Today in Totally Not Terrorism

[Trigger warning for racism, terrorism.]

You might have heard (but PROBABLY NOT!) that a backpack bomb was found along the parade route of a Martin Luther King Day event in Spokane, Washington. You probably haven't heard about it because our liberal media largely doesn't appear to give a fuck, an indifference that is almost as chilling as the evidence that white supremacist terrorist groups are escalating, as hate group trackers like the Southern Poverty Law Center have been saying, loudly, to resounding yawns from people with the sort of vast platform that, once upon a time, was used to raise awareness about these things.

In fairness, ahem, to our lazy, indifferent, ethically bankrupt, corporatized, for-profit, conventional wisdom-driven media, this incident—described by FBI Special Agent Frank Harrill as an act of domestic terrorism—doesn't fit the totally fun narrative that terrorism is something brown people do to white people and not the other way around.

But even given the usual apathy toward terrorism directed at marginalized people, the virtual silence on this story is astounding. Harrill also plainly noted that the backpack bomb was an "improvised explosive device" with a remote detonator and a "very lethal design" capable of inflicting "multiple casualties." It had been "carefully placed on a metal bench with a brick wall behind that would have directed shrapnel toward Main Street, where marchers were expected to pass, investigators said."

Marchers honoring non-violent activism.

This should be major news. We should be having a national conversation about domestic terrorism. In fact, this is the best time to have that conversation, because no one was hurt, giving us the best chance to have a serious, calm, reasonable, mature discussion, as opposed to the usual "OMFG WE NEED MORE GUNS TO STOP THE CRAZED LONE BOMBMEN!!! PLZ TAKE OUR CIVIL RIGHTS AWAY TO PROTECT OUR FREEDOM!!!" alarmism in which we typically engage in the wake of effective terrorizing violence.

But no one got dead. And there's no ratings boost for responsible conversation.

So.

[H/T to Eastsidekate.]