Hoax Closes Roads Fake Bomb Left At U.S. Courthouse

A fake bomb found outside the federal building early Monday looked real enough to Spokane police, who brought in 50 officers to block downtown streets, evacuate hundreds of people and reroute dozens of morning buses.

More than four hours after the device was found, bomb squad experts concluded the tubes that resembled dynamite were wooden broomsticks.

What police initially thought was a suspicious-looking remote control unit attached to the sticks turned out to be wires made to look like antennae.

A Nazi swastika flag was placed atop the device, said FBI supervisor Jeffrey John.

There was no message attached, and no group immediately claimed responsibility.

“Someone went to an awful lot of trouble to make this thing look real,” said Police Chief Terry Mangan, who suspected the red-colored sticks were dynamite up until the bomb squad’s robot blasted them apart about 9:30 a.m.

“It was just a hoax,” Mangan said.

John said the FBI assumed jurisdiction of the investigation because the threat was directed against a federal building.

Remnants of the device are being shipped to the FBI crime laboratory in Washington, D.C., for analysis, including fingerprint checks.

Guards monitor activity around the Spokane federal building and adjoining post office around the clock.

After the hoax was confirmed, questions arose over how someone could plant such a device without detection at a guarded building.

Authorities believe the device was placed in a flower bed at the northwest corner of the building sometime after sunset Sunday.

John said the FBI wants to talk with anyone who saw suspicious activity or could provide leads.

Don Hess, a maintenance mechanic at the courthouse, said he spotted the device as he arrived at work about 6:30 a.m.

The sticks were wrapped in duct tape with green wires poking out, said Hess, who examined the device with his flashlight but didn’t touch it.

Hess said the swastika flag wasn’t hand-drawn, but appeared to be commercially printed.

He alerted courthouse security workers and federal marshals, who took a look at the device and evacuated some courthouse employees. Others just arriving to work were turned away.

By 7:10 a.m., parts of Main, Riverside and Sprague avenues were blocked off and the Monroe Street Bridge was closed to traffic.

Confused drivers trying to get to work turned haphazardly down side streets, only to meet more barricades. Streams of cars choked streets that remained open and people trying to catch buses at the downtown transit center were stranded.

“I have no idea where to go,” said Cindi Santner, who was trying to get to a class at Spokane Community College. “Nobody’s telling me the same thing.”

The federal building, library, post office and the Spokane Club were evacuated for three hours. Employees at those buildings jammed nearby coffee shops to wait.

“It’s been crazy, wall-to-wall people,” said Matthew Cannon, manager of Take A Break Espresso, where nearly every seat was taken at 8:50 a.m.

Debbie Doll, who works in the U.S. attorney’s office, stood outside the shop at Riverside and Lincoln. She said the bomb scare and anti-government rhetoric “make you a little edgy.”

“I try not to think about it, but when things like this happen, it makes you a little nervous,” Doll said. “Sometimes I walk out at night and think, ‘It could have happened today.”’

Officials said Monday’s scare is the fourth at the Spokane facility since terrorists bombed the federal building in Oklahoma City last April.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Photos (1 Color) Graphic: Downtown closed

The following fields overflowed: BYLINE = Bonnie Harris and Bill Morlin Staff writers Staff writer Dan Hansen contributed to this report.