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

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."'"

Comments

Re:from MIT, but not very smart

[spud603]

I think you're approaching this all wrong. The point is that it was not a "stunt" or "prank" or "joke". The way I read it she really was just wearing the thing.

The editors substantially modified my story...

[SuperBanana]

Someone edited my story and added sensationalist quotes I could swear I didn't include. Oh, and added a link to Boing Boing, which was pretty pointless, given I linked to an actual newspaper.

Key facts:

• She was wearing an electronic circuit board taped to her chest which contained an assortment of wires, components, LEDs, and a battery.
• She was holding a "putty like" substance in her hand which could easily be viewed as plastic explosives.
• She approached an airport employee, asked for information about a specific flight. The employee asked about the circuit board on her chest, and she turned around and walked away without answering.
• Airport security responded to the description of what sounded like a suicide bomber.

I am rabidly for freedom, privacy, and personal rights. I'm quite set against abusive use of police force. This was not even remotely an unreasonable action by the airport police, and it has NOTHING in common with the whole "mooninite" incident, save similarities in the type of device.

Re:"Yeah, those suspicious e-lectronics".

[Martin Blank]

Unless they thought her boobs were filled with plastic explosives there's really not much there.

While this incident may have been an overreaction, two Russian airliners were brought down on the same day in 2004 with explosives suspected to have been hidden in the bras of two female passengers. It's not that far-fetched.

Re:"Yeah, those suspicious e-lectronics".

[MalleusEBHC]

Lack of common sense should not, in a sane society, involve worrying about whether your LED shirt looks like a bomb. She was also at the airport to pick somebody up. She did not try to get through a security checkpoint, nor was she attempting to conceal the LEDs. Both of these things should have made a sensible security person think twice as to her possible danger level. Simply verifying that she did not have the breadboard attached to explosives should have been sufficient to confirm her lack of explosive potential.

When an employee asked about the device, she "walked away without responding" according to the article. At that point, it would negligent for them to ignore her as a potential threat. It would be one thing if she was assaulted, tazed, shot, etc., but they arrested her without incident and later released her on bail once they verified that there was no real threat.

Re:"Yeah, those suspicious e-lectronics"

[Oktober Sunset]

The article specifically states that she ignored questions about the shirt and putty then walked away. And newspapers specifically stated that Jean Charles de Menezes was wearing a bulky jacket with wires sticking out and jumped over the ticket barriers.