US Marine arrested at Logan

[kskiska]

Source: Boston Globe

A US Marine was arrested today at Logan International Airport after federal airport screeners discovered a gun, bomb-making materials, and ammunition in his checked baggage, State Police and Transportation Security Administration officials said.

Corporal Justin Reed, 22, of Jacksonville, N.C., was booked on US Airways Flight 877 to Charlotte, N.C., said TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis. She said Reed had arrived on a flight from Las Vegas this morning.

TSA screeners in Terminal B called State Police at 7:10 a.m. after a screen discovered the following items in his checked baggage: a locked handgun box containing a semi-automatic handgun, a fully loaded gun magazine, several boxes of 9 mm and 7.62 mm ammunition, three model rocket engines containing an explosive mixture, military pull-type fuses, switches, electronics kit boxes with various components, and a hand grenade fuse assembly with detonator.

Reed was charged with possession of an infernal machine and possession of a concealed weapon in a secure area of an airport. He was booked at the State Police barracks at Logan and held in lieu of $50,000 bail. He will be arraigned at East Boston Municipal Court on Tuesday.

Read more: http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/04/us_marine_arres.html

[Lone_Star_Dem]

1. So, if they hadn't misrouted his baggage, he wouldn't have been caught?

That's wild.

[47of74]

2. Did you see the one ditto-head/freeper comment on the article?

I read through the comments that were included with that article. Including these words of wisdom by either a ditto-head and/or a freeper;

This is so stupid. They were in his checked baggage. What the heck was he going to do go down to the cargo during the flight. This sounds like a bunch of really dumb TSA employees and cops (wait a minute that's redundant that's like saying wet water or hot fire) flexing their muscles. This is really lame. Thank you for your service to our country Corporal Reed now we would like to lock you up and make sure that we aren't offending any muslims that are trying to board the plane.

Posted by Jay April 19, 09 07:46 PM

[Mz Pip]

5. I doubt the response would have been

the same if a Muslim or some foreign looking guy was caught with the same stuff...

[HopeHoops]

21. Yeah, but the right wing extremists (like the fox idiots) have to defend the right wing extremists..

... remember, there's that report mentioning right wing extremists and disgruntled veterans - they have to scramble to spin this one.

[glowing]

3. Either this marine was going to blow something up.. or he was set up.

I never believe military stories. There's too much bullshit involved... can't believe the govt most of the time.

[xchrom]

4. soldiers by virtue of being soldiers are never involved in anything nefarious.

according to the gun nuts, reublick party and the nra.

[AllieB]

7. Unless they're soldiers who speak out against the war.

Then they're traitors, according to freeper illogic.

[xchrom]

9. thank you -- the fly in my ointment. nt

[Mojorabbit]

6. I just had a thought.

What do hunters do when flying to a lease? Can they not ship their rifles in their luggage? I don't know anything about airport rules re this.

Re the person busted. Scary stuff.

[paulsby]

10. not a problem. i've done it

guns must be in luggage that is marked "firearms inside" (you can get the sticker at the airport), must be unloaded, and must be in a locked box.

to be specific, i've done this with handguns. never a long gun

same concept though

[AtheistCrusader]

17. You can do so, but you have to declare it

They wrap it in a special layer, so they can be sure it's not tampered with, and they pay extra attention to the package. They generally require ammo be in the manufacturer's packaging, and certainly no loaded magazines.

The rest of that stuff.. well the fuses probably odd/warrants attention, but the model rocket engines would have to be declared if over a certain size I would think. Class C or something are considered hazardous materials.

[Mariana]

24. Yes, but they can't fly with ammunition

or any other explosives even in checked bags, I believe.

[RamboLiberal]

27. No you can fly with ammo in a locked container in checked bags

There are rules to follow and you have to declare it when you check in.

[Hulk]

8. God protect our 2nd Amendment rights......

We should be able to transport and fart around with boxes of ammo, model rocket engines with explosive mixtures, military pull-type fuses, switches, and some assorted hand grenade odds and ends. Jesus......where is Heston when we need him most??

Had a brilliant idea last night before falling asleep. How about inserting some sort of "device" into automatic weapons that can be detected when crossing international borders?? The same would be true for our currency of bills greater than $20. A clip of some kind, that when assembled with 100 or more would read on a meter so that funds flowing south for drug payoffs could be detected with a meter or some sort? Does this make any sense??

[AtheistCrusader]

16. There aren't any new machine guns

being produced in the United States for civilian ownership. Haven't been for almost three decades. Nor are there any being imported.

So you'll have to get foreign countries to do that.

[Bombtrack]

11. Could this be a promotional stunt for the Wolverine movie ?

God damn Aqua Teen Hunger force got us Bostonians all sensitive.

[truthisfreedom]

12. Infernal machine? If it was anyone BUT a Marine, he would have been charged with

something under terror law.

[DemoTex]

14. I prefer the term "infernal contraption."

It's even more anachronistic! Besides, it's what my grandmother always called the cars I drove and airplanes I flew. "Sonny-boy, that infernal contraption of yours is gonna fall out of the sky."

[-..__...]

22. Jurisdictional issue.

The MA State Police are responsible for enforcing laws at Logan.

Once the MA AG and federal prosecutors haggle it out, he'll probably be handed over to the feds for further charges.

if any of the items in his possession were stolen from the base, then the Marine Corps might want a piece of the action as well.

[TacticalPeek]

13. 7.62 mm?

They must have lost one of his bags.

:shrug:

[ManiacJoe]

19. Or it was properly routed to the connecting flight.

:shrug:

Or he knew the rifle ammo would be hard to get at his destination?

[pitchforksandtorches]

15. What no teabags?

[ManiacJoe]

18. You have to love the last sentence:

"Davis said TSA was 'actively investigating' why the gun and explosive materials were not detected during the screening in Las Vegas."

Oops.

[Loudmxr]

20. Its obvious. In Vegas they thought they were convention "pleasure" toys.

[ACTION BASTARD]

25. Speaking as a former US Marine....those are "pleasure" toys.

[newspeak]

23. let's see, hmmm.

Timothy McVeigh and Nichols were ex-soldiers, vets of Desert Storm. Wasn't McVeigh accepted for a special ops unit but stated that he wasn't motivated to join after the war? Remember after 9/11, when a soldier was picked up by local sheriff walking towards his barracks (was it in Tennessee or Kentucky?), he was wearing kneepads, was going to set a bomb at a nuclear plant? Anyone remember that story, that seemed to fade away? Isn't the OK bombing date near?(okay, that was 4/19) I can see maybe packing your weapon, but not explosive devices.

And why in the hell would Timothy McVeigh THINK that he would be considered a hero, like Nathan Hale, in history. Why would he be worried about others being implicated in the bombing--I believe he kept stating that he was the only one involved, no one else was involved--wanted people to believe it. There's a book written by McVeigh's first public defender, Stephen Jones, called "Others Unknown" about his experience with McVeigh and the investigation of the OK bombing that's a pretty interesting read.

I remember the day of the OK bombing, I was in Salt Lake City--I remember the news--first assumption was that it was ME terrorists. I remember a woman, who I believe was Indian but mistaken for ME, miscarrying because someone had shot at their home. It's the first time the Patriot Act was introduced in Congress.

Let's see how this story unfolds.

[ManiacJoe]

26. The gun was declared; the TSA found the paperwork.

"Ann Davis - a spokeswoman for the Transportation Security Administration, the federal agency that oversees airport security - said Reed had declared the firearm in Las Vegas as required. Investigators had initially reported that he did not declare the gun, which was secured in a locked gun box, but later determined he had after locating the paperwork."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/04/21/marine_intended_no_harm_kin_say/

[jberryhill]

28. Why Am I Not Surprised By This....

I had a feeling we were eventually going to find out that it was declared in Vegas.

Dunno about the other stuff, though, but I would imagine a great way to haul contraband is to bring a handgun, declare it, and then they figure "Oh, yeah, that's the one with the gun in it" so they don't bother to check it for weapons.

The other overlooked part of this story is - I wonder how long the bag spent circling the carousel, waiting to be picked up by other passengers, before it was routed back to the ramp.