AP: Boston publicity ploy leads to 2 arrests

[tuvor]

BOSTON - Several illuminated electronic devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most of the devices depict a character giving the finger.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070201/ap_on_re_us/suspicious_devices

(Oh, my GOD. The FINGER!!)

[neuvocat]

1. AAH-HAH-HAH!!!!

[CitizenRob]

2. Boston must be run by morons.

Are they idiots, or oportunistic assholes looking for a terror scare to help them boost their polls?

Seriously, anybody who saw this flat circuit board with a few LED's in the shape of a cartoon character giving "the finger" and four D-cell batterys would know that it wasn't a bomb. So really, are Bostons politicians and police complete idiots, or just oportunistic assholes?

At this point the politicians have been made to look like such asses that they are pursueing the poor guys paid by Time Warner to mount the pieces in an effort to draw attention away from their own incompetence as leaders.

That won't stop Fox News from calling it a terror alert though, they know their Prezzy Bush needs some Terra' to bring up his dismal polls.

[Erika]

3. Homeland Security took charge

and they are morons.

[Erika]

4. I heard they were running Muslim profiles a hundred a minute

n/t

[CitizenRob]

5. It would appear that they are...

I mean, seriously. It was a FLAT circuit board (with a few transistors) and some LEDs in the shape of a cartoon character giving the bird. Anti-social, maybe, terrorism, never. The most explosive thing shown in those pictures are the four D batteries. I'm sure that if they had "exploded" and dripped a little battery acid on concrete that Homeland security would've gone the extra mile and evacuated all of boston.

Idiots. The chief of police, the mayor, and the Gov of Mass need to all be removed from office/impeached. They're even stupider than Bush apparently. I never thought I'd be able to say that about ANYBODY.

[MADem]

7. Easy for you to say. The alerts happened during the day, when the

LED display wasn't as apparent. The ones they found initially were all in inaccessible places on BRIDGES.

And had TURNER not put those things up on city property, there would be no issue. This was corporate greed, in a city that is still very sensitive, because Logan played a huge role in 911, and half the fucking Bin Ladin family owns property here.

Our governor is a great guy, and so is the Mayor. The Police Comish is solid, too. Better an overreaction than none at all, or a shitty, all talk, no walk reaction, like what NYC has had to endure. Speaking of that--Helluva job old BushCo did with NYC, eh? We are coming up on six years and there's STILL a big fucking hole in the ground....and rescue workers are dying by the dozens. Menino and Patrick would just as soon SKIP that act, and I don't blame them.

But let's not blame the corporation that puts up shit on bridges that old people going to work on the subway don't recognize, and it frightens them. Instead, let's blame the police, the governor and the mayor, as well as those old worker nine-to-fivers, for not being "cool" enough to suit you, because they don't watch fucking Comedy Central at two in the goddamned morning.

Real mature--"Impeach" our leaders because they don't watch Comedy Central. Puh-leeze.

[Bluebear]

9. However. During the press conference a reporter said "Turner Broadcasting...

...has reported that----"

And Menino cut them off saying "I am not finished yet!" And even when the facts became known, 2 local TV stations stayed with the "breaking coverage" all afternoon long, even after knowing there was no danger.

[MADem]

11. And Menino was interviewed later on NECN. He explained himself, and did it well.

They hadn't gotten confirmation from people at Turner yet, at the time of that press conference, and Menino pointed out that he didn't want to make unconfirmed accusations against anyone in case they turned out to be false.

Had the Turner people not been SLOW to get back to the city authorities asking questions (they ended up doing it via the Feds, and no doubt their lawyers were playing the OH SHIT, what's our LIABILITY? game all goddamned day) the whole issue would have been put to rest earlier.

You want to place blame, blame TURNER. The reporters were acting on what they knew--those things WERE Adult Swim characters, and there was an assumption made by the media that turned out to be accurate but it was NOT confirmed to the City of Boston officials or the governor at the time of the press conference.

Turn on ADULT SWIM. THey've been running a two page apology all night. They know they're vulnerable to civil action at a minimum. And if they don't bail out those kids they hired to put those things up, and get lawyers for them, they're assholes....

[Bluebear]

12. I do blame Turner & this should be a civil matter.

To arrest those 2 kids for "planting hoax devices" is over the top, imho.

[CitizenRob]

14. they didn't plant hoax devices.

They planeted lite brites with a cartoon character giving the finger. It doesn't look like a bomb AT ALL.

[MADem]

15. It won't stand. A feature of the law is that the planting has to be

INTENTIONAL, with a purpose to cause fear and harm and so forth. I suspect the kid will go before the judge, plead not guilty, be released, and then, his lawyer will demonstrate a lack of any intent whatsoever to cause chaos, and that will be that....this seems like a "send a message" arrest.

That artist guy looks a lot like FRYLOCK...he's got dreads instead of french fries, but there's a resemblance!

[Bluebear]

17. I hope you're right. Coakley is of course loaded for bear.

"Anybody SHOULD HAVE KNOWN that looking at one of these would scare the populace" :eyes:

[MADem]

23. I think they were just all freaking--like the white truck scare that made

Mitt the shitt have to miss the last Bush coronation...I was in and out of Logan that day, and there were cops EVERYWHERE. It was a goddamned freak show. Every white truck on 93 was on the side of the road with a trooper giving the driver shit, it seemed.

I don't blame Martha. It was one thing after another after another. Now, if they had actually SHOWN one of the devices on TV along with all the "Oh FUCK!" coverage, I'm sure a bunch of college kids would have called in and said "Hey, dude, that's the Moon guys from Aqua Teen!!! Chillaxe, man...!!!" And then, when they finally figured it out, Turner didn't ANSWER them. They fucked around, probably did a lawyer circle jerk, and then told the FEDS to tell Boston it was no biggie. Turner made it worse by not responding to a request for information in a timely manner.

Live and learn. We'll be smarter next time. This wasn't a bad thing, it was a good thing, in that it will improve our response next time. It's one more checkblock to put on the list.

I'd love to be in the "Lessons Learned" outbriefing for this little matter--you know there's gonna be a lot of back-and-forth about the Mooninite icon!

[Leopolds Ghost]

33. They have to do SOMETHING now that they've ethnically cleansed their traditional enemies -- the poor

Thanks to Mitt Romney's outlawing rent control, which the REMAINING
residents of Boston have little problem with, so long as everything
is SAFE and CLEAN like it was in the good old days.

:eyes:

Humans demand an atavistic enemy to be afraid of, middle-class liberals in Boston are no exception.

[MADem]

44. You don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

There were thirty eight of the things, in every goddamn neighborhood. From rich to poor, and along all of the major public transport lines--oh, yeah, the lines that the "poor" use to get their asses home from their jobs in the city.

Jesus. What, pray tell, is wrong with a nice clean city? And guess what, the city is run by the MAYOR--Mitt had nothing to do with it, except to NOT provide state money to help clean it up for the Dem convention.

Mitt Romney is not our governor anymore, either. The mayor of Boston has always been a Democrat, FWIW. And he's doing a fine job. Please don't move here, we sure as hell don't need that childish attitude.

Power to the people er, corporations, "dude!" Atavistic enemies and all!!! :rofl:


But....but....but...Aqua Teen is.....so COOL!!!!!

[Leopolds Ghost]

32. They're fools to apologize.

The LED signs are just that -- signs. Public art.

Marketing-oriented, but no more so than the deracinated, desensitized crap that constitutes the public realm in most heavily regulated and architecturally impoverished US cities, Boston being no exception.

[MADem]

43. Oh......bullshit. Sorry. Public art, my ass. You've been conned by corporate America.

Those things were put there to bring MONEY to Time Warner.

Public art??? :rofl: You don't set the bar very high, do you?

And Boston, architecturally impoverished?

What an ignorant remark...

[CitizenRob]

13. It's about them arresting stooges.

MADem... I want them impeached for arresting the poor guys who were paid by time to put these up. Boston made a mistake, they should drop it, or pursue the actual decision makers on this matter.

[MADem]

16. No, not appropriate to impeach them at all. They're right,. They're sending a message, you see.

The message is going to Turner, these kids (well, one is twenty seven, not a kid, really) were simply AGENTS of Turner. Turner is gonna have to bail them out and fund their defense. They will be arraigned, and the judge will either toss it immediately or it will go to trial and the two will plainly prove, easily, that they had no INTENTION to cause chaos, that their intent was to advertise a cartoon movie. Without INTENT, there's no crime. That will be easy, they will be acquitted.

They can then turn around and sue the pants off Turner for putting them in a terrible position, for failing to make arrangements with the city of Boston, for causing them emotional distress, you name it, a good lawyer will come up with a huge laundry list. This will be a great payday for them in the long run. They'll no longer be starving artists, they'll be able to take a year or two off.

Boston did NOT make a mistake. TURNER did, by placing stuff on property that wasn't theirs, by refusing to coordinate this shit with a city that is still 911 tense (Logan played a role) and was 'Family Bin Ladin Central' before the WTC fell down. Further, they took their sweet time telling the city, and when they finally did, they told the FEDS first, NOT the city, and the info trickled down way too slowly.

The city had only as its goal the protection of the population. The greedy corporate pigs tried to advertise on the cheap, and didn't own up to their fuckup until after four thirty in the afternoon, even when asked by the city for confirmation. So how is this the city's fault? When they finally confessed, they did it via the FEDS, they didn't contact the city directly.

Had they PAID for the space instead of being cheap, coordinated with the city, and done a faux guerrilla campaign, this problem would have been a complete non-issue.

I'm shocked that people are pissed at the cops,and not at ALL irritated at the corporate bastards who are too fucking cheap to PAY to advertise, or to admit their fucking mistake early on. The cops' goal was to protect the citizenry, not be mean to Frylock or Meatwad or anyone else...and just because hardworking people don't recognize ATHF doesn't make them stupid or evil--it just means they have to fucking work for a living and don't have the energy to stay up until three in the goddamned morning.

You'd be pretty pissed if a bomb blew up your house, and some old geezer who saw the suspicious package that ruined your abode didn't bother to report it because, hey, it could be nothing...maybe. And heaven forbid, you might make fun of him in the event he was wrong.

You know, the IRA used to put bombs in teddy bears, in cakes, in packages wrapped like presents at Christmastime, in all sorts of sweet, inocuous things.

Think about it. From a perspective OTHER than a Comedy Central fan.

Get used to living in TerraVille. We're just like Europe now. They've lived with this shit for eons, it's still new to people on this side of the pond. We'll never go back, ever again.

[Kingshakabobo]

28. You think these kids should be arrested and put on trial to "send a message"

.....even though they KNOW they're not guilty? Un-fucking-believable. That's EXACTLY what our criminal justice system ISN'T designed for.

And your proposed "scheme" to enrich these starving artists is laughable. They're most likely "contractors" so Turner has no duty to compensate them for what they will call THEIR OWN FUCK-UP. They'll be LUCKY to ride any coat-tails and receive ANY criminal defense while Turner covers it's own ass. Now, that's not to say Turner won't be/assume liability for the signs and the resulting bills from Boston......the deep pockets theory and public relations will dictate that piece.

[MADem]

29. Hey, at this point, we "assume" that Turner didn't mean to cause harm.

But do we actually KNOW??? Do we? Why NO, we do not. For all we know, a bunch of crazy GOP asshole publicists want to use Boston as a crucible for fear, terror and chaos. Yes, that is unlikely in the extreme, but no more stupid than some of the profoundly halfassed conspiracy theories I see on these here internets and people join a "Me too" chorus to support.

That is why the kid has to be arraigned. Because "assumptions" have no place in the law. We know that these two guys planted electronic devices on CITY, STATE and FEDERAL property--without authority. Without permission. That is all we actually KNOW. There's even VIDEO on these internets of them doing the deeds.

We do not know their INTENT yet. We THINK we know it, because there IS an Aqua Teen film coming out, but we don't actually know it until we hear from them. We ASSUME that he (with his assistant) was doing it in support of the film, and not to cause chaos and fear in the population (a necessary element in order to convict the guy).

If he has a lawyer who can talk to the prosecutor at the arraignment, the two of them can go to the judge, and the judge can dismiss, if both sides agree to it--we will see.

At that point, the kid can get a civil lawyer, sue the shit out of Turner, and not be a "starving artist" anymore. And if you think that Turner will get away with it, you'd best think again. Like they need the publicity of being a respondent in a trial??? Come on. Here's the kid, IN HIS OWN CITY, suing Turner, in Boston courts, with a jury that WILL remember this shit. All he needs is the connection to Turner, the assertion that he was lied to, and he's off to the races. He'll play the victim card, and a bunch of hardworking and inconvenienced subway riders on his jury will be happy to give him some of that Turner money, as revenge for their miserable experience.

But more likely, Turner will give that guy a BIG payday out of court, and call it even. They'd be fools to portray themselves as bastards who use starving artists and then discard them--it plays badly, especially with the college crowd that make up their demographic.

It's not "un-fucking-believable" to insist on due process in this matter. You don't know the actual facts of the case any more than I do. Placing electronic devices on bridges, no matter if they're emblazoned with cartoons or not, is SERIOUS in a post 911 world. You may not like that, but that's the way most people view it. As I've said elsewhere, the IRA put their bombs in giftwrapping and teddy bears. Hell, some bastard in Iraq put a bomb in a big bird cage of homing pidgeons in an open air market--when everyone gathered to see the birds, ka-fucking-boom--everyone died. Sometimes things AREN'T what they seem.

I believe strongly that it will work out well for the starving artist in the end, and not so well for Turner. And the proper resolution of this issue, with Turner being forced to shell out some serious dough, might deter some of these asshole corporate 'faux guerrilla' ad campaigns in future.

[Kingshakabobo]

31. If you are changing your position.........

.....to "maybe they did it intentionally" then I won't argue that they shouldn't be arraigned/prosecuted......but that wasn't your first position. I take strong exception to police using the badge, gun and handcuffs to "send a message" even though there is no evidence of a serious crime. And by serious crime, I mean INTENT to cause a bomb scare - not posting illegal signs/advertisements which should probably rate a "catch and release" with a ticket/citation. The rest is civil mater between Turner and the city/feds.

As for the rest of your "post 9/11 world"......stuff.......I'll refer you to Benjamin Franklin and his quote about giving up liberty for security. Just don't be so quick to give up SOMEONE ELSE'S liberty for your perceived security.

[MADem]

42. I am not changing anything You don't KNOW. I don't know. NONE of us know.

Tht is what the court appearance will begin to resolve. You are automatically ASSUMING that this guy is an innocent, because that fits your late night TV world view. Unless you are him, you don't know anything about this guy. You are also assuming that these cops were brutal and used GUNS when they went to get him. But you don't KNOW that. You weren't there. Neither was I. All I can tell you is that he was SMILING in the back of the cruiser, so I doubt he was terribly frightened. He even waved as the cruiser pulled away. It was on NECN.

I have no position on the arrest, see, because I was not there. I am not the prosecutor or defendant here, so I can't tell you who has the best case. My only "position" is that the arrest was not "un-fucking-believable." It was what SHOULD have happened, because this guy stuck electronic devices on public city, state and federal bridges, and doing that is against the law. Why should he get a pass? Because he didn't mean to break the law? Because Turner MADE him do it? He should answer for his actions, at a minimum, and EXPLAIN himself.

A big sentence, of up to five years, will only result if he did it with the purpose of scaring the shit out of people. Now as I said, that is UNLIKELY, but who knows--he could have picked those places to scare people, because he's mean and he knows that old people don't know about Mooninites. But there is no way of knowing his INTENT until he's cross-examined, or the prosecutor decides that his statements ahead of trial are sufficient.

And please, cut the tired old "Benjamin Franklin" shit. Every time someone gets irritated about the actions of law enforcement, they pull that foolish quote out of their ass. This isn't about FREEDOM and security and liberty. It's about public property and corporations misusing it without authority or permission and causing a commotion by their actions amongst the public who are understandably concerned in this post 911 (like it or not, get used to it) era. Who's giving up freedom by telling a cop you see a suspicious package stuck to a major bridge? Since when is it "OK" for corporations to attach shit to public bridges and structures WITHOUT permission, without compensating the city, without notifying anyone? Ben Franklin wouldn't get behind THAT shit, I suspect.

I mean, really. How about we let TURNER put electronic crap on YOUR house and YOUR car without your knowledge or your permission? And they won't pay you for doing it, either. That sound good? And how about, after we find out who defaced your stuff and scared the shit out of you, we let the kid who stuck the stuff on your property go free without asking him what is up with his actions? Whaddaya say? Will that work for you? I think not. If you complain about it, and demand that the police investigate the matter, well, you're giving up your freedom for security? Or is the theme that you shouldn't complain, man, because, you see, it's "edgy" and "counterculture cool" (or that's what the corporate bastards want you suckers to think). Yeah, fight the power, dude, power to the people....more like power to Turner and Time-Warner, the cheap bastards.

Nonsense.

[Kingshakabobo]

49. In your hysteria and zeal to get to the oh-so-evil corporation,

......you don't mind going through the defendant's liberty to do it. We get it. You said it - not me. It's in your post (see below) in response to citizenrob. Your words - not mine.

My position isn't predicated on them being innocent.......it was in response to your nonchalant attitude about these kids rights to not be arrested on frivolous charges to make the lynch-mob happy.

WillPitt came out of the ether....maybe you should sleep it off. It might help.

Here's your quote in case you forgot. In the post I responded to you CLEARLY state the case will be thrown out or acquitted:

>>>>>They're right,. They're sending a message, you see.

The message is going to Turner, these kids (well, one is twenty seven, not a kid, really) were simply AGENTS of Turner. Turner is gonna have to bail them out and fund their defense. They will be arraigned, and the judge will either toss it immediately or it will go to trial and the two will plainly prove, easily, that they had no INTENTION to cause chaos, that their intent was to advertise a cartoon movie. Without INTENT, there's no crime. That will be easy, they will be acquitted. <<<<<<<<<<<

[MADem]

50. Uh...he's the DEFENDANT. That's why his liberty is in question.

There is videotape of him doing the deed.

Say, let's sort of suggest to defendants that they show up at court, and see how well that works, eh? Or because he worked for Turner, we should just trust him to show up at his arraignment? Gentleman's agreement?

I give MY OPINION on the case, based on the facts that I know about it up to this point (and gee, there could be MORE info out there that we don't have at hand, perhaps) and you suddenly, eagerly, desperately grab it, bold it, and toss it back at me like it is the Gospel of Saint Mooninite. It's an OPINION, not decided fact. I'm not the Attorney General of Massachusetts, see? I am not a judge, either. I do not have the case before me. Don't treat an opinion as decided law--it doesn't help whatever odd point you're trying to make.

Read my other comments, elsewhere on this thread, as to the process involved in moving this matter through the justice system. I don't care to repeat myself for someone spoiling for an argument for no good reason. As I have said, I am NOT the judge, or the jury. And neither are you. I think the guy will beat the big charge because there's no intent, but again, that is OPINION. He still will face misdemeanor charges at a minimum for putting that crap on city/state/federal property. And who knows what the Feds have in their bag of tricks for him? That GOP corporation that hired him should pay for his defense. As well as any imposed fines.

I do think, though, that the person with the hysteria problem is looking back at you in your own mirror, pal.

I find it funny as hell that so many posters are ignoring the fact that a greedy, bloated corporate giant with more than a few GOP contributors in its corporate offices is at the heart of this matter, but hey...Aqua Teen is "cool, man" so that's an uncomfortable fact to be glossed over. Instead, let's blame the public safety officials for having the nerve to try to keep the city safe--who do they think they are, the evil Democratic bastards! And let's blame the old folks who are so stupid they don't stay up all night watching cartoons, and don't know what that thing stuck to the bridge is!!! Yeah--punish those bums who saw the thing and were concerned, because they just aren't cool!

And say, bombs can NEVER coexist with cartoons--it's an Aqua Teen rule! Silly citizens on the subway, they should have known that!

[Leopolds Ghost]

34. This attitude is terribly creepy... is this what the litigous "nanny state" school has come to?

[MADem]

45. Yeah, yeah, let the corporations wipe their asses on Boston, because Aqua Teen is COOL, man!!!!!

That is what this is all about. What if it were LED lights of bottles of AQUA VELVA, instead of AQUA TEEN? Would you think that was cool, too? How about jazzy LED "art" that said "GO ARMY?" Come on, what's the diff? It's all "art" huh? And anyone who complains is part of the NANNY STATE, the THUGGISH POLICE, with their HANDCUFFS, man, putting down the average guy!!!

We don't need any RULES about this shit in cities, do we? Come on, let's let Rush Limbaugh put up LED ads on bridges for his show, how's that? Let the corporations plaster the joint with their crap, eh? Or is it only the COOL crap that works for you?

You don't think things through very well, do you...?

[SquireJons]

18. It must be Comedy Central that is run by Morons

Look, I realize that the administration continuously seeks to scare the public in an attempt to refocus peoples attention. But in an era where we are genuinely concerned about terrorism, this is a truly irresponsible thing to do. Placing unknown electronic devices near public facilities throughout any city without telling the public safely authorities what's going on is the height of stupidity.

With the Daily Show and the Colbert Report doing so well, this is a shame, because is will paint the parent network as irresponsible. That probably won't matter too much to the young set, but these shows have a broader audience and they will be affected by this.

Bad move, Comedy Central.

[MADem]

24. Thanks for that injection of rational discourse into the discussion!

I'm annoyed that people are shitting on our new governor, myself. It's not like America has a boatload of brilliant Democratic Black Governors in their ranks lately. And Tom Menino, though a mangler of the English language, is a good Mayor--he really loves the city and he gives a shit.

To blame people for being excessively cautious is just wrong, and kind of mean. If only BUSH had exercised a bit of caution, and not gone off attacking EyeRack willynilly, we'd have almost three thousand fewer dead in our military cemeteries.

So far, though, Comedy Central isn't taking the hit--it's the suits at TURNER that are getting the bulk of the invective. And rightly so. This was their halfassed idea. Why is it that I get the impression that all of the snarky shits who came up with this idea are cheapass GOP bastards? It does sound like a GOP idea--use city property, without paying for it, hire poor kids to do the scut work, leave them exposed in the event of trouble, and be very slow to take responsibility????

Hell, sounds like a plan conceived by the doggone Monkey!

[Leopolds Ghost]

35. In an era where SHEEP are suddenly concerned about the preexisting threat of terrorism

The rest of us knew the dangers years ago and don't like people who roll over to the terrorists by allowing themselves to be terrorized, like Victorian maidens with a societally-induced case of the vapors.

[MADem]

46. Oooooh, the wisdom of the ages here...please.

This isn't about sheep, this is about corporate bastards using public property without authority or permission and discombobulating the public.

But hey, it's AQUA TEEN man...it's COOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!! Power to the sheeple!!!

[RandiFan1290]

38. Comedy Central?

They had nothing to do with this.

[WritersBlock]

22. Not so sure about looking at it and knowing it wasn't a bomb....

Seriously, anybody who saw this flat circuit board with a few LED's in the shape of a cartoon character giving "the finger" and four D-cell batterys would know that it wasn't a bomb.

I'm not so sure I wouldn't have at least wondered about it, given the context of where they were placed.

How can one know what a bomb looks like? Circuit board, batteries, wires - strapped to a bridge.

I have serious misgivings about anyone who goes around attaching electronic devices to civil infrastructure, regardless of what's depicted on the devices.

[Leopolds Ghost]

41. What about neon / LED signs? Do you have a problem with those?

"A bomb could be ANYTHING!"

[MADem]

47. It CAN'T be a bomb if it's got anything to do with AQUA TEEN on it, man!!!

Because AQUA TEEN is just so COOL! AQUA TEEN could NEVER be a bomb, man....only a GO ARMY LED sign could be a bomb, man, because that's NOT COOL...

:rofl:

[Crabby Appleton]

51. yep, it's against the rules.

[WritersBlock]

53. Please don't try to put words into my mouth.

I didn't say, "A bomb could be ANYTHING!"

In answer to your question, however, I have a problem with unidentified electronic devices attached to civil infrastructure by unknown persons, regardless of the way those devices may be decorated.

[rainbow4321]

25. Hindsite. 20/20

Said with all due respect, that is...


If anything, the local officials there should be commended for their actions. I would hope that if my city had reports of deserted suspicious electronical packages around, I sure as hell would rather they err on the side of caution. I'm sure the families of the men/women who detonate bombs/possible bombs would prefer it that way, also. All it takes is one time of assumption and there will be some fatherless/motherless kids out there as well as grieving widowers/widows.

[CitizenRob]

6. BREAKING NEWS: Lite Brite causes evacuation of entire east coast.

Fox News is reporting that a Lite Brite in the form of a smurf giving the finger has caused the evacuation of the entire east coast!

[SmellsLikeDeanSpirit]

8. HAHAHA....a damn Lite Bright is a weapon of mass destrution.

This country as gone to hell in a hand basket.

[gatorboy]

10. Doh!

[Crabby Appleton]

19. here's pic of suspect #1

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO41819/

[MADem]

26. See, he looks like Frylock, with dreads!

He's just the front guy, they're doing this to poke at TURNER and to impress accountability upon the entire matter. An element of the law he's charged with breaking is that there must be INTENT to cause fear and commotion in the population.

It is plain that the guy was putting those things up, at the behest of TURNER, to advertise a movie--not to scare people. No intent, no crime. He'll be free in no time. And if he's smart, he'll sue the shit out of Turner for causing him all this emotional distress.

He looks better on TV, fwiw. In the still shot, he looks a little intense. He looks more like someone's artistic son on the telly.

[Tatiana]

20. I'm conflicted. I do think this is an overreaction.

However, from what I understand, these devices were placed on public property. If you want to place something or advertise on city property, you should have some sort of permit. And if the advertisement is not of a public service announcement nature, then they should pay. This was a HUGE waste of taxpayer $$$.

That being said, they placed these devices in several different cities and we didn't see this kind of reaction in those places. Why? This whole situation plays into the Bush administration's fear-mongering and "TERRA!alert" mentality. Was there no expert that could get on the scene quickly enough to ascertain that this was not a terrorist treat or bomb? To me, this highlights the poor response and basic failure of the whole "Homeland Security" system. I think Homeland Security is just another wasteful bureaucracy. We need to find a better approach to coordinate existing federal agencies to respond to threats in this country.

[MADem]

27. Your excellent point about Homeland Security is right on the mark

It is a frigging JOKE, the DHS. They're idiots, fools, buffoons....REPUBLICANS. That's the problem. Heckuva job, Brownie!!! It's PARTY LOYALTY, not ability, that is getting these dipshits their jobs...and that is why the system is broken.

[Leopolds Ghost]

36. Public right of way is the commons. n/t

[Leopolds Ghost]

37. As for why, because Boston has become a wealthy, insular, insecure, tight-assed city

This would not have happened in Philly, Chicago or New York or even DC.

(I can't speak for New Orleans, any city in the South would probaly have objected to the obscene gesture.)

If it had the cops would have been laughed out of town. Bus and subway commuters would have grumbled "get the hell out of my way, MORONS."

[MADem]

48. Mitt Romney, is that YOU? You know the city about as well as he does. NT

[Crabby Appleton]

21. here's the perps in action

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Shy6pmnDSmM&eurl=

[SmellsLikeDeanSpirit]

30. The Lite Bright = The New Face of Terror

[Hubert Flottz]

39. We're all Barney's on this bus...

Watching TV yesterday probably emboldened the Terra-ists...



Took the cops two weeks to notice, they were probably thinking.

[Leopolds Ghost]

40. "I'm about to catch me one a them Moon-inites..." (puts gun in waistband)

[rocktivity]

52. Is Turner footing their legal bills, by any chance?

And I hope Boston presents them with nice whopping bill for their overtime, too!

:headbang:
rocknation