Arrested: US Marine At Airport With Bomb-Making Materials
From the article..."A US Marine was arrested today at Logan International Airport after federal airport screeners discovered a gun, bomb-making materials, and ammunition in his checked baggage, State Police and Transportation Security Administration officials said.
Corporal Justin Reed, 22, of Jacksonville, N.C., was booked on US Airways Flight 877 to Charlotte, N.C., said TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis. She said Reed had arrived on a flight from Las Vegas this morning.
TSA screeners in Terminal B called State Police at 7:10 a.m. after a screen discovered the following items in his checked baggage: a locked handgun box containing a semi-automatic handgun, a fully loaded gun magazine, several boxes of 9 mm and 7.62 mm ammunition, three model rocket engines containing an explosive mixture, military pull-type fuses, switches, electronics kit boxes with various components, and a hand grenade fuse assembly with detonator.
Reed was charged with possession of an infernal machine and possession of a concealed weapon in a secure area of an airport. He was booked at the State Police barracks at Logan and held in lieu of $50,000 bail. He will be arraigned at East Boston Municipal Court on Tuesday.
Davis said it is legal to have a firearm in checked baggage but that it must be declared to security officials. The passenger in this case had not declared the weapon, she said. Davis said all checked baggage on domestic flights is required to be screened by TSA on originating flights.
Reed's bags had to be screened again at Logan because baggage handlers inadvertently routed them to baggage claim instead of onto his connecting flight to Charlotte. Typically bags are not rescreened during a layover, she said.
Davis said TSA was "actively investigating" why the gun and explosive materials were not detected during the screening in Las Vegas.
20 comments:
shiva,
This definitively sounds plausible, and if he was caught with gun and bomb making materials at a US airport, the question that must by asked is why? I know military personal are supposed to handle guns and explosives, but why bring those things onto a passenger jet? Even if the overwhelming majority of terrorists are muslims fanatics, we can't just ignore the other nut jobs. According to FoxNews.com, The_FBA_Just_added_an_animal_rights_loon to their list of most wanted terrorists. His name's Daniel Andreas, and he's accused of several bombings. This guy may not be as dangerous as the Jihadists, but if he isn't apprehended quickly, he might end up killing someone soon.
The handgun, magazine and ammo explain each other away although I don't think you can fly ammo. Easy enough to see a military person having those on a flight (why he was flying, just city to city). Switches & electronic kit boxes the same.
The rocket engines more problematic. The engines themselves are okay but the fuel a definite no no.
The troublesome parts are the military fuses and grenade fuse assembly.
He apparently wasn't going to do anything on the plane or the handgun would not have been in a locked box AND everything in CHECKED baggage.
Without more specifics this could be just a really dumb service person who was headed home with some things he shouldn't have been carrying on a plane.
Be interesting to see how this turns out.
And yeah, how did they miss this stuff in Vegas?
This was discussed at free republic a couple of time recently. All the details aren't available. Did Davis declare the weapon at check-in @Las Vegas? If he did, there was no reason for him to know that he needed to declare the locked weapon in Heathrow. He was not aware of his luggage 'inadvertently' being routed to baggage claim, and if he was, would he know he was required to declare the weapon in Heathrow?
We all are aware of the employment problems at British airports. Apparently, equal opportunity employment extends to nefarious members of the cult of Islam. We are all also painfully aware of the greeting England's muslim community extends to returning soldiers. Not to mention reports of injured soldiers recouperating in hospital alongside civilians being confronted by anti-war campaigners who told them to remove their uniforms.AND . . .when British vets returning from Afghan during Christmas holiday were forced to remain on the plane because their uniforms presented a security risk eventually forced to change out of uniforms on freezing runway before using airport terminalForgive me, but considering all these recent events - this most recent incident wreaks of anti-war foul play.
MR - thanks for your take-it is mine w/ a slight twist---
Were his bags handled at any point other than the initial loading? Was he in uniform and thus-recognizable as an 'evil' - 'potential' - 'military' trained 'terrorist'? In other words - was he set up?!
C-CS
Yeah, I'm with CS & Anon (Ro?) on this one. That's not exactly "bomb making materials" all mostly normal if not harmless on their own. Not enough info something stinks a bit with this story. Although, Anon, I think you meant Logan instead of Heathrow or is there something I missed?
The question posed in the title, "Is this real?", implies perhaps that you wonder if there is some conspiracy at work.
I think he's just an idiot.
Or, he could, on an outside chance, be a member of a terrorist organization who is conducting a probing experiment.
Clearly, as you note, he did not mean to do these flights any harm.
By the way, I don't think there is any logical reason for a military man to be carrying triggering devices separate from bomb parts.
As far as I know, our military does not assemble their own bombs in the fields.
And, yeah, geez, just to go really looney on you all, this following right behind the DHS fiasco. . .
Why is Anonymous talking about Heathrow? Where is Logan Airport? Is it in the UK?
Pasto -- yeah, like I said the triggering devices are troublesome, the rest can be explained away as just dumb move.
Logan is in Boston, where flights American 11 and United 175 took off from on 9/11.
Ah, that explains that. Boston is one of the few big cities in America to which I have never had the pleasure of travelling.
Logan International Airport Boston USA
MR That is exactly what I thought, so that is why I asked if this is real. This comes almost too close behind the DHS fiasco
Yeah, I first saw this a few days ago at one of the gun blogs I read (don't remember which) and thought something smelled fishy. It wsa just a day or two after DHS hit the fan.
I was thinking the DHS report as well...
C-CS
MR -
I was not that "Anon." I know absolutely nothing about munitions or bomb-y stuff. (OK, I know what TNT and "plastic" explosives are, mainly from novels and, as you call it, TeeVee.) I also know that Logan is in Boston, and that it took forever to get there during the Big Dig years.
And I try to remember to sign all my comments, but I do sometimes forget.
BUT I make up for it by signing some of them TWICE, as you have observed on occasion.
Ro
Ro Ro,
(sorry, had to:)
I wasn't sure if it was you or not. My question was more why is that anon referencing Heathrow, was it a misstatement or something I missed somewhere, not that they didn't know Logan was in Boston.
Given my experience of the security at London airports, it would have been an inside job to get that stuff on a plane from Heathrow, I think.
Things may have changed in the last two years, though. That was my last time in the U.K., by the way.
Not going to support that totalitarian regime with my money any longer.
Do you think that governments start to repress their own people during times of national crisis because: 1) they are worried that they cannot contain the real threat, so want to be seen to be doing "something - anything"; 2) they want to be seen as "equal opportunity oppressors" and not "profilers", so they treat everyone as a criminal; or 3) they are all just monarchist / totalitarian / dictatorial at heart, and just use the crisis as a pretext?
Or all or none of the above?
Ro
Ro
Ro
Ro
There - that should cover any
lapses for the next day or two.
I tried to "register" at WordPress or some other place once to get a bloggy name, but it never worked. I got a bunch of e-mails telling me how great it was all going to be, but then everytime I tried to use it, it told me that I was "invalid" (not the sick kind, the illegal kind).
So, unless a website has its own "login", I just sign my name. Or try to remember to. i think I may be too old for the interweb.
Many airports around the world are filled with Muslim workers. And Heathrow certainly is.
Ro -- if you like try to register at blogger -- www.blogger.com that's where I got started (& Pasto has been regretting it ever since :)
That statement is about as far from the truth as anything Mohammed ever said, MR.
;-)
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