MIT student at Logan

[Mark L]

An MIT sophomore in electrical engineering was arrested at Logan Airport in Boston yesterday. She was wearing on the front of her shirt an electronic circuit board attached to a 9 volt battery, and carrying in her hand material that resembled plastic explosives that turned out to be silly putty. She was apparently arrested without incident by the Mass State Police, though her encounter with them was not the first at the airport. She was question by an airport employee (whose capacity is not known to me), and walked away from the encounter. The event has been characterized, indirectly, from the students perspective, as a performance piece.

I think she's lucky she survived the 'performance'. Thoughts?

 

[Carol]

She's lucky she wasn't an Arabic-looking male....

 

[Kacey]

Some performances should not be held in public.

 

[terryl965]

She's lucky she wasn't an Arabic-looking male....

I agree carol other wise who knows what would have happened.

 

[Carol]

I agree carol other wise who knows what would have happened.

I'll say one thing though Terry...I'd be pretty gawddang furious if my own life and travel schedule got tossed about from her attention-getting stunt.

 

[Mark L]

She's lucky she wasn't an Arabic-looking male....

I'd get past the "Arabic-looking" filter pretty quickly if I was waiting at a gate. I just saw her on the news, she's from Hawaii and is of Asian/Polynesian descent (not that that matters), and was released on $750 bail.

 

[docmartin252]

I agree with the airport being worried about another terrorist attack, however, none of the terrorist that I have heard about have made a blatant attempt to let officials know they were going to attack. Letting people of authority know before hand would defeat the purpose of a successful attack since police would shut it down before anything could happen. If you saw her sweatshirt you can see that it wasn't really a terrorist threat. That being said, it still probably wasn't a good idea to wear something with blinking lights on it

 

[jks9199]

I guess we need to add an IQ test to purchasing Playdough.

She's a moron. Had she not complied immediately with police directions, she'd be dead. Anyone who hasn't gathered that the only workable response to a potential suicide bomber is to kill them before they can kill others has had their heads in certain nether regions...

And some "pranks" aren't at all funny.

Yes -- this is an issue that hits very close to home to me. I came very, very close (like fractions of an inch of trigger slack) to shooting a dumbass kid with an Airsoft gun. And it's gonna happen to someone one day.

 

[Big Don]

I guess she won't be seeing her friends and family at home for a while... if this stunt doesn't qualify her for the do not fly list something is wrong.

 

[Andrew Green]

And some "pranks" aren't at all funny.

I'd hardly call making yourself a shirt that has flashing lights on it "a prank". I've seen a few stories on this, and some pictures. It doesn't look like she was intentionally trying to cause trouble, just had made a shirt that lights up and not had anything in her head go "maybe I shouldn't wear this to the airport."


Before blaming her I think it's also important to remember previous bomb scares in Boston:

 

[Phoenix44]

She's lucky she's alive.

 

[MJS]

Amazing. You really have to wonder what goes thru the mind of some people. Especially in todays world, considering everyone is even more on alert after 9/11, you'd figure that some people would use some common sense. Not sure what she was thinking when she did this, but I think she needs a hefty fine and some jail time.

 

[Carol]

Before blaming her I think it's also important to remember previous bomb scares in Boston:

Not to mention the events in Boston, Logan Airport in particular, that weren't scares...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_11
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_Flight_175

 

[Kreth]

Not to mention the events in Boston, Logan Airport in particular, that weren't scares...

I'm sorry, Carol, I disagree. It'd akin to screaming "fire!" in a theater.

 

[Steel Tiger]

I have never been able to work out so-called performance artists. I always seem to come back to the alledged artist having some private joke that they are not letting anyone else in on.

It seems that they think it is some sort of god-given right to behave in a contrary fashion for their own amusement.

You would hope that a student at MIT would know better than to do something like this in today's security climate.

 

[Carol]

I'm sorry, Carol, I disagree. It'd akin to screaming "fire!" in a theater.

I was being facetious.

 

[Mr. E]

The event has been characterized, indirectly, from the students perspective, as a performance piece.

If that is true, then this little bit of drama is like screaming 'fire' in a theatre as Kreth pointed out. And it should be prosecuted as such.

This reminds me of the way some people faked anthrax scares when there were people dying from it. It takes resources away from other potential threats. It is the same thing as calling in a fake fire alarm. Do people even stop to think that while those in charge are dealing with their appeals for attention they may be needed elsewhere?

And what about the idea that someone might go in as an obvious target to attract attention while the guys carry the real stuff get more of a chance to get by. These types of things help that sort of thing happen. If she is not hit with a big punishment, then others may just do it as some sort of fad to get their jollies and that might help someone really trying to get something onto a plane that should not be there.

 

[shesulsa]

Performance art my ***. Yeah, so are snuff films. :soapbox:

I hope she's not complaining too much for the "applause" she received ... I'm usually the one defending someone's rights, but I'm sorry - this is ****.

I think the reason this kind of thing pisses me off so much is because it almost lends strength to the use of deadly force upon the innocent.

Stupid ****. I hopes she gets jail time.

 

[Ping898]

I think the reason this kind of thing pisses me off so much is because it almost lends strength to the use of deadly force upon the innocent.

that's why it pisses me off as well

 

[Andrew Green]

Out of curiousity, what exactly is it that everyone thinks she did wrong?

Her shirt was not intended to look like a bomb, it didn't really look like a bomb, doesn't seem there was any malicious intent in wearing it.

If a person where trying to get a bomb into a airport using a flashing light up shirt seems like it would be a poor choice. A suitcase full of explosives would probably work better, yet people carrying suitcases are not arrested by several heavily armed folks that are ready to kill them.

It was basically a homemade equivelant of those shoes that light up that seem to be popular for kids, nothing more.