Lawyers for Kevin Harpham, the man with ties to the white supremacist movement who is accused of planting a bomb at a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day parade in Washington state earlier this year, is scheduled for a plea change hearing on Wednesday morning.
Federal court records show that the change of plea hearing in Spokane, Washington was scheduled on Tuesday. Change of plea hearings are typically scheduled when a defendant reaches a plea agreement with prosecutors, and the Associated Press reports that such a deal was struck.
Harpham, 37, allegedly left a backpack bomb along the parade route during the MLK Day Parade last January. He was charged with one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction; one count of knowingly possessing an improvised explosive device; and a hate crime charge for allegedly targeting people based on their “actual or perceived race, color, and national origin.”
Since the federal charges came down, many of the developments have been sealed. The only recent development not under seal was the judge’s decision to allow testimony from a government witness about a pair of pliers Harpham allegedly used to crimp component parts of the destructive device.
Read TPM’s full coverage of the Harpham case here.
Ryan J. Reilly
Ryan J. Reilly is a D.C.-based reporter for TPM. Prior to joining TPM, he worked for a news website covering the Justice Department and was a researcher for Bloomberg News. His email address is ryan(at)talkingpointsmemo.com.
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