2 men released as Boston officials seek restitution for ploy that sparked terror

[Tankgrl]

An article found on:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20070201-0948-suspiciousdevices.html

2 men released as Boston officials seek restitution for ploy that sparked terrorism fears

By Jay Lindsay
ASSOCIATED PRESS

9:48 a.m. February 1, 2007

BOSTON â€" Two men who authorities say placed electronic advertising devices around the city were released from jail Thursday, apparently amused with the publicity stunt that stirred fears of terrorism and shut down parts of the city.

Peter Berdovsky, 27, and Sean Stevens, 28, were released on $2,500 cash bond after each pleaded not guilty to placing a hoax device and disorderly conduct for a device found Wednesday at a subway station. They waved and smiled as they greeted people in court.

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Outside, they met reporters and television cameras and launched into a nonsensical discussion of hair styles of the 1970s. “What we really want to talk about today â€" it's kind of important to some people â€" it's haircuts of the 1970s,” Berdovsky said.

Officials found 38 blinking electronic signs promoting the Cartoon Network TV show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” on bridges and other high-profile spots across the city Wednesday, prompting the closing of a highway and the deployment of bomb squads. The surreal series is about a talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball. The network is a division of Turner Broadcasting Systems Inc.

“It's clear the intent was to get attention by causing fear and unrest that there was a bomb in that location,” Assistant Attorney General John Grossman said at their arraignment.

The 1-foot tall signs, which were lit up at night, resembled a circuit board, with protruding wires and batteries. Most depicted a boxy, cartoon character giving passersby the finger â€" a more obvious sight when darkness fell.

The men did not speak or enter their own pleas, but they appeared amused and smiled as the prosecutor talked about the device found at Sullivan Station underneath Interstate 93, looking like it had C-4 explosive.

“The appearance of this device and its location are crucial,” Grossman said. “This device looks like a bomb.”

Some in the gallery snickered.

Outside the courthouse, Michael Rich, a lawyer for both of the men, said the description of a bomb-like device could be used for any electronic device.

“If somebody had left a VCR on the ground it would have been a device with wires, electronic components and a power source,” he said.

Boston officials were livid when the devices were discovered.

“It is outrageous, in a post 9/11 world, that a company would use this type of marketing scheme,” Mayor Thomas Menino said Wednesday. “I am prepared to take any and all legal action against Turner Broadcasting and its affiliates for any and all expenses incurred during the response to today's incidents.”

Berdovsky, an artist, told The Boston Globe he was hired by a marketing company and said he was “kind of freaked out” by the furor.

“I find it kind of ridiculous that they're making these statements on TV that we must not be safe from terrorism, because they were up there for three weeks and no one noticed. It's pretty commonsensical to look at them and say this is a piece of art and installation,” he said.

Fans of the show mocked authorities for what they called an overreaction.

About a dozen fans gathered outside Charlestown District Court on Thursday morning with signs saying “1-31-07 Never Forget” and “Free Peter.”

“We're the laughing stock,” said Tracy O'Connor, 34.

“It's almost too easy to be a terrorist these days,” said Jennifer Mason, 26. “You stick a box on a corner and you can shut down a city.”

Authorities vowed to hold Turner accountable for what Menino said was “corporate greed,” that led to at least $750,000 in police costs.

As soon as Turner realized the Boston problem around 5 p.m., it said, law enforcement officials were told of their locations in 10 cities where it said the devices had been placed for two to three weeks: Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore., Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Philadelphia.

“We apologize to the citizens of Boston that part of a marketing campaign was mistaken for a public danger,” said Phil Kent, chairman of Turner, a division of Time Warner Inc.

Kent said the marketing company that placed the signs, Interference Inc., was ordered to remove them immediately.

Interference had no comment. A woman who answered the phone at the New York-based firm's offices Wednesday afternoon said the firm's CEO was out of town and would not be able to comment until Thursday.

Messages seeking additional comment from the Atlanta-based Cartoon Network were left with several publicists.

Authorities are investigating whether Turner or other companies should be criminally charged, Attorney General Martha Coakley said. “We're not going to let this go without looking at the further roots of how this happened to cause the panic in this city,” Coakley said.

In Seattle and several suburbs, the removal of the signs was low-key. “We haven't had any calls to 911 regarding this,” Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb said Wednesday.

Police in Philadelphia said they believed their city had 56 devices.

The New York Police Department removed 41 of the devices â€" 38 in Manhattan and three in Brooklyn, according to spokesman Paul Browne. The NYPD had not received any complaints. But when it became aware of the situation, it contacted Cartoon Network, which provided the locations so the devices could be removed.

“Aqua Teen Hunger Force” is a cartoon with a cultish following that airs as part of a block of programs for adults on the Cartoon Network. A feature length film based on the show is slated for release March 23.

 

Associated Press Writer Tom Hays in New York contributed to this report.

[usonian]

I've been following this story since yesterday and it just keeps getting more and more ridiculous.  My roomate used to do promotions around ASU for Adult Swim and we did all kinds of odd things, especially when it came to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force stuff.  I saw an article on Make about these signs and I thought they were an awesome idea - way better than the hundreds of repeated posters you see plastered on construction barriers in NY and Boston.

What gets me is that these things were up in 10 major cities for weeks and nobody complained, then all of a sudden somebody sees a piece of electronics with a cartoon figure on it and cries bomb.  All I've heard from the media are the words "bomb hoax" which have nothing to do with what these guys, and many other across the nation were doing.  I liked how one website said that if it was a mcdonalds logo or nike swoosh on the signs, nobody would have cared.  Just goes to show you how ignorance and fear can make people do stupid things.  I think the BPD are just trying to save face by arresting the two guys (of many who did this all accross the country) because they made a big deal out of nothing.

Some news sites even photoshopped the six-pixel "middle finger" out of pictures of the signs.  I can't help but laugh at it all.  I really hope that Turner Broadcasting defends their methods and these two guys against all this madness, but of course they won't cause it will cost too much money.

Also, if i hear "in this post 9/11 world" one more time i'm going to lose it.

[Kothnok]

In this post 12/7 world, I dive for cover whenever I hear a prop driven plane overhead.

[Kaethdorala]

I don't even know what to say. I've been following this as well and it just gets more outrageous each day. People need to get over themselves these lawyers and cops all screaming and crying cause they looked like retards. It just saddens me that this is what our society has become it's a joke ppl I mean come on. If you ask me the terrorists did win if evertime you put an electronic device somwhere ppl are gonna go omg its a bomb! Also they were there for 3 weeks? Good thing it wasnt a bomb I mean its there for three weeks then some old geezer who doenst know anything about it freaks and calls the cops screaming bomb its just sorry. If these ppl go to jail for this it will be a sad day in america the "land of the free".

[Lyte]

In my opinion, better to be safe than ignore it and be sorry.  I personally do not think they should have put those signs/advertisements up and I think it's an outrage that they would stand around smiling and mocking about it all, knowing how much it scared people. 

[Darkling]

I have to agree this was blown way out of proportion. For three weeks these signs were up and someone decided to make a complaint.

"Post 9/11" is a phrase used to keep people in a panic. The media are going to mold the story and you are never going to get the full truth of it all. My cell phone could be considered a bomb if I accidentally left it on a table at McDonald's. Everything is suspect now according to the media. Look at all the stuff that is banned from carry-on luggage at the airport. Lipstick? Facial cream? Lighters but not matches? We are led to think we are 'safe' in an unsafe world, and it has always been an unsafe world. That's life.

Now someone has gone after a company over advertisement signs that are in the open for all to see. Come on. Real bombs are going to be hidden so no one can find them. Terrorists aren't stupid. How many attacks have been done on U.S. soil since 9/11? None. Eventually, there may be another attack. Don't get complacent like we were before, but don't be paranoid either.

And these reports that have come up are just making people paranoid. Maybe one of us should call up the media and say we think we are being mind controlled by T.V. Hidden messages on the popular radio stations?

Be aware, but don't be stupid is what I say. And right now, the media and the police are being stupid. They made arrests and cried about the money spent. The arrests weren't necessary at all. Other cities just said 'hey, go take those signs down.' Enough said and all it took was a phone call.

But Boston!? Geez, make a big deal out of literally nothing. 'Someone has to pay!' they say. Tax payers already did. We paid for unnecessary arrests. When Boston fines Cartoon Network for the money lost, are we going to get it back?

Now the point has been made. Boston made a huge mistake, cost tax payers money, and are now trying to save face for making themselves look ignorant. It always comes down to one thing...money. Watch future reports because the focus will be on the fines Cartoon Network may receive. Then the citizens of Boston should start petitioning their local government to have that money returned to them. Because in the end, the citizens will be the ones screwed over, not the two guys arrested or Cartoon Network.

[Quikslver]

What happened exactly?  I saw a small article online, but I didn't read it.

[Darkling]

Browsing the internet, there on Yahoo news sits another article about the Boston stuff. It went from $500,000 city costs two hours ago to $1 million. Like I said, it's about saving face through money now because some idiot didn't like the signs.

[un4]

A friend of mine told me about something that happened at a local high school a few months ago. Some moron brought in two batteries taped together, and bragged that it was a bomb to his friends.  He phoned in a threat, and the powers that be had the kid expelled.

[Kothnok]

I think we've gotten too paranoid lately as a society.  On the other hand, everyone knows it's wrong to yell "FIRE!" in a crowded movie theater when they are "only joking".  There are some jokes that should not be done as they will create mass hysteria and panic because there is no time to judge the vailidity of it.  In matters of life and death, if you hesitate, it could cost your life or the lives of those around you. 

As pointed out by others around the net, several cities have had this silly marketting campaign without incident, but Boston had a massive reaction to it.  What was the difference?  I think the difference is that in the other cities, none of the circuit boards were placed in a strategic positions or in places that might cause a panic if found (not that I have confirmation of it, just assuming so based on there being no other reactions).  If I filled a backpack full of sand and electronic junk and proceeded to leave it somewhere knowing that if found, it would probably cause a bomb scare... that's crossing the line and is not something that should be condoned.  Unfortunately, people have different opinions on where that line is and what it means to cross it.  That's why we have courts and juries of our peers to ultimately decide whether anything criminal was done. 

Sony paid youngsters to spray graffiti on buildings to advertise the PSP and several cities had to sue them to get the money to clean that up.  Boston may be within their right to seek restitution should the courts find these advertisers went "too far" as well.

[Drygioni]

A friend of mine told me about something that happened at a local high school a few months ago. Some moron brought in two batteries taped together, and bragged that it was a bomb to his friends.  He phoned in a threat, and the powers that be had the kid expelled.

kids used to phone bomb threats into our highschool from the donut shop pay phones to get the day off.

[Kaethdorala]

If ya ask me its just ppl being ignorant. It's just like Uso said if it was a nike swish or a mcdonalds sign no one would of cared, or even if some red sox obsessed fan would of done something like this it would of been looked at as so cool and boston would of loved it. But because its something that is not the "norm" like ATHF ppl freak out.

[Khanus]

>

Man, the resemblance to the Manhattan Project is uncanny. They are just looking to make an example of these guys. Nip it in the bud as Barney Fife would say.

[un4]

Ouch.

[Tankgrl]