Briefcase, Angry Words Lead To Evacuation Of Bpa Offices

The Bonneville Power Administration headquarters was evacuated Tuesday afternoon after a man left a briefcase at the building’s entrance and made anti-government remarks.

A bomb squad X-rayed the briefcase and found only a clipboard, papers and pencils. Police spokesman Cliff Madison said the man, who was not armed, was arrested without a struggle.

The man had boarded the Max light rail line near Northeast 60th Avenue and gotten off the train at the BPA building, about four miles away near the Lloyd Center shopping mall.

About 450 employees were evacuated.

Witnesses at the BPA office said the man said he didn’t like federal workers and was a fan of Theodore Kaczynski, the suspected Unabomber accused of mailing letter bombs to government officials, resulting in two deaths.

Madison said there was a pair of handcuffs attached to the briefcase but that the briefcase was not attached to the man, who was dressed entirely in black.

The BPA is the marketing agency for electricity produced by federal dams in the Columbia Basin.