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 Networks 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 Networks parent company, and criminally prosecute Berdovsky and anyone else responsible for the devices, and to petition the FCC to pull the networks 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 stunts 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 citys 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 OBrien 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 Meninos office. It is outrageous, in a post 9/11 world, that a company would use this irresponsible marketing scheme, Menino said.
What? Turner Broadcasting is run by a bunch of bloomin' idiots? Who knew?
An excellent post. I wish I'd written it.
It's amazing to see Freepers beat their chests as the "better conservative" while endorsing Mumbles' FUBAR handling of this.
Because the populace voted for a bunch of morons to hire a bunch of morons who reacted in a totally stupid way "to protect the city." (with an appology to morons)
You are most ridiculous! Obviously, a bomb would be concealed from it's purpose. You wouldn't notice it dumb-ass.
Who's your boyfriend?
Poo, he will outlaw possession of batteries, wires and little light-bulbs. Terrorist devices they are.
Perhaps the intent is to make the politicians look like a bunch of idiots - (which of course they are) - haven't they made that offense deserving of a death penalty yet? Lame!
Come on, IPODS do not have wires and batteries hanging all out for people to see.
Well, this won't be decided by me or you, you lovely person.
This will be decided by a jury of twelve Bostonians, sworn and true. They will apply the "reasonable man" test, and decide whether or not they think these devices meet that test.
I'll be happy with whatever they decide. That's the way the system works, you lovely, lovely person.
I don't have a boyfriend. Don't assume everyone is as gay as you.
You are the winner there - shades of the Massachusetts witch trials, I'm sure the offenders will be hung. You idiots.
You're a girl Petronski... face up to it.
You're out of replies. Only insults now.
LOL!
So I shouldn't be on the lookout for this:
Well, I am inclined to trust our system of criminal justice, you wonderful, sensitive, intelligent and handsome guy.
Actually, based on the words of the judge at arraignment, it's far more likely this will never see a jury. If the morons in the prosecutor's office insist on trying to hang these guys, the judge who buys the case will dismiss for LoE and failure to pass any intelligent person's concept of reasonableness as soon as the prosecution rests - As he should.
I think it's far more likely they'll be pled out to thirty-eight counts of littering or advertising without a license. Turner will pay their fines and the whole incident will be swept quietly under the rug.
And the poor citizens of Boston will never live down the failure of their mayor and police force to act in a rational manner.
Kind of pathetic, really.
Regards,
Col Sanders
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