Did you leave it lying next to " chemicals, equipment, gas masks, air purification masks and unlabeled jars of chemicals and powders"?
What's the world coming to when a person can't build bombs in their apartment without somebody dropping a dime?
WHAT! You mean you don't have those kind of things around?
No gas mask - ya got me there. Note to self: get gas masks.
Actually, it's next to the batteries taped together and the jumbo red LED used to make a stargazing light. They didn't mention the hazmat suit and Tyvek® coveralls that I have (with the masks), so I guess they're legal. :-)
Various chemicals have been found in Elsie's house, hidden away out of sight under the kitchen sink. More were found in other locations; such as the bathroom cabinets and secured in lockers in the mudroom and laundry.
Officals theorize that such locations will make it easier to dispose of them rapidly in case the SWAT team arrives unannounced.
What it is next to and being in plain sight is not the point. The crappy news article would setup stupid people to report ordinary things because neither they, nor the police, nor reporters can discriminate between harmless and bombmaking stuff. The way it was stated would insinuate that anyone with soldering equipment is a threat to society. Now, if the article published assessments from people who had studied the unlabled chemicals and found them to be explosives, then the public would be served.
My hobbies and work cause me to collect all kinds of stuff that the average dummie might find frightening, chemicals included. Among other things, I occasionally make solid rocket motors from scratch.
It is not wise to condition the public or police to react stupidly and harshly to anything. We must still dwell on the "intent" of the person more so than what he has in his possession.