticated device which is designed to be detonated remotely, using something similar to a vehicle keyless entry switch; FBI officials call the bomb a “credible threat” to passersby and parade participants. The bomb, sources say, contains gunpowder and lead pellets, apparently designed to function as shrapnel. The bomb could have inflicted heavy casualties, and was placed in a way to maximize the blast toward marchers in the street. Other sources say that the bomb maker included rat poison in the bomb; most rat poisons contain warfarin, which would have caused wounded victims to bleed heavily once struck with shrapnel. Two T-shirts are stuffed around the bomb, in an apparent attempt to conceal it. Both have ties to Stevens County; one was distributed at a 2010 “Relay for Life” event in Colville, Washington, about an hour northwest of Spokane, and another, with the words “Treasure Island Spring 2009” on the front, was from a local theater production in 2009 in the town of Chewelah. Federal officials later call the bomb a thwarted attempt at domestic terrorism. The bomb is sent for testing to an FBI forensics lab in Quantico, Virginia. The Reverend Happy Walker, a featured speaker at the Unity March, later says: “People in New York City hear about Spokane and associate us with Hayden Lake and the Aryan Nations (see Early 1970s). It just shouldn’t be that way because it’s a great place to live. We’ve still got that hate that lingers and doesn’t go away. That’s disheartening.” [Seattle Times, 3/9/2010; KXLY, 1/18/2011; Spokane Spokesman-Review, 3/9/2011] Two days after the bomb is found, FBI special agent Frank Harrill will tell a reporter, “Clearly the confluence of the parade route, the timing, the fact that the device was likely placed on that route roughly an hour before the parade… falls squarely within the realm of domestic terrorism.” [TPM Muckraker, 1/19/2011] In March, alleged white supremacist Kevin Harpham will be arrested and charged with planting the bomb (see March 9, 2011). It is possible that Harpham may have planted the bomb in response to a call for violence from fugitive white supremacist Craig Cobb (see Around January 8, 2011).