A local plant’s workers are on strike since Labor Day. Since the strike began, there have been, according to the newspapers, six incidents of vandalism at the plant.
Most recently, someone broke into the chemical storage area and took a flammable and explosive chemical. 1200 pounds of it. He or she dumped most of what they took on the plant’s property, but there is some missing.
The paper today talked about the missing chemical, and also described how explosive the chemical is, mentioning that it can be exploded by striking it with a hammer, or by other forceful impact.
To me, that was an unwise thing to print in the paper. Someone is acting fairly maliciously, and giving them additional ideas for how to use the chemical is foolish.
On the other hand, perhaps the information could help them avoid doing something intensely stupid, like, oh, I dunno, striking the bags with a hammer?
So, to avoid an accident, should we reveal ways to use something maliciously? Which safety concern should trump the other?
What if someone found these bags, didn’t know the contents, and blew themselves up after dropping one to move it out of the way? This news report could save the life of some innocent people.
If someone has gone to the trouble of stealing or otherwise procuring explosive devices I find it difficult to believe that said individual is ignorant of how those devices work. Same goes for pointing out flaws in security because terrorists might take advantage of it to inflict damage on property or people: Terrorists have ALREADY brainstormed myriad methods of destruction, even if you haven’t.