Posted on 02/01/2007 5:02:47 AM PST by Puppage
BOSTON -- Nine blinking electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a marketing campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. At least one of the devices depicts a character giving the finger.
Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down and bomb squads were sent in before authorities declared the devices were harmless.
"It's a hoax -- and it's not funny," said Gov. Deval Patrick.
Turner Broadcasting, parent company of Cartoon Network, said the devices were part of a promotion for the TV show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force."
"The packages in question are magnetic lights that pose no danger," Turner said in a statement. It said the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Philadelphia.
"We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger," the company said.
Police said only that they were investigating where the device came from. The Department of Homeland Security said there are no credible reports of other devices being found elsewhere in the country.
An angry Mayor Thomas Menino said a stiff penalty will be pursued against whoever was responsible for the devices.
"It's about keeping a city on edge. It's about public safety," he said.
Authorities said some of the objects looked like circuit boards or had wires hanging from them.
The first device was found at a subway and bus station underneath Interstate 93, forcing the shutdown of the station and the highway.
Later, police said four calls, all around 1 p.m., reported devices at the Boston University Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge, both of which span the Charles River, at a Boston street corner and at the Tufts-New England Medical Center.
The package near the Boston University bridge was found attached to a structure beneath the span, authorities said.
Subway service across the Longfellow Bridge between Boston and Cambridge was briefly suspended, and Storrow Drive was closed as well.
Wanda Higgins, a 47-year-old Weymouth resident and a nurse at Massachusetts General Hospital, heard about the threat as she watched television news coverage while preparing to leave work at 4 p.m.
"I saw the bomb squad guys carrying a paper bag with their bare hands," Higgins said. "I knew it couldn't be too serious."
Messages seeking additional comment from the Atlanta-based Cartoon Network were left with several publicists.
"Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is a cartoon with a cultish following that airs as part of the Adult Swim late-night block of programs for adults on the Cartoon Network. A feature length film based on the show is slated for release March 23.
The surreal series centers on a talking milkshake (Master Shake), fries (Frylock) and a meatball (Meatwad).
The cartoon also includes two trouble-making, 1980s-graphic-like characters called "mooninites," named Ignignokt and Err -- who were pictured on the suspicious devices. They are known for making the obscene hand gesture depicted on the devices.
Ok, you are hanging flashing neon signs in high visibility spots. They have a cartoon character on them flipping people off and a couple of Duracell batteries. does this sound like the work of undercover terrorist operatives?
Here's my question: What idiot would call 911 and report a bomb?
C'mon people, you are now officially "terrorized". They won.
Just my humble opinion...
"Here's my question: What idiot would call 911 and report a bomb? "
Thanks Funky. When I first saw them, I thought, "Stop Overreacting. Terrorists aren't going to use Lite-Brite!"
Send the bill for the mess to these 'guerrilla marketers' and you will see this kind of nonsense ending quickly.
This stunt was way beyond stupid.
It's gotta be illegal. But since this is MA, I guess it doesn't really matter what the law is.
The stupid people looked at a cartoon light as an IED ... and the cops and politicians followed up with the proper outrage.
Savage is SO correct ... Liberalism is a mental disease.
in this post 9-11 world it is ridiculous that this firm would not have thought this through. I was listening to foxnews in my car before the cartoon aspect was known and the factor that they were fixating on was WHERE the objects were placed-- a medical center, bridges, roadways, in other words INFRASTRUCTURE. in a post 9-11 world, is it a good idea to dismiss out of hand, objects that are out of place just because of harmless they look?
i totally agree with you. think the jihadists aren't taking note now that toys will no longer be considered suspicious?
I have no problem with "busting" them for that. In fact they should have been.
But I do have a problem with the morons in charge shutting down a major city being too stupid to see what they obviously were and then blaming the whole over reaction on others.
oh you think not? especially after this? ok....
Look at the dang thing. It's a cartoon!
You don't need to have watched ATHF, to know that.
Also, see this post:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1777244/posts?page=48#48
I just got a singing birthday card from a friend. I would be very careful about sending one to an official in Boston - I don't think they would take it lightly.
I guess the terrorist typesa are going to be out buying flashing lights and cartoon sitckers before the next bombing, just to throw people off.
1:People saw something, they did not know what it was, they did know it was different and in places where explosives would do some possibly serious damage. It was prudent to get it checked out
2: Life ain't TV, but most of the bombs on TV have little flashing lights on them, and that is what the uninformed will associate it with.
An unrecognized cartoon character flipping you off? Think about it...a bomb is such an effective way to say "F**K You!".
does this sound like the work of undercover terrorist operatives?
For the terrorist, it is a case of whatever works. Whoulda thunkit? No bang, but all the disruption without the mess.
As for "officially terrorized", that happened back when I could no longer take my knife (or a nail clipper--sheesh!) aboard the plane.
OK, I will concede that these do not look like bombs. However, when they are unlit (during daytime) wouldn't it be a little difficult to see what the figure is to represent, and also anything electronic, even something that doesn't have room for explosives, would cause some suspicion. The explosives could be somewhere else, you know.
Sure, THIS TIME.
Do you really believe that will be the case always? Would you be YOUR life on that?
These things were light, small and thin. Even if most of the weight had been a bomb that went off they wouldn't have done much more than blacken the paint on those bridges.
It was easy to tell what these things were just by looking at them. Its inner workings were open to see.
Dumb (not you).
batteries, exposed wires and placed on infrastructure. could it be a timing device that would detonate something placed elsewhere? i don't know jack about explosives, but i think that the gimmick was reprehensible and that one cannot be cavalier about stuff randomly placed. i mean for God's sake, you can't leave a piece of luggage unattended at an airport, why would it make sense not to be suspicious of electrical devices placed on infrastructure.
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