Editorial: Suspect In Colorado NAACP Bombing Arrested & Taken Into Custody

More than one month after a bomb was detonated outside of the office of a Colorado Springs NAACP headquarters, a suspect has been taken into police custody, reports USA TODAY.

According to court documents, Thaddeus Murphy, 44, told police that he was targeting a nearby accountant in the same building who “wouldn’t return to him his tax records from 2006 to the present and wouldn’t return his phone calls.” However, Henry D. Allen Jr., the president of the Colorado Springs NAACP, said that that accounting business has been defunct for 20 years. The building’s only occupants are the NAACP and a barbershop.

“He targeted somebody in this building, and in my estimate, it was not the tax people,” Allen told USA TODAY. “Does anyone really think this guy is going to admit to this?”

There were no injuries and minimal damage caused by the January 6 bombing, in which an explosive device was placed near the exterior wall of the NAACP building. A can of gasoline was placed near the device, but it did not ignite during the explosion.

Federal investigators have concluded that it was not a terrorist act, though they are continuing to look into the validity of Murphy’s confession.

Murphy, who has a criminal record and has served five years in prison for theft, is being held without bail on counts of arson and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

News source courtesy of Essence Magazine!!!