June 3, 2008

MIT Student Cleared of Criminal Charge in Airport Bomb Scare

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology student who was arrested at Logan International Airport in September for wearing what the police initially mistook for a bomb has apologized for her actions, The Boston Globe reported today.

The local district attorney dropped the only criminal charge — possession of a hoax device — against the student, Star Simpson, who will be a junior at MIT this fall. A judge ordered her to offer the public apology and to perform 50 hours of community service with students and veterans, the Globe reported.

Ms. Simpson, from Lahaina, Hawaii, studies electrical engineering and computer science at MIT. At the time of her arrest — at gunpoint — she was wearing a sweatshirt adorned with a circuit board, green LED lights, and wires connected to a nine-volt battery.

“Although I never intended to act in a disorderly fashion, I now realize that the shirt I created caused alarm and concern at Logan Airport,” Ms. Simpson said in a written statement. —Sara Lipka

Comments

1. So, what part of stupid, but evidently not felony-stupid, did this student not understand.

   If the student had been male, from Roxbury, with a Middle Eastern or African American identity, and attended a local community college, I wonder how willing the local D.A. wuld have been to settle for dropped charges and an apology.

   — Peggy    Jun 3, 12:36 PM    #

2. I had hoped her apology went something like, “ I’m sorry you are all so stupid and wasting time and money chasing ghosts while our national policies are creating new generations of people who hate us. So sorry.”

   — Tony    Jun 3, 01:21 PM    #

3. Cleared?

   Er, not quite. It was a plea bargain. She accepted responsibility/guilt.

   The deal made it possible for her to keep this from creating a criminal record.

   That’s not even close to being “cleared.”

   — Prof. K    Jun 3, 03:28 PM    #

4. She, and you Tony, are the stupid ones.

   — MD    Jun 3, 04:12 PM    #

5. I am glad that as academics we are able to determine who is and who is not stupid based on a 3 to 5 line comment posted here.

   — Dale    Jun 3, 04:41 PM    #

6. Well, hard to say whether she’s stupid or not, but her actions were certainly unthinking, immature, and foolish. She’s simply lucky the consequences weren’t worse for her.

   — Christine    Jun 3, 05:18 PM    #

7. So now luck is defined as not being gunned down in a public place by agents of the state for dressing idiosyncratically? Why? Because “everything’s changed since 9/11”?

   Let’s just shoot everyone on the spot who does not obey the “commands” of the police? Since when were we placed on this earth to obey commands of some officious Eric Cartman clone for whom the public credulity in the face of imaginary threats is the best thing that happened to his career?

   I am not afraid of middle easterners; I am afraid of the police.

   — Jim    Jun 3, 11:09 PM    #

8. Aw Jim, that is just so swell. I’ll bet you stare in the mirror every morning and marvel at how perfectly progressive you are. I’m sure it is hard to pull yourself away from your reflection and get on with your day, what with your amazement at your own complete cultural awareness and rock steady sure of the greatness of each and every lifestyle that passes through your experience.

   You know, I’ll bet you are so enlightened that you would have been one of those guys who wouldn’t have worried one bit that a bunch of “middle easterners” only wanted to learn how to pilot an airplane and didn’t care at all how to land it. You probably would have loudly complained should anyone have asked about their backgrounds or the interesting company that they keep. But don’t worry about that; just keep telling yourself how wonderful you and your comerades are in your progressive ardor.

   — J. Ward    Jun 4, 02:37 AM    #

9. What does piloting an aircraft have to do with wearing a plastic protoboard with some light emitting diodes? Is it your point, J Ward, that airplane prospective hijackers come to airports decked out with flashing LED’s? Are you suggesting that we should shoot on sight any middle easterners who admit to having taken flying lessons if they show up at an airport? I don’t see how airport security was equipped to do that job either in 2001 or now.

   My problem is with how that girl was treated, during and after the incident (e.g., once we know that she had not taken flying lessons, perhaps prosecuting her was a bit excessive) She should not have been treated that way, and people ought to be able to go about their business without having automatic weapons leveled at them. In addition, show trials and phony forced confessions are something that are Stalinistic. We don’t need them here in any form.

   And what is progressive (or regressive for that matter) about suggesting that our police have gone not just a little batty but a lot batty of late in their response to this incident and others (having had their egos bruised by the reaction to their stupid response to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force fiasco).

   The girl wasn’t flying an airplane—she wasn’t acting stupidly—the police and, in my opinion the portion of the public who listen to folks such as yourself, are the foolish ones, reveling in the drama all this has inserted into their lives.

   Your posting—in which you so eloquently seem to be making the case that I admire myself in the mirror, and that a nine volt battery is like a jet engine is a study in irrelevancy; it reminds me of the sheep in animal farm who started bleating “four legs good, two legs bad” every time the conversation actually looked like it might have two sides to it. It is the way all two many conversations on these kinds of topics have been ending since 2001 and it is my hope that the sheep will clam themselves and listen a little bit sometime in the near future.

   — Jim    Jun 4, 04:39 AM    #

10. Thanks Jim and J. Ward, naivete vs. paranoia.

    How about calling this just an unfortunate incident and getting on with life?

    — John    Jun 4, 06:46 AM    #

11. It’s hard to supress the irony-artist in one while enduring the airport experience these days. What do they do with the perfume or lotion that they confiscate from you? They throw it in a barrel. Why do they take it? Because it might be a dangerous substance. What do they do with the confiscated property in the barrel? They throw it away, that is, they throw away what the airport employees don’t take first. If these were potentially dangerous substances, would they deal with them this way? Doesn’t this prove that the whole exercise is a charade? My sympathy is with the irony artists.

    — Philip J Tramdack    Jun 4, 07:32 AM    #

12. Thanks, Philip, I never thought about that before. If those liquids are potentially dangerous substances shouldn’t they be treated with extreme care? Homeland Security now has a list of “Chemicals of Interest” – shouldn’t they take all these confiscated vials and test them before disposing of them if there is a threat posed by them?

    Also, I wonder when they will arrest one of the old grandmas who wear the Christmas sweatshirts with the flashing lights.

    — Robert    Jun 4, 08:12 AM    #

13. Jim, why exactly are you “afraid of the police”?
    This talentless dim wit was just doing this to get her fifteen minutes.
    She got it. but she could have just as easily been an actual nut job.

    If you were in the position of being the “officious Eric Cartman clone”
    please enlighten us on how you would have handled this situation.
    Personally I think they did very well.
    (She doesn’t have any new holes in her head, does she?)
    I’m not afraid of the police, but then again, I’m not trying to amaze the
    masses with my artistic brilliance either.
    If we all snap to reality for just a sec, an airport might not have been
    the best venue for this, it was horribly insensitive to those around her.

    — Jim L.    Jun 4, 08:48 AM    #

14. Juvenal got it right quite some time ago: “Sed quis custodiet ipsos custodes?”

    There’s still no good answer to that problem that includes “What, me worry?”

    We have to have police, obviously. We do not have to have a police state.

    — Dan    Jun 4, 09:07 AM    #

15. Countless kids in elementary and preschool are wearing shoes with flashing lights… Should we shoot them too, or perhaps prosecute their parents for aiding and abetting a terrorist act?

    The kid was expressing her devotion to EE with a circuit

    — Alex    Jun 4, 09:07 AM    #

16. The problem was not simply that she wore a shirt that looked like a bomb. When she was initially questioned by airport authorities about what the device was, she did not answer that was a breadboard she had designed for the career fair the previous day. Her failure to respond to questioning and then rushing away from the questioning official is what caused the big guns to come out. Had she explained herself when asked, it is unlikely that the situation would have escalated in the manner it did.

    — Fellow MIT student    Jun 4, 09:44 AM    #

17. This student is fortunate. Nevertheless, she is immature, stupid and dangerous.

    — kvc    Jun 4, 10:51 AM    #

18. Even before 9-11, I believe, the airports had a rule against telling jokes about having a bomb. In this case, while it’s true that the security personnel seem to have overreacted, tell me—what are they supposed to do? Should they all be given courses in handling hoaxes and sophomoric humor? Yes, the new airport regulations are strict, but security personnel are trying to save lives. I don’t think that that’s a laughing matter. If you want to make a humorous statement, bring aboard Milton Berle’s Private Joke File. THAT’S legal to bring on board!

    — Phil Schwartz    Jun 4, 12:17 PM    #

19. It occurs to me that we have quite an extensive conversation (perhaps shouting match is a better term) over what is, in the end, appears to be a harmless event.

    I find it interesting that the crowd in this discussion is little different from the crowd at the airport. The airport crowd thought they saw a bomb (Can you imagine that a bomber would actually walk around in public with a visible explosive device? Even homicide bombers [Martyrs to the holy cause for those of limited intelligence] conceal their bombs until it’s time to flip the switch)? This crowd seems actually convinced that we will determine the cause/effect/outcome/appropriateness/“what should have happened”/“what should not have happened” – all without knowing the entire story.

    It’s a great day folks! Go get some air.

    — 2B    Jun 4, 12:28 PM    #

20. Perhaps this MIT student should be introduced to the protester who became famous for uttering “Don’t tase me Bro.” They would be a good match.

    — Gary Brooks    Jun 4, 12:39 PM    #

21. I just want to know why so many people trust Mauans. As someone from Haleiwa, I kinda find Mauans a little sneaky, but that’s just me.

    — original marci    Jun 4, 08:13 PM    #

22. According to the article above:

    “The local district attorney dropped the only criminal charge — possession of a hoax device — “

    Worried about what fell under rubric —- “hoax devices” —- just in case, may be? I read the Boston Globe Article —-It states:

    “Prosecutors also concluded that there was not enough evidence to convict Simpson of intending to upset the public at Logan Airport, as required under the hoax bomb statute.”

    Now I can relax, —- given that that I am enlightened to the fact that we have for our protection a “hoax bomb statute,” which I hope is in addition to a “real bomb statute.”

    Wait I am worried again —- for I am wondering what other protections exist —- “Hoax Rifle Statute,” Hoax Revolver Statute,” “Hoax Hunting Knife Statute, “Hoax,,,, “

    Wonder, If They Have A Hoax Cellphone Statute” —- Hey, I for one do need protection from that Cell Phone User, Do You Realize ….

    — zahid    Jun 5, 10:40 AM    #

23. Here are some more links…

    http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Comments:Student_arrested_ over_%22art%22_shirt_with_exposed_wiring_at_Boston_ Airport#Commonwealth_of_Massachusetts_Vacates_Felony_ .22Hoax_Device.22_Charges_Against_Star_Simpson

    http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Wikinews:Water_cooler/ assistance#Story_Update_Request

    http://aggieblue.blogspot.com/2007/09/fake-bombs-and- fake-art.html

    http://aggieblue.blogspot.com/2007/11/boston-herald- photographer-assaults-mit.html

    http://moultonlava.blogspot.com/2008/06/kudos-to-serina- barkley.html

    http://moultonlava.blogspot.com/2008/06/im-sorry-too. html

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Moulton#The_ Relevance_to_Wikipedia_and_Wikimedia

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:Moulton#I.27m_ Sorry.2C_Too

    http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=%22Star+ Simpson%22

    — Moulton    Jun 8, 12:47 PM    #

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