Bomb attempt at MLK march

Leaving a bomb laced with anti-coagulant along the planned route of the Martin Luther King Day Unity March was merely a “creative idea” to protest multiculturalism, domestic terrorist Kevin W. Harpham told a Spokane judge Tuesday.

Kevin W. Harpham was sentenced on Tuesday, Dec. 20 to 32 years in prison for planting a bomb on the route of the Martin Luther King Jr. Unity March in Spokane, Wash., in 2011.

The lingering mystery of why the bomb left along the planned route of the Martin Luther King Jr. Unity March didn’t explode finally has an answer: The remote triggering device never got close enough to detonate it. A federal source close to the investigation confirmed late Tuesday – after court files were unsealed in the case against Kevin W. Harpham – that the actions of two city contract workers and Spokane police Sgts. Jason Hartman and Eric Olsen likely averted an explosion that could have killed or severely injured several people.

Kevin William Harpham sounded meek Wednesday when he stood before a federal judge and admitted a racist attempt to bomb Spokane’s Martin Luther King Jr. march. “Yes, your honor,” Harpham said without a trace of defiance, convinced prosecutors could prove the charges against him.

The man accused of planting a bomb along the route of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day march acknowledged his guilt this morning as part of a plea deal that could send him to prison for the next three decades.

Kevin W. Harpham, second from left, pleaded guilty Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2011, to planting a bomb along the route of the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day march in Spokane. Harpham is flanked by U.S. Defender Roger Peven, left, and assistant federal defenders Kailey Moran, second from right, and Kim Deater.

Domestic terrorism suspect Kevin W. Harpham is scheduled to enter a change of plea Wednesday morning in Spokane.

A federal judge has ordered FBI experts to construct three bombs similar to the one allegedly planted at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Unity March on Jan. 17, as preparations continue for suspect Kevin W. Harpham’s Sept. 12 trial. Agents already tested three devices at FBI headquarters in Quantico, Va., but Harpham’s lawyers were not informed until afterward. Defense expert Jerry Taylor, a retired Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent, is to observe the new detonations, and the FBI is to build up to three additional devices to detonate at his request, U.S District Court Judge Justin Quackenbush said.

A federal judge has ordered FBI experts to construct three bombs similar to the one allegedly planted at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Unity March in January, as preparations continue for suspect Kevin W. Harpham's Sept. 12 trial.

A dedication ceremony for a Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in Washington, D.C., prompted a federal judge on Friday to delay the trial of a man accused of planting a bomb along the planned route of a march to honor the slain civil rights leader in Spokane. Domestic terrorism suspect Kevin W. Harpham’s trial will begin with jury selection on Sept. 12, not Aug. 22 as previously scheduled, U.S. District Court Judge Justin Quackenbush ruled.