The man with a suspicious item in his luggage that resulted in a partial shutdown on Thursday night of Miami International Airport turns out to be a former Texas Tech University professor who served time in prison for mishandling samples of bubonic plague. According to The Miami Herald, Thomas C. Butler was detained at the airport after what looked like a pipe bomb was seen in his luggage and the authorities found out about his past. Mr. Butler was convicted in 2003 on charges stemming from an incident in his lab that sparked a bioterrorism scare when it appeared that 30 vials of plague bacteria had vanished. He was later sentenced to two years in jail. In Miami, however, when the suspicious item was found to be only an empty metal canister, prosecutors said they would not be filing charges against him.
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One Response to Former Texas Tech U. Scientist Sets Off Alarm at Miami Airport
physicsprof - September 7, 2010 at 10:25 am
I am grateful to live in a country where an empty canister in my luggage will not get me a prison sentence (and yes, it is “prison” and not “jail”).