Standoff in NH city after bus bomb threat

(AP) via Google ^ | May 6, 2010 | n/a

[Cindy]

SNIPPET - quote: Standoff in NH city after bus bomb threat By KATHY McCORMACK (AP) – 45 minutes ago

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Authorities remained in a standoff with a man on a Maine-to-New York Greyhound bus Thursday, hours after a passenger called 911 to report an explosive device on board. The other 16 passengers and the driver safely got off the bus, which was parked in downtown Portsmouth, surrounded by a bomb squad and sharpshooters, including one in an armored vehicle.

[Never on my watch]

“We do not believe this to be a terrorist-related event,” he said. “We are considering this to be a localized event only.””

So the template now is: If it is not terrorism it is 'localism'?

Well then, they have to let us know if it is Domestic Localism, an International Localism plot, or Lone-wolf-Man-Made-Disaster-Localist.

[ETL]

From today, Friday, May 7, 2010:

Police: No Explosives On Bus In NH Bomb Scare

(snip)

"No explosives were found on a Greyhound bus after a daylong bomb scare and standoff that ended peacefully, police said Friday. ..."

(snip)

"Sources told CBS station WBZ-TV that a man on the bus was talking on a cell phone in what sounded like Arabic and English when a woman reportedly heard him say something about "a bomb is on the bus."

The woman told the bus driver, who pretended there was a mechanical problem with the bus and pulled over in Portsmouth. The driver then called police, WBZ-TV reported.

The passengers left the bus separated by a couple of minutes each and carried no purses or bags. Most held their hands aloft as they passed officers with their weapons drawn. Police were interviewing the driver and questioning the only person left aboard." ..."

http://wcbstv.com/local/greyhound.bus.bomb.2.1680885.html
______________________________________________

http://www.1010wins.com/pages/6987704.php?contentType=4&contentId=6061468

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

“Looks like white tennis shoes. “

Disgruntled, middle-aged white tennis shoes, cling to concrete and asphalt!

[libertarian27]

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20100507-NEWS-5070418

May 07, 2010 2:00 AM

PORTSMOUTH — Two people are expected to be arraigned today on charges related to a Thursday 911 call about a possible explosive device on a Greyhound bus and a massive 9-hour police response that followed.

Portsmouth Police Chief Lou Ferland told the Herald Friday morning that no explosive was found on the bus and that there will be a hearing related to the incident in Portsmouth District Court at about noon. Sources told the Herald that two bus passengers are expected to be arraigned on unknown charges.
~~

[lonevoice]

“Portsmouth Police Chief David Ferland said investigators would not have specific information to release on the man or the incident until noon Friday..."

Thanks for maintaining this thread and posting the updates. Now we know there was no bomb. And, now we know two passengers are being arraigned today, but we don't know what the charges are. Still waiting to hear who the camo-pants man is, what his nationality is, and what his motive was for engaging in a 9-hour standoff with local, state, and federal law enforcement. Police Chief Ferland promised to release specific information on the man and the incident at noon today. A half hour from now, we should have some answers. Maybe.

[OCCASparky]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2508100/posts

Wow--only 6 hours difference...LOL. And apparently it was some guy who didn't speak English who was too afraid to get off the bus...curiouser and curiouser...

[OCCASparky]

http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Police%3a+2+charged+in+Portsmouth+bus+bomb+scare&articleId=43671a00-7821-4c47-827c-2aa7fa48706b

One charged with refusing to leave the bus, the other with obstructing officers.

[OCCASparky]

http://www.wmur.com/news/23486378/detail.html

Apparently the two who were arrested weren't even involved in the so-called "threat"...

[the OlLine Rebel]

I don’t deny Moslems want to kill, and that there are many things we should be wary of.

But a) we tend to jump on everything as a threat, such as those “suspicious bags” in airport terminals where no one has been noticed at all and b) when there is a person involved or it is a threat, we gleefully run to “ROP Alert”.

Remember the guy who went into that mid-west church and shot up people, before the woman shot him down? He had nothing to do with Islam, but that’s the 1st thing everyone assumes and jokes about here. Same with VTech murders. They’re just sick criminals.

To me it’s becoming like the ghost fans - they want every photograph and happening to be a real ghost, but mostly it’s not, and in the process they water down any “real” evidence that does appear. People think they’re crazy and don’t listen to them.

In short - Peter crying wolf.

[Grampa Dave]

This is interesting from your link:

“Chief David Ferland said a passenger overheard a comment made in a cell phone conversation another passenger was having and believed it was a threat that a bomb was on the bus.

The passenger having the cell phone conversation is from Burundi, Africa, and speaks Swahili as his native language. Ferland said the person he was on the phone with made the bomb comment.”

[highlander_UW]

I don’t deny Moslems want to kill, and that there are many things we should be wary of.

Not all. I saw a post that said there are three types of muslims. Those who want to kill you. Those who support the first group wanting to kill you. And those who call you racists for noticing the first two types. An amusing joke, but there are muslims who just want to live their lives and have no interest in causing strife. Not all muslims are terrorists and supporters of terrorists...although that number if alarmingly large.

But a) we tend to jump on everything as a threat, such as those “suspicious bags” in airport terminals where no one has been noticed at all and b) when there is a person involved or it is a threat, we gleefully run to “ROP Alert”.

"Gleefully"? Really? So do you think that might be a response to the media and politicians immediately denying that it might be muslims and instead blaming Tea Partiers or some other group...only to find, in almost every instance, that it was what the progressives keep calling the "religion of peace"?

Remember the guy who went into that mid-west church and shot up people, before the woman shot him down? He had nothing to do with Islam, but that’s the 1st thing everyone assumes and jokes about here. Same with VTech murders. They’re just sick criminals.

Do you think there is any reason whatsoever that might lead people to suspect muslims when an act of mass violence is perpetrated? Any at all...perhaps something like it's a standard practice maybe? And I don't recall jokes about the church murders...but, of course, I'm sure there are threads I didn't read.

To me it’s becoming like the ghost fans - they want every photograph and happening to be a real ghost, but mostly it’s not, and in the process they water down any “real” evidence that does appear. People think they’re crazy and don’t listen to them.

Mostly it's not?! Are you aware that there have been at least 31 terrorist attempts since 9/11? How many incidents were there that was initially thought to be muslim but turned out to be otherwise? A few? When the majority of events are perpetrated by one group it's not like a ghost fan that never appears. I would be willing to bet that America would make a deal with Islam...they stop all terrorism for 100 years and we'll stop assuming that each act of terrorism might have been perpetrated by muslims.

In short - Peter crying wolf.

Remember in that Peter crying wolf story?...at the end, there really was a wolf.

[Grampa Dave]

"The passenger having the cell phone conversation is from Burundi, Africa, and speaks Swahili as his native language. Ferland said the person he was on the phone with made the bomb comment.”

So the idiot was not white nor an American nor an American Military guy on his way home.

Now we know why there was no description of him by the mediots pcing the story as it developed.

[the OlLine Rebel]

“Remember in that Peter crying wolf story?...at the end, there really was a wolf.”

Who died for it? Peter. The people didn’t listen to him any more.

It’s like calling everything “racist”.

[the OlLine Rebel]

(I knew I shouldn’t say anything and would just be jumped on.)

You’re misunderstanding me.

I absolutely know lots of Moslem terrorism happens (although sometimes it seems they are “isolated” incidents rather than organized coalition efforts - Ft. Hood probably and the Snipers did it all on their own), but sometimes it seems we just latch onto every “scary object (backpack)” and talk all about how it has to be Moslems. Then end up with egg on face when it’s not (I35 Minneapolis bridge?).

Of COURSE there’s a reason for suspecting Moslems; they’re great at wanton destruction. I do it alot - but not every backpack makes me think “Moslem bomb”. That’s just “Henny Penny” to me. I’m just wondering if we can slow the automatic-Moslem declaration - which looks just like DU.

[Cindy]

Thank you OCCASparky for the links.

http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Police%3a+2+charged+in+Portsmouth+bus+bomb+scare&articleId=43671a00-7821-4c47-827c-2aa7fa48706b

“Police: 2 charged in Portsmouth bus bomb scare”

By GRETYL MACALASTER
Union Leader Correspondent
2 hours, 13 minutes ago

SNIPPET: “PORTSMOUTH – It was fear that kept an African man aboard a Greyhound bus surrounded by police yesterday.”

SNIPPET: “Two other passengers are facing charges and are scheduled for arraignment this afternoon. John Smolens, 68, of Lewiston, Maine, was charged with resisting arrest, stemming form his refusal of verbal orders from SWAT team members when he came off the bus. A Taser was used to subdue the man who was taken into custody. He has since been released on $2,500 personal recognizance bond.

A second passenger, Calvin Segar, 29, of Brooklyn, New York, is facing two counts of obstructing government administration for providing false information to police.”

###
###

http://www.wmur.com/news/23486378/detail.html

Portsmouth Bus Standoff Sparked By Misunderstanding

2 Arrests Made During Standoff

POSTED: 12:08 pm EDT May 7, 2010
UPDATED: 4:52 pm EDT May 7, 2010

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. —

SNIPPET: “A nine-hour standoff involving a bus in Portsmouth on Thursday was the result of a misunderstanding, police said.

Chief David Ferland said a passenger overheard a comment made in a cell phone conversation another passenger was having and believed it was a threat that a bomb was on the bus.

The passenger having the cell phone conversation is from Burundi, Africa, and speaks Swahili as his native language. Ferland said the person he was on the phone with made the bomb comment.”

[highlander_UW]

Of COURSE there’s a reason for suspecting Moslems; they’re great at wanton destruction. I do it alot - but not every backpack makes me think “Moslem bomb”. That’s just “Henny Penny” to me. I’m just wondering if we can slow the automatic-Moslem declaration - which looks just like DU.

And I don't think muslim at every abandoned backpack either. In fact, on a news site I post on that has both conservatives and liberals I'm normally the one that is calling for not jumping to conclusions. Ironically, I'm often saying it to liberals who automatically claim every abandoned backpack is a bomb attempt by a crazed tea partiers...but I also issue the call to caution to conservatives as well...but they're not normally the ones flying off the handle calling for lynch mobs...that's almost always the libs.

And for the record, I may not be understanding your intent, but I did not "jump" on you either.

I absolutely know lots of Moslem terrorism happens (although sometimes it seems they are “isolated” incidents rather than organized coalition efforts - Ft. Hood probably and the Snipers did it all on their own)...

Actually, according to the department of homeland security, the Ft. Hood shooter had Al Qaeda connections as well... Link: http://homelandsecurityus.com/archives/3250

[the OlLine Rebel]

OK, “jump on” was a bit hard but I have drawn a bit of “scrutiny”.

As for the Ft. Hood guy, perhaps I should be even more specific: regardless of connections, it seems he acted alone without cooperation and coordination. Besides, his MO was much more typical white-guy mass murderer. Moslem terrorists don’t usually merely go shooting with plain old guns into some place they know well. Heck, even run-of-the-mill mass-murderers usually kill themselves in the end - and this guy didn’t even do that.