Posted on 02/01/2007 3:16:22 AM PST by billorites
A furious Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino vowed yesterday to throw the book at the masterminds behind a guerrilla marketing campaign gone amok that plunged the city into bomb-scare pandemonium and blew nearly $1 million in police overtime and other costs.
As city and state attorneys laid groundwork for criminal charges and lawsuits, cops seized 27-year-old Arlington multimedia artist Peter Berdovsky, who posted film on his Web site boasting that he and friends planted the battery-wired devices, and Sean Stevens, 28, of Charlestown. Both were jailed overnight on charges of placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct.
“This is outrageous activity to get publicity for a failing show,” said Menino, referring to the battery-operated light-up ads for the Cartoon Network’s “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” which sparked at least nine bomb scares in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville.
Menino promised to sue Turner Broadcasting Co., the Cartoon Network’s parent company, and criminally prosecute Berdovsky and anyone else responsible for the devices, and to petition the FCC to pull the network’s license.
Attorney General Martha Coakley was put in charge of the case and said the companies behind the promotion would be investigated. She said the felony charge of planting a hoax device could be broad enough to allow prosecution even if the stunt’s sponsors did not intend a panic.
“To do this kind of placement of devices the way it was, an individual had to know or should have that it was going to create the kind of panic it did,” Coakley said last night during a press conference.
Panic was the order of the day in Boston as city, state and federal investigators, police and bomb units raced through the city seeking 38 of the devices, in some cases destroying them as a precaution.
Shutdowns affected Storrow and Memorial drives, the Longfellow and Boston University bridges and Interstate 93, while extra Coast Guard patrols were seen at Rowes Wharf and at commuter ferries.
“I cannot state strongly enough the seriousness of this offense,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley. “Commerce was disrupted, transportation routes were paralyzed, residents were stranded, relatives across the nation were in fear for their loved ones here in the city of Boston.”
In a statement, Turner Broadcasting said the light-emitting devices pose no danger and are part of a 10-city outdoor marketing campaign for the cartoon program. A Boston police spokesman said the company did not have permits to place the signs in the city.
“We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger,” the Turner statment said.
All told, the cost of extra police and activating the city’s anti-terror command center will cost Boston $800,000 to $1 million in damages, an angry Menino estimated.
Gov. Deval Patrick said he was not impressed by the apology from Turner Broadcasting.“I am deeply dismayed to learn that the devices are a part of a marketing campaign. This stunt has caused considerable disruption and anxiety in our community,” he said.
The bomb scare reports began about 8 a.m. when a MBTA worker reported a package with wires and tubes protruding from it that was stuck on a steel girder under Interstate 93 at Sullivan Square Station in Charlestown. The devices, featuring characters with raised middle fingers, had magnetic backs and were affixed to metal.
The reports spread throughout the day to the Boston University and Longfellow bridges, Downtown Crossing, the intersection of Stuart Street and Columbus Avenue, the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Memorial Drive in Cambridge, the McCarthy Overpass on the McGrath O’Brien Highway in Somerville and at a comic book store in Brighton.
The discovery of two more devices last night at the Massachusetts College of Art prompted another brief evacuation. By the end of the day, investigators had recovered 14 of the 38 devices believed to be placed in the Boston area and urged the public to report the whereabouts of others.
Just after three p.m., two bomb-sniffing dogs swept through City Hall, spending 16 minutes in Menino’s office. “It is outrageous, in a post 9/11 world, that a company would use this irresponsible marketing scheme,” Menino said.
Didn't say that. Just pointing out that those devices don't necessarily cause panic in a city population.
It's not Turner's fault that the people of the city of Boston are TOTAL F****** MORONS.
Kennedy, Kerry, Frank, Menino. We really didn't need any more evidence
When did you call you a goosestepper or Nazi? I was refering to Boston.
They closed off the street because they are incopetent. There was no need to do that. The size of the device determines the threat level, not the police ignorance. Much of this device was exposed, they feared the batterys had explosive. However this had such a small capacity there was no need to do more than close a couple of lanes for a short time.
Chicago managed to remove 20 of them without so much a peep in national news, let alone a nuclear meltdown.
My revolver won't necessarily shoot you, either.
It is not at all surprising that those devices caused the result they did, don't you think? Predictable, even.
How about you take over the job commanding a bomb squad for a month or so, and we can all sit back with the benefit of hindsight and snipe at you after the fact.
Monday morning quarterbacks never throw an interception.
If I put one bullet in a revolver, spin the barrel, point it at your head and pull the trigger, it's "No Blood No Foul" if you happen to get lucky?
So tell me again, besides possibly not getting a license to put up the electronic sign, what law did they break?
Why is it their fault the police over reacted? They have gone ape before over briefcases left on park bench's. Did they charge the absent minded person for leaving it there? If so what was the law they broke?
It's not something that would panic me. Others are obviously different.
Monday morning quarterbacks never throw an interception.
Just so happens I work with a bomb squad. The major mistake here was the idiot who called the media. If that was Turner then they have a case against them. If not then they have no more than failure to obtain a permit for the sign.
I don't think anybody (besides the hyperventilating media types) was in a panic. I dare say the folks on the bomb squad were calm, cool, and collected throughout the operation. I think they also did what they thought they needed to do to keep themselves and the public safe at all times. I will not second guess their judgement in the field.
I don't think a reasonable person would have responded in such a manner and my bet the jury won't think so either.
This was a 9/10 guerrilla marketing stunt attempted in a post-9/11 environment. The paradigm has changed. Apparently they were unaware of it.
Apparently you are, too.
CA....
It's not suprising that packages and briefcases left on a park bench cause a similar but smaller reaction. So should we outlaw briefcases just because some people got too involved watching "24" the night before? The Boston are as predictable as most lefty totalitarians are.
It has been 5 and a half years since 9/11. The Patriot act has largely been repealed, people are no longer concerned about this. The paradigm has shifted back, but apparently you are not aware of this.
Unfortunately, they probably broke somekind of an unknown aggrevated littering ordinance, and will get convicted for that.
Ultimately, it comes down to intent. If the state can demonstrate that they intended to cause a police response like this, they surely broke the law, and should pay a serious penalty.
If I had my druthers, ultimately it would come down to a question of intent. But as I said above, they'll probably wind up with some kind of an aggrevated littering infraction that does not require such proof, which would be an unjust result, IMHO.
"This was a 9/10 guerrilla marketing stunt attempted in a post-9/11 environment. The paradigm has changed. Apparently they were unaware of it."
These guys are idiots but the issue is whether lite brites can be taken for bombs. Pretty obviously an item that looks like a bomb shouldn't be treated lightly.
The other cities didn't go to this extent. So did Boston over react or did all those other cities under react?
So you think people should be prosecuted for what they think rather than what they do? In reality all they did was put up signs without a sign permit.
As I said before, if I had my druthers, it would come down to a question of intent. There is a big difference between accidently leaving a briefcase in a park and intentionally provoking a police response.
Oh, it has? When did that happen?
CA....
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