San Fran airport evacuated...explosive residue found on passenger shoe

MSNBC

[MeekOneGOP]

This is San Francisco. If the guy was Chinese and from China Town, he could get firecracker residue by just walking the streets and alleys.

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re my post about firecrackers: FOX reports that the guy actually had a trace of a substance found on military explosives, not found in firecrackers. . .

[blackbag]

Would you believe it was a phone?

[southern rock]

Ahh yes, the "if you have nothing to hide" business. Maybe his driver's license was expired? Maybe he was in a hurry. Maybe he didn't want to have his money stolen by the kops/"security" screeners. The list is endless. If you have nothing to hide why should you object to (fill in the list of all sorts of intrusive and unconstitutional police state activities). I don't see fleeing as an admission of guilt.

Exactly! This guy is being described as a 40 yr. old white man. If this is true, I bet you this is just some innocent guy that somehow got the "wrong" substance on the bottom of his shoe, and simply decided to not wait around and put up with the Soviet style harassment of airport security.

[syriacus]

That wanna-be passenger was some talker, all right. He sure must have had a smooth tongue to get out of that predicament.

[evolved_rage]

Unless the 40 year old white male speaks tagolog, their is no smooth talking at SFO

[csvset]

Perhaps it was only a test of airport security. Now, if it were a test, the question would be by whom? A jihadist or one of Tom Ridge's boys? Are the "security" forces operating under some sort of "no pursuit" clause? Lol, help us Lord.

[TOMH1]

"That is a type of black powder. It is used in muzzel loading firearms."

Nope. The name for the blackpowder substitute is Pyrodex.

[Diddle E. Squat]

I don't give a flying flip what convoluted excuses any apologist wants to make for why this guy fled, if he flees a security checkpoint, fill him full of holes.

Make an example of the next person who flees, and others will think twice. We're talking about attempting to prevent someone from conducting mass murder, so you don't just walk away when you determine its inconvenient for you. Right now, the risk for fleeing is apparently low, so raise the stakes. Bullet in the back forced upon themselves when they decided to break the law and break security. And save the Ruby Ridge bullcrap, there is no analogy between the two.

[Mr. Jeeves]

This guy is being described as a 40 yr. old white man.

Which probably means he was a 25-year-old Arab, but they won't say so for reasons of political correctness.

[Myrddin]

I'll bet my shoes are covered with "residue" from walking around at my indoor shooting range. My next flight should be lots of fun.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

Well, let's see. They GAVE HIM HIS SHOES BACK AFTER THEY FOUND RESIDUE ON THEM.

Maybe he mistook this for we don't think you're a threat. Ya think?

[BlessedBeGod]

San Fran airport evacuated...explosive residue found on passenger shoe

It's probably just bubblegum. ;-)

[LouD]

So we're looking for a barefoot guy in the airport.

Shouldn't be too hard to find. Anybody got any thumbtacks?

[southern rock]

Which probably means he was a 25-year-old Arab, but they won't say so for reasons of political correctness.

Which in turn begs the question, did this incident really happen, or is it just the excuse the government needs to get out of the whole racial profiling debate. If this "mystery man" is never found, they will always be able to say, "ah ha, a 40 yr old white male tried the shoe-bomb thing. Therefore, racial profiling is usless". HMMMM...

[NovemberCharlie]

I don't give a flying flip what convoluted excuses any apologist wants to make for why this guy fled, if he flees a security checkpoint, fill him full of holes.

From the news reports that have been mentioned on this thread, they don't say that he fled, only that he left. If he had run, he would have given the press a sensational story, and they almost certainly would have said so.

[Spunky]

So we're looking for a barefoot guy in the airport.

No! Fox News is reporting that the idiots (my word) let him put his shoes back on.
Also I have been reading in several posts that they think it was firecracker residue.
It is the same kind of residue found in plastic explosives.
The kind of plastic explosive the shoe bomber had.

[Cold Heat]

This smells to me like another doggie misfire. What a joke.

[dhfnc]

Radio news just said the man somehow was lost in the crowd.

How could this possibly happen? It makes no sense. Surely our security people can do better than this. If not, there is a real big problem.

[cajungirl]

Sitting here,,waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[DJ88]

Let me tell you something that happened to my husband last week in Houston. He went to check his bag in at the counter, and they waved a wand over it to check for explosives. The thing went off like crazy!!! My husband said, "Uh...what's going on?" She said, "It tested positive for nitro..." He said, "DO WHAT"? So, they are asking him why he was in Houston, where he was, why he has such a small bag for an 8 day trip, why he changed flights 3 times, etc. He has answers for all of these questions: 1) Working on a project in Houston. 2)I thought I was only going to be here 3-4 days...look at the dry-cleaning tags from the hotel bill. 3) Because I thought I would be leaving each day that I made the flight arrangements. Of course, the fact that he was from FLORIDA did not help at all. But...as they are throwing out his underwear for all the world to see....he says, "Wait a minute. My sneakers are in that bag...I work in the phosphate industry in Central Florida, and I probably have fertilizer on those sneakers because that's what I wear there sometimes when I have to deliver a pump."

Bingo. That's what it was.

However, HE NEVER EVEN THOUGHT about leaving the terminal. He figured he'd be shot.