Bombings Resemble Tactic Used By The Order Racist Organization Robbed Banks To Recruit, Fund Army Of Terrorists
The twin bombings in the Spokane Valley on Monday resemble crimes carried out in Spokane and Seattle 12 years ago by a neo-Nazi group called The Order.
On Jan. 30, 1984, two men with ties to the Aryan Nations planted what appeared to be a bomb outside the Two Swabbies, a clothing store on East Sprague.
While sheriff’s deputies and bomb squad technicians dismantled that device - only to learn it was a fake - Gary Lee Yarbrough and Bruce Pierce robbed a Washington Mutual bank on East Sprague of $3,600.
It took 12 months before the FBI realized the bank robberies and others like it were acts of domestic terrorism.
The Order, a splinter group of Aryan Nations recruits, used approximately $4 million in robbery money to recruit and pay for a secret army of terrorists who hoped to start a race war.
The Order, whose members believed in the supremacy of the white race, frequently made references to Yahweh, a Hebrew word for God.
A letter dropped off with the bomb at The Spokesman-Review office on Monday also referred to Yahweh.
Kevin Flynn, a Denver newspaper reporter who wrote a book about The Order, said Monday’s bombings in Spokane are strongly similar to acts carried out by the group in 1984.
“Obviously, using a bomb as a diversion is a tried and true tactic of these groups,” Flynn said.
The tactic is described in the fictional book, “The Turner Diaries,” which is believed to have been used as a blueprint by those who blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City last April.
The Order started its reign of terror with a phony bomb threat in Spokane, Flynn said. The group also broke windows at Radio Shacks here and stole police scanners. The Order also bombed an adult bookstore in downtown Spokane.
A similar bombing was carried out in an X-rated theater in Seattle while Order members got away with $250,000 in a North Seattle armored car robbery.
“The bombing itself become a vehicle for sending a message, so it’s not just a diversion,” Flynn said.
Bombings strike “fear of people walking down the sidewalks on Main Street, America,” he said.
“They’re accomplishing two purposes - and, it’s sad,” Flynn said.
, DataTimes