I don’t know her, and I don’t know anything about this case except what I saw during the clip of the arraignment. But having been a student at MIT for ten years, I will say that thinking a piece of breadboard with a battery hanging off it and flashing lights on it is “impressive” jewelry is totally plausible. And I’ve definitely seen people wandering around with things like Playdoh. I doubt very much that she went to the airport with the intention of looking like a terrorist - I think she probably just didn’t think about the fact that her attire was out of the mainstream, because it was in the mainstream for the place where she lives her life.
Oh for heavens sakes. My cell phone could be a bomb…after all…what do bombs look like?
what she was wearing didn’t look any more like a bomb than any thing else. It was a breadbord with some LED’s stuck on it. How does that look like a bomb?
good lord you have got to be kidding.
I said this in the other thread. She had an unidentifiable and (obviously) home-made electronic device at an airport. Brining a home-made electronic device to an airport is going to get you a cavity search at the very least.
Gosh, I couldn’t identify the entire universe of “what bombs look like” (unlike, apparently, you and vibotronica), but I’m confindent that universe includes devices made of circuit boards, batteries, wires, and lights, that are strapped to the chest and worn to an airport.
At this point, I am seriously in the “she’s clueless” camp, yes. Which doesn’t mean she gets off entirely, ignorance of the law and all. And I just can’t wrap my head around someone who’s so senseless as to think, even if it’s the hit down at the engineering lab, an airport is the place to wander into with that getup…
As an aside, 10 years at MIT? Don’t you think it’s time you started taking college seriously there? 
I’ve been out for ten more years now. 
I did 3 years as an undergrad and 7 years in grad school. Once I graduated, I coached the ballroom dance team until I moved a couple of years ago. So I think I’m still fairly in touch with the school zeitgeist.
Personally, I might not think as much about what’s “appropriate” to wear to the airport if I’m just going to meet my boyfriend, as opposed to going through security.
Well, cluelessness may be a defense, depending on what she’s charged with, actually. If it was something that boils down to “intending to simulate a bomb,” and she actually just didn’t think about whether her jewelry might look like a bomb, then I think she gets off.
Yes, bombs sometimes include circuit boards, wires and batteries…as do cell phones, digital cameras, mp3 players, and damn near every other thing in our lives these days.
I’ve never heard of a bomb with lights…except in bad movies.
When I worked airport security…admittadly 20 years ago or so…we were trianed to look for wires and batteries in the xray machine…and we were trained to indentify wether they were going to a portable radio or something harmless and a stick of dynamite. You saw a battery and a wire…you stopped the machine and took a closer look…no actuall explosive device or anything else suspicious you let the passenger be on their way.
Could you make a bomb that look like that? Sure, you could make one that looked like a loaf of bread. Hell…You might even be reasonable expected to ask a passenger why they were carrying a loaf of bread to an airport…even xray it. then you send them on their way. You dont panic.
Aw, bullshit. Forevery device you’ve named, the components are on the inside, not the outside. AND you don’t wear it strapped to your chest. Disassemble a cell phone and strap the various pieces to your chest, go to the airport and see what kind of reception YOU receive.
The stories I’ve read said she approached an information booth, asked when a flight was arriving, and the person at the booth asked about the device. According to these stories, she turned and walked away, apparently without answering. It sounds like the person at the information booth also saw the putty. Example. Some people then fled the building thinking it was a bomb. The info booth attendant then called the police.
So we have someone with some type of crude electronic device attached to her chest, playing with something that looks like a plastic explosive, not answering an inquiry from an information booth attendant, and instead walking away, while some began to panic. All of this in an airport, a facility known to be targeted by terrorists.
The cops get the call on the radio and they’re told the above. I think they have every reason to be extremely suspicious and very concerned about their own safety. If indeed it is a bomb, the lives of the officers responding to the call would be at grave risk. Since it is my view that cops responding to what could be an extremely dangerous situation still have every right to go home to see their families, there’s no doubt they have every right in the world to proceed in a manner that would best allow them to defend their lives and the lives of people around them by drawing their guns and telling the person to hold the fuck still while the police investigate.
Yes, a cell phone, a loaf of bread, or a teddy bear could be a bomb, but it is common to carry those things in an airport. Sure, it’s easy to read a story on the Internet and think nothing of someone walking around an airport with homemade electronics strapped to themselves while playing with a material that could be mistaken for an explosive, but would you bet your life that you know for sure that the strange person isn’t a suicide bomber? If you feel confident enough in your skills to be able stake your life that you can detect what is and isn’t a bomb in a crowded airport, then I think you’re in the wrong line of work.
If someone is an idiot enough to act in such a bizarre manner, then it is lunacy to place the dignity of that person above the potential loss of life from someone who, upon first glance, has equipment that looks like it could kill you and the people around you.
For comparisson, an GIS for IED results in this image of an (alleged) IED, the home-made electronic “art” this student was wearing was this. The airport employee saw it for only a few seconds, asked her what it was, and she just walked away. Yes, security is going to be called.
I don’t see this as an unreasonable reaction.
ETA: I can’t even tell in that photo that the LEDs are in the shape of a star. It just looks like a home-made device of some kind.
It doesn’t? What does a bomb look like?
Has no bomb ever had wires, a battery and led’s?
If you are the security person and are responsible for the safety of others (which means you need to be cautious) are you going to assume you know exactly what every single device could possibly look like that some nutjob might put together?
Dear me.
Once again I will declare for the sake of my city that the ATHF incident was a tremendously embarrassing mess for itself. We looked like idiots and the higher ups thought the solution was to PRESS THE HIGHEST CHARGES ON THESE HOOLIGANS! Which of course made us only look sillier, and of course, those two guys never spent a day in prison.
Once again this city I love looks foolish, not because they over-reacted though. From what I can tell from the situation the police and security acted correctly in a murky situation. We look stupid because we go around bragging that Boston is home to Haaaahvaaard, and MIT (technically Cambridge, okay, lay off). Two schools of such high prestige. Well, how good of a school could it be if it accepts such raging idiots like this girl? MIT students have been famous over the years for pulling off some fantasticly complex and humorous pranks. This is not one of them.
At least the Red Sox finally won a game.
I must say that if this was a stunt, I’m extremely disappointed that all an MIT student could come up with was blinking LEDs mounted on a breadboard. What, did you just discover the 555 timer IC? Next it’ll be a crystal diode radio. Nam June Paik she is not.
Not only is the woman a jerk, she also has no tits.
If she indeed did not answer the person at the booth in this manner, and walked away, then she indeed was an idiot. The person at the booth would not be expected to know that a breadboard with wires attached is or isn’t harmless.
Hell, unless the whole thing could be examined up close, I wouldn’t be able to tell and I used many a breadboards in my EE program. Once the police were called then I’m guessing they stopped her from a distance far enought away that they wouldn’t have been able to tell.
With a sweatshirt, it’s possible to conceal a bomb, and if she were a wannabe suicide bomber then having the bomb strapped on would be the way to go.
The only question is if she should be arrested once it’s found to be lame art. Personally, I think she should be slapped for the lameness. She’s getting plenty mocked for the cluelessness.
I posted something similar in the MPSIMS thread. She’s an MIT sophomore in EE and that’s the best she can do? You can do better than this with a $50 home electronics kit from Radio Shack.
As someone who used to work at an airport, I have no problem with the actions taken as detailed in the OP. Had she twitched and they shot her, again I would have no problem.
This is what a real suicide bomb looks like. Note the efforts to CONCEAL the explosives and wiring.
And did you look at the IED in my post?
ETA: And someone who is mentally ill or wishes to scare the bejeezus out of people might not wish to conceal anything.
Why are you having such a hard time seeing that the device she had would cause alarm at an airport?