MLK Bomb Suspect Has Racist Ties; Feds See Bomb Attempt Pattern; Where Is Peter King On This One?

A former solider who was a member of a white supremacist group was arrested in Spokane and charged with planting a backpack bomb along the route of that city’s Martin Luther King, Jr. parade.

Kevin William Harpham, 36, of Colville, could face life imprisonment on charges of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and possession of an unregistered explosive device, according to documents on file in U.S. District Court…

Federal agents, who had been assembling in Spokane during the past few days, arrested Harpham driving near his home at 1088 Cannon Way south of Colville.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has information that Harpham was a member of the National Alliance, in 2004, and worked with the Vanguard News Network, the group’s magazine. They publish such topics as, “resettlement and construction of local communities for Whites” and “How to Live White.”

“What to me this arrest suggests is that the Martin Luther King Day attack is what it always looked like: A terror-mass murder attempt directed at black people and their sympathizers,” said Mark Potok, who is the director of the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project that tracks and investigates hate groups.

Federal authorities believed the bombing attempt was an act of domestic terrorism.

As the investigation progressed, much attention was focused on the region’s past bombings, all of which were carried out by either members of the Aryan Nations or other white supremacists.

The most recent came in 1996, when three bombs linked to racists caused severe damage to a Planned Parenthood building, Spokane City Hall and the Spokane Valley office of The Spokesman-Review.

When do congressional hearings begin?

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.