人兽性交

The Justice Department is maintaining tight secrecy around its case against a 36-year-old white supremacist accused of planting a backpack bomb on the route of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day unity parade in Spokane, Wash.

Kevin William Harpham, who has past ties to the neo-Nazi and made more than 1,000 postings on racist Internet sites, was indicted Tuesday, 13 days after his arrest by the FBI鈥檚 Hostage Rescue Team and other agents.

If convicted of attempting to use a 鈥渨eapon of mass destruction鈥� and knowingly 鈥渞eceiving and possessing鈥� an illegal explosive device, Harpham was told at his arraignment Wednesday that he could be sent to prison for life.

But just how an FBI terrorism task force and Justice Department prosecutors built their case again the former U.S. Army soldier remains a secret. There have been no other arrests and Harpham wasn鈥檛 charged with conspiracy, which would have been a clue that FBI agents were still looking for one or more additional suspects.

During his brief arraignment in Spokane before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Imbrogno, a team of deputy U.S. marshals guarded Harpham, who was kept in ankle chains.

鈥淢ay I enter 鈥榥ot guilty鈥� pleas on your behalf?鈥欌�� the judge asked Harpham, dressed in a tan Spokane County Jail jumpsuit, as he stood beside his attorney, federal defender Roger Peven.

鈥淵es, please, your honor,鈥欌�� Peven responded.

鈥淣ot guilty,鈥欌�� Harpham added with a quick, firm voice.

An affidavit used to arrest Harpham on March 9 near his rural home in northeastern Washington state remained under seal Wednesday at the request of U.S. Attorney Mike Ormsby of the Eastern District of Washington. Ormsby has said the affidavit detailing the case against Harpham is being kept from the public to protect his right to a fair trial.

Prosecutors even took the unusual step of redacting the name of the 鈥渇oreperson鈥� of the 23-member federal grand jury that returned the two-count federal indictment on Tuesday. The grand jury heard federal agents and prosecutors outline their evidence against Harpham in a secret session, one day before a public probable cause hearing would have been held in open court before Judge Imbrogno.

Even Peven, Harpham鈥檚 federal defender, said after Wednesday鈥檚 arraignment that he still has no clue yet how investigators built their case against his client.

鈥淚t is somewhat unusual,鈥欌�� Peven said outside the courthouse when asked about the secrecy surrounding the case.

Now that Harpham has been indicted, Justice Department prosecutors are compelled under court 鈥渄iscovery鈥� rules to begin turning over investigative files to the defense, even though public access to the information remains blocked.

Peven said he expected to receive shortly an affidavit of probable cause that outlines how Harpham was identified and then arrested. But, he said, it probably will be several days or weeks before he begins receiving FBI 鈥�302鈥� reports detailing the investigation.

Because he knows so little about the investigation, Peven said he is still not ready to attempt to ask for a bond hearing 鈥� a move federal prosecutors likely would strongly oppose on the grounds that the defendant poses a risk to the community, if not a flight risk.

Asked to comment about the defendant鈥檚 ties to white supremacist groups, Peven said, 鈥淚 really can鈥檛 at this point.鈥�

The Southern Poverty Law Center (人兽性交) has information showing that in 2004 Harpham was a member of the National Alliance, which for decades was the preeminent neo-Nazi organization in the United States. The group went into a steep decline after the 2002 death of its founder, and today is merely a shadow of its former self.

Research by 人兽性交 also shows that Harpham posted more than 1,000 times on the Vanguard New Network (VNN), a leading racist and anti-Semitic site. Using the pseudonym 鈥淛oe Snuffy鈥� in 2006, Harpham posted, among other things, 鈥淚 can鈥檛 wait till the day I snap.鈥�

Harpham鈥檚 father, Cecil 鈥淏ill鈥� Harpham of Kettle Falls, Wash., told two Spokane televisions stations that his son was caring for him in the senior Harpham鈥檚 Stevens County home and couldn鈥檛 have traveled 60 miles to Spokane to plant the improvised explosive device. But he conceded that his son had racist views and might have built the bomb.

The device was found and tragedy averted at the last minute when day-laborers found it Jan. 17 in a backpack on a downtown Spokane street corner. Police then re-routed the 鈥淢LK Unity Day鈥� parade 鈥� which had some 1,500 participants 鈥� and a bomb squad successfully disarmed the device without substantially damaging it.

It鈥檚 widely believed that the nearly intact backpack bomb 鈥� apparently intended to be detonated with a remote control device 鈥� provided a windfall of forensic evidence, possibly including DNA, fingerprints and product samples, during days of processing at the FBI lab in Quantico, Va.

The Seattle Times, quoting an unidentified source familiar with the investigation, said the FBI linked Harpham to the bomb through DNA and the purchases of bomb components, including a remote car starter and other electronics.

Meanwhile, what鈥檚 identified as an FBI 鈥渦nclassified-law enforcement sensitive鈥� report on the Spokane backpack bomb has anonymously been posted on the Internet.

鈥淲e assess with medium confidence that the [explosive device] was designed to fire directional fragmentation similar to a single shot shotgun with buckshot or cannon with a grapeshot round,鈥� the report says. 鈥淲e likewise assess that the device was viable and could have caused personal injury or death.鈥�

The report added: 鈥淎lthough the use of a radio-controlled trigger suggests the bomb maker possesses a greater degree of knowledge and skill than the typical pipe bomb builder, the device incorporated components that are commonly available in the United States and relied on techniques published in open sources.鈥�