http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0123/ridgeway.shtml # # Posted June 5th, 2001 11:30 AM # # Feds Accused of Hiding Accidental D.C. Blast Explosive FBI Coverup # # As if the FBI hadn't taken a big enough hit for its handling # of documents in the Oklahoma City bombing trials, Soldier of # Fortune Magazine is set to report in its August issue that # munitions stored at the bureau's Hoover Building headquarters # in Washington, D.C., blew up in 1987. # # The blast is said to have gutted the crime lab and destroyed # evidence in several major cases. # # In recent months, the lab itself has been under attack, especially # for its slipshod analysis of the Oklahoma City bombing. According # to Soldier of Fortune, the feds covered up the D.C. explosion # by saying it was a fire in a broom closet. # # Freelancer J.D. Cash, a reporter for the eastern Oklahoma # McCurtain Gazette, said he stumbled onto the story of the FBI # explosion when he interviewed rescue workers who said they'd # seen munitions inside the Murrah Federal Building. He later # queried an ATF agent about why the feds would store explosives # in a public place, and remembers the agent laughingly saying # it was a common practice and had actually resulted in an explosion # at FBI headquarters. # # That led Cash, joined by the former network TV producer and # investigator for the Timothy McVeigh defense team, Roger Charles, # to submit Freedom of Information inquiries to the FBI. Four years # later, the agency made available its internal report, along with # photos. # # The McCurtain Gazette is in the process of putting the findings # on its Web site. In addition, Soldier of Fortune will include # excerpts from the 197-page report. They indicate that in the # predawn hours of May 5, 1987, military explosives-including # Soviet-made rocket-propelled grenades-ripped through evidence # lockers at the crime lab. The authors claim the FBI report # acknowledged that lab personnel ignored cardboard boxes sitting # on the floor. These contained some 22 pounds of the explosive # C4, numerous blasting caps, and several pounds of TNT. # # Reached on Monday, FBI spokesperson Bill Carter gave a limited # account of the incident. "It was a fire," he said. "It occurred # in the FBI lab, in the explosive unit. It wasn't an explosion, # not a traditional explosion. The fire did cause some damage, # and it was in the middle of the night. I still remember it. I # came in and the fire engines were here." # # Cash and Charles write that the internal FBI document describes # a firestorm that "threatened the lives of FBI personnel and # firefighters, as missiles and shrapnel blasted through evidence # cabinets and tore gaping holes in the walls of the world-famous # crime lab." "Soon, there will be no paper money. Are you ready?" Cisco Systems commercial, 5/2000