Posted on 02/01/2007 12:45:38 AM PST by raccoonradio
Menino Wants Turner To Reimburse Cities
Boston police say they have made in arrest in connection to the suspicious device scare that turned out to be a marketing ploy for a television cartoon. The Peter Berdvosky was arrested in Arlington Wednesday night and charged under a recently enacted statute making it a crime to place a hoax device that results in panic.
The scare forced bomb units to scramble across Boston all day. The "devices" were actually magnetic lights which resemble a character on the show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force", on Turner Broadcasting's Cartoon Network.
WBZ spoke with the Berdvosky's lawyer and legal guardian Michael Rich, who said the Mass. College of Art student did cooperate with police. Rich also tells us the suspect is an exchange student from Belarus.
"It's very disturbing," said Rich, "that what was just (an) employment for a struggling artist turned into some major misunderstanding."
Berdvosky was apparently working for InterferenceInc.com, which was the company hired by Cartoon Network to carry out the ad campaign. He will be arraigned at Charlestown District Court on Thursday morning.
The suspicious device reports forced the temporary shutdowns of Interstate 93 out of the city, a key inbound roadway, a bridge between Boston and Cambridge, and a portion of the Charles River but were quickly determined not to be explosive.
"It's a hoax -- and it's not funny," Gov. Deval Patrick said.
"We apologize to the citizens of Boston that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger....We deeply regret the hardships experienced as a result of this incident," said Turner Broadcasting Chair and CEO Phil Kent in a writen statement.
More Than ten devices were found in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville. Attorney General Martha Coakley believes 38 of the light up boards were planted throughout the city.
The first device was found at an MBTA subway and bus station located under Interstate 93 on Wednesday morning. The device was detonated and determined to be harmless, but as a precaution the station and the interstate shut down temporarily.
Then, around 1 p.m., four calls came into Boston Police reporting suspicious devices at the Boston University Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge, which both span the Charles River, and the corner of Stuart and Columbus Streets and at the Tufts-New England Medical Center.
Another device was found in Somerville under the McGrath Highway Bridge. The latest package was found outside Fenway Park around 5:30 p.m.
Mayor Menino said the hoax cost the state and cities about $750,000. He wants Turner Broadcasting to pay for it all.
“It is outrageous, in a post 9/11 world, that a company would use this type of marketing scheme. I am prepared to take any and all legal action against Turner Broadcasting and its affiliates for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today’s incidents. Boston will look to coordinate our efforts going forward with Cambridge, Somerville and any other affected agencies.”
"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.
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.
(job INTERVIEWS I meant)--anyway, it disrupted business and many other things.
Agreed...btw am not sure Ted Turner himself is still part of the network/company even if it bears his name (left,
didn't he?)
Someone called up WBZ radio.....Do they know who this someone is?
I was sympathetic to these guys until I heard this. If this is true then they should be prosecuted. Having a dumb idea mistaken for a bomb is one thing, prank calling 911 should land your pathetic butt in jail.
I don't know.... maybe they fired Ted awhile back.... After seeing Turner following behind Fonda at the anti war rally I would say he is retired..... All I know is I would have been really mad if I was late for work over this ....If anything I guess Boston got an exercise in bomb threats. But it shouldn't be at the taxpayers expense. Somebody in that group should have looked into what permits were needed or told the city what they were planning to do.
"Why should the state and city pay?"
They are the ones who overreacted, in a major way.
Looks like Sean Penn to me. Must be his identical.
They are the ones who overreacted, in a major way.
Maybe after they saw the first one wasn't a bomb. But had they not reacted and it was a bomb you would be slamming them..... Why didn't someone let them know these signs were going to be put up? It is easy to call and inform the city or get a permit.
Doesn't say much for our supposed security when a couple of LEDs garner a full blown terror response.
I agree with you. I think it is going to be tough to prove that these devices were somehow planted with the intention that they be thought to be explosive devices of some sort. Who puts lights on bombs? I agree that these guys should have come forward at the first mention of potential terror connections, but I don't think this was intended as a hoax. As for the disorderly conduct charge, if this kind of act results in a conviction for that, the statute is too broad. Perhaps some sort of civil action would be possible, though.
I think you'll like it much better over at Dumbocrat.com with the rest of your bretheren!
"It is easy to call and inform the city or get a permit."
It is just as easy to look at the suspected device and determine if it is a threat.
All kinds of refuse could look like something threatening, do we spend a half million every time someone finds a suspicious looking piece of trash? Who is at fault then?
A caller who was part of law enforcement; was on Sullivan show.
My son said that he'd read that the company HAD contacted the city and got clearance to plant the devices. Sounds like the word didn't trickle down to the police dept.
It is just as easy to look at the suspected device and determine if it is a threat.
Really? How do you determine what is a bomb just by looking? If you can do that then I am in awe . If there was a call saying it was a bomb why wouldn't they treat it as such? Had it been a bomb and they didn't react they would have been slammed. I guess you could offer to go be a bomb spotter. I think we better get used to checking things out or get bombed. I don't have the answer. What I do know is that had they told the city what they were doing then this wouldn't have been such a mess. Seems simple enough to me.
Then why the 4 calls to the police station to note the separate locations? You think alert citizens simultaneously noticed these things in four separate locations?
While they may not have intended to cause terror per se,, they clearly used predictable patterns of response to promote their own agenda. Just because they may not have accurately predicted the extent of the response, they were clearly applying what they did know, i.e. you call the police and report a suspicious device on a bridge, you're gonna get a response. And media. Which is the whole point of guerilla marketing. While the two schmucks in custody may be new to the game, Interference Inc. is not. They knew exactly what they were doing.
Howie Carr column on "Borat" Berdovsky
http://news.bostonherald.com/columnists/view.bg?articleid=180462
"How do you determine what is a bomb just by looking?"
Are you from Boston by chance?
Do you think Boston has a Bomb Squad? Portable bomb sniffer? Trained dog?
"I think we better get used to checking things out or get bombed."
Great, lets start by checking the millions of people who cross our borders unchecked.
Stupid should hurt.
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