MIT Coed With Fake Bomb 'Art' Arrested

[Scribbler1]

BOSTON - An MIT student wearing what turned out to be a fake bomb was arrested at gunpoint Friday at Logan International Airport and later claimed it was artwork, officials said. Star Simpson, 19, had a computer circuit board and wiring in plain view over a black hooded sweat shirt she was wearing, said State Police Maj. Scott Pare, the commanding officer at the airport. "She said that it was a piece of art and she wanted to stand out on career day," Pare said at a news conference. "She claims that it was just art, and that she was proud of the art and she wanted to display it." Simpson was charged with disturbing the peace and possessing a hoax device, and was to be arraigned in East Boston District Court later Friday. "I'm shocked and appalled that somebody would wear this type of device to an airport," Pare said. Simpson was "extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used," Pare said. "She's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue."

I always thought students at MIT were supposed to be smart! Apparently the hundreds of airport security news reports made no impression on this girl. LINK

[Dieval]

Quote by: Scribbler1 I always thought students at MIT were supposed to be smart! Apparently the hundreds of airport security news reports made no impression on this girl. LINK

"Art" sure does seem to be gettting stranger and stranger, while the people creating it are getting dumber and dumber... I'm just waiting for the day when someone will use a real bomb, blow themself up, and call the blood splatter art....

[Thanatos]

Wait, was this a true moron wearing something that incidentally looked bomb-like or was this art deliberately designed to look like a bomb?

[Scribbler1]

It was a computer circuit board (presumably a motherboard) with some wires and play doh (looks like plastic explosive).

What I can't understand is how there could be any possible way she would NOT figure she'd have guns pointed at her with a stunt like that, and in an AIRPORT to boot!

[Zeebadee]

This was a small plastic block made for simple circuit breadboarding, with a few parts plugged in and some wires. Of course, with the current climate of fear promoted by the present administration, near panic is the proper response. While it might have been a stupid thing to do, once it was determined what the device was, the whole thing should have been dropped.

[Scribbler1]

According to the article, it was "a computer circuit board and wiring in plain view over a black hooded sweat shirt she was wearing, said State Police Maj. Scott Pare, the commanding officer at the airport.
"She said that it was a piece of art and she wanted to stand out on career day,"

I didn't know being an idiot could be called a career, but what do I know.

There's a reason they had guns drawn. With the fear level so high these days, "shoot first and ask questions after" can be the rule. I don't condone it nor do I like it. But that's the reality of it.
There was a similar case in London a while back, if memory serves. They shot some guy in a subway station because they thought he had a bomb. It turned out he was innocent. This could have happened just as easily in that airport.

[Zeebadee]

I used to use these things all the time. It's not a board at all but a plastic block that you can plug components into and then connect points with plug in wires. I still have a couple laying around somewhere. Big over-reaction here. This national hysteria of fear needs to be overcome.

[Gods_Mercenary]

Yah, because people normally go to airports with things that any uneducated eye would assume to be a bomb. If I was the security guy, I'd have drawn a weapon too. Not to mention the poor people likely to get trampled when she walks into a crowd and a stampede ensues.

[phoenix_fire]

I think we have Darwin Award material here.

[The Decider]

Quote by: Zeebadee This was a small plastic block made for simple circuit breadboarding, with a few parts plugged in and some wires. Of course, with the current climate of fear promoted by the present administration, near panic is the proper response. While it might have been a stupid thing to do, once it was determined what the device was, the whole thing should have been dropped.

You can't be serious. This MIT moron walks into Logan Airport, the departure point for the 911 flights, to play a time-bomb prank and she should get a pass? She's lucky to be alive. Put her on trial, send her to jail, and let that be a lesson to other college morons with similar prank ambitions.

[Gods_Mercenary]

Quote by: phoenix_fire I think we have Darwin Award material here.

Darwin has spoken!

[phoenix_fire]

*raises eyebrow*

[Zeebadee]

Quote by: Gods_Mercenary Yah, because people normally go to airports with things that any uneducated eye would assume to be a bomb. If I was the security guy, I'd have drawn a weapon too. Not to mention the poor people likely to get trampled when she walks into a crowd and a stampede ensues.

Exactly what I mean. It's got wires?? Must be a bomb. Uncontrollable fear, officially fomented for political gain. We don't even need real bombs anymore to disrupt our lives, entire airports have been shut down, flight schedules disrupted, millions of dollars lost because some old man walked away from a chair and forgot his lunch, and no one has the sense to just look in the brown paper bag.

[Gods_Mercenary]

Wait, no, he hasn't spoken since she isn't dead and is still a viable breeder, producing more fake bomb wearing, death wish having, college kids.

[Gods_Mercenary]

Quote by: Zeebadee Exactly what I mean. It's got wires?? Must be a bomb. Uncontrollable fear, officially fomented for political gain. We don't even need real bombs anymore to disrupt our lives, entire airports have been shut down, flight schedules disrupted, millions of dollars lost because some old man walked away from a chair and forgot his lunch, and no one has the sense to just look in the brown paper bag.

Plastic, wires, strapped around somebody in a black hooded sweatshirt, not out of the ordinary at all, right? The reason there's so much fuss is because no one wants to be the guy who gets his face blown off the one time the old guy's lunch actually has a bomb in it. I'm not volunteering, are you?

[Scribbler1]

Quote by: Zeebadee Exactly what I mean. It's got wires?? Must be a bomb. Uncontrollable fear, officially fomented for political gain. We don't even need real bombs anymore to disrupt our lives, entire airports have been shut down, flight schedules disrupted, millions of dollars lost because some old man walked away from a chair and forgot his lunch, and no one has the sense to just look in the brown paper bag.

They have the sense, but that's not the first thing on their minds. They're just hoping he doesn't detonate this lunch before they take it away from him.
The people who do these kinds of things aren't going to take hostages and hold the airport for some kind of ransom. They are going to blow themselves up along with as many innocents as they can, and they will do that prematurely if they think they are about to be caught.

What would you do then, if you saw that circuit board and you had a gun?

There is a good reason to call it "terrorism". It's cost effective, it doesn't require an army, it doesn't require daily attacks and it just plain works. And the fact that our government has been capitalizing on that fear for their own purposes makes that an unbeatable combination.

[Zeebadee]

Quote by: Gods_Mercenary Plastic, wires, strapped around somebody in a black hooded sweatshirt, not out of the ordinary at all, right? The reason there's so much fuss is because no one wants to be the guy who gets his face blown off the one time the old guy's lunch actually has a bomb in it. I'm not volunteering, are you?

"Paranoia runs deep
Into your heart it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
Step outta line, the Man come and take you away

~ Steven Stills and Buffalo Springfield, 1967"

If you really want to add some legitimacy to your paranoia, read the PNAC Manifesto.

[Gods_Mercenary]

You never said if you'd volunteer, you just called me paranoid. if you will, then you could start work at the nearest airport, I'd imagine it pays high. As to my paranoia, do you deny that planes and an airport have been and are attractive targets for terrorists weilding any number of weapons? It's similar to not standing next to the guy with the bulky jacket with odd potrusions at the bank, the likelyhood that he is actually robbing the bank is very low, but I don't want to take those odds.

[Zeebadee]

Quote by: Gods_Mercenary You never said if you'd volunteer, you just called me paranoid. if you will, then you could start work at the nearest airport, I'd imagine it pays high.

A silly statement since we all know that our "security" people would never allow such a thing. Just think about how much their budgets would decline if we allowed common sense a foothold in what has become reality these days.

But I did pick up a bag that had been left by a woman and return it to her recently. I didn't look inside though. Does that count?

Quote by: Gods_Mercenary As to my paranoia, do you deny that planes and an airport have been and are attractive targets for terrorists weilding any number of weapons?

Of course I don't deny that. But there are a lot more attractive targets that are much less protected.

Quote by: Gods_Mercenary It's similar to not standing next to the guy with the bulky jacket with odd potrusions at the bank, the likelyhood that he is actually robbing the bank is very low, but I don't want to take those odds.

Well, either you live in a year-round warm climate or you don't get much banking done in winter.

[Gods_Mercenary]

Well, either you live in a year-round warm climate or you don't get much banking done in winter.

Banks are heated, and few guys have odd potrusions in their coats. (ridiculously off topic)

Of course I don't deny that. But there are a lot more attractive targets that are much less protected.

Such as? Is there really any other peice of infrastructure that if paralyzed would have the same effect of fear and terror, not to mention economic implications?