# Teen convicted on terror charges for being "anti-American", launching model rockets **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 15, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299 "2005-06-15T00:14:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/1 "2005-06-15T00:14:00Z")
[This is insane.](http://www.canada.com/ottawa/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=4e553713-948c-4d10-b899-ceccd036ed79) > [@](#): > > A Canadian teen, who has been labelled as anti-American by prosecutors after he wore a “Joe Canadian” T-shirt to court, was found guilty yesterday in a plot to bomb his school. It gets better. > [@](#): > > The shirt was enough for the prosecution to claim that the teen was displaying his contempt for the U.S. through his choice of clothing. That’s a crime, now? > [@](#): > > “he apparently has made it clear that he does not like America and that he would prefer to be in Canada.” Fuck, if I was arrested on terrorism charges in America, I’d prefer to be in Canada, too. > [@](#): > > The raid’s findings were enough for police to arrest Travis, who, at the time he was picked up, was wearing the popular Molson Canadian T-shirt … Travis was still wearing the shirt – he hadn’t been allowed to change – when he was brought to court the next day. Fucking ridiculous. The kid wasn’t even given the chance to change out of the shift, and the prosecutor took full advantage. > [@](#): > > The teen … was accused of scrawling a bomb threat on the wall of one of his school’s bathrooms. This is what triggered the whole. Some fucking vandalism on the wall. > [@](#): > > On May 30, police raided the the house where Travis lived with parents. They found several kilograms of potassium nitrate, fuses, containers and other materials. Potassium nitrate is legal to possess and is an unlicensed substance in the U.S. It is used to pickle meats, make glass and wicks and is a key ingredient in the fuel for model rockets – a hobby Travis and his family enjoyed. > > The district attorney told the Inquirer: “We do not have a completed bomb. We have everything you need to make a bomb.” “We do not have mens rea. Fuck, we don’t even have actus reus. But this kid doesn’t like America, so we have everything we need for a conviction.” > [@](#): > > After Travis was arrested, another bomb threat was scrawled on a different bathroom wall at his school. Authorities chalked it up to a copycat crime that wasn’t worth investigating. And now everything becomes clear. This is a fucking frame-up. This poor kid has been railroaded, and it’s sickening. They’ve got the guy they wanted to arrest, so now they’re letting it go. ---
**Author:** ![Khan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3ab097/32.png) [@Khan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/2 "2005-06-15T00:24:46Z")
What a complete miscarriage, no, ABORTION of justice. Infuriating, sickening, and frightening. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/3 "2005-06-15T00:43:04Z")
I could understand if he had been arrested for hacking into his school’s computer as was mentioned in the article or if there were actual evidence that he had actually been the one to make the threat. Two “eye witnesses” that were given a reward for turning him in aren’t very reliable. What exactly is a “Joe Canadian” t-shirt? The prosecutor is _sucky-dumb_. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/4 "2005-06-15T00:43:40Z")
> [@](#): > > On May 30, police raided the the house where Travis lived with parents. They found several kilograms of potassium nitrate Psst…don’t eat the mashed potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/5 "2005-06-15T00:47:06Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > What exactly is a “Joe Canadian” t-shirt? It’s a shirt from an ad for Molson Canadian beer. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/6 "2005-06-15T00:47:30Z")
Hmmm. Seems to be a few variations on this story, depending on what paper you read. From the [_Philadelphia Inquirer_](http://www.philly.com/,;d/philly/mews/local/11885640.htm) (registration required, unless you follow a Google link): \*"Authorities contended that Travis Biehn wrote a bomb threat on a wall at Central Bucks High School East, maintained a Web site showing bomb-making materials in his bedroom, and told friends that he had the items to “blow things up.” A June 1 search of his Buckingham Township bedroom found fuses, potassium nitrate, cylinders, magnesium and other items that could be used to make explosives. Travis Biehn did not testify at the hearing. His father, Brant Biehn, testified that the boy had bought the materials for such things as science projects and backyard smoke bombs. "\* So we have a kid who hacked into his school’s computer system (according to the other story) and got suspended, allegedly made a bomb threat and had the means to carry it out based on items displayed on a web site. The cops had to be called in to search for bombs and the resultant uproar (including an apparent copycat threatmaker) resulted in the school being shut down for a day. The kid was found to be a delinquent by a local judge. He might have to do community service or reform school time. It’s…it’s just like the Gulag! Nyet. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/7 "2005-06-15T00:50:00Z")
On the face of it, it does look like the kid was convicted absent compelling evidence, but a more detailed article in the [_Globe and Mail_](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20050614/TEEN14/TPInternational/Americas) mentions a few things that may have been considered by the prosecutors that were left out of that article. The kid had previous arrests for making and selling napalm, which is a little bit more concerning that model rocketry. He was also arrested for shooting a paintball gun at moving traffic. It was also alleged that he maintained a website that had bomb-making instructions on it, and one kid said he talked to him about blowing up the school. While I certainly agree that a Molson Canadian t-shirt is hardly strong evidence of violent anti-American opinion, I’d like to know more about the evidence and testimony that was presented before making a hard decision about whether or not this whole thing was outrageous or not. It’s entirely possible that the judge concluded he did utter the threats and was preparing to make a bomb based on better evidence than we know about. I’m particularly interested in the “bomb-making” information on the website. Can it be connected to the kid? Were the materials he was charged with possessing consistent with the information on the page? If so, his guilty verdict might not be as unreasonable as it first seems. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/8 "2005-06-15T01:09:51Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > That’s a crime, now? Remember a couple of years ago just before the Iraq invavsion Mr Bush said something along the lines of: if you’re not with us, you’re against us. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/9 "2005-06-15T03:00:31Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > While I certainly agree that a Molson Canadian t-shirt is hardly strong evidence of violent anti-American opinion… It’s evidence of nothing except poor taste in beer, and a willingness to walk around as a corporate advertisement. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/10 "2005-06-15T03:21:41Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > It’s evidence of nothing except poor taste in beer, and a willingness to walk around as a corporate advertisement. Undisputed. I’m glad that our juvenile records on taste in beer are sealed, though. When I was his age I was fiercely loyal to O’keefe’s Extra Old Stock. :o ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/11 "2005-06-15T04:08:54Z")
So a high school kid scrawls a bomb threat on a wall, has a bomb building how-to website, and material to make a bomb, and it’s no big deal. It brings to mind a couple of kids in Colorado not long ago. That was a big deal, they used nasty guns. Lots of people were outraged that, given all the “clues” to their behaviour, nobody did anything until they had made their move and killed a few other people. But this was a good kid, no way he could have done such a thing, why he was Canadian, and anti-American, he surely couldn’t do anything as dastardly as those Columbine kids did. > [@](#): > > Cathy Block, a drama teacher who used to have the Canadian teen as a student, said he is a victim of a new air of “vigilantism” in the United States in the wake of the Columbine high-school killing in Colorado and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. > [@](#): > > Brant Biehn testified that his son had used the magnesium compound in an effort to remove a backyard tree stump I’ve removed tree stumps. I used an ax and a shovel. A tree stump would give a pretty good chance to test fire any bomb, I’m sure he never intended to use it for anything other than fireworks. “Vigilantism” or vigilance. Innocent tree stump blaster or potential teen age nut case. I guess we really should have waited until the smoke cleared to make that sort of call. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/12 "2005-06-15T05:04:11Z")
I don’t know anything about what this kid may or may not have done, but I’m just jaded enough not to be surprised that wearing a US Flag shirt in Canada is patriotism, whilst wearing a Molson Beer T-shirt in the U.S. is being ‘anti-American’. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/13 "2005-06-15T05:34:05Z")
> [@Rysto](#): > > This is what triggered the whole. Some fucking vandalism on the wall. Scrawling a bomb threat is something administrators and police are going to take pretty seriously. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that. If it was _just_ the graffiti, this would be way out of line. But the other posts make it sound like that something actually was wrong here. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/14 "2005-06-15T13:26:29Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Scrawling a bomb threat is something administrators and police are going to take pretty seriously. Except that now that they’ve gotten rid of this kid, they’re not taking bomb threats seriously. > [@Duke of Rat](#): > > has a bomb building how-to website Has a website “showing bomb-making materials in his bedroom”. That’s vague enough to encompass pictures of him building model rockets. > [@](#): > > I guess we really should have waited until the smoke cleared to make that sort of call. Perhaps we should wait until there’s some actual fucking evidence of a crime before convicting this kid. You know, that whole presumption of innocence thing? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/15 "2005-06-15T14:09:00Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Undisputed. I’m glad that our juvenile records on taste in beer are sealed, though. When I was his age I was fiercely loyal to O’keefe’s Extra Old Stock. :o Why do you hate Armenia? ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/16 "2005-06-15T14:12:29Z")
Fireworks and stump blasting were two excuses given by his father. They don’t live in a rural area, I can’t imagine stump blasting was much of a past time. Or very legal in itself. And stump blasting is a lot closer to bomb building than model rockets. While it looks like he was also involved in making model rockets, the same chemicals can be used to concoct a bomb. This kid “had been arrested previously for making and selling napalm”. I’ve never seen a napalm powered model rocket. Also, found in his room “more than 15 kilograms of potassium nitrate, fuses, tubing and a case of lighter fluid”. Ammonium nitrate and fuel oil makes a dandy bomb. I wonder what potassium nitrate and lighter fluid would make? Rocket engines? It’s a crime to call in a bomb threat to a school, even if you have nothing to use but a quarter and a pay phone. If you write a bomb threat on the wall of a school and have a past record of making napalm and have bomb building materials in your possesion, it’s going to be hard to explain. > [@](#): > > Perhaps we should wait until there’s some actual fucking evidence of a crime before convicting this kid. You know, that whole presumption of innocence thing? By the time the “actual fucking evidence of a crime” that Harris and Klebold commited had presented itself, 15 people were dead. There was so much Monday morning quarterbacking on that one. Why didn’t anybody see any signs? Why didn’t anybody realize that something was going to happen? Why didn’t anybody DO anything? So you are saying we need to wait until the bomb actually goes off before making a big deal over this incident. Fine by me. ---
**Author:** ![Hyperelastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Hyperelastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hyperelastic)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/17 "2005-06-15T14:31:24Z")
> [@Nanoda](#): > > I don’t know anything about what this kid may or may not have done, but I’m just jaded enough not to be surprised that wearing a US Flag shirt in Canada is patriotism, whilst wearing a Molson Beer T-shirt in the U.S. is being ‘anti-American’. Patriotism means you are especially loyal to a particular country. If you express American patriotism in Canada, it’s anti-Canadian, to the extent that Canada’s interests do not wholly coincide with America’s. > [@The Kid's T-Shirt](#): > > I have a Prime Minister, not a president. I speak English and French, not American… I can proudly sew my country’s flag on my backpack. I believe in peace keeping, not policing, diversity, not assimilation and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal. A tuque is a hat, a chesterfield is a couch, and it is pronounced ‘zed’ not ‘zee’, ‘zed’ ! That sounds tongue-in-cheek, but it actually contains some significant political criticism. The kid is at least guilty of being a damned impolite guest. If his parents think it’s OK for him to go around in a t-shirt like that, maybe they need to pack up and head back to the great white north. It’s conceivable – unlikely, but conceivable – that the kid just had a healthy male interest in explosives or rocketry. But 99% of people who fly model rockets use store-bought motors. The potassium nitrate is an ingredient in black powder, which is an ingredient in model rocket motors. You can just buy the black powder pre-made. If the kid was going to compound his own black powder, I’d expect him to be pretty knowledgeable about chemistry and combustion. I would hope they had someone knowledgeable ask him about it. The napalm making and selling is harder to explain. I think the kid probably was a deliquent, and that’s what he was evidently convicted of. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/18 "2005-06-15T14:58:23Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Undisputed. I’m glad that our juvenile records on taste in beer are sealed, though. When I was his age I was fiercely loyal to O’keefe’s Extra Old Stock. :o There stuff is crap enough when it is fresh, I can’t imagine what the stale stuff is like. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/19 "2005-06-15T15:02:48Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > That sounds tongue-in-cheek, but it actually contains some significant political criticism. The kid is at least guilty of being a damned impolite guest. If his parents think it’s OK for him to go around in a t-shirt like that, maybe they need to pack up and head back to the great white north. You can not be serious, can you? ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2005, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299/20 "2005-06-15T15:04:17Z")
> [@Hyperelastic](#): > > That sounds tongue-in-cheek, but it actually contains some significant political criticism. The kid is at least guilty of being a damned impolite guest. If his parents think it’s OK for him to go around in a t-shirt like that, maybe they need to pack up and head back to the great white north. Are you serious? It’s a freakin’ beer commercial. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/teen-convicted-on-terror-charges-for-being-anti-american-launching-model-rockets/308299.md?page=2)