Posted on 09/22/2007 6:37:50 AM PDT by Turret Gunner A20
http://home.peoplepc.com/psp/newsstory.asp?cat=TopStories&referrer=welcome&id=20070922/46f49340_3ca6_1552620070922-1497302150
Lawyer: Fake Bomb Charge an Overreaction
BOSTON - The MIT student who walked into Logan International Airport wearing a computer circuit board and wiring on her sweat shirt claimed it was harmless artwork. But to troopers who arrested her at gunpoint, it was a fake bomb.
Nineteen-year-old Star Simpson was charged Friday with possessing a hoax device. Her attorney described the charge as offbase and "almost paranoid," arguing at a court hearing that she did not act in a suspicious manner and had told an airport worker that the device was art.
(Excerpt) Read more at home.peoplepc.com ...
Why do you keep ignoring the lump of Play Doh in her hand? What characteristics does Semtex have that Play Doh doesn't that can be readily discernible in a few seconds at 20-30 feet?
Innocent of having a real bomb -- but she wasn't charged with having a real bomb. She was charged with having a hoax bomb. There's been nothing so far to indicate that was not her intention from the onset other than her own statements. She'll have her day in court and then we'll determine whether or not it was a deliberate hoax (the hoax bomb charge) or whether it was accidental (the disorderly conduct charge).
This is a real IED discovered in Fallujah. It is an open circuit board with electronic components attached, dangling wires -- some covered in black electrical tape, a battery holder for a 9-volt battery, and bags of stuff that resemble Play Doh (Semtex).
What did she have again? An open circuit board with electronic components attached, dangling wires -- some covered in masking tape, a 9-volt battery (hers was attached), and a handful of Play Doh (which resembles Semtex).
Not everyone at MIT is a super-smart high-energy physicist. Go here and look at these cartoons drawn by MIT students and hosted on MIT servers. MIT has its share of "useful idiots".
She should have been aware that walking into an airport with a fake bomb would get her arrested. By your reasoning, the ideal way to sneak a bomb to the target would be to wear it in plain sight - with a few LEDs attached. That way it wouldn’t look like a “real” bomb.
I believe it may be a case of her being so smart that she could never have even imagined anyone being so mentally challenged that they could mistake her necklace for a bomb.
So the ideal way to sneak a bomb to the target would be to wear it in plain sight - with a few LEDs attached. That way it wouldn't look like a "real" bomb.
I have yet to experience a device with flashing leds that could or did blow up. I realize that Jack Bauer's experience is different. Maybe your claim to common sense rests on the fact that you watch a lot of TV.
You seem to place a lot of emphasis on the LEDs. Yes, standard military bombs don’t come with lights. That doesn’t mean that a light indicates something is not a bomb.
Back in the mid 70’s I taught riot control procedures. Part of the course was teaching the troops about bombs that might be left laying around the area by rioters. I put together a couple fake “bombs”. I used a car horn instead of explosives. Timers were simple clocks. They also had mercury switches and pressure release switches.
They also had a small light. “On” indicated it was armed, “off” indicated it was not armed. We didn’t yet have LEDs so I used small flashlight bulbs. It was strictly for my own convenience. A bomb today could use light for the same reason.
Several years ago a man in Erie, Pennsylvania was killed when a bomb that had been locked around his neck detonated. He had been ordered to rob a bank. This young woman could have been equipped with a bomb with easily visible arming lights so they bad guys could tell it was still armed.
I suppose in general terms that would be correct but this thread is about a specific incident.
So I'll go thru this very slowly for you Mr Bauer.
There was no target in this incident.
There was no bomb.
There was a clerk behind the information counter in Logan's Terminal C Arrivals by the baggage carousel named Maria Moncoya (No doubt a highly trained LEO professional)who saw flashing leds in the shape of a star on this woman's (Star!!!)sweat shirt and sent up the balloon.
State Police discover no bomb but to save face decide to press charges.
“...they could just conclude that because she was innocent she was innocent.”
How do you know she’s innocent? Can you read her mind? Do you know for a fact that it wasn’t her intention to make airport people think she was a suicide bomber?
Her actions are pretty clear, and it would take one heck of a good explanation to make me believe she wasn’t purposely trying to make airport people believe she had a bomb, at least for a few seconds.
And that’s all it took. She was reported as a suspicious person, because she was wearing a circuit board and carrying modeling clay, and someone suspected a bomb.
This is not a laptop, a camera, or some other common device, and it didn’t look just a little suspicious.
She was arrested using a modicum of caution. It wasn’t an abundance of caution, since the cops didn’t shoot her immediately, like they probably would do in Israel.
She is being charged w/ carrying a hoax device.
If she’s not guilty of that, I’d really like to hear a better explanation than the one I’ve heard at last report.
And, once again, you forget to mention the modeling clay that was a part of her overall ensemble, thus lending credence to the whole bomb idea.
Also, do you even know what a tautology is? Because it is utterly incompatible with this situation. 9/11 changed everything about the way we react to perceived threats, ie now we know that there are dedicated maniacs who are willing to die to kill innocent Americans, and that they are, at least loosely, organized.
Thank God for Americans who are NOT complacent.
Does a shoe look like a bomb?
Did her ensemble, including the modeling clay, look like anything else? Anything at all? Art?
What is a circuit board with battery and wires, and flashing lights, attached to a black hoodie, combined with a handful of modeling clay, supposed to be seen as?
You have no common sense, but what you lack in sense you make up for in arrogance and criticism.
A lot more than the thing with the flashing LED's looks like a bomb. Remember the shoe bomber?
Tell me since you are such a genius? What does a bomb look like? What are the first things you would look for in deciding whether something is a bomb?
Just leave it alone. You haven't a clue. Not a single blinking clue.
“Tell me since you are such a genius? What does a bomb look like?”
I don’t have a single answer to that, since bombs can look many, many different ways.
Of course, according to you, you can always tell, even at a glance, what ISN’T a bomb, Mr. expert.
Of course, that’s not enough. You revile anyone who isn’t just as perfect in such evaluation.
I haven’t a clue? You are so far from reality in this, I’m surprised you’re not talking backwards.
If I ever want to make something look like a bomb, I will make something that looks like a bomb When are you going to tell us EXACTLY what a bomb looks like, Mr. Expert on everything from the appearance of bombs to the formatting of replies on this forum?
Now that we have a good picture of a real IED, we can make some comparisons with what Simpson built. There is a pencil in the picture to give us scale, and one of the things we learn is that this thing is a whole lot bigger than that tiny picture that you show, so we could look at this in much more resolution to make clear comparisons. One dead give away, however, is that the wires go to detonators. Second, there is that explosive looking stuff (Semtex is actually reddish in color), and the picture shown of Simpsons device shows none of that plastic explosive looking stuff.
Look, you, myself and most of the FReepers on this thread know that your (and my Husband's) training is far superior than that of some $10 an hour union renta-cop hired by the airports. There is no comparison to the level of expertise between them and a trained professional who knows all there is to know about explosives and the detection of such.
But I am not going to agree that the airport security teams, SWAT team nor the police department were acting in bad faith. If it had been real, detonated causing injury or death, then they would be ripped apart for not acting to protect innocent lives.
It's like saying that even though there has been several terrorist attacks that have been thwarted in this country, they don't count because they weren't carried out. That is a 'Rat phylosophy.
I don't care if this chick's life is ruined because of this. She did it to herself.
Furthermore, this chick put her life on the line when she decided to accesserize with what looked like a bomb. I hope that they throw her stupid a*s in jail for a long, long time.
If I ever want to make something look like a bomb, I will make something that looks like a bomb When are you going to tell us EXACTLY what a bomb looks like, Mr. Expert on everything from the appearance of bombs to the formatting of replies on this forum?
You really don't get it do you? Take a deep breath and repeat after me 10 times. It wasn't a bomb. It wasn't a bomb.
The security folks were not acting in bad faith when they checked it out because they were suspicious that it might be a bomb. They acted in bad faith when it turned out not to be a bomb, when almost any idiot (some on this forum excepted) could see it wasn't a bomb or intended to look like the bomb that it wasn't, and then charged her with a hoax (which is a deliberate crime, when anyone except a few select idiots can see that it isn't even a hoax).
Well you need 4 components: 1. a source of energy. 2. a switch. 3. a detonator. 4. explosives. Look it up, and you will discover that that is what Homeland security / TSA, etc. is trained to look for.
numbers 3 and 4 are very clearly missing from this girl's "device."
It doesn't look like a bomb.
Mr. Submariner is out at sea defending and protecting the constitution of the US, and you stay home and support his efforts by spouting this fascist garbage.
Your point of view is that because there are terrorists in the world, anyone who gets caught up in a misunderstanding with our security arrangements (even $10/hr rent-a-cops - your words) should have her life ruined because you want to prove you are not like the democrats.
Are you a secret recruiting tool of the democratic party or are you really just this stupid.
And from your language it is very clear that you have nothing but contempt for your own sex.
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