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MIT Student Arrested For Wearing 'Tech Art' Shirt At Airport

Posted by Zonk on from the don't-be-a-jerk-to-the-police,-they-have-guns dept.

SuperBanana writes "According to a report by the Boston Globe, MIT Student Star Simpson was nearly shot by Logan Airport police who thought she was armed with a bomb. She approached an airline employee wearing a prototyping board with electronic components, crudely attached to the front of her sweatshirt and holding 'putty' in her hand. She asked about an incoming flight, and did not respond when asked about the device. Armed police responded. 'Simpson was charged with possessing a hoax device and was arraigned today East Boston Municipal Court. She was held on $750 cash bail and ordered to return to court Oct. 29. "Thankfully because she followed our instructions, she ended up in our cell instead of a morgue," Pare said. "Again, this is a serious offense ... I'm shocked and appalled that somebody would wear this type of device to an airport."'"

9 of 1,547 comments (clear)

  1. What the hell's wrong with Boston? by moderatorrater · · Score: 5, Funny

    Do they just need to do some public service announcements about what a real bomb looks like and what fake electronic gadgets look like?

    1. Re:What the hell's wrong with Boston? by dattaway · · Score: 3, Funny

      I'm sorry, but that was no fake electronic gadget. Those were real blinky lights!

  2. Boston by techstar25 · · Score: 4, Funny

    So is there anything that Boston authorities WON'T mistake for a bomb?

    1. Re:Boston by Selfbain · · Score: 5, Funny

      Probably a real one.

      --
      Well, it has never been successfully tested.
  3. cue the slashbots by circletimessquare · · Score: 5, Funny

    who think playdoh, a circuit board, and some wires hanging off your person should not be a problem in an airport, and to think it is a problem is a sign of the coming fascist apocalypse

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  4. Re:Insane by mcmonkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    She is very lucky she didn't get shot. You'd have to be insane or a moron to wear something like that to an airport. She got in to MIT though so I vote "insane".

    You're right. I'm flying (out of Logan FWIW) next week and plan to show up at the airport wearing nothing but a sign reading, "this is not a bomb."

    And I'm not eating any beans between now and then, just to be on the safe side.

    (If I wanted to be a troll I could make some comment about how fast the police respond to a 9-volt battery and some wires at the uptown airport, but they never seem to catch the folks with the real guns at the downtown bus stops.)

  5. No you didn't by commodoresloat · · Score: 3, Funny

    This person is insane and has a death wish. I almost got shot for trying to smuggle toothpaste in my carry-on bag and I think I may be on a terrorist list for a nail clipper. What airport were you in; Baghdad? There is no way in hell you "almost got shot" for having toothpaste in your carry on, and your nail clipper isn't going to land you on any lists except America's Most Trimmed. I'm not defending the airport paranoia that has followed the war on terror, but you're taking hyperbole to the realm of sheer fantasy.
  6. Re:"Yeah, those suspicious e-lectronics". by MikeyTheK · · Score: 4, Funny

    The Darwin Awards are crying right now. So close and yet so far.

    --
    Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.
    Never forget: 2 + 2 = 5 for extremely large values of 2.
  7. Re:"Yeah, those suspicious e-lectronics". by nomadic · · Score: 5, Funny

    The freedom to wear lit breadboards in airport lobbies?

    Ahh, the seldom-cited 35th Amendment.