Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Law

Grand jury issues indictment in Spokane bomb case

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kplu/local-kplu-959070.mp3

The man charged with planting a bomb along the route of Spokane's Martin Luther King Day parade will appear in federal court today.

The case against Kevin William Harpham was unknown up until yesterday. That's when federal prosecutors laid out their evidence to a grand jury behind closed doors. 

The 36-year-old Harpham is charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and possession of an unregistered explosive device. The grand jury indicted. The charges could carry a penalty of up to life in prison.

Harpham was arrested on March 9 near his home outside of Colville. Since then, he's been linked to several extremist racist groups. And the Southern Poverty Law Center uncovered hundreds of posts he made under the pseudonym “Joe Snuffy” to a Neo-Nazi web forum.

Harpham will appear before a U.S. Magistrate Judge this afternoon. His defense attorney has said he'll plead not guilty and a trial date will be set.

Inland Northwest Correspondent Jessica Robinson reports from the Northwest News Network's bureau in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. From the politics of wolves to mining regulation to small town gay rights movements, Jessica covers the economic, demographic and environmental trends that are shaping places east of the Cascades.