June 26, 2009
Federal authorities arrested two long-time white supremacists in northern Illinois for the 2004 bombing of a local government office in Scottsdale, Arizona, in which three people were injured.
On June 25, 2009, authorities charged brothers Dennis and Daniel Mahon with conspiracy to damage buildings and property by explosives, malicious damage of a building by explosives, and distribution of information related to explosives.
On February 26, 2004, a package containing a mail bomb was delivered to Donald Logan, the African-American director of the Office of Diversity and Dialogue in Scottsdale. The office handles complaints from city employees and citizens, including racial and sex discrimination grievances. The small, notebook-sized package exploded as Logan opened it, seriously injuring him.
Logan later required surgery for burns he received on his arms and hands. His secretary, who was standing beside him during the explosion, also required surgery to treat an eye wound. A third employee received minor injuries. The building and a nearby school were evacuated following the blast, which left a 3 and 1/2 inch-wide hole in the victim's desk, and shot shrapnel into the walls, ceiling and floor.
The bombing occurred a few days after more than 200 white supremacists – including Dennis Mahon – attended Aryan Fest 2004, a white power concert and white supremacist event organized by the neo-Nazi group Volksfront at a state park north of Scottsdale.
Dennis Mahon, lately of Illinois, has held leadership positions within numerous white supremacist groups over the past 20 years, and was at one time a high ranking member of Thomas Metzger's White Aryan Resistance and close friend of Metzger. Mahon has claimed he was first drawn to the white supremacist movement after reading The Turner Diaries, the novel depicting a race war written by deceased neo-Nazi leader William Pierce. Mahon expressed support for Timothy McVeigh, another Turner Diaries fan, after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
Dennis Mahon's twin brother Daniel is also a white supremacist, and was once fired from a job for distributing white supremacist literature at an employee diversity fair.
Logan, who has since made a full recovery, was well-known in the community for sponsoring community forums, arranging diversity awards, and promoting yearly dinners in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which recreated the bomb in its efforts to find clues about the bomb's maker.