Federal authorities are investigating the discovery 10 days ago of an improvised explosive device found next to the Thomas S. Foley U.S. Courthouse in downtown Spokane but had not alerted the public until today based upon a direct inquiry by The Spokesman-Review.
The device was located in the late evening of Sunday, March 28, said Tom Rice, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.
The Feds won’t say much more than that at this point, because the investigation is apparently ongoing. Not much point in speculating, but coming the day after the arrest of the would-be Murray assassin, I think we owe a “thank you” to the federal agents who devote their professional careers to defending the Constitution and our democracy.
MORE–In comments at the S-R, a reporter seems to confirm that the newspaper started asking about this “IED” because of an article in the current issue of Newsweek about the Hutaree militia.
Less well publicized has been a string of other incidents. In recent weeks an improvised explosive device was discovered outside the federal courthouse in Spokane, Wash.; a man wielding four knives was arrested at the Daley Center in Chicago; and members of a militant white-supremacist group called the White Wolves were arrested for allegedly assembling explosive devices in southern Connecticut. “We’re seeing a continued escalation in threats,” says Michael Prout, assistant director of the U.S. Marshals Service. The FBI is especially concerned about “lone offenders,” who are hard to catch because they do not join known groups but are nonetheless moved to commit violent acts by the incendiary messages on extremist Web sites. The bureau has quietly set up a program aimed at identifying such characters by keeping a watch on Internet chat rooms and purchases of weapons and explosive devices.