

Star Simpson's first interview on the Boston airport LED sweatshirt scare - polvi
http://www.boingboing.net/2008/09/19/bbtv-star-simpsons-f-1.html

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shard
Reading that she dropped out of MIT and that the judge required her to do
community service and make a public apology makes me so sad.

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jrockway
She must have had a terrible lawyer. "possessing a hoax device" requires that
the person possessing the hoax device intended to scare someone. Since she was
just meeting a friend and wanted to impress him (her?), I just don't see the
hoax intent. It's like brushing your teeth and shining your shoes before
picking up a friend at the airport -- not illegal.

Anyway, if she is appealing, I would like to donate some money to her legal
fund so she can get a fair trial.

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pmorici
The "possessing a hoax device" charge was dropped and she was only convicted
of disorderly conduct which she explains doesn't require intent.

The real disgusting thing here is the abhorrent conduct of the police and
judicial system.

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menloparkbum
_The real disgusting thing here is the abhorrent conduct of the police and
judicial system._

This happened in Boston. You know all those movies and TV shows that
stereotype Boston cops as a corrupt tribe of violent irish guys? That's really
what they are like. Plus, Boston cops like to seem tough on terror since their
community supported IRA terror during The Troubles and they feel a bit guilty
and conflicted about it these days...

This is a classic case of town vs. gown. The townies won.

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peakok
Being perfectly honest, her device could be confusing in an airport context,
given the fact that you never know who is the person you deal with. I can
understand the arrest, but not what has happened next.

The press seems to have been called too early and my guess is that the
officials didn't want to look like fools when their sensationalistic "suicide
bomber" story - that was supposed to get them promoted - just vanished.
"Suicide bomber arrest" was the first thing I ever heard about this story in a
french newspaper. If the lies didn't spread so fast, the story wouldn't have
gotten so big and the officials would prolly have released her the next hour
with no charges at all. Fuck that, I hope she recovers well.

~~~
jrockway
_If the lies didn't spread so fast, the story wouldn't have gotten so big and
the officials would prolly have released her the next hour with no charges at
all._

This is all the more reason to hold the government accountable for their
actions. They did not deserve to win this case and ruin Star's life.

Why don't the TSA employees go to jail when actual bombs get past the security
checkpoints? That's an actual risk.

Oh right, it blows the illusion of security theater. Never mind. I thought we
were actually trying to protect the traveling public there for a second. Silly
me.

~~~
tjic
Geez, the drama.

How has her life been ruined?

~~~
hbien
She had to drop out of MIT and move out of Boston because of jerks spitting in
her face, who think the media gave them 100% of the story that she tried to do
a "bomb hoax".

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andreyf
This is what terrorism does - it terrorizes people. The unfortunate deaths on
9/11 were a means to that end.

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pavelludiq
Americans never had the honor to live in a real dictatorship, i would suggest
you guys try it for a few decades, you will learn not to trust the guys making
laws pretty fast.

~~~
Zev
Unless I'm hugely mistaken, American trust in the government isn't anywhere
near a high point right now. Unfortunately I can't find a source to back this
up, so take it as you want.

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sanj
if you were the boston police and wanted to minimiZe nuisance calls from the
airport, making an example of this seems like an efficient way to do so.

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noonespecial
That's just it. They'd prefer to send a strong "don't be different" message.
They think if they can coerce everyone into absolute conformity, it will lower
the cost of searching out tur-ists.

What really happens is they create a set of protocols that are simple to learn
that will allow real terrorists to hide in plain sight.

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sanj
I think they send a strong "don't waste our time" message.

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MaysonL
They also send a "we're incompetent, dangerous (carrying around loaded
automatic weapons in an airport terminal is _dumb_ ) fools" message.

~~~
sanj
Ever flown out of Tel Aviv?

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kzar
Poor girl, really sad to see this.

