Boston Bomb Scare: Outraged Menino vows no mercy for stunt - Sham suspect jailed

Boston Herald ^ | February 1, 2007 | Laura Crimaldi & Michelle McPhee

[Pondman88]

What you said....

Bostonians get excited a little too easily. Funny thing is it was probably a suburban commuter who noticed the 1st one, and older cops and older media then responded in a cascade effect. Meanwhile, any college kid would have known it was a marketing stunt.

[CT-Freeper]

Fox &Friends is reporting that they may have been the ones to initiate the 911 calls

Is that "they" meaning Fox & Friends, or "they" meaning the people who set up the magnetic thingies?

[ReignOfError]

and to petition the FCC to pull the network’s license.

Memo to the mayor: The Cartoon Network doesn't have or need an FCC license. It's on cable.

[mewzilla]

The fact that they were up for 2-3 weeks in several other cities, with no official overreaction, says a lot.

That one whatever-it-is was flipping the bird at people for 2 to 3 weeks and that's not a problem in Boston?

[beezdotcom]

Sounds to me like common sense is missing.

EXACTAMUNDO. If only ONE group of people in this chain of events had exhibited common sense, it wouldn't have come to this. In hindsight, yeah, this probably wasn't the smartest campaign. However, why didn't it cause panic in every other city? Because clearly, a few people in each of those cities exhibited some common sense. I agree that the 911 callers in this case also bear examination, to make sure they weren't involved in the ad campaign.

[FreedomGuru]

Fox &FRiends is reporting that they may have been the ones to initiate the 911 calls
If true, then they are criminals.

Yup, Fox n Friends reporting unfounded info, is criminal.

[Hatteras]

"Kids call in bomb threats at schools and disrupt classes, They are held criminally responsible."

Did somebody call in a "bomb threat"? If so, they need to be prosecuted big time. If not, then it is simply a prank gone wrong. They could get them for littering or advertising without a permit or some other relatively silly ordinance violation but the "bomb scare" was solely in the minds of passers by and the city itself.

If your trying to lug a few suitcases through the airport and a bag drops unnoticed as you continue on and a police officer sees an unattended "package" and calls the bomb squad and they evacuate the terminal, and they take 27 8x10 color glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explainin' what each one was to be used against you in a court of law.... should you be held responsible for the officer's overreaction?

Of course, he was acting on the side of caution but that doesn't mean we (as bag droppers) can't goof up from time to time anymore because of the events of 9/11.

[mewzilla]

Or if someone had taken offense to the one flipping the bird and complained, maybe there would've been some investigating early on and the entire charlie foxtrot would've been nipped in the bud.

But this raises a question: Did anyone complain? And if so, were they blown off?

[bondjamesbond]

Fake bombs? Who planted 38 fake bombs?

These devices were designed to look hostile. They were designed with the characteristics that people are looking for in a bomb.

They are, obviously, signs. But the features, such as exposed battery packs, exposed wiring and method of placement, play on the fact that people are looking for just such things in bombs. This was intentional.

If you play around with such things, the state is going to come after you with all the wrath it can muster. As well it should. This sort of idiocy we don't need.

[sgtbono2002]

We have to agree to disagree on this one.

This was a stupid stunt.

At the least someone should pay for the problems it caused.

It wasnt funny taken in context with the way the world is today.

[ninonitti]

Anyone who has ever seen this little tyrant Menino in action shouldn't be suprised at his overreaction to whatdidn't happen in what? 9 other cities around this country.

His only issue is how much it cost not how much his police overreacting cost the citizens caught up in this gaff.

[sgtbono2002]

Its pretty obvious that a threat was perceived.

Perhaps that perception was proven false, but it was a perfectly legitimate perception. Otherwise why hide these things where a real bomb would have caused real problems.

They could have just as easily just been left on a curb somewhere.

[FreedomPoster]

No, I missed that.

[bondjamesbond]

I guess if an immigrant making Mooninite figures on a homemade Lite-Brite...

These things were not made from a Lite-Brite. They were made with LEDs wired into place. You can tell that just by looking at them. No way you are going to get the kind of brightness you need from a couple of D-Cells through a Lite-Brite.

The design of these things was not accidental. They were not cobbled together by some dumb kid. They were designed to attract attention from people who have been trained to look for bombs.

You play with fire, you get burned. Burn, baby, burn.

[brityank]

Since the end of WWII, we have been plagued with an intelligence service that is anything but (yes, even before Clinton/Gorelick) and a determination to do everything possible to not win a war that we so readily enter into.

I suspect you will find that the problem with the intelligence services is the same thing that is infecting all of our society -- the rampant proliferation of lawyers and their blind adherence to the letter of the law instead of the spirit. eg.: JAG.

[Malsua]

and they take 27 8x10 color glossy photographs with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explainin' what each one was to be used against you in a court of law.... should you be held responsible for the officer's overreaction?

Depends, was the officer's name, Obie?

[Lil'freeper]

Honestly, tho. If, on my daily commute to work, I noticed something new that looks like that out of the corner of my eye, especially if it was tucked under an underpass or taped to the support of a bridge and hadn't been there the day before, I would certainly call it in.

[FreedomPoster]

It's nice seeing some sense injected, by someone with professional training, among all the knee jerk "hang the Turner people from the yardarm!" stuff. Thanks.

[vigilante2]

blew nearly $1 million in police overtime and other costs.

since when do they ever complain about that

[bondjamesbond]

Perhaps you are confusing "training" with "Hollywood conditioning?"

OK, I'll cop to that. Hollywood conditioning it is. Nevertheless, these devices were designed to play into what the public is looking for in a bomb. That is what makes them an effective advertising device.

If you pull such stunts, the state is going to be very, very angry with you. As well they should be.