Incident Summary:

01/17/2011: On Monday morning at 0925, at the northeast corner of North Washington Street and West Main Avenue in downtown Spokane, Washington, a backpack containing an improvised explosive device (IED) was found on a Martin Luther King Jr. march bus route. Authorities safely disposed of the IED, there were no casualties or damages. In March 2011, Kevin Harpham, who has ties to the white supremacist organization National Alliance, was arrested in connection with the attack. He confessed to planting the bomb and was sentenced to 32 years in prison in December 2011.

GTD ID:
201101170018

When:
2011-01-17

Country:
United States

Region:
North America

Province/administrative
region/u.s. state:

Washington

City:
Spokane

Location Details:
The attempted bombing took place at a bus stop at the northeast corner of North Washington Street and West Main Avenue in downtown Spokane, Washington, United States.

Attack Information
Type of Attack (more) Bombing/Explosion
Successful Attack? (more) No
Target Information (more)
Target Type: Private Citizens & Property
Name of Entity
Specific Description Civilians
Nationality of Target United States
Additional Information
Hostages No
Ransom No
Property Damage No
Weapon Information
Type Sub-type
Explosives Other Explosive Type
Weapon Details
An improvised explosive device hidden inside a backpack was used in the attack.
Additional Information
Suicide Attack?No
Part of Multiple Incident?No
Criterion 1 (more) Yes
Criterion 2 (more) Yes
Criterion 3 (more) Yes
Doubt Terrorism Proper (more) No
Perpetrator Group Information
Group Name Claimed Responsibility
Unknown No
Perpetrator Statistics
Number of Perpetrators Unknown
Number of Captured Perpetrators 0
Casualty Information
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
William Yardley, "Suspect Charged in Attempted MLK Day Bombing," New York Times, March 9, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/10/us/10bomb.html?_r=1&ref=us .
Federal Bureau of Investigation, "Attempted Bomber Arrested," http://seattle.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel11/se030911. htm (March 9, 2011).
Associated Press, "Washington: Maximum Sentence in Bomb Attempt," December 20, 2011.