Bruce and Joshua Turnidge had long harbored anti-government feelings, but the November 2008 presidential election of Barack Obama served as a "catalyst" for the father and son to plant a bomb at the

and plan a bank robbery, prosecutors said today.

Woodburn bombing

The two men feared that the Obama administration would impose a slate of new restrictions on gun ownership, Marion County deputy district attorney Katie Suver said in opening statements in the aggravated murder trials for the two men. Bruce Turnidge, years ago during the Clinton administration, had similarly anticipated a crackdown on

rights and sought funding to start his own militia, she said.

Suver laid out the men's anti-government leanings, grisly details of the bomb blast and the trail of evidence that investigators followed in presenting the state's assertions that the two men were responsible for the Dec. 12, 2008 bomb blast at

that killed two police officers, critically injured the Woodburn police chief, and injured a bank employee. The two men could face the death penalty if convicted.

She also revealed details of the blast and the ensuing investigation that had not previously been made public.

Among the state's claims:

A passing trucker talking on a CB radio may have inadvertently sent the remote signal that caused the bomb to detonate. The bomb had exploded while the police officers, believing it to be a hoax device, were dismantling it inside the bank.

"Trooper Hakim did not do anything to set off the bomb," she said, referring to Oregon State Police senior trooper William Hakim, a bomb specialist, who had mistakenly believed the bomb was a hoax and was killed when it exploded.

The bomb had a "false top," prosecutors said, which disguised how lethal it was.

A high-school friend of Joshua Turnidge who also formed a construction company with him will testify that Joshua Turnidge and his father talked about planning bank robberies more than 50 times.

The Turnidges told friends and family members in the days leading up to the blast that they were expecting a "big investor" with hundreds of thousands of dollars to be investing in their company, BD Oils, Suver said. She said the days following the blast, Bruce Turnidge said the investor's money was tied up in offshore deals.

Suver said a witness will testify that Joshua Turnidge was almost "frantic" after Obama's election to reclaim previously pawned guns .

Suver said when the FBI went to Bruce Turnidge’s house

the first time, he struck up a conversation with one of the agents ranging from his support of the Second Amendment to the origin of a racist slur against African Americans. Suver said that Turnidge then told the agent, “Now we have one in the White House.”

The defense attorneys are scheduled to deliver their opening statements in the afternoon.

The Turnidges face 18 counts each of aggravated murder, attempted aggravated murder, assault and other charges stemming from the Dec. 12, 2008, bombing at West Coast Bank.

The joint trials are expected to stretch into December. The

district attorney's office plans to seek the death penalty if the Turnidges are convicted.

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