Feds make arrests in Scottsdale bombing

Federal authorities conducting raids in at least three states have arrested twin brothers with ties to white supremacist groups Thursday in connection with a mail bomb that injured three employees of the Scottsdale Office of Diversity and Dialogue in 2004.

Read the indictment (279K PDF)

'04 bombing linked to others in US

Dennis Mahon and Daniel Mahon were arrested in David Junction, Ill., and appeared in court in Rockford, according to court documents. The three-count indictment alleges that Dennis Mahon built the bomb on Feb. 21, 2004, and sent it to Don Logan, former Scottsdale diversity director, who opened the package Feb. 26, 2004, injuring him, Renita Linyard and Jacque Bell.

Logan caught the brunt of the bomb and had to undergo extensive surgery to repair damage to his hands and arms.

Logan, who now works in a similar job for Glendale, was instructed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Arizona not give interviews, but he did release a written statement.

"We've waited five years to hear the news announced (Thursday) regarding the arrest of two individuals alleged to have been responsible for the February 2004 mail bombing in Scottsdale. (The) announcement was met with much enthusiasm and appreciation," Logan said.

The Mahon brothers are charged with conspiracy to damage buildings and property by means of explosive, malicious damage of building by means of explosive and distribution of information related to explosives.

"The object of the conspiracy was to promote racial discord on behalf of the 'White Aryan Resistance' (WAR) by damaging and destroying buildings, facilities and real property of both government and businesses whose activities defendants believed conflicted with their goals," the indictment states.

Also on Tuesday, authorities served a search warrant on the home of Tom Metzger, founder of WAR, in Warsaw, Ind.

Metzger's Web site describes him as "converted from minister to Free Thinker, reborn from right-winger to racist."

Authorities hinted last year that the Scottsdale bombing had "commonalities" with other bombings throughout the United States and Canada.

Authorities also arrested Robert Joos, 56, in Missouri Thursday in connection with "a federal investigation" into the Scottsdale bombing, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Missouri.

A search warrant affidavit for Joos' home says undercover ATF agents from Arizona, with the help of a confidential informant, have been investigating the Mahon brothers since January 2005.

The agents were led to Joos' remote, 200-acre compound by a telephone call Dennis Mahon made to Joos on the morning of the Scottsdale bombing, the affidavit states.

The arrests come a year after U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives announced it had made significant strides in the bombing case with the help of new technology able to extract tiny amounts of DNA from bomb debris.

Special agent Tom Mangan, spokesman for the ATF, declined comment.

The indictment, however, provides specific instances where the brothers taught others how to build bombs and avoid police.

One of the overt acts alleged in the indictment was on Feb. 13, 2008, when Dennis Mahon ordered "an individual to conduct violent action on behalf of the movement" and provide proof by mailing him newspaper clippings.

As recently as Jan. 5, Dennis Mahon ordered someone to "take action against the power grid in Arizona or Texas in the event that leaders of the white resistance, such as himself, were arrested," the indictment states.