So another bonehead is about to go away for around 30 years or so, and if he was a Muslim, you would have heard about this. Sadly, chances are anti-hate sites like ours is where you are likely to hear about Kevin Harpham, who just pled guilty to planting that bomb in Spokane, WA along the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day parade route on Jan. 17. But at least the rest of us are letting people know about right wing extremists like them, and they aren't getting away with too much when they step outside their little "Freedom of Speech" bubble into some sort of action. Harpham was down with the crowd who liked to trash talk the most, the VNN Forum crew, and he was a financial backer for Vanguard News Network's Alex Linder's endeavors. So the next time you hear conservatives and even liberals try to ignore this crowd, remember that we almost had scores of people killed in Spokake - and that "ignore" is the first word in "ignorance".
One People's Project
White Supremacist Kevin Harpham has pled guity today, to planting a bomb at a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day parade in Washington state earlier this year.
According to news reports Harpham, 37 of Colville, WA, admitted in U.S. district court to building a pipe bomb that was to be set off with a remote car-alarm trigger and putting it in a backpack along the route of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Unity March on Jan. 17. The backpack was noticed by three city employees on a bench about an hour before the parade who alerted police when they found wires inside it, Police then safely defused the bomb, and Harpham was arrested on March 9.
The incident took place at a time concerns of violent right-wing extremism following the shooting in Tuscon, Arizona that killed six people and critically injured U.S. Rep Gabrielle Giffords just a week prior were in the news, although in the midst of a conservative backlash against people expressing those concerns related to that event, most news outlets failed to report on the attempted Spokane bombing.
“I commend the law enforcement efforts at all phases of the investigation and prosecution of this matter,” said Michael C. Ormsby, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington. “This was one of the most thorough investigations that I have ever seen and involved multi-levels of law enforcement and multiple offices and other professionals. Our office received significant assistance from the Civil Rights Division and the National Security Division of the Justice Department. All who participated should be thanked and congratulated; this was truly a team effort.”
| The bomb, as pictured in a report compiled by the FBI |
Harpham, who gained explosives experience as a former member of an Army artillery unit, in 2004 was a member of the National Alliance and was a frequent financial contributor to The Aryan Alternative a newspaper published by white supremacists Alex Linder of the Vanguard News Network (VNN) and former Klan leader turned FBI informant Glenn Miller. "Perhaps, prosecutors offered the deal because they lacked confidence in their case," Miller, posting under the screename "Rounder" said on the VNN Forum, where Harpham posted under the name "Joe Snuffy". "Plus, as Kevin knows, accused 'white supremacists' stand little chance of acquittal, whether they're innocent or not. And since he's relatively young, life behind bars is an especially powerful incentive to plea bargain."
Earlier this year, prosecutors revealed that Harpham took photos of himself along the parade route, as well as of young African American children gathering along the route, and of a Jewish man wearing a yarmulke. It was also noted that the FBI found tool marks on the bomb's electrical system that matches a pair of crimpers seized during a search of Harpham's property.
Sentencing is set for Nov. 30 before U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush in Spokane. Harpham faces 27 and 32 years in prison, per the plea agreement.
