There has been discussion of late here on Daily Kos about police abuse, but perhaps the most chilling I've ever heard is reported in today's New York Times, wherein a Massachuttes Institute of Technology student was arrested for wearing curcuit board in plain sight on her sweat shirt. The most chilling point in the story is this quote:
The student, Star A. Simpson, 19, is "very lucky to be alive," said Maj. Scott S. Pare of the state police, commanding officer of the airport’s security contingent.
More below the fold..
Ms. Simpson, a sophomore at M.I.T. who is Hawaiian, created the shirt decoration to attract attention at a school job fair she was planning to attend this weekend. According to her, it was a bit of art meant to intrigue recruiters and attract attention to her talent.
A photo, shown with the NYT story, reveals a small circuit board, several LED lights, and a battery, all in plain sight. As the story explains:
Ms. Simpson was arrested at gunpoint on a traffic island outside the terminal after following instructions from officers not to move and to raise her hands with her palms open.
She pleaded not guilty to charges of disorderly conduct and possession of a hoax device, and was released on $750 bail.
One doesn't have to be a genius to realize that someone with a real bomb might try to hide it from authorities until they can detonate it. Still, the police were prepared to shoot a 19 year old student, who fits no profile of terrrorists that I know of, with lethal force.
This was the second time in eight months that a circuit board had created a security scare in Boston. On Jan. 31, the city was brought to a virtual standstill while the police recovered some of the 38 lighted boards that had been placed around the Boston area as part of a guerrilla marketing campaign for the Cartoon Network. That prank cost Boston $1 million, though the city was later compensated by the Cartoon Network, whose general manager resigned over the incident.
A warning here is, put away all those trick holiday ties and buttons with the blinking lights and music coming out of them. In fact, the skimpier one dresses, the safer one might be, except that airlines are beginning to demand more modesty from passengers than any Boston wag, as chronicled by CNN
The school chimed in with lots of support for its student, as explained by the times,
M.I.T. administrators said in a statement that they were cooperating with the police in an investigation of Ms. Simpson’s venture. "As reported to us by authorities," the statement said, "Ms. Simpson’s actions were reckless and understandably created alarm at the airport."
Once again, the hyping of, mostly elusive terrorist threat combined with increased callousness and hair triggers on the part of police, have resulted in the endangering and criminalizing of a student for a tricky art project.
The fear George W. Bush and his cronies have hyped for the last sixe years is reaping generous rewards for those who wish to abuse their power. ABC News underscored this yesterday, albeit unintentionally, when it reported that 150 people have died from taser attacks executed by police and other agens of the government.
Freedom continues to erode, at an advancing pace. Is there any one who will name the elephant in the middle of the room for the facist that it is? I am quite sure this is what 1933 felt like in Germany.