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Police In Britain Arrest Man For Bomb-Threat Joke On Twitter

Posted by timothy on from the credibility-gap-looms dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A British man was arrested under anti-terrorism legislation for making a bomb joke on Twitter. Paul Chambers, 26, was arrested under the provisions of the Terrorism Act (2006). His crime? Frustrated at grounded flights over inclement weather, he made a joke bomb threat on the social networking site Twitter."

7 of 577 comments (clear)

  1. I see another headline . . . by saisuman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Police in arrest man for Joke on Bomb-Thread Joke on Twitter."

  2. Gah by Mgns · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Shit like this makes me wanna blow up Parliament

  3. Why the securithugs do this by dugeen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They always claim that they have to take all jokes seriously. But really these events are about punishing people who heckle during performances at the security theatre.

  4. I'm not convinced the police was wrong here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I agree with the Slashdot opinion that Britain tends to go overboard with police action lately, but honestly in this case I'm not so sure they were wrong. The man wrote:

    Robin Hood airport is closed. You’ve got a week and a bit to get your shit together, otherwise I’m blowing the airport sky high!!

    Sounds like a bomb threat to me. I didn't see any context indicating that this is merely a joke.

    I was taught by my parents, many many years before 9/11, that making bomb threats, even jokingly, is a bad idea because if anyone mistakenly takes you seriously, it WILL get you in trouble and possibly arrested. Maybe this guy's mom should have taught him the same thing.

  5. Re:What part of "use a proxy" can't he understand? by robably · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It is for him.

  6. Re:What part of "use a proxy" can't he understand? by xlotlu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Slashdot needs a "Troll +1" mod, so people can learn to recognize such wonderful red herring mastery.

  7. No, he wasn't simply released by mdwh2 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This guy was simply arrested, questioned, and released.

    From the original article http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/twitter-joke-led-to-terror-act-arrest-and-airport-life-ban-1870913.html :

    * He's on bail.
    * He may be charged with "conspiring to create a bomb hoax".
    * He's been suspended from work - apparently we're guilty until proven innocent now.
    * They've confiscated "his iPhone, laptop and home computer".

    Yep, you left a few things out of your "simply".

    Not to mention that these days in the UK, an arrest means your DNA and fingerprints are kept on file, even if you're found innocent or never charged.

    I don't see the humor in saying [snip] That's the equivalent of saying [snip]

    I didn't quite catch that, could you repeat it please? Something about you making a threat?