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. {agents to take over active in- |. vestigation, but under the 1960[° Jaw giving the FBI jurisdiction E anne By MIRIAM OTTENBERG Bur Staff Writer, FBI agents moved in on the Negro church bombing in Bir- amingham Sunday because there was an immediate indi- jeation a Federal law hed been [violated, an FBI spokesman sald today. : The FBI declined to disclose what information prompted { in bombing cases under the Civil Rights Act, it would havef’ dynamite’had been taken cts were crossing State lines”, avoid capture or prosecu-| n, : Although there have been? more than a score of bomb-j ings in Birmingham, the FBI has played a major investiga- tive role only in four cases. |The FBI emphasized that it in- vestigates only where there evidence of a Federal viol: tion. . FBI at All Bomb Scenes ‘The FBI has gone to the, scene of all the recent bomb- ings but picked up the inyestl- gation in these three cases be- fore the church bombing: The May 11 bombing of the home of the Rev. A. D. King. The bombing of the A. G. Gas- ton Motel on the same night. The September 14 bombing of the home of Arthur Shores, a|' civil rights attorney. Mr. Shores’ home had been bombed @ month earlier, but the FBI did not enter the investigation in that case. Although Hmited in {ts own investigative role to the cases indicating direct violation of Federal laws, the FBI has of- fered tts laboratory and iden-{, tification facilities to local {police and has pursued out-of-|' State leads. The FBI can and does in- vestigate bombings an¢ similar violence under other Federal laws. Thus, FBI agents inves- tigated the bombing of a Free- dom Riders’ bus at Anniston, ‘Ale, as a violation of inter- state commerce laws and in- vestigated church burnings in (Georgia as a violation of laws ‘Saddine intimidetion-ofvot- fom to be an indication’ that the/!, across State lines or that sus-|" Signs of U.S. Violation arene dae ETF aw __Gnes Are Scarce None of the four cases the’ FEI has under active {nvestf- gation has been solved. The difficulties in bombing cases are legion. Most of the usual investigative techniques oan- not be used. _— There is no gun to trace, and in Birmingham particul- arly, dynamite is readily avail- able because of its widespread use in industry. The search of the crime scene is usually non- productive because the bombs have destroyed such promising, evidence as fingerprints. The scene itself is usually trampled use of the need to re- ve the injured. Informers are practically the ly source of clues. That's iy FBI agents and local police have taken on the jgb fof interviewing literally thi sands of potential witn tplosives interstate with fhe” knowledge or intent to use q+" plosives to destroy -propetty {“for the purpose of interfgr- Ming with fits use for educi- tional, religious, charitable, iyesidential, business or ctvdc ‘objectives or of intimidatt ‘any person pursing , such (Jectives.” 2°. 7 Fossible Death Fenalty $ femme penalties provide tim- prisonment for not more than one year or up to $1,000 fine or both. If personal injury jresults, the prison sentence o&n go up to 10 years and a fine up to $10,000. If death results , from the bombing, as it didn ‘the Birmingham church, im- ‘prisonment can go up to life, or the court may impose the death penalty on recommen: dation of a jury. The 1960. law also provides that possession or use of an explosive to’damage propetty covered by the Civil Rights ‘Act creates an assumption that “explosive was transported t- terstate. But a person cannpt be convicted under this lew unless there is evidence asitte from the presumption that State lines were crossed ne + si] The Evening Star Washington, D. C. September 17, 1963