MIT student is arrested at gunpoint

MIT student Star Simpson was arrested at gunpoint at Boston's Logan Airport this morning after a an airport employee reported that Star was wearing a "suspicious device" "strapped" to her chest (see: small breadboard pinned to her hoodie). The breadboard caused a star to light up in LEDs, which she was using as a name tag of sorts.

The reaction was overboard, sure-- but understandable, I suppose. What shocked me is that she is actually being charged with "possessing a hoax device". What shocked me slightly more was this quote:

Cyberpunks, take heed. You're not welcome in Logan.

While the guns are a bit much... that is a really stupid fucking thing to be wearing at an airport.

Seriously. That is fucking stupid.

no. what's stupid is trained professionals thinking that some kid with funny hair, silly putty, and a 9 volt battery on her hoodie is a terrorist.

i hate how the media keeps saying "fake bomb".

gah!

Awww, how nice of the police.



I don't think it won't be too long until we all have to start wearing skin-tight spandex flight suits for airport security. Our only choice will be color. I choose green!

I agree with you there, it was in no way a "fake bomb"

every day, just when i think this country can't get any fucking dumber, a nerd gets arrested because now apparently a bread board and a couple LEDs is a "hoax device".

have these cro-magnon motherfuckers ever seen the inside of a computer? OH MY GOD. IT'S FULL OF CIRCUIT BOARDS AND WIRES! JESUS CHRIST WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!

Not at all. To her, a tekkie, this was just a PIN. It would never even cross her mind that something so inane (we're talking five bucks at radioshack here, batteries not included) could POSSIBLY be seriously mistook by somebody as a threatening... thing. I don't even want to call it a device.

In the 50s, people would be arrested for saying something too favorable about labor unions. And the citizenry would say "Sure, maybe Sam shouldn't have been arrested, but that sure was a stupid thing to say". We're living in times only describable as batshit insane.

It is batshit, I agree.
And when you explain it to me as a "pin" I see where you are coming from. That is fucking scary.

Holy friggin' crap. First the Aqua Teen bullshit, now this. Can Boston Police get any dumber?

-TM

I think I forgot to mention:
Star is brownish. Hawaiian, actually.

Which sheds a distressing amount of light on the story, I think.

The more I am reading about this..I don't know.

Well then I'm sorry but that's just plain naive on her part. Yes, it's sad that something like this will get you arrested. And it's depressing that the world has become so paranoid. But face it, that's life. And like it or not, people are going to react badly if you're walking around an airport with putty and a circuit board.

I would have shot her.

^^
Nevar 4get

So... if some cop randomly decides that your iPod or your Stephen King book or your hand MIGHT be a bomb, you could potentially be charged with possessing a hoax device?

Is it no longer possible in this world for the police to realize they're the ones that made a mistake and just tell you not to do it again?

See here is the thing.
You are walking around with what looks like a bomb pretty much to someone who has no tech knowledge. You are carrying putty(play doh) around.
I mean, they did go overboard. However.
She was proving a point or trying to do something.
She had to know what the reaction was going to be. She goes to MIT, so I assume she does not live under a rock.
It is fucked that this is the life we are forced to lead, but it is what it is.
I just keep going back and forth..Its really fucked up.

Fixed

Also, it is sad that naiveté has some to be a measure of by how much one underestimates human stupidity. Are the sane and intelligent among us to be slaves to the irrational whims of fools?

Guess you shouldent wear a belt to the airport either.

Would it have been so difficult to ask "Excuse me miss, what's that on your shirt? Oh, Ok, have a nice flight.".

What?

Unfortunately, yes. And really... that's not new by any stretch. Remember, the fools outnumber us and usually run shit.