14-year-old arrested for building a clock

[Senegoid]

@CalMeacham

Massachusetts law, in my all-too-quick survey, seems to be more rigid, stipulating that an offense exists only if the hoax device is used with the intent to cause “anxiety, unrest, fear, or personal discomfort.” So there wasn’t any reason to charge the MIT student.

@Really_Not_All_That_Bright

“Reasonably appears” is the key phrase there. A circuit board with a wire and a digital display does not reasonably appear to be a bomb.

Speaking of how reasonable and rational the Massachesetts folk are, does anybody remember the 2007 Boston bomb scare?

Guy makes a bunch of little boxes with a matrix of lights representing some cartoon character, and puts them up in a bunch of places, as part of a PR campaign. Panic ensues.