Flier About Bombs Preceded Bank Scare ‘The Anarchist’s Cookbook’ Advertised At High School

Police are investigating any connection between a device that emptied a local bank office and fliers advertising “The Anarchist’s Cookbook.”

A device was found Tuesday outside Washington Federal Savings and Loan. Someone obviously had spent time and effort assembling it, city detectives said.

The device was crudely made, but contained all the components needed for a bomb.

An ordnance-disposal team from Mountain Home Air Force Base destroyed the object, and police will send the remnants to a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms lab for analysis.

About 300 fliers were placed on car windshields in the Twin Falls High School parking lot March 13, offering “The Anarchist’s Cookbook” for sale through a Twin Falls post office box.

It is a collection of instructions for making bombs, setting fires and creating civil unrest, and is available in many forms, including on the Internet.

The fliers advertised a 600-page book for $30. Putting advertising on car windshields is a violation of city ordinances, said high school student resource officer Brian Pike, a city policeman.

“Our concern is in what may be the motives behind it,” Pike said. “If it’s money, that’s one thing. If it’s trying to promote anarchy or domestic terrorism, that’s something else.”

Handing out the fliers or even having the book is not illegal, Pike said. But it is worrisome.

“My concern as a resource officer is that you target the high school because high school students have money, but they get their hands on something that could lead to people getting hurt,” Pike said.

The fliers were distributed by an 18-year-old student, Pike said, and the motive appears to be profit.