Boston was thrown into a tizzy when an attempt by Cartoon Network to promote its upcoming “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” feature film backfired into a perceived terrorist plot.
Apparently little electronic blinky devices based upon the ATHF character “Mooninite” have been showing up in major cities all across the country. But only in Beantown did citizens suddenly start worrying that these promotional devices were, in fact, part of an insidious terrorist scheme. As a consequence, the bomb squad has been spending its time running around the city defusing harmless toys, and now police have arrested the poor hapless bášŧárd who was hired to put the things up around the city.
The reason it’s of particular interest to this blog is that New England Comics (which, by the way, I’m told is having a 50% off sale that ends today) was one of the sites to receive one of the devices, and hilarity ensued. My daughter, Gwen, a store employee, was interviewed by local TV news. Click on the site link below and go to the section “Comic Book Store Employees Discuss Hoax.”
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/video/index.html
PAD
• 
Hehe, she spoke well, and I was impressed with her manager too. I was wondering how long it would take for someone to suggest that there might be some degree of paranoia at work…
Some?
If the adds had had Ronald McDonald on them, or the King, people wouldn’t have freaked out at all.
What surprises me is that something that clearly took some time and money to put together hadn’t taken the steps to, oh, I don’t know, get permission to put these things up everywhere. I know ad people love secrecy and surprises, but there’s also prudence and not tresspassing on others’ property to be concerned with.
On one hand, it’s kind of funny, but on the other, you can’t be too careful. If the city wasn’t aware that strange objects were going to be installed under bridges, then they were right in checking it out.
I don’t know. The King always freaks me out. Especially those commmercials where the guy wakes up with the King in his bed or peering into his window. Is he a king or a stalker?
I’m totally freaked out by the King. But he apparantly is a wicked defensive player in the NFL…and polite, to boot.
“Is he a king or a stalker?”
One of those XBox games they made is called Sneak King, where the King sneaks around handing people food (sounds like an oxymoron).
Anyways, I’d already said what I think of this ad campaign, but to summarize: really bad ad campaign idea, but completely made successful (well, unless you were arrested) thanks to the BPD.
I’d completely forgotten about the ATHF movie, and there will be a lot more people wanting to see it to find out what all the fuss is about now.
Your daughter is very composed and presents her story very well, Peter. I take it that the guerilla marketing team (such as it was) did not get “permission” to install these things, or people wouldn’t have been in a panic about them. The owner of the comics shop did not seem to be aware that it was going to be installed, you’ll note. Then again, he wasn’t all freaked out about it. It was flat and had a square – with hands- flipping the bird. How dangerous do you think that could actually be?
Posted by: Kathy Pearlman at February 1, 2007 11:46 AM
How dangerous do you think that could actually be?
Colleen Doran, creator, writer, and illustrator of “A Distant Soil,” has offered her own unique perspective at her blog (www.adistantsoil.com/blog). She is the daughter of a police officer, and she says toys have been used to lure people to bombs before. So the people who reported the “Mooninite” devices weren’t necessarily overreacting.
Of course this newsflash keeps popping up in various forums that I frequent, and I keep writing the same response. My job occasionally requires me to leave sensors in public places for days at a time to perform environmental monitoring. Even *before* 9/11, my colleagues and I learned that if you place a random electrical device in a public place without either informing the authorities or leaving a identification on the device with a reliable contact number, there is a 100% chance that the bomb squad would get called, and a 95% chance that your $5000 device would get blown up.
The arrests last night were over the top, but the BPD’s response yesterday seemed right on. They closed some roads, they investigated, they found the truth, and they reopened the roads. Aside from the traffic tie-ups, life went on in Boston. Isn’t that the way it should have gone?
Ahem…
…ehrm…Peter, I mean, Mr.David…
…How old exactly your daughter is?
*wink wink nudge nudge*
Just joking. Agree on the comment on her beign articulate and very “at ease” in front of the camera. Also agree you cant be cautious enough, but terrorists want to cause…terror. Avoiding public alarm unless necesary is a cornerstone of a sensible anti-terrorism policy.
Hey Boston:
Get
___
It !
In a time of crisis like this, I think the only thing to say is…
Mooninites… unite!
Ahem. Anyway, I think what we’re missing in the whole discussion of whether this could be perceived as something dangerous is… is this the way we want to live? Always looking at things suspiciously? In fear and constant worry? At a certain point, I think you have to say, “If I’m gonna get blown up, I’m get blown up, there’s no way I can stop every possible threat” and simply focus on the major stuff.
Colleen Doran, creator, writer, and illustrator of “A Distant Soil,” has offered her own unique perspective at her blog (www.adistantsoil.com/blog). She is the daughter of a police officer, and she says toys have been used to lure people to bombs before. So the people who reported the “Mooninite” devices weren’t necessarily overreacting.
And potential terrorists wouldn’t think to recycle this?
Hm. Or they could do it with Scooby Doo?
Food for thought, here….
roger tang, I’m not quite sure what you’re getting at. If it’s just me being dense, I apologize. But the only point I was making is that people have used toys to disguise bombs before, so it’s not unreasonable for people to be concerned when they see a strange device in an odd place.
Peter David, your daughter is intelligent, articulate, confident, and lovely. Plus, she works in a comic-book store and her father is Peter David. That young lady has it ALL. 😉
Here’s the thing about this that gets me. These things were pretty slick looking. Professionally made, so it would appear. How many terrorists do we know have a history of producing such devices?
There’s a reason why the terrorist uses the suicide bomber to deliver their weapons: It’s a hidden bomb. It’s not out in the open, it doesn’t look suspicious, and it can move around and find the most crowded place to go off. What good does it do a terrorist to place an explosive device out in the open with neon lights on it? This isn’t how we’re going to be hit. When that happens, it’ll be just like it is all over the world. Someone innocuous looking will walk into a crowded area with a bomb attached to their chest, maybe shout something in a language no one around him understands, and detonate the explosives. There won’t be any neon, or anything overt about him. Because if there were, he’d likely get caught.
Was the ad stunt stupid? Only from the perspective that it was done without notification or approval of property owners. Was Boston’s reaction even more stupid? Yes. Rather than calling out the entire bomb squad and shutting down half the city, couldn’t they have rather quickly found one of these devices and determined that it wasn’t a bomb? Then just tracked them back to Time Warner and ordered their removal, along with notice that a hefty fine would be forthcoming.
“is this the way we want to live? Always looking at things suspiciously? In fear and constant worry?”
It’s not like that. If you see a suspicious object you call the police and keep your distance. If the police is experienced they might realize it’s nothing with a glance, or if they’ll not sure the bomb squad will close the nearby area for 10 minutes and take care of it. 99% of the time it’s nothing, so its more a hassle than anything, a routine you go threw every once in a while. Certainly not a life of fear.
And Boston’s “finest” continue to go completely over the top.
At the arraignment of the two men arrested:
“It’s clear the intent was to get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location,” Assistant Attorney General John Grossman said at their arraignment.
I’m already seeing comments from other people in MA wondering why the city is so full of dûmbáššëš.
“There’s a reason why the terrorist uses the suicide bomber to deliver their weapons: It’s a hidden bomb. It’s not out in the open, it doesn’t look suspicious, and it can move around and find the most crowded place to go off. What good does it do a terrorist to place an explosive device out in the open with neon lights on it? This isn’t how we’re going to be hit. When that happens, it’ll be just like it is all over the world. Someone innocuous looking will walk into a crowded area with a bomb attached to their chest, maybe shout something in a language no one around him understands, and detonate the explosives. There won’t be any neon, or anything overt about him. Because if there were, he’d likely get caught.”
Before there were suicide bombers terrorists used to leave bombs, i.e. suspicious objects. People adapted by paying more attention. Later you had bombs in cars. Suicide bombings was the next step, and only with Islamic or Tamili terrorists. Suspicious objects is so 80s. Now you have to keep an eye for suspicious looking people (wearing coats in the summer, nervousness), and open your bag when you visit certain places. Eventually that too will get out of terrorist fashion maybe.
roger tang, I’m not quite sure what you’re getting at. If it’s just me being dense, I apologize. But the only point I was making is that people have used toys to disguise bombs before, so it’s not unreasonable for people to be concerned when they see a strange device in an odd place.
That was the exact point I was trying to make. ANd given that we had a false alarm on this, why wouldn’t a terrrorist (foreign or domestic) re-use this idea for their purposes.
Your daughter was great Peter! Hadn’t heard a local perspective about the commotion until that story.
Manager made some good points as well.
-Chris
Bobb, what would be truly stupid would be for citizens and/or the authorities to look at such a device and then say, “Oh, this is too well made, it can’t be anything dangerous because that’s not how terrorists operate.”
First, that’s an unprovable assumption. Just because terrorists always have operated in a certain fashion doesn’t mean they always will. Second, terrorists aren’t our only worry. Remember Columbine? Those were enraged, out-of-control students who committed that horror, not a terrorist cell. The idea that some small group of nuts might plant bombs in toys just because they could is not so far-fetched.
Asst. Attorney General Grossman is clearly mis-reading the intent of this stunt. And I certainly believe that the lack of intent to harm should mitigate any charges filed against those tied with this stunt. Nevertheless, I believe those connected with the “promotion” should face some sort of consequences.
Posted by: roger tang at February 1, 2007 01:50 PM
That was the exact point I was trying to make. ANd given that we had a false alarm on this, why wouldn’t a terrrorist (foreign or domestic) re-use this idea for their purposes.
In other words, I’m dense but you’re just too nice to say so. 😉
I dunno…I was living with terrorist threats and bomb scares and like in the 80s. To this day, I see a backpack or something sitting around unattended and I’m looking for an exit in the other direction. Even if it is an “old and busted” method of attack these days. Get told how much of a target you are most every day for a few years and the old habits are hard to break. I don’t really fault Boston for how they handled it, but I’m curious what happened in these other cities that apparently didn’t pay much attention?
I was working the Olympics in Atlanta on the tech side of things. There was a place that a bunch of us use to meet up during the concerts when we were not on call. It was at the base of a lighting tower (see where this is going?) The night that the bomb went off I passed on meeting up with the gang in favor of finishing up something I was writing at the time. The rest of the gang had been on the same gig so they were not there either. We count ourselves very lucky and none of us mind opening up our bags for security checks to this day.
I put something about this up on my blog this morning:
http://www.cwob.com/yellowtext/yellowtext0207.html#70118
An electronic device crudely stuck up on a bridge support with wires leading to a taped-up something that would make just about anyone who’s ever been to the movies think “explosives.” Nobody knows what it is or how it got there. The results were pretty obvious. By all reports, the police reacted in a proper “it’s almost certainly nothing, but let’s not take a chance” manner.
As a Bostonian: it didn’t shut down the city, it didn’t throw the population into a panic, and as of the midday newscast, the two people who put them up have been released on a rather nominal bail and even the Mayor is saying that they’re guilty of nothing more than trying to make a few bucks.
There are morons involved in this story, but all of them work at the Cartoon Network and the ad agency they hired to promote the show.
It’s bad enough that we’re all forced to look at ads everywhere on billboards and sidewalks. When corporations think “Hey, there’s a spot of empty space where people are apt to look…let’s slap an ad right there in the middle of the night without getting anybody’s permission” that’s a pretty bad turn of events.
That’s not “guerrilla marketing.” That’s known as “acting like a bunch of *******s.”
I know in Chicago at least one of the adds was confiscated by police. That’s the first I heard that any were in Chicago.
The thing is, are we going to let those that want to kill us force us to jump at every shadow, or are we going to go about our lives with the knowledge that risks exist, we need to take care, but let’s not get crazy and overreact.
I’m one of the most paranoid people I know. Ask my wife. She’ll tell you I come up with some of the most crazy ideas sometimes. But we’re not talking about an old duffel bag left in the middle of a train station floor, or a large box lying around somewhere. These were neon light devices left in places that were not terribly crowded. Granted, a nail/shrapnel device doesn’t need a dense crown, and in fact probably is more effective in a more wide-spread, moderatly crowded area, but had these actually been bombs, they were very poorly placed.
I suppose I shouldn’t excuse the chance of the terrorist being less intelligent than I’m giving them credit for. And there’s blame to be shared all around. If it’s a criminal offense in Boston to hang advertising without a permit or permission of the property owner, or on public property (like the bridges) then sure, go after whoever’s responsible for that. And if the ad department has memos lying around saying “let’s hang them around town like bombs. It’ll be a blast. Get it?” Then by all means, go after them for reckless endagerment.
And in the meantime, have the police review their emergency response protocols for responding to a potential bomb threat. The claims that Boston wants Time Warner to pay for the OT used for the response is ludicrous.
This isn’t a case of the ad company hiring someone to go into a dark theatre and shout “there’s a FIRE in the lobby” (panic ensues as patrons rush for the exits, missing the final part of the ad “and it’s all about Cartoon Network’s new Movie…” I don’t think a reasonable person would assume that a neon light device hung under a bridge was a bomb. If you wanted to blow up a bridge, you’d disguise it to look like it belonged there, not put bright lights on it to call attention to it.
This even made it onto BBC news over here in England. A glowing sign with a little square man flipping the bird confused with a bomb, the amusement. Also, i’ve now found the site of the most wonderful Peter David, i’m a big x-factor fan, how things fall into place hehe. Whenever I see an episode with the mooninites in they crack me up, now they will do all the more so.
I don’t think a reasonable person would assume that a neon light device hung under a bridge was a bomb. If you wanted to blow up a bridge, you’d disguise it to look like it belonged there, not put bright lights on it to call attention to it.
Well, a week ago, sure.
Now? I dunno…Now would be a perfect time to absolutely mimic a Mooninite ad.
Shouldn’t panic, but let’s not be complacent…
Posted by: Bobb Alfred at February 1, 2007 02:34 PM
I don’t think a reasonable person would assume that a neon light device hung under a bridge was a bomb.
A reasonable person should not assume that a strange-looking device placed in an odd spot is a bomb. A reasonable person, however, should also not assume that a strange-looking device placed in an odd spot is not a bomb. They should assume nothing and probably call the authorities.
Posted by: Bobb Alfred at February 1, 2007 02:34 PM
If you wanted to blow up a bridge, you’d disguise it to look like it belonged there, not put bright lights on it to call attention to it.
That depends. If you’re a nutcase who wants someone to pick up a device so they’ll be hurt, then, yeah, you’d want to draw attention to it.
Bobb, you’re a lawyer. Let’s say these little devices were in some way harmful, but the authorities didn’t take them seriously for exactly the reasons you’ve laid out. Do you mean to tell me the city’s not gonna get sued??? C’mon!
If the authorities overreacted (and I don’t believe they did), well, I’d rather they err on the side of caution. Look, it’s not like the city reacted by enacting martial law and imposing a 9 p.m. curfew indefinitely. They sent the appropriate responders to check out suspicious devices, and once the devices were determined to be harmless the city went back to normal.
Frankly, in situations like this, the authorities don’t have the luxury of over-thinking this in the way that you’re advocating they do. They get a call, they investigate, they take appropriate precautions.
I’d be curious to know why the other cities where these devices were planted reacted in a more low-key fashion. Have any of the articles about this incident addressed that?
This is one with the recent stupid “morning zoo” stunt where contestants were urged to drink enormous quantities of water. One woman died.
In their need to get attention for their product that the product wouldn’t normally deserve, and their general incompetence in the world at large, advertising people do stupid things. And there is always the chance of them doing something fatal.
I put it to you who pooh-pooh this little item. What if someone got wind of this…and grabbed some of the devices and made them real bombs? It’s entirely possible. And (if you ever saw “Platoon”) you know how cute toys were set up as the triggers for bøøbÿ traps.
The only thing I can think of, in the realm of animation, that was similar was an ad put together for the Icebox.com show “Mr. Wong.” Phony ads for a Chinese restaurant were placed all through Chinatown in San Francisco, and when you called the number the racist cartoon character Mr. Wong insulted you. That worked out so well that icebox.com went out of business soon afterwards.
Have any of the articles about this incident addressed that?
Some have mentioned NYC finding out about Boston, contacting Cartoon Network, and then CN telling them the locations so they could be removed. No uproar.
Otherwise, I’ve only seen Seattle mentioned once. Again, ads removed, no uproar.
But, as for the city returning to normal? Well, the city has, but the mayor and district attorney are both certifiable.
I mean, the “clear intent” that those ads were to cause fear? I’d hate to think what will happen if Boston ever faced a real terrorist threat; martial law might not be out of the question.
Gwen came off great–not to go all Joe Biden on her but it’s great to see a young person who is so articulate and doesn’t punctuate every other word with “um”, “Y’know”, “dude” or “bababooey”.
A smart, attractive, articulate female who works in a comic book store…she must have enough stories to write a good book by now.
Since I was just sent home from school two days ago by a bomb threat (complete with phoney bomb) I have a level of sympathy for the police but the statement by the assistant Attorney General seems crazy. Why on earth would they have wanted to start a panic? How does associating “bomb” with “upcoming movie” sound like a wise promotional idea?
Anyone else flashback to the Simpsons episode with the buried “angel skeleton” that turned out to be a stunt to advertize the new mall? Once again, The Simpsons did it first.
Bill, I’ve not suggested that people just ignore them. Call the authorities if you think something’s suspicious, by all means. It just seems like the authorties’ first response was to call out the bomb squad. They couldn’t just look at one of them and see that it was a sign?
The thing is, if this is a normal and accepted reaction, how do we trust anything? How can you trust that the “Open” sign you just had delivered wasn’t actually constructed by some terrorist, and will one day explode during your 10th anneversary sale? There are any number of things around us that could be used to hide a bomb…mailboxes, vans, garbage cans. We can’t vouch for every single one of these things. Why stop with these adds? Let’s take the effor to go through every single mechanical device installed or repaired over the past 6 years to make sure it’s not a bomb. Or force every bulky-looking man to disrobe so we can be certain he’s really just fat, and not wearing a bomb.
Like I said, I’m very paranoid. The key is I KNOW I’m paranoid, and I don’t let it control me. I try not to let it influence me too much. Boston’s reaction is that of a paranoid out of control.
Posted by: Bill Mulligan at February 1, 2007 02:54 PM
Since I was just sent home from school two days ago by a bomb threat (complete with phoney bomb)…
How many times do I have to tell you I had NOTHING to do with that?????
Ted Turner vs. Boston: Bring it ON.
I always hated the Red Sox.
Um, Peter?
Where’s the exclamation point?
I was watching the news clip with Gwen, and wondered, has she abandoned the exclamation point at the end of her name as a relic of her childhood, decline to include it when speaking into the microphone to avoid confusion in the viewing public? Or did the graphics editors simply go, “Um………………uh-uh. I’m not putting that in there.”?
Just curious. 🙂
You want paranoid–how about when you go to Sams Club and people offer you food .and you go and eat it! I don’t know about the rest of you but it could be Osama Bin Laden, complete with turban and scary curved dagger but if he’s got a plate of mini hotdogs wrapped in crescent roll dough I’m popping those baby’s like ecstasy, while Osama smiles and says “Enjoy, my infidel friend!”.
If the terrorists ever catch on they could poison thousands.
Anyway, if you want to see the two guys arrested, acting like jáçkáššëš, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zx2ytr2Oyv4. It’s funny though their lawyer probably wants to open his wrists. They refuse to talk about anything but hair. For their sakes I hope they tone it down a bit in front of the judge–only on Boston Legal can you get away with funny stuff in court.
Another video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iv9s_fz0K2I showing them putting the signs up. Don’t specifically see them at Gwen’s place (which is what they ought to re-name New England Comics).
Hey, how much do you suppose one of those signs would bring on ebay?
New York Coty, where terrorists actually struck had these marketing tools too, but their mayor and police are a bunch of retarded morons, so notice no “panic” or stupid charges filed there….
Go dunk yourselves in Boston Harbor leaders and people of Boston….
In Boston we can clearly see the terrorists have won… luckily it hasn’t spread to the rest of the country… (at least not yet)
And as far as the radio stunt “Hold your wee for a Wii” fiasco… Natural Selection at work. Listeners of the show even called in to bring up the risks, and still the woman never bothered to look into the risks… Darwin worked right this time…
Bill Mulligan, my brain’s been going a hundred miles an hour at work. On further thought, you getting sent home due to a bomb threat ain’t occasion for joking. It’s dámņ scary.
I’m guessing the perp is a little turd — er, teenager. Did they catch whoever it was?
And how the crap do you get any teaching done in an environment where the basic rules of civility have been eroded away to almost nothing???
Glad you’re safe, by the way, my friend.
(HELLO. YOUR HOST HERE. I AM DELETING THE TEXT OF MIKE’S POST AND MAKING SOMETHING ABUNDANTLY CLEAR: YOU DON’T INSULT MY FAMILY. I’M FAIR GAME…BUT YOU DON’T…INSULT…MY FAMILY. THAT IS THE LINE IN THE SAND THAT I DRAW FOR EVERYONE HERE, AND IT APPLIES TO YOU SAME AS EVERYONE ELSE. CROSS THE LINE AGAIN, YOU WILL BE OFFICIALLY SHROUDED. KEEP IT UP, YOU WILL BE DISEMVOWELED. DO NOT PULL THIS CRAP AGAIN.)
PAD
According to the most recent report on CNN (where they talk about the post-release press conference on hair…) these devices have been up for at least two weeks.
So it seems it took a while for the real paranoid people to notice them.
Pish posh, these things come with the territory.
Twas a bit of an odd event, though. The “bomb” was placed near a bank and contained additional warnings that the school and nearby community college would be targeted at 2:30 if demands were not met (no idea what said demands were).
By 10 or so they had determined that the bomb was a fake and no suspicious packages were found on either campus. Normally school would have continued, but the administration made the wise decision to send the kids home early. Oh you should have heard them protest! “But we want to learn!” they shouted. “Get the hëll out of here you little heathens, lest I smite you about the head and shoulders, delivering a sound thrashing you will not soon forget!” I replied.
The thing is, we knew that rumors were beginning to fly, helicopters were circling around and all it would take is one cell phone call from a concerned parent to start the kind of mass panic that would have made the last 2 blocks impossible anyway so it was easier just to send them home. School began as usual the next day and would have done so today had Mother Nature not delivered her own Weapon of Mass Destruction in the form of a minor snow shower or, as it is called down south, “Nature’s Icy Fury”.
“They couldn’t just look at one of them and see that it was a sign?”
Couldn’t they have seen that it was just a thermos, lunch box, backpack or shipping package? No.
I have a good friend who is a bomb K-9. The officer aint too bad a guy to have around either. (waits for the groaning to stop) They get called out to check something, they have to check it.
Sometimes, as in rarely, that leads to the dog hitting on something when it’s not actually a bomb. There are things out there (no, I’m not giving you the list) that will false positive a K-9. Something in the sign could have done that. BPD’s bomb team would have to treat it as a threat at that point.
Not saying with that last bit that the guys meant to do that. Just saying that it has been known to happen.
Overall:
The idea was good.
The markiting guys not going through channels and getting the right permits was really dumb.
Turner not marking the ad devices with an easy to locate ownership information text to ID the things was kind of dumb.
Hiring to locals who knew the best areas to put them for the target group they wanted but who didn’t seem to know where they could legally place ads was both good and bad.
BPD showing their skills off was pretty fun.
The stuff coming out of Boston’s top officials right now is brain dead.
When I read that no panic ensued in any of the other cities where these things had been in place for weeks, I just assumed that there was at least one person working in Emergency Services in those cities who immediately recognized Err the Mooninite from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, contacted someone at the Cartoon Network, asked if they knew anything about it, and, when they were told it was an ad for the upcoming ATHF movie, spread the word that they were ads and were harmless.
Boston’s reaction at this point looks like the mayor and chief of police are determined to punish someone–anyone–for making them look like idiots. I guess Boston didn’t get any of the giant [adult swim] billboards with that exact image on them like Baltimore did…
Convicted of Emboldening.
While the ATHF people should have gone through regular channels (no permits were issued for these), I have to note that since this same type of campaign was done in several other cities (including New York City, where two 9/11 planes hit) and there was NO PANIC over them, I have to think the Boston situation was overreaction. Couldn’t they have checked out these devices without shutting down everything? And after the first one, couldn’t they have figures out what the others were?
“Couldn’t they have checked out these devices without shutting down everything? And after the first one, couldn’t they have figures out what the others were?”
Maybe. I would love to see what the final chain of command was on this thing and who was most pushing for the almost total lockdown of the city that ended up happening.
“It just seems like the authorties’ first response was to call out the bomb squad. They couldn’t just look at one of them and see that it was a sign?”
People are still thinking that the authorities’ response was just post-9/11 paranoia – it wasn’t! If you left a random device on public property before 9/11, the bomb squad would have been called. I know people who have had this happen to them!
Two other things have been clarified today:
1. There were *2* bomb “threats” yesterday. There were fake pipe bombs that were planted in a medical center and on the Longfellow bridge. An MBTA worker found the ATHF device, and police thought they might be linked. I don’t begrudge them for being concerned.
2. Apparently the first ATHF ad device found near the Orange Line in Sullivan Square had only been there for 24 hours. It wasn’t there for weeks as has been implied.
“Couldn’t they have checked out these devices without shutting down everything?”
They didn’t shut down “everything” – a few roads were closed, and a portion of the Red Line subway (which ran over the bridge where the fake pipe bomb was found) was also closed. Even if you’re pretty sure the device isn’t a bomb, you still have to close the roads so that workers can inspect the devices on ladders and man lifts. Aside from today’s political posturing (which is ridiculous), it wasn’t that big a deal.
I swear, people have the impression that Bostonians were shivering in their homes and saying last rights. Aside from the traffic nightmare and the over-the-top press coverage, most people’s days went as normal.
To avoid a Joe Bideneaque error, let me just say Gwen was quite poised in the glare of public spotlight and possibility of imminent alien abduction. Plus the Lisa Loeb glasses were quite flattering.
— Ken from Chicago (who’s so old school he thought it was one of the Space Invaders)
P.S. So is this video clip saved in the David Family home movies vault?