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SPLC: MLK Day Bomb Suspect Was Member Of Supremacist Group

The FBI released photos of the backpack and the T-shirts inside.

The Southern Poverty Law Center tells The Spokesman-Review that Kevin William Harpham, the man arrested in connection with with a bomb found along a Martin Luther King Day parade route in Spokane, Wash., earlier this year, was a member of a white supremacist organization.

According to the SPLC, Harpham was in 2004 a member of the National Alliance, which was founded by the William Pierce, author of the race war novel “The Turner Diaries.”

Mark Potok, director of the SPLC’s Intelligence Project, also told The Spokesman-Review that records show Harpham was in the U.S. Army in 1996 and 1997, serving with the 37th Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Lewis.

Read the rest here.

Late Update: TPM asked U.S. Attorney Michael Ormsby if he could confirm or deny if Harpham was connected with white supremacist groups.

“We’re not commenting on that,” Ormsby said.

Eric Lach

Eric Lach is a reporter for TPM. From 2010 to 2011, he was a news writer in charge of the website’s front page. He has previously written for The Daily, NewYorker.com, GlobalPost and other publications. He can be reached at ericl(at)talkingpointsmemo.com

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