[harpseal]

If they'd vetted it, and decided based on all their information, that it didn't carry any dangerous code message, better to pacify the nut and lull him into imagining he had control of the situation, by broadcasting his silly request.

Since the only possible way to know if such a message was code would be to know what every potential recipient would infer from the message it is impossible to vette such a message.

Stay well - Stay safe - Stay armed - Yorktown

[GovernmentShrinker]

Rememer, I said "based on all their information". I think by the time they released that statement, they were already pretty close to positive who the sniper was, and knew that he was not an al-Qaeda operative (even though he may have imagined himself to be one).