We narrowly escaped a terrible terrorist attack in the Pacific Northwest on the MLK hoilday. NPR reports:
Federal agents are investigating race as a possible motive behind an abandoned backpack containing a functional bomb after it was left along the downtown route of a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane, Wash.
Investigators would not disclose what kind of explosive it was, except to say that it was "potentially deadly," and could have caused "multiple casualties," had the device detonated.
While the FBI hasn't providing direct evidence that the explosive device was connected to the MLK Day march, an agency spokesman said the backpack's proximity to the route was "not coincidental."
"The confluence of the holiday, the march and the device is inescapable, but we are not at the point where we can draw any particular motive," said Frank Harrill, special agent in charge of the Spokane FBI office.
The suspicious backpack was spotted by three city employees at an intersection in downtown Spokane about an hour before the parade was to start Monday, Harrill said. They saw wires and immediately alerted law enforcement, who disabled it without incident, he said.
The discovery before the parade for the slain civil rights leader raised the possibility of a racial motive in a region that has been home to the white supremacist Aryan Nations.
Unfortunately, racism has been the fuel for a lot of hateful political rhetoric in the last couple of years. No where has that been more true than in the Tea Party movement. A political atmosphere currently exists in our nation where those less stable and most angry could be incited to do violence. This is where it becomes very important for all Americans - regardless of politics - to seek common ground and to tone down hateful rhetoric.
Related Link: A Sermon On 1 Corinthians 12:16-26: Unity In The Midst Of Division (A Post-Election Reflection)
