Report: Bomb near NAACP building in Colorado targeted accountant, not civil rights group

1. Investigators arrested Thaddeus Murphy, a 44-year-old carpenter, for allegedly setting off a bomb near an NAACP office building in January, the Associated Press reported.
   
2. Investigators told the AP that Murphy was enraged over financial problems and was targeting his accountant's office.
3. The bomb originally rattled civil rights groups and advocates, who feared the NAACP was the original target.
   
4. No one was injured or killed by the bombing.

The FBI deemed the attack deliberate

An early composite sketch of the suspect of the bombing. (FBI)

Murphy allegedly exploded a device outside the building housing the Colorado Springs chapter of the NAACP shortly before 11 a.m. on January 6. Authorities quickly determined that the bombing was deliberate, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The device, which FBI investigators described as "not sophisticated," was detonated at the side of the building. The explosion charred the wall, but no other damage was reported, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. A gas can was placed next to the bomb, but it didn't ignite.

Further reading: The long history of attacks against civil rights organizations.

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