A couple that police say claimed ties to the New Black Panther Party was arrested and charged with planting a fake bomb at an elementary school in Birmingham, Alabama.
It’s what they planned to do next that’s really chilling.
Zachary Edwards, 35, and Raphel Dilligard, 34, of Birmingham confessed that they planted the fake bomb to draw police to the scene so they could gun them down. Their ultimate goal was to start a race war.
Zachary Edwards, 35, and Raphel Dilligard, 34, of Birmingham are officially charged with making terrorist threats, rendering a false alarm and possessing a hoax destructive device, but Birmingham Police Capt. Jeff Bridges says were planning for much more, including shooting police officers investigating the bomb threat, the Associated Press reports.
“I guess they didn’t like cops,” he said.
Bridges says the couple provided a complete confession to police investigators and that they spoke of wanting to use the fake explosive as a distraction while they either ambushed police or robbed a bank. According to police, Edwards claimed he was a member of the New Blank Panthers and the Black Mafia and that he was eager to precipitate a race war, though authorities would not provide specifics on that claim.
The false alarm bomb was discovered on Nov. 16 near the Magnolia Elementary School in Birmingham. The first responding unit included members of the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).
The bomb squad evaluated the device and found it to contain gunpowder, modeling clay and a timer – but it lacked a detonator. It was then disabled in nearby forest.
Alabama ATF officer Dave Hyche described Edwards as a “very dangerous person,” according to AL.com.
The police investigation focused on a 911 call alerting police to the bogus bomb threat that was made on a cell phone that police say was once owned by Edwards. A stopwatch found with the “bomb” was also linked to the couple because investigators say they examined video surveillance footage at a local Walmart and established that Dilligard purchased the item.
Black Lives Matter activists disavow any association with black nationalist groups like the New Black Panther Party. But the two groups have a symbiotic relationship, feeding off the energy they bring to demonstrations and organizing along parallel lines.
And, of course, their rhetoric is similar. Both groups have inspired cop killers across the country. So it’s not really that surprising that this Alabama couple would consider killing cops as a prelude to a race war — no matter how crazy it sounds.
The BLM movement and the New Black Panther Party are the sharp end of the stick for Democrats and will no doubt play a growing role in the coming months and years as liberals fuel rage among minorities against Donald Trump and that rage spills out into the streets. It will only stop when prominent blacks like Barack Obama speak out against the hateful rhetoric and make it unacceptable as political speech.
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