Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Father of MLK bomb suspect: Son didn’t plant bomb, is a racist

Raw Story

The father of man suspected of planting a bomb at a Spokane, Washington Martin Luther King Day parade believes that there is no way his son could have committed the crime.

After a raid on his home, Kevin Harpham was arrested last Wednesday on charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and of possessing an improvised explosive device (IED) that was not registered to him.

Cecil Harpham, Kevin's father, told KXLY that his son was taking care of him at his home near Kettle Falls on the day the bomb was planted. Cecil suffered a stroke in November and requires daily assistance.

"I know he didn't go plant it because he was with me," he said. "He helped me dress, he cooked my meals, he did my chores, he brought my firewood in and he just lived right here with me."

Cecil speculated that even though Kevin couldn't have planted the bomb, he could have helped make it.

"Maybe he might of helped them build a bomb, he might have, might have helped them build a bomb," he told KXLY's Sally Showman...

...Cecil explained that his son identifies himself as a racist but doesn't know how to hate.

"Picture that if you had a son and he said I hate Negroes, but you go with him somewhere and he meets, he goes to a cashier to pay for his gas and you see him being very polite to this Negro and courteous and you stand back and you say jeepers, for a hater, he don't know how to hate," Cecil said...[Full Article]