{"id":1906,"date":"2006-03-03T22:50:05","date_gmt":"2006-03-04T03:50:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wordpress\/2006\/03\/bike_not_a_pipe_bomb_1\/"},"modified":"2006-03-03T22:50:05","modified_gmt":"2006-03-04T03:50:05","slug":"bike_not_a_pipe_bomb_1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/2006\/03\/bike_not_a_pipe_bomb_1\/","title":{"rendered":"Bike Not A Pipe Bomb"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another misunderstanding<\/a> in the “War on Terror”:<\/p>\n

An OU [Ohio University] officer on patrol saw a bike in a busy area of campus early yesterday that sported a sticker reading, This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb.
\nBuildings were shut down. The Columbus Division of Fire’s bomb squad drove down to investigate. Authorities used a high-powered water spray on the bike, and then pried it apart with a hydraulic device.
\nHours later, police learned that the sticker referred to the Pensacola, Fla., band This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb and had nothing to do with the bike’s contents.
\nThe ordeal not only cost graduate student Patrick K. Hanlin his bike, but also earned him a misdemeanor charge of inducing panic.
\n. . .
\nThe officer found the bike about 5:30 a.m. outside a campus snack shop. Hanlin later identified himself as the owner of the bike — what was left of it, anyway — and explained what the sticker meant.
\nDespite his cooperation, OU spokesman Jack Jeffery said yesterday afternoon that the student was charged criminally.
\n. . .
\nFire officials cordoned off a large section of campus and closed down four buildings while they investigated. It took them three hours to determine the bike was not set to explode.
\nHogan said the bike was in a fairly high-traffic area of campus, but the buildings affected had not yet opened for business when it was found. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Until I read this piece, I had never heard of the group “This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb.” So I can relate with the official not recognizing it. But is this response–particularly the criminal charge–warranted?
\nA little common sense here: are there any<\/em> instances of actual terrorists clearly labeling their bombs prior to detonation? And how many people do you suspect were induced to a “panic” at 5 a.m., at least prior to the bomb squad showing up?
\nI understand the need to view the unknown with suspicion. But at some level, officials must use their discretion. Somewhere up the line, someone has to distinguish between a “that’s odd” situation and a “we’re all about to die” situation. Given the circumstances of this case, it’s hard to justify an assumed threat level much higher than the former. ID labels don’t fit the profile of your typical bomber.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Another misunderstanding in the “War on Terror”: An OU [Ohio University] officer on patrol saw a bike in a busy area of campus early yesterday that sported a sticker reading, This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb. Buildings were shut down. The Columbus Division of Fire’s bomb squad drove down to investigate. Authorities used a high-powered […]<\/p>\n<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1906","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"h-entry","8":"hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1906\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.brianarner.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}