BOSTON - More than 10 blinking electronic devices planted at bridges and
other spots in Boston threw a scare into the city Wednesday in what turned out
to be a publicity campaign for a late-night cable cartoon. Most if not all of
the devices depict a character giving the finger.
Highways, bridges and a section of the Charles River were shut down and bomb
squads were sent in before authorities declared the devices were harmless.
"It's a hoax - and it's not funny," said Gov. Deval Patrick, who said
he'll speak to the state's attorney general "about what recourse we may have."
More than 10 blinking electronic
devices planted at bridges and other spots in Boston threw a scare into
Boston Wednesday in what turned out to be a publicity campaign for a
late-night cable cartoon.[AP] |
Turner Broadcasting, a division
of Time Warner Inc. and parent of Cartoon Network, said the devices were part of
a promotion for the TV show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," a surreal series about a
talking milkshake, a box of fries and a meatball.
This photo provided by Todd Vanderlin shows an electronic
device that was removed from where it had been hanging beneath an overpass
in Boston, Monday Jan. 15, 2007. [AP]
|
"The packages in question are
magnetic lights that pose no danger," Turner said in a statement, issued a few
hours after reports of the first devices came in.
It said the devices have been in place for two to three weeks in 10 cities:
Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Seattle, Portland, Ore.,
Austin, Texas, San Francisco and Philadelphia. There were no reports about the
devices Wednesday afternoon from police in the other nine cities.
"We regret that they were mistakenly thought to pose any danger," the company
said.
The marketing company responsible for the campaign, Interference Inc., had no
immediate comment. A woman who answered the phone at the New York-based firm's
offices on Wednesday afternoon said the firm's CEO was out of town and would not
be able to comment until Thursday.
Mayor Thomas Menino said he'll seek to punish those responsible, and
indicated that the penalty could be two to five years in prison per count.
After Turner made its announcement, Menino said he was "prepared to take any
and all legal action" against the company and its affiliated "for any and all
expenses incurred during the response to today's incidents."
"That would include any criminal or civil action," Menino spokeswoman Meaghan
Maher later clarified. Boston Police would not comment on any potential charges.
Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke praised Boston authorities
for sharing their knowledge quickly with Washington officials and the public.
"Hoaxes are a tremendous burden on local law enforcement and
counter-terrorism resources and there's absolutely no place for them in a
post-9/11 world," Knocke said.
Authorities said some of the objects looked like circuit boards or had wires
hanging from them.
The first device was found at a subway and bus station underneath Interstate
93, forcing the shutdown of the station and the highway.
Later, police said four calls, all around 1 p.m., reported devices at the
Boston University Bridge and the Longfellow Bridge, both of which span the
Charles River, at a Boston street corner and at the Tufts-New England Medical
Center.
The package near the Boston University bridge was found attached to a
structure beneath the span, authorities said.
Subway service across the Longfellow Bridge between Boston and Cambridge was
briefly suspended, and Storrow Drive was closed as well. A similar device was
found Wednesday evening just north of Fenway Park, police spokesman Eddy
Chrispin said.
Wanda Higgins, a 47-year-old Weymouth resident and a nurse at Massachusetts
General Hospital, heard about the threat as she watched television news coverage
while preparing to leave work at 4 p.m.
"I saw the bomb squad guys carrying a paper bag with their bare hands,"
Higgins said. "I knew it couldn't be too serious."
Messages seeking additional comment from the Atlanta-based Cartoon Network
were left with several publicists.
"Aqua Teen Hunger Force" is a cartoon with a cultish following that airs as
part of the Adult Swim late-night block of programs for adults on the Cartoon
Network. A feature length film based on the show is slated for release March 23.
The cartoon also includes two trouble-making, 1980s-graphic-like characters
called "mooninites," named Ignignokt and Err - who were pictured on the
suspicious devices. They are known for making the obscene hand gesture depicted
on the devices.