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.
A couple of geeks posting on Flickr is one thing. Dominating a 24-hour news cycle is another. Getting the whole world to know the name of your product is how an advertising agency defines "success". Giving it a counter-cultural cachet by making the cops look like idiots is icing on the cake.
This thing could not have gone better for them. It is reasonable to suspect that the campaign may have been designed to work out exactly like this. Demonstrating intent is the key to the case.
Fine, but after they found the first one, they should have just said, "they're not bombs."
Secondly, I still think the mayor & co. are all out to get these guys because they were made to look like fools. Hopefully, Turner will pay for their lawyers.
Well don't get the Hawks to show them what it is, because they don't know.
This all played out over a couple of hours. There was not time to put on the brakes. Once the ball got rolling, the massive response was all but inevitable.
Exactly! Just one bomb squad police could have determined this was not a threat in a minute. Only idiots push the big red button.
The Boston police are indeed goosestepers! You don't think so then that is your opinion. I am not the one putting innocent people in jail to cover my incompetence.
Conversely, if intent cannot be proven (and the burden of proof is on the state), then they deserve to walk away scot free.
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.
....So I wonder, if someone’s child accidentally leaves their etch a sketch or a light brite on a park bench will they call the bomb squad, prosecute the parents and send the child to a foster home now?
They got the attention they wanted and made the Boston police look like a bunch of incompetent Nazi's. Pretty smart I'd say.
A valid question when confronted with a State operating on fear and hysteria.
...not the two scapegoats!...even though they're due some culpability in this mess.
I agree completely. It may not play out that way, unfortunately. These guys may get in trouble on some other statute that does not have to demonstrate intent, which would be unfortunate.
Advertising without a permit doesn't warrant the bomb squad.
Whenever you see the words "goosestepper" or "Nazi" in an argument, just substitute "person who does not agree with me".
Nobody said it did.
Unfortunately, due to the configuration of the first one they found, they apparently had to close off a major highway before they could investigate. Once something like that is done, it's too late. The Big Red Button has already been pressed.
Can you imagine the conversation? "Chief, we need to close I-92 one way for a half hour... Why? Well, there is a suspicious device attached to a pillar that we have to investigate... Well, it's flat and black and so-by-so big and has wires and lights on it... What do you mean they found one just like it in the basement of Tufts Hospital?..." And it's off to the races!
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?
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