Domestic terror bombing stopped on MLK Day.

[SirNitram]

Link

SPOKANE, Wash. -- The Spokane office of the FBI confirmed late Tuesday morning that a suspicious package found along the route of the Unity Parade on Monday morning was a credible threat that had the potential to cause "multiple casualties."

On Tuesday morning the FBI released a statement confirming that following the successful disruption of the device by the Explosives Disposal Unit, “preliminary analysis revealed the backpack contained a potentially deadly destructive device, likely capable of inflicting multiple casualties.”

The backpack, a black Swiss Army pack, was found by a city employee Monday morning at approximately 9:30 a.m. in a parking lot across from the INB Performing Arts Center. After it was reported, authorities shut down several blocks in the vicinity of the intersection of Main Avenue and Washington Street.

This forced a detour in the parade route, which had been scheduled to move past where the device was found.

With Spokane police providing the cordon around the threat, the Explosives Disposal Unit was called in to investigate the package. A robot was sent up to the package several times, and around 1 p.m., the team successfully disrupted the device.

In addition to the Explosives Disposal Unit, a hazardous materials team was called in to investigate the package throughout the afternoon and into the early-evening hours. It has not been clarified why the HazMat team was called in to assist with the investigation.

The FBI confirmed the device was contained in a Swiss Army backpack which contained several T-shirts, including a Stevens County Relay For Life 2010 shirt and a Treasure Island Spring 2009 shirt. See the FBI Request For Information (PDF) for pictures of the pack and shirts found inside.

FBI special agent Frank Harrill said the investigation into the device has become a top priority, adding that the timing and placement of the device wasn't coincidental.

A $20,000 reward has been offered up by the FBI for information regarding the identity of the person or persons that may have been seen with this backpack from approximately 8 a.m. to 9:25 a.m. on Monday. If anyone has any information regarding this incident, they are requested to immediately contact the FBI.

In addition, if anyone took photographs or video in the area of Washington Street and Main Avenue from approximately 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., they are also requested to contact the FBI as soon as possible.

Could've been another horrifying travesty.

[jcow79]

Wow. I live in Spokane and I find out about this here? Guess I should catch the local news more often.

There are a lot of white supremacists in this area. It's really common for minority families to have their property vandalized with swastikas or other racist graffiti. This is quite an escalation. According to local news sources, the bomb was quite sophisticated and very dangerous. This is really scary to realize we have a bomber on the loose capable of making such sophisticated devices rather than some redneck that makes unreliable glorified firecrackers.

http://www.krem.com/news/Source-Backpac ... 16494.html

[Broken]

Apart from the Maddow show, I don't really recall seeing this getting much coverage in the news. On the other hand, I've been working murderous hours at work for the last week or so, it is perfectly possible I missed any other outlet completely. From what I recall, the FBI stated it was a relatively sophisticated and dangerous remote controlled device. They are looking particularly at the local white supremacist for leads, but that's about all I remember from the news in the background. Hopefully this gets resolved quickly since the last thing we need is someone able and willing to build deadly IEDs for America's streets.

[spartasman]

It could be the press intentionally downplaying it in order to avoid panic. Or it could be the fact that their is no Muslim immigrant to to get offensive/defensive about at the moment.

[Molyneux]

Thank goodness this didn't get as bad as it might have; I do hope they can trace the origin of the bomb.
By "disrupted the device", do they mean disarmed, or do they mean "controlled explosion"?

[Sea Skimmer]

It’s not very big news in large because of the reality people really don’t want to face, small bombs are found all the damn time in the United States and that’s been true as far as I can tell since the mid to late 1960s. We don’t have bomb squads in every major police department to deal with once every ten or twelve year international terrorist assaults. Most are small and crude enough that frankly they just aren’t a serious threat unless you actually open the package and have it explode in your face. Even then when the bomb is say, match heads in PVC you’ll still probably survive. Some though are a lot more dangerous though. I do think the media has downplayed this event and many others; that's fine by me. People like this are looking for attention, if you deny them the bomb exploding and deny major media coverage I think that's a good thing. The local population who may be able to help the investigation are going to know about it well enough.

[Broomstick]

Ever hear the expression "If it bleeds it leads"? No one got hurt, so it's not headline news. Seriously, the news media resembles vultures, always looking for the dead and dying and not interested in much else.

It’s not very big news in large because of the reality people really don’t want to face, small bombs are found all the damn time in the United States and that’s been true as far as I can tell since the mid to late 1960s.

Oh, no - much earlier than that. All the back to at least 1900, maybe even back into the 1800's. Anarchists and bombs were a big concern back at the start of the 20th Century. Not just the US, either, but also in Europe. Probably elsewhere, that's just the bits I'm aware of.

Amateur/small scale bomb making has become more sophisticated over time.

[Sea Skimmer]

Oh, no - much earlier than that. All the back to at least 1900, maybe even back into the 1800's. Anarchists and bombs were a big concern back at the start of the 20th Century. Not just the US, either, but also in Europe. Probably elsewhere, that's just the bits I'm aware of.

Amateur/small scale bomb making has become more sophisticated over time.

Certainly bombings have existed since at least the USCW, but they seem to have been pretty rare in any given year except a surge in the 1920s when the New York stock exchange and a few other places got bombed. But since the 1960s its basically common for a city to have a small bomb a month and call out the bomb squad at least every week if not day, I don't think that was the case prior.

[Broomstick]

Yes, they have certainly gotten more common since the 1960's.

[open_sketchbook]

Turn of the century literature is filled with people talking about anarchists throwing bombs. Heck, when Archduke Ferdinand was asssassinated, the assassins first tried throwing a bomb into the car. Explosives have been simple to make for a long time and have a lot of lethality, so if your goal is to just kill people and you aren't too picky then it's the go-to device. What modern technology has done, mostly, is allowed for greater distance to be placed between the bomber and the target because of longer-term, more reliable or precise methods of detonation. Bombs just weren't the same kind of threat when they had to be activated and thrown by hand; it probably wasn't until the 60s that more sophisticated devices with proper timers or radio activation were possible to the average joe.