"The watch had a toggle switch, wires coming out of it and fuses," said Sgt. J. D. Nelson with the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, which is leading the investigation.
The man was detained and then arrested for having the material to craft a bomb, the sheriff's department said.
The bomb squad was called and it was determined the man did not have a device "that could function."
Those clever TSOs 'discovered' an item that was in open sight on the guy's wrist. Wow.
The local police are acting like idiots as well. Someone please tell me which of the components cited (wires, watch, circuit board, toggle switch) are illegal to possess.
I'm not surprised at flights of fancy and outright ignorance at the checkpoint (disappointed, but not surprised). I am more surprised that there are apparently laws on the books that permit the police to charge and incarcerate the guy.
Like many people, I wear a timing device on my wrist when I go to airports. In fact, I make it a point to wear one, since failure to do so is likely to lead to me missing flights due to not knowing what time it is. Could I be arrested because the timing device on my wrist actually works as the manufacturer intended?
Like many people, I wear a timing device on my wrist when I go to airports. In fact, I make it a point to wear one, since failure to do so is likely to lead to me missing flights due to not knowing what time it is. Could I be arrested because the timing device on my wrist actually works as the manufacturer intended?
Maybe.
Do you also travel with any electronic item containing a circuit board? Do you travel with any sort of wires or cables?
Wait...as long as nothing has a toggle switch, you might be OK...
Like many people, I wear a timing device on my wrist when I go to airports. In fact, I make it a point to wear one, since failure to do so is likely to lead to me missing flights due to not knowing what time it is. Could I be arrested because the timing device on my wrist actually works as the manufacturer intended?
Does you timing device have "a toggle switch, wires coming out of it and fuses"?
Does you timing device have "a toggle switch, wires coming out of it and fuses"?
I believe he pointed out that it is a piece of 'art jewelry', it doesn't even work as a functional watch. Perhaps you should browse online - recycled electronic components have been used to make some very avant garde, very pricey 'art' jewelry for a long time now.
As an earlier poster pointed out (with photographic evidence), it's possible to have all of these things in your possession, ready to disassemble/reassemble once in the sterile area.
Wires? 8-year-old kids walk up to the checkpoint with 'wires' on their Ipods. And there's plenty of 'wires' you can buy at electronics shops in larger airport sterile areas.
Fuses? What kind of fuses? Do you know what sort of electronic gear uses fuses? Would you recognize fuses if someone had a few spares in his/her bag?
Toggle switch? Actually, I have a very large, red-and-glitter one from an old old decollator that burned out years ago where I worked. It's been on my keychain for decades now.
Timer? I think a significant portion of the population transiting the checkpoint have 'timers' of some sort on them, functional ones at that. Not to mention the widespread availability of watches and even (gasp!) travel alarms at shops in the sterile area.
Circuit boards? Again, you don't think devices containing circuit boards pass through the checkpoint or are sold in the sterile area every day?
Further, perhaps you choose to justify TSA's 'abundance of caution'.
What sort of law makes it illegal to possess small amounts of these items? Better start raiding Radio Shack shops across the country - just look at all the b***-making supplies they have.
Programs: PC Plat, MR Plat, Kryptonium Medallion, Hoping to reach TSADD (TSA Disparaging Diamond) this year
Posts: 1,853
Quote:
Originally Posted by TWA884
Does you timing device have "a toggle switch, wires coming out of it and fuses"?
I own a resistance soldering iron that has all three components -- there is a toggle switch to turn it on, the probes are "wires coming out of it" and it has a fuse that pops when it is overloaded.
I own a resistance soldering iron that has all three components -- there is a toggle switch to turn it on, the probes are "wires coming out of it" and it has a fuse that pops when it is overloaded.
Should I not be allowed to travel with it?
You can travel with it, but not if you're wearing a working timepiece or carrying a cellphone with a functional clock...
I believe he pointed out that it is a piece of 'art jewelry', it doesn't even work as a functional watch. Perhaps you should browse online - recycled electronic components have been used to make some very avant garde, very pricey 'art' jewelry for a long time now.
I'm sorry, but if he deliberately made it look like a bomb or a timing device, he should have been prepared to deal with the consequences.
According to the Daily Mail, there was more to this story:
Quote:
Sgt Nelson said that was just one of many irregularities which led officers to be disturbed by his demeanour and attire.
'He was wearing a military style shirt that has a built-in tourniquet in the sleeves,' he said.
McGannwas also wearing shoes two sizes too big and packed with layers of insoles - an eery similarity to the explosive device worn by the 2001 shoe bomber, Richard Reid.
'They also had what appeared to be a homemade cavity in them and he was very evasive on everything that he was doing,' Nelson said.
<snip>
'That's always a concern that someone is making a dry run,' he said.
McGann was taken to Santa Rita Jail where he was charged with possessing materials to make an explosive device.
"The watch had a toggle switch, wires coming out of it and fuses," said Sgt. J. D. Nelson with the Alameda County Sheriff's Department, which is leading the investigation.
The man was detained and then arrested for having the material to craft a bomb, the sheriff's department said.
The bomb squad was called and it was determined the man did not have a device "that could function."
I think this is a better quote from the article:
Quote:
Art is not always in the eye of the beholder. That may be the lesson one Southern California man learned Thursday night at Oakland International Airport after he tried to get through a TSA security checkpoint wearing a watch fashioned to look like a timing device.
There was not a picture of the supposed 'art' and I did not make the effort to try to find any other sources, BUT IF the watch look[ed] like a timing device then the TSA acted properly. The TSA personnel conducting the screening at the checkpoint are not explosive experts and so, apparently, called in the experts who determined that the device could not function. What if the TSA did not have this person detained while the issue was resolved and the 'watch fashioned to look like a timing device' actually turned out to be a real timing device? I am sure they would be getting flak for that. It is a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation for them.
Oh, and with respect to all the watch comments. A watch, in general, is a TIMEKEEPING device not a TIMING device. The point here being that most watches are not made to 'look like a timing device', therefore the TSA would have no reason for additional scrutinization of them or their possessors without other reasons.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chollie
--SNIP -- I am more surprised that there are apparently laws on the books that permit the police to charge and incarcerate the guy.
Laws have existed for decades that allow the police to detain/arrest someone on suspicion or conspiracy charges.
BUT IF the watch look[ed] like a timing device then the TSA acted properly.
Any smart phone -- not to mention feature phones -- can act as a timing device. Ditto for tablets and laptops. And watches. Yet the TSA doesn't question those devices.
Obviously, there's something else going on here. My guess is that the TSA didn't like this device simply because it looked very, very scary. And the scarier it looks, the heavier the charges heaped on the innocent.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MIT_SBM
The point here being that most watches are not made to 'look like a timing device', therefore the TSA would have no reason for additional scrutinization of them or their possessors without other reasons.
What if the watch is a Casio F91W? Does it look like a timing device?
Last edited by OldGoat; Nov 17, 12 at 7:24 pm..
Reason: Added response related to Casio F91W
There was not a picture of the supposed 'art' and I did not make the effort to try to find any other sources, BUT IF the watch look[ed] like a timing device then the TSA acted properly. The TSA personnel conducting the screening at the checkpoint are not explosive experts and so, apparently, called in the experts who determined that the device could not function. What if the TSA did not have this person detained while the issue was resolved and the 'watch fashioned to look like a timing device' actually turned out to be a real timing device? I am sure they would be getting flak for that. It is a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation for them.
Oh, and with respect to all the watch comments. A watch, in general, is a TIMEKEEPING device not a TIMING device. The point here being that most watches are not made to 'look like a timing device', therefore the TSA would have no reason for additional scrutinization of them or their possessors without other reasons.
Laws have existed for decades that allow the police to detain/arrest someone on suspicion or conspiracy charges.
I realize there are no pictures available of what he was actually wearing, but since you are making a clear distinction between a watch (timekeeping device) and a 'timing device', perhaps you could provide a link to a 'timing device' that would show the significant differences?
