Matthew F. Pye, a student at the University of Central Florida, was arrested Saturday when authorities discovered what appeared to be sticks of dynamite in his car. The fake explosive was created for a theater class, according to the Ocala Star-Banner. The authorities evacuated a movie theater near where the car was parked, and charged Mr. Pye, 19, with manufacturing, possessing, and displaying a weapon of mass destruction. The student, who was reportedly showing the fake dynamite to a friend, did not appear to threaten anyone. He could face up to 15 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. His father told the newspaper that this was “just an unfortunate thing,” and that he hoped the authorities “realize that and throw it out of court.”
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5 Responses to Student Arrested for Having Fake Dynamite for Theater Class
grumpygradstudent - March 8, 2010 at 4:43 pm
It seems the Ocala PD and Prosecutor are a tad overzealous. I wonder if it is an election year down there? Theater props are now illegal? Not sure how *fake* dynamite could possibly count as a WMD, since it doesn’t meet the criteria of the Florida Anti-Terrorism Law:(a) “Weapon of mass destruction” means:1. Any device or object that is designed or intended to cause death or serious bodily injury through the release, dissemination, or impact of toxic or poisonous chemicals, or their precursors;2. Any device or object involving a disease organism; or3. Any device or object that is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life.
norton95 - March 8, 2010 at 5:15 pm
grumpygradstudent – take some time to get over your grumpiness and read all the information. The Chronicle does not give you enough informaion for you to slam the Oacal PD – if you follow the link to the news article you would know that the student showed the friend his “fake” dynamite outside a movie theater with other businesses nearby. Police responded to a possible bomb threat – apparently someone took the “fake” dynamite to be real.And the state attorney is waiting for all the reports to come in before determining what to do with the case – recognizing extremely poor judgment was used. The charge is an initial charge and is not an over-reaction given the public venue this student chose to show off his creativity in. I would expect nothing less given the recent airplane into the Texas IRS office and the Pentagon shooter last week.
grumpygradstudent - March 8, 2010 at 7:36 pm
@Norton: Actually, I had read several articles on the story prior to posting to get multiple perspectives on this situation. The fact remains that the Ocala PD and duty prosecutor filed terror charges that do not fit the facts of the case. Dynamite is NOT a WMD. Prop dynamite even less so. Period. The fact that they would dredge up such a terror-related charge indicates that they want to generate attention to the story and show how zealous they are to defend Ocala residents against any threat. A nice sentiment, but it’s going to backfire when the case is dismissed and they will look like idiots. Hysteria and self-aggrandizing attention serves no useful purpose, whereas solid police work and attention to detail by OPD and prosecutor would gain them some credibility.
willismg - March 8, 2010 at 8:19 pm
Geez…
teddypipcatz - March 8, 2010 at 8:39 pm
Probably not the smartest thing the student could do, but I hope he gets an “A” on his prop for authenticity.Along these lines, I recently saw two young men in the alley behind my house, dressed in black and carrying what appeared to be automatic weapons – it wasn’t until I saw the orange tip on the gun that I realized it was a toy. It seems as though one of my neighbors did not observe the orange tip, because the local PD rolled up on the scene two minutes later with weapons drawn. Thankfully, things progressed slowly enough so that no one was hurt…but it is a testimony to how “realistic” things have become.