Suspicious packages found in Boston!

[Sasaki Kojiro]

BOSTON -- Four more suspicious packages have been found on several bridges in Boston and at a local medical center hours after officials detonated a suspicious package on an elevated structure above the Sullivan Square Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority station.

The additional packages were found Wednesday afternoon at the Boston University Bridge, the Longfellow Bridge and near the intersection of Stuart and Columbus streets. A device described by officials as a pipe bomb was found in the basement of the New England Medical center.

Storrow Drive eastbound has been shut down, as officials investigate the situation. Mayor Tom Menino said that all of the packages found posed no danger, but the incidents remained under investigation.


Earlier Wednesday, the state police bomb squad was called and detonated the package in Sullivan Square just before 10 a.m.

Officials said the package contained an electronic circuit board with some components that were "consistent with an improvised explosive device," but they said it had no explosives. They determined that the device was not dangerous, but destroyed it as a precaution.

"We determined that this device, in particular, was not explosive," said MBTA Lt. Sal Venturelli.

He said MBTA police were told about the package by a transit passenger who spotted it on a column that supports Interstate 93. The parcel was located on an elevated structure above the bus way and below I-93 in the Charlestown section of Boston at about 8 a.m.

"This is a perfect example of our passengers taking part in Homeland Security," Venturelli said.

An investigation will be conducted into how the package got there and when, he said.

Train service on the Orange Line between Sullivan Square and Wellington stations was suspended in both directions. No injuries were reported.

The northbound side of I-93 was closed, causing significant traffic backups. Motorists were not allowed to access the highway near Sullivan Square coming up from the south.

And here's a picture of one of these 'devices':

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It's an advertisement for a movie

[CrossLOPER]

I question the manner in which you use that meme.

[discovery1]

What is this? I'm so confused.....

[PanzerJaeger]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,249110,00.html

[AntiochusIII]

It's all Carl's fault.

[Hosakawa Tito]

As amusing as it sounds, I've had the misfortune of driving in that area while visiting my sister's family. Traffic is dreadful at the best of times, this had to really suck for those that work and commute in that area.

[CrossLOPER]

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/31/bos...are/index.html
"We have no concern for your problems or wants; we care for only our own wants and seek to achieve our own personal satisfaction. We'll be taking this groovy stereo system then and you can.... be without a groovy stereo system."

[drone]

Somebody set up us the bomb!

[Vladimir]

Is this that stupid advertisement campaign I heard about on the drive home? It's Ted Turner's fault.

[CrossLOPER]

I love this.
https://i122.photobucket.com/albums/...teamattack.jpg

[Crazed Rabbit]

Video of the dirty deed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv9s_fz0K2I

CR

[KukriKhan]

Video of the dirty deed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv9s_fz0K2I

CR

Heh. Gives a whole new meaning to "Wouldn't touch it with a 12-foot pole!".

[Xiahou]

I think the reaction to this has been a little ridiculous. I think the city government is trying to play the outrage theme up to cover for how stupidly they handled this. A light up cartoon character giving onlookers the finger? Clearly a terrorist plot... not.

Now it may not have been wise(or legal) for these folks to go around attaching these things to public property- but to arrest them and try to hold them liable for the supposed half million the police spent on this snafu? I think that's a bit much.

Incidentally, does anyone know if placing the signs on public property is legal?

[Crazed Rabbit]

Lol, the two suspects hold a press conference and talk about....hair! And refuse to talk about anything else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx2ytr2Oyv4

A reporter finally asks them a hair question around 2:25.

Crazed Rabbit

[KukriKhan]

And they've been charged with Disorderly Conduct and made bail.

Incidentally, does anyone know if placing the signs on public property is legal?

In my town they'd probably be charged under theGraffitti ordinances (misdemeanor with court-set fines & up to 6 months in jail possible).

[drone]

Peter Berdovsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28, were held on $2,500 cash bond each after they pleaded not guilty to charges of placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct.

Placing a hoax device? What is that supposed to mean? It's not a hoax, it's an ad.

"It's almost too easy to be a terrorist these days," 26-year-old Jennifer Mason said. "You stick a box on a corner and you can shut down a city."

Best quote of the article. If the government and media overhype "terror", this is what you get. The Boston authorities are just angry and embarrassed that they got all worked up and made fools of. Somewhere, in a cave, OBL is laughing.


And, yes, I hate freedom...

[Xiahou]

Lol, the two suspects hold a press conference and talk about....hair! And refuse to talk about anything else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx2ytr2Oyv4

A reporter finally asks them a hair question around 2:25.

Crazed Rabbit

Those guys are hilarious. The reporters are sooo frustrated that the guys who come up to the microphone don't talk about what the reporters want them to. And yet, they keep trying to ask them questions... it really shows how sad our news outlets are today.

Edit:

In my town they'd probably be charged under theGraffitti ordinances (misdemeanor with court-set fines & up to 6 months in jail possible).

Yeah, I thought about that- but it didnt look like attaching the signs actually destroyed or damaged any property, so Im not sure how it applies. If they did break any laws, Im sure it's on a similarly low level though. What's this "hoax device" nonsense?

[TB666]

I wonder if the guys had planned that this would have this effect ??
The publicity from this is must be huge.
If the media and local goverment keeps on blowing this up then this might be one of the finest advertisment campaigns ever.

[Kongamato]

I can't see this doing any good for the advertisers. I may not be thinking rationally but this could be very bad for Cartoon Network. The average citizen has no clue what ATHF or Adult Swim is, and I doubt they'd understand what it is after they find out about it. This kind of exposure could have all the Hank Hill-types up in arms screaming "Take this horrid drivel off the air!". I'm probably overreacting, but for a while I've wondered if something like this could happen.

[Ronin]

I can't see this doing any good for the advertisers. I may not be thinking rationally but this could be very bad for Cartoon Network. The average citizen has no clue what ATHF or Adult Swim is, and I doubt they'd understand what it is after they find out about it. This kind of exposure could have all the Hank Hill-types up in arms screaming "Take this horrid drivel off the air!". I'm probably overreacting, but for a while I've wondered if something like this could happen.

there´s no such thing as bad publicity

[Vladimir]

Video of the dirty deed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv9s_fz0K2I

CR

I just saw this and, ahh, they need to go to Gitmo.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

And I thought conservatives were the reactionaries.

[Sasaki Kojiro]

Those guys are awesome.

"You are disrespecting America by not taking this seriously..terrorist"

"I think hair of the seventies is a very serious subject"

[Vladimir]

"You are disrespecting America by not taking this seriously..terrorist"

https://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showp...6&postcount=16

[Lemur]

Lol, the two suspects hold a press conference and talk about....hair! And refuse to talk about anything else.

That was kinda brilliant. You could hear the media droids going into meltdown mode ...

[KukriKhan]

In this July 2001 Q & A with InterferenceInc's CEO, Sam Ewen, (who incidentally also pioneered the popup/pop-under internet ad) he describes exactly the "guerilla marketing" scenario that played out in Boston

Ewen: "...The neat thing about guerilla marketing is that the media can buy into it and the campaign becomes the story...

Rumors around the blogosphere are that Berdovsky, one of the Boston actors, saw the first (local) TV news reports and wanted to set the cops straight, but called Interference Inc first & was told to "keep it on the DL" (down-low) for now. 4-5 hours later, Interference Inc's spokeswoman (the CEO was 'out of town') called Boston PD to explain the campaign.

So... take 2 part-time actors, 12 circuit boards and a pole, place the things. Bake for 2 weeks at 350 degrees. (here's the lucky part) add 1 cop/bridge worker to spot a device & describe it as "a light board, with a duct-taped cylinder (the home-made battery pack) behind it". Hilarity and free advertising ensues.

It might cost Turner half a mil, but I bet Interference Inc's phones are ringing off the hook.

As a cultural impact, I think this is huge. It tells me that the terror impact of 9-11 has just about dissipated in the US among the population. Yes, gov't & media are lagging still - when have they not? The danger is if the pendulum swings too far away from the "sky is falling" over-reaction (2 weeks late), the citizenry can get lulled into a false sense of security, and miss important clues to pending dangers. 'Cause when all is said and done, no matter how many millions and billions are spent, our first line of defense in a crisis is: each other.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Can't wait to see all the "copy cat" pranks that will happen in the near future.

[Grey_Fox]

How does this look like a bomb?

[Banquo's Ghost]

How does this look like a bomb?

It has a red wire. Everyone knows that means it's a bomb.

Just like everyone with a beard and a tan is an islamofascist.

Get with the programme. Why do you hate freedom?

[KukriKhan]

Originally Posted by Grey_Fox
How does this look like a bomb?

It doesn't, disassembled and photographed close up.

From 20+ feet away, with the batteries bundled and wrapped in duct tape, with wires poking out, in the weather, placed at a bridge abutment, a middle-aged (non-Cartoon Network viewer) maintenance worker, doing his weekly "walk-thru" visit, might get concerned enough to call it in to his supervisor, who would pass it on to the cops, who would - in the 'abundence of caution' protocol required for pipe-bomb sightings - call in the EOD team, who decide it's probably nothing,but blow it up anyway, just in case they're wrong.

Get a couple more sightings, some by cops in the Army Reserve who'd served in Iraq and seen innocuous-looking IED's there - a prescription for misunderstanding and 'over-reaction'. Simultaneous-blast SOP's spring to mind by those in charge, and you start closing harbors and tunnels and freeways, until you know what they are.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Actually, it resembles the inside of my daughter's old Lite-Brite toy. However, I'm fairly certain a bomb to be used as a terror weapon would be camoflaged/designed to appear as a harmless object. So to the layman, I can understand how the mistake could be made.

My question, why are such advertising objects not regulated, with permits and locations, known to civilian authorities before they are emplaced. I have a feeling that kind of system will be enacted in the near future to avoid this type of false alarm.