The FBI said a suspicious backpack was found about 9:25 a.m. PST on Monday on a bench at the northeast corner of North Washington Street and West Main Avenue in downtown Spokane.
A bomb disposal unit was called in and neutralized the device. The FBI said in a statement on Tuesday that "the backpack contained a potentially deadly destructive device, likely capable of inflicting multiple casualties."
The FBI has refused to discuss how the bomb was constructed.
"Suffice it to say it was of grave concern," Frank Harrill, special agent in the charge of the Spokane FBI office, told NBC News.
"You could describe it as an improvised destructive device ... or improvised explosive device," Harrill said.
Area workers initially reported the suspicious package to Spokane police. The march was slightly re-routed and delayed because of the bomb scare.
"The three contract workers in the area who were there are unsung heroes," the FBI spokesman said.
The FBI has not established an official motive, but Harrill told NBC News "the timing and placement of the backpack (along the march route) is inescapable."
"At that point, it falls directly in the realm and sphere of domestic terrorism," Harrill told the Associated Press. "Clearly, there was some political or social agenda here."
Why this wasn't wall-to-wall national news Monday I have no clue. This was clearly a domestic terror attack, set by somebody on MLK Day, at an MLK Day parade. No clue on the suspect or their motives, but the intended target and timing says a hell of a lot.
Someone tried to kill people marching for peace on Monday. This is horrendous. I pray the FBI can nail the people responsible and fast. Two things stand out: the intended target and of the attack and the fact that it was stopped. The system worked here, the backpack was found and disposed of and nobody was hurt.
DougJ makes a solid observation at Balloon Juice:
Expect more of this. And remember it’s all coincidence that it’s all aimed at black people, Democrats, and people who work in the federal government.
More on this as the FBI continues the investigation.
DougJ makes a solid observation at Balloon Juice:...
ReplyDeleteGetting the "narrative" ready, aren't you?
Feeling guilty already, are we?
ReplyDeleteNo, are you?
ReplyDelete"Why this wasn't wall-to-wall national news Monday I have no clue."
ReplyDeletePossibly because there's no reason to suspect the bomb was planted by someone named "Mohammad."
There's that.
ReplyDeleteI really do hope whoever did this is some frothing white supremacist assclown who I can say doesn't represent anyone worth mentioning in America, with a philosophy and motive rejected by 99.999% of us.
My fear is the person who did this wasn't crazy.
"My fear is the person who did this wasn't crazy."
ReplyDeleteTell the truth for once in your life.
Your real fear is that the person who did this was another violent anti-government liberal like Jared Loughner. Your real fear is that the person who did this wasn't a Tea Party patriot so your usual narrative of "blame conservatives" won't stick. Your real fear is that the person who did this is just like you: a left-wing hatemonger blogger. Your real fear is that the FBI will finally start paying attention to the domestic terror threat people like you truly are to this country.
Asshole.
I really do hope whoever did this is some frothing white supremacist assclown who I can say doesn't represent anyone worth mentioning in America, with a philosophy and motive rejected by 99.999% of us.
ReplyDeleteThat's a laugh. You already have determined who you want it to be. And if it isn't, you'll still say it is.
Wow the armchair brownshirts are out in force today. This ZVTS post got picked up by memeorandum. You think they're bad here, you should see FDL, DB and S,N! -- and they're thick as bedbugs on Yahoo!News stories.
ReplyDeleteIt really is a fascinating phenomenon. What reward do these trolls find in continuously being asshats? Are their tiny egos so shriveled from lack of attention from Daddy that they are nourished by even the meager gruel of derisory words that they attract from mere strangers?
Or is it part of a membership ritual, gaining brownshirt points by performing the duties of fascist footsoldiers, armed with the standard-issue weapons of projection, ad hominem and zombie fallacies? Do they actually still receive McCain points, or are they like street performers, just hoping some bigshot rightwing blog producer will notice their work?
Or, is it that they are so addicted to cognitive dissonance and Big Libel that they no longer get their fix from the firehoses at Fox News, WaPo, WSJ and their role models Malkin, et al ? Is their addiction SO strong and their tolerance SO high that they must spend their entire days and nights performing the fallacy-addict equivalent of autofellatio in the comments areas of news outlets and web logs, just to stimulate another trickle of dopamine from their abused and overworked tegmenta? Really, when you look at how ubiquitous SteveAR is and how he's always ready with a foul retort, it's hard to imagine him doing anything else other than trolling all day... They'd have my pity if they all weren't such jerks, and they don't want it anyway. They'd rather piss us off than engage in any sort of real conversation. They should know, though, that they're less of an annoyance than guano on my windshield.
steveAR runs a small business, or so he claimed in one post when he needed to say that to make a point. in another post he said he worked for a company that does a lot of business with the federal government when he needed to make a different point.
ReplyDeletehe is obviously a lying sack of shit as well as a blithering moron.
The 'domestic terror threat' posed by liberal bloggers? Seriously? You are unbalanced, dude.
ReplyDeleteWhat seems more likely for a bomb planted along a march route for MLK day? That is was planted by some racist with a hate on for black people, or it was planted by a liberal?
The overwhelming number of people who have committed violence with political motives, or threatened so, have been on the right. You may not agree with this, and I would expect no less from you. But it is a fact, shown time and again. It is overwhelmingly conservative media figures who call us treasonous, terrorists, and America haters. And there is almost never any other message. Is it really that surprising when a crazy person eventually takes that talk seriously?
This blog should be called "Zandar Versus His Insecurities".
ReplyDeleteSo, uh... when's our next troll audition?
ReplyDelete