Kevin Harpham



SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- A man indicted on charges of placing a bomb along the planned route of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade in Spokane pleaded not guilty in federal court this week.

Kevin Harpham, 36, will remain in the Spokane County Jail without bail after his appearance before U.S. Magistrate Cynthia Imbrogno. A trial date has been set for May 31.

Harpham, who has extensive ties to white supremacist groups, made yes and no answers during his brief court appearance.

Federal prosecutors have sealed nearly all the information in what authorities have termed a case of attempted domestic terrorism, a decision Harpham's lawyer called ``somewhat unusual.''

Roger Peven, Harpham's lawyer, said even he has not been privy to many of the details of the FBI investigation that led to his client's March 9 arrest.

``I expect to get something today,'' Peven, a federal defender, said Wednesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Harrington declined to say why the documents have been under seal.

Harpham was indicted by a grand jury Tuesday on charges of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction and unauthorized possession of an unregistered explosive device.

Harpham is an Army veteran who lives near Addy, 50 miles north of Spokane.

The bomb was found the morning of the parade on Jan. 17 and disabled before it could explode. No one was injured.

Harpham's father, Cecil, has told reporters his son was with him the morning the bomb was found, and could not have planted the device. Peven said he has met with the father but could not disclose the contents of the conversation.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, has said that Kevin Harpham made more than 1,000 postings on an Internet site used by racists called the Vanguard News Network. The SPLC has also said that Harpham belonged to a neo-Nazi group called the National Alliance.

Cecil Harpham has said his son talked to racists on the Internet regularly, but never acted on racial hate.

Kevin Harpham served from 1996 to 1999 in the U.S. Army at what is now Joint Base Lewis-McChord, near Tacoma, Wash.

He owns 10 acres of land north of Addy in rural Stevens County, a few miles south of his father's home. Property records show he bought the land in 1997 and built a small house in 2007. His lawyers have said Harpham is not married and had not been recently employed.