Late Wednesday night, Seattle police arrested Justin Miles Jasper, a drifter from Nevada, after the truck in which he'd been seen sleeping the day before at the University of Washington turned up stolen. A search revealed that Jasper was carrying quite an arsenal--a rifle with a scope attachment, a shotgun, a machete, body armor and numerous Molotov cocktails. The initial search on Tuesday turned up clean, but a second search on Wednesday morning revealed the truck had been stolen out of Butte, Montana. I diaried on this yesterday.

Based on what's come out so far, we just escaped a real tragedy. That was underlined at yesterday's bail hearing. King County deputy prosecutor Andrew Hamilton revealed Jasper had maps to three Seattle colleges.



Jasper was booked on charges of possessing an incendiary device, and Hamilton told the judge he remained under investigation for stealing the truck and guns. Hamilton also said police found “anti-government” literature in the pickup and had located Internet postings about a number of issues, including recent protests across Brazil that have been met with violence by the police. Jasper allegedly promised to “make sure that people understand and noticed it ... somewhere in the Western United States.” The maps detailed the campuses of South Seattle Community College, Seattle University and the UW, Hamilton said.

I don't think it takes a degree from the UW to figure out Jasper was planning a massacre. Small wonder that he's being held on $2 million bail.