Back to Search ResultsIncident Summary:
04/22/1984: Gary Lee Yarbrough, a member of The Order, placed a bomb under a seat in a vacant section of the Embassy Theater, an X-rated, pornographic movie house in downtown Seattle, Washington, in the United States, where about twenty to thirty people were sitting, awaiting the movie screening of the night. Then, another member of The Order, made a warning phone call to the cashier at the theater, but before any precautions could be taken, the bomb exploded, leaving minimal damage, destroying about 10 seats in the theater, and no casualties. The motive for the bombing was twofold: first, to spread the group's message that pornography was intolerable and second, to act as a diversion for the group's planned armored car robbery the next day (907).Overview
GTD ID:
198404220016
When:
1984-04-22
Country:
United States
Region:
North America
Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:
Washington
City:
Seattle
Location Details:
Third Avenue and Union Street
What
| Target Type: Business | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Name of Entity | Embassy Theater | ||
| Specific Description | X-rated, pornographic movie theater in downtown Seattle | ||
| Nationality of Target | United States | ||
| Hostages | No |
| Ransom | No |
| Property Damage | Yes |
| Extent of Property Damage | Minor (likely < $1 million) |
| Value of Property Damage | Unknown |
How
| Type | Sub-type |
|---|---|
| Explosives | Time Fuse |
| Weapon Details | |
| the bomb was made of a high explosive main charge, an Eveready lantern battery, and a Westclox pocket watch timer; the bomb was assembled by Yarbrough himself | |
| Suicide Attack? | No |
| Part of Multiple Incident? | No |
| Criterion 1 (more) | Yes |
| Criterion 2 (more) | Yes |
| Criterion 3 (more) | Yes |
| Additional Information | Though a phone call was made to warn of the bomb, the group did not claim responsibility or even identify the caller/group over the phone; the explosion occurred at 5:00pm. This is a linked attack with the armored car robbery that followed the next day (198404230019). Though Yarbrough was the one who planted the bomb, Bruce Carroll Pierce, Andrew Virgil Barnhill, Randolph Duey, and Richard H. Kemp, all members of the group, also played active roles in the planning and execution of the bombing, even though many of them were acquitted in this particular case, including Yarbrough. Gary Lee Yarbrough was convicted in 1985 for the crimes he committed while involved with The Order, and he was sentenced to 80 years. Pierce, Duey, Barnhill, and Kemp, were also convicted, and sentenced to 252 years, 100 years, 40 years and 60 years, respectively for their crimes during their involvement with the group. |
Who
| Group Name | Claimed Responsibility |
|---|---|
| The Order (Silent Brotherhood) | No |
| Number of Perpetrators | 1 |
| Number of Captured Perpetrators | 1 |
| Total Number of Casualties | 0 Fatalities / 0 Injured |
| Total Number of Fatalities | 0 |
| Number of U.S. Fatalities | 0 |
| Number of Perpetrator Fatalities | 0 |
| Total Number of Injured | 0 |
| Number of U.S. Injured | 0 |
| Number of Perpetrators Injured | 0 |
Sources
| Kevin Flynn and Gary Gerhardt, "The Silent Brotherhood: Inside America's Racist Underground," The Free Press, Macmillan Inc., 1989. |
| "Northwest Digest: Forbes Theater Bombed," Tri City Herald, Washington, April 23, 1984. |
| Mark S. Hamm, "Terrorism as Crime: From Oklahoma City to Al-Qaeda and Beyond," New York University Press, 2007. |
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