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Hinrichs' father, Joel Hinrichs, Jr., said he's confident his son didn't intend to harm anyone and wasn't motivated by a political agenda.

"He was pretty disengaged from politics," the father said Monday in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "And he took the care to select an open area where there was no one around."

Hinrichs said his son did not leave a suicide note and that FBI agents told him hydrogen peroxide was used to construct the bomb. On Sunday, FBI investigators searched the younger Hinrichs' Norman apartment and his family home in Colorado Springs.

As a father, Hinrichs said he wants to believe that the explosion was an accidental death, but said the evidence clearly points to suicide.

"He was checking out," Hinrichs said.

A "hydrogen peroxide" bomb?

And I'm not really buying into the father's confidence that "his son didn't intend to harm anyone and wasn't motivated by a political agenda"

When his father only sees him for a half hour in a year I highly doubt he knew what was going on in his son's life.

Hinrichs last visited his family this year, when he stopped by for about a half hour while on a road trip, his father said.

The type of kid who is disengaged from his family - particularly from his father - seems to be the type who is really attracted by Islam and jihadist fantasies. When you look at the other young Americans who have been involved in this stuff, Hinrichs' fits the profile perfectly. Plus, it's obvious that his family would have had no idea what he was doing, since his communication seems to have been an occasional e-mail and this 1/2 visit.

This could still be simply some depressed loner, and the supposed jihadist material allegedly found (and reported by a source of unknown credibility) might just be stuff he downloaded while searching for recipes and instructions on making explosives and a suicide vest. I gather such "recipes" are a common feature of jihadist websites.

Learn more about the venerable H2O2 here: Wikpedia on Hydrogen Peroxide

Most explosives consist of a fuel and an oxidizer, usually combined either to get the explosion, or blended in anything from a stable mixture to highly unstable ones. In this case, TATP Wikpedia on TATP was suspected to be the explosive, (Triaacetonetriperoxide) and Hydrogen Peroxide is an ingredient which can be used to manufacture the explosive.

However, the average, drug store garden variety Hydrogen Peroxide is not very active compared to the concentrated stuff.

I accidentally concentrated some (I won't say how in open forum) and managed to spill a little on my finger--which is how I (painfully) made the discovery. It ate a lot of skin before I could get to a water faucet to dilute it and wash it away--a painful and immediate burn.

I have a question. If this was a simple suicide why didn't Hinrichs just shoot himself? According to newspaper accounts and statements by people who knew him Hinrichs was familiar with guns. Going to the trouble of building a bomb seems like a gross violation of the KISS principle. Not only that what guarantees did Hinrichs have that the bomb would go off, that it would go off when it was suppose to, and that there would not be anyone nearby to be hurt.
I feel for this man's family but some of their statements are leading to more questions instead of answers.
Also the additional bomb making material found is very suspect.