[NYTr] Homeland Hysteria: Boston Pigs Brag about Nearly Killing Someone Date: Fri, 21 Sep 2007 17:17:31 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Boston Pigs Brag About Nearly Killing Someone by Peter Bell Un-fucking-believable. the Boston PD and the DHS assholes at Logan have been claiming all day that an MIT undergrad headed out to the airport to meet her boyfriend with a "fake bomb strapped to her!" Most of the press is jumping right on board with this - and I have to admit, when I read the first headline, my response was "well, good. College students still have access to drugs." As I read more, though, I realized: this kid had been wearing a circuit board with flashing LEDs. And carrying Silly Putty. And for this, she was nearly shot to death? And the piggies are successfully making an issue of this one? truly, the media are largely falling down on their jobs. Two writeups, one from the mainstream and one from the MIT student paper. First from the student paper, then from... the Daily News. They'll be full of piss and vinegar, I feel confident. Ah, yes. For the daily news, it's a fake bomb. Full stop. Thanks, boys. Though their pictures make it pretty clear that... well... hmmmm.. bomb? My god, a flashlight battery and some wires is now a bomb? My favorite math professor, Dr. Kaczynski, would have laughed at this. -Peter *** The Tech Online (MIT Student Newspaper) - Sep 21, 2007 http://www-tech.mit.edu/V127/N40/simpson.html MIT Sophomore Arrested at Logan For Wearing LED Device By Angeline Wang EDITOR IN CHIEF Star A. Simpson b10, [?? sic] wearing a circuit board that lit up and was connected to a battery, was arrested at gunpoint at Logan Airport this morning and was charged with disturbing the peace and possessing a hoax device. Simpson was released on $750 bail earlier today; her pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 29, 2007 at 9 a.m. in East Boston District Court. Simpson (a former Tech photographer) was wearing the device, which included green LEDs arranged in the shape of a star, during yesterdaybs MIT Career Fair. Her defense attorney said she was at the airport to pick up her boyfriend who arrived at Logan this morning. Simpson approached an information booth in Loganbs Terminal C this morning wearing the light-up device, Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Wayne Margolis said during Simpsonbs arraignment today. She bsaid it was a piece of art,b Margolis said, and brefused to answer any more questions.b Margolis said this caused several Logan employees to flee the building. Margolis also said that Simpson had been wearing the art at least a few days. After asking about an incoming flight, Simpson then walked to the baggage claim area, Margolis said. Simpson had Play-Doh in her hands when at the information desk, State Police Maj. Scott Pare told the Associated Press in a press conference this morning. Simpson was confronted at a traffic island outside Terminal C by state troopers with submachine guns, and she was arrested at approximately 8 a.m., the AP reported. State police determined that the device was not a bomb after her arrest. bShe followed instructions as was required by the State Police and within minutes [Explosive Ordinance Disposal] unit found that it was an innocuous device and we took her into custody,b Pare said at the press conference, according to Channel 5 News. bThankfully, because she followed instructions as was required, she ended up in a cell as opposed to the morgue. Had she not followed instructions, deadly force may have been used.b The device consisted of a white breadboard b similar to those contained in 6.002 (Circuits and Electronics) laboratory kits b and LEDs wired to a 9-volt battery. Simpson wore it over a black hooded sweatshirt, which was also displayed at the press conference this morning. At Simpsonbs arraignment earlier today, Margolis asked for a $5,000 cash bail. Margolis said the high bail amount was requested because Simpson had provided an address in Hawaii, not a local address; she had refused to answer questions while at Logan Airport; and she showed ba total disregard to understand the context of the situation shebs in, which is an airport post-9/11.b Simpson is from Hawaii. Defense attorney Ross E. Schreiber said that the bail amount was bcompletely unreasonable,b telling the court that Simpson is a 19-year-old sophomore at MIT majoring in Course VI (Electrical Engineering and Computer Science). Schreiber said that there was no evidence Simpson acted in a suspicious manner or that she ever pretended the circuit board was anything but art. Schreiber added that Simpson is the secretary of the MIT Electronics Research Society, was a National Merit Semi Finalist and captain of her high school robotics team, and was at the airport for legitimate reasons. Tim Anderson, Simpsonbs boyfriend, confirmed to The Tech that he arrived at the airport this morning. Schreiber said Simpson and Anderson are bnot the type of people who go around seeking trouble.b He also added that Simpson is bdoing very wellb at MIT. Bail was set by Judge Paul Mahony at $750. As part of her release agreement, Simpson must stay away from Logan Airport between now and her pre-trial hearing on Oct. 29. MIT releases statement, says actions of Simpson were brecklessb MIT is cooperating with the state police in the investigation, according to a statement released by the MIT News Office this afternoon. bAs reported to us by authorities, Ms. Simpsonbs actions were reckless and understandably created alarm at the airport,b the statement continues. [Marissa Vogt, Michael McGraw-Herdeg, and Austin Chu contributed to the reporting of this article.] *** The NY Daily News - Sep 21, 2007 http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/09/21/2007-09-21_mit_student_arrested_at_logan_airport_wi.html MIT student arrested at Logan airport with fake bomb DAILY NEWS STAFF A sophomore at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology was surrounded by troopers carrying submachine guns and arrested after showing up at Boston's Logan Airport wearing a phony bomb, made partly from Play-Doh, strapped to her chest. "She's extremely lucky she followed the instructions or deadly force would have been used," State Police Maj. Scott Pare told a reporter. "And she's lucky to be in a cell as opposed to the morgue." Star Simpson, a nineteen-year-old from Hawaii, cobbled together a computer circuit board, wires, and the Play-Doh into a contraption that she wore in plain view over a black hooded sweatshirt, Pare said. The creation was also battery-powered and had nine flashing lights. The phrases "Socket To Me" and "Course VI" - apparently a reference to MIT's major in electrical engineering and computer science - were written on the sweatshirt. Simpson claimed that the creation was a work of art and that she wore it to make a splash on career day. "She claims that it was just art, and that she was proud of the art and she wanted to display it," Pare said at a news conference. "In this day and age, the threat continues to be there," he said. "She certainly jeopardized her own safety by bringing this to the airport, as well as the safety of everybody around her." "I'm shocked and appalled that somebody would wear this type of device to an airport," Pare said. Simpson entered a plea of not guilty at her arraignment today and was released on $750 bail. She was arrested around 8 a.m. at Logan International Airport's Terminal C, home to United Airlines and JetBlue, and was charged with disturbing the peace and possessing a hoax device. She told authorities she was there to greet someone arriving from Oakland. "She did seem a bit upset that she was in custody," Pare said. "However, she was rational, and she did answer all questions as required." * ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us Our main website: http://www.blythe.org List Archives: http://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ Subscribe: http://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================