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Turborama

(22,109 posts)
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 06:39 AM Apr 2013

Boston bombing: Man got crackers from same store as Times Square bomber

Source: PTI

24 Apr, 2013, 03.33PM IST

BOSTON: The slain Chechan-origin Boston bombings suspect bought "barely legal" lethal explosives from the same fireworks store that sold crackers to Times Square Pakistani-origin terrorist for the failed 2010 car bomb plot.


Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev walked into a New Hampshire fireworks store two months before his deadly attack and asked for the "biggest and loudest" kit in the store -- then got another set free.

=snip=

In a chilling twist, the company that sold Tamerlan the fireworks is the same company that sold Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad the firecrackers he used to build his failed car bomb, the New York Daily News reported.

"We were just shocked," said Bill Weimer, vice president of Phamtom Fireworks in Seabrook, New Hampshire.

"After our Times Square experience, we said, 'It can't happen twice'". But it did.

Read more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/boston-bombing-man-got-crackers-from-same-store-as-times-square-bomber/articleshow/19709799.cms

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Boston bombing: Man got crackers from same store as Times Square bomber (Original Post) Turborama Apr 2013 OP
This guy just got a million $ worth of free advertising. n/t TheCowsCameHome Apr 2013 #1
Boston bombing: Man got crackers from same store as Times Square bomber hillrunner1960 Apr 2013 #2
Welcome to DU my friend! hrmjustin Apr 2013 #4
Seriously. And "barely legal" is still legal. The media is reaching for the next OMG STAY TUNED!!!!! uppityperson Apr 2013 #11
You have two cheerleaders, but not here ... Trajan Apr 2013 #17
Oh, FIREcrackers!!! Iggo Apr 2013 #3
LOL, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that charlie and algernon Apr 2013 #5
Me three! Sheldon Cooper Apr 2013 #6
Fourth here treestar Apr 2013 #16
I was thinking the same....... Marrah_G Apr 2013 #7
Me too. Demoiselle Apr 2013 #19
^^I'm glad I'm not the only one!^^ eom SacoMaine61 Apr 2013 #8
I thought crackers as in the derogatory term. nt awoke_in_2003 Apr 2013 #23
I fly up there once a year to get my crackers snooper2 Apr 2013 #9
their peanut butter crackers are out of this world! charlie and algernon Apr 2013 #22
They always have the king size Slim Jims in stock, too Blandocyte Apr 2013 #10
What did he wash them down with? tonekat Apr 2013 #12
I hate firecrackers. Always have. truthisfreedom Apr 2013 #13
I like Ritz crackers. olddad56 Apr 2013 #18
The Profit Incentive DallasNE Apr 2013 #14
What kind of regulation would have prevented this? Xithras Apr 2013 #15
So Throwing Up Your Hands Is A Solution? DallasNE Apr 2013 #20
And what would taggants have done? Xithras Apr 2013 #21
2. Boston bombing: Man got crackers from same store as Times Square bomber
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 08:28 AM
Apr 2013

Many fireworks stores do "buy one/get one free" deals, so I'm not sure why this is even being discussed. The fireworks stores in NH are very limited in what they can sell, due to strict regulations. As an example, rocket-type fireworks have been banned for years. Down south the regulations are looser and more elaborate fireworks are available to the general public.

Bottom line is this - the bomber bought some fireworks legally in NH. That doesn't make Phantom Fireworks, the employees, or the owners part of the problem. This terrorist would have gotten what he needed one way or the other. It was a coincidence that the NY bomber got stuff from the same company.

Sheesh, the media will publish anything just for a sound bite or headline...

uppityperson

(115,674 posts)
11. Seriously. And "barely legal" is still legal. The media is reaching for the next OMG STAY TUNED!!!!!
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 11:56 AM
Apr 2013

Welcome to DU

 

Trajan

(19,089 posts)
17. You have two cheerleaders, but not here ...
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 02:27 PM
Apr 2013

You are not sure why this is even being discussed ? .... Over 170 people injured and maimed ... 3 wonderful human beings dead ... Nearly 20 maimings ... countless millions in future medical care ....

It is being discussed because somebody went to THAT store, made THAT transaction, and did THAT with the proceeds of that transaction ....

That is why it is being discussed ....

The fact that the NY Bomber went to the same store indicates that lessons were not learned from the Times Square event ... It is indicative in itself that nothing happened to change the calculus ... and that is a story unto itself ....

It matters not which store they went to .. true .... BUT; they did go to that store, and they did get that deal .... if these transactions could have happened at any store, then THIS store simply represents those other stores, and so is the representative sample of the problem that exists in many places ....

Whatever regulations or rules that are written for this case, with Phantom Fireworks, should happen across the board, with the industry as a whole ...

Your nonchalance in dismissing these facts is problematic, revealing that segments of society don't understand the issues, and wrongly place some misbegotten sense of community pride over the rights of all citizens to enjoy their lives without getting blown up ....

charlie and algernon

(13,447 posts)
5. LOL, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 09:58 AM
Apr 2013

I'm thinking "shit, I've been to enought 7-11's and RiteAids in my life that I've probably bought snacks in the same store as criminals too."

truthisfreedom

(23,113 posts)
13. I hate firecrackers. Always have.
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 01:24 PM
Apr 2013

I love sparklers and anything that shoots up in the air, but I have no use whatsoever for firecrackers. They can be disappeared for all I care. Make them completely illegal and save a few childhood fingers.

DallasNE

(7,392 posts)
14. The Profit Incentive
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 02:03 PM
Apr 2013

Creates markets and markets don't self-regulate. They didn't here and they didn't in West, TX either so of course it happened twice. And it will happen again without stiffer regulation. You can take that to the bank.

Xithras

(16,191 posts)
15. What kind of regulation would have prevented this?
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 02:21 PM
Apr 2013

Background checks to buy Whistling Pete's and Fire Flowers?

You can make an incredibly effective fuel-air bomb using nothing more than a few gallons of gasoline, some ground match heads, and an ignitor. You can build a napth bomb with ground mothballs capable of taking out a crowd.

There is no possible way to regulate all of the materials that could theoretically be used in bomb making. Our world is full of stuff that can go boom, and it only takes a few minutes on the Internet to figure out how to do it.

DallasNE

(7,392 posts)
20. So Throwing Up Your Hands Is A Solution?
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 03:21 PM
Apr 2013

You don't do background checks on BB guns so you don't do background checks on certain classes of fireworks. It is always a matter of finding where to draw the line in the sand but background checks are in order for bigger items, etc. Adding taggants (sp) would help as well, if only the NRA wouldn't stand in the way of common sense solutions. Nobody thinks everything can be shut down but that is no excuse for doing nothing.

Xithras

(16,191 posts)
21. And what would taggants have done?
Wed Apr 24, 2013, 03:28 PM
Apr 2013

Taggants help investigators to trace the source of the purchases. This article makes it clear that they were able to trace the materials just fine anyway.

FWIW, the lack of taggants nowadays has little to do with the NRA. Congress dropped the issue after the National Science Foundation conducted a nonpartisan analysis of the technology and found that it offered little to no real benefit in crime fighting, and would have imposed significant expense that would have caused food costs to increase at the grocery store (the most common sources of explosive material are agriculturally based). Even the FBI couldn't identify a single case that would have been solved if taggants were in place.

Sometimes, yes you do simply have to throw your hands up. The world is full of crazy people, and sometimes they will kill other people. There is no way to prevent that from happening without creating a police state. The cure would be worse than the disease.

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