No one is advocating shooting first. The very first thing done was she was questioned. She then refused to answer questions and fled. Is that normal behavior for someone with "a radio, a camera, a personal computer, an ipod, a cell phone, a pacemaker, a pc battery life extender, a cellphone fast recharger ..., an electric razor, and those flashy wheeley running shoes"? Why didn't she explain that it was a piece of art and show what it did? Unless of course she was trying to cause a panic and got caught.
The trouble began when Ms. Simpson, wearing a lighted circuit board sewn to her black hooded sweatshirt, walked up to a customer service desk at Logan International Airport and asked about an arriving flight carrying a passenger she was to meet. A nine-volt battery was attached to the circuit board, and Ms. Simpson carried a wad of modeling clay in one hand.The employee, fearing that the board was a bomb, “asked Ms. Simpson what was on her chest, and she didn’t answer,” Major Pare said. “Ms. Simpson then turned around and left the building.”
This sounds to me like hearsay. Can't this information clerk speak for herself? Does Maria Moncayo speak English as a first language? This smells to me like the typical cop CYA operation where "We made a mistake" is not in their lexicon.
Honestly ask yourself when was the last time you heard any government agency own up to a f up?
Here you are very very wrong and have simply failed to pay attention. A lot of my interlocutors have been calling for shooting first and asking questions later.
... She refused to answer questions and fled.
This is a distortion. She simply left, and did not go very far. The information booth attendant is not a security person, and has no authority to question or detain. Simpson was perfectly within her rights to turn around and leave when she was asked what was "on her chest," which might be interpreted to be a rude question. Here is what the article said further:
A Massachusetts Port Authority staffer manning an information booth in the terminal became suspicious when Simpson - wearing the device - approached to ask about an incoming flight, Pare said. Simpson then walked outside, and the staffer notified a nearby trooper...The trooper, joined by others with submachine guns, confronted her in front of the terminal...."She was immediately told to stop, to raise her hands and not to make any movement, so we could observe all her movements to see if she was trying to trip any type of device," Pare said. "Had she not followed the protocol, we might have used deadly force."
She did not flee. She cooperated apparently, and it turned out she did not have any device she could detonate.