Last Tuesday August 17, 2010, Rep. Russ Carnahan’s office was reportedly vandalized and “firebombed” at 2 AM in the morning. Hours later police arrested a suspect for the crime and held him for several hours.
Of course, when the “firebombing” was reported local leftists blamed the tea party activists.
Then things got really weird. The police released the suspect and the Carnahan camp went silent. Carnahan employees were seen dumping documents into a dumpster but refused to to talk to reporters. There was a complete blackout on information.
Photo of Carnahan’s office after the firebombing. (Via the Carnahan Office)
Now we know why.
The suspect was reportedly a disgruntled progressive activist employed by Russ Carnahan. An unnamed source familiar with the case released the information. Suspect Chris Powers reportedly was upset because he did not get paid so he firebombed the Carnahan finance offices at 2 in the morning.
What a complete shock.
Dem operative and firebomber Chris Powers is the sweaty one pictured here on right during a rally for nationalized health care. Powers is was a paid canvasser for Russ Carnahan.
Powers is a man on the edge, who has suffered a lot of personal trauma in the recent past. Powers, a radical leftist, is accused of a pretty serious crime in what could only be considered a desperate cry for help.
The Carnahan campaign and their supporters have either ignored the incident rather than recognize the serious nature of a federal crime, instead allow the incident to be reported and used as an example of right wing domestic terrorism.
Those who accused the St Louis Tea Party of such horrible actions should be ashamed, but more important, they should be called on the carpet for their behavior. They need to apologize!
Newspapers attempted to tie the firebombing to last fall’s attacks by healthcare bill supporters and SEIU activists on Kenneth Gladney. They need to think hard before linking a clearly non-violent movement with the sad actions of broken man.
Chris Powers was in the local news when Barack Obama came to town in March to push his unpopular nationalized health care plan. He spoke with the local public radio channel and led an astroturfed protest outside of the Obama-McCaskill fundraiser.
Chris Powers is also a TPM blogger under the name Ripper McCord.
He has been active in the progressive movement for years.
UPDATE: Carnahan admitted the firebomber was a staffer today in a statement.