Pipe bomb allegedly brought on Washington (State) ferry

[Barrett808]

Pipe bomb allegedly brought on Washington ferry
04:20 PM PDT on Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Associated Press

VICTORIA, British Columbia - A Washington state man is facing charges in British Columbia after a pipe bomb allegedly was found in his vehicle aboard a U.S. ferry that arrived in Victoria, B.C. Tuesday night.

The 39-year-old man from Issaquah, Wash. and his daughter were aboard the Coho ferry that had sailed to Victoria from Port Angeles.

Victoria police spokesman Rick Anthony says border officers found a suspicious device in the glove box of the man's truck.

Victoria police spokesman Rick Anthony says border officers found a suspicious device in the glove box of the man's tru ck. He says the copper tube had a fuse attached to it.

The device was handed over the RCMP's explosives disposal unit in Vancouver.

The Canadian Press reports that the man is facing a charge of possessing an explosive device.

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_071305WABpipebombJK.a2515043.html

[Maple]

1. Here's the Canadian version

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/07/13/ferry-bomb050713.html

[funflower]

2. Weird. I can't imagine that little thing could have done that much

damage.

[ConsAreLiars]

3. I saw that broadcast -- a tiny thing indeed.

I'm glad they found it, shows they are doing their job, and I wouldn't want to be sitting on it when it was set off, but that is the tiniest "pipe bomb" I have ever seen. Whatever the guy was thinking about doing with it, it sure wasn't much.

[whitebear]

4. They will probably start strip-searching us to get on those ferries

:rant:

[Spazito]

5. Homemade pipe bomb seized at B.C. ferry dock

A 39-year-old Washington-state man will appear in a Victoria court Thursday after police said they found a homemade pipe bomb in his vehicle on a ferry to British Columbia.

The man and his 14-year-old daughter arrived in Victoria on Wednesday night after taking the Coho ferry from Port Angeles, Wash.

The man was charged after border officials searched his truck at the Victoria ferry dock and found a homemade pipe bomb in the glove compartment.

The bomb is described as being about half the length of a pen, capped on each end, with a green fuse-like string glued to one end.

more

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1121344335838_456038/?hub=Canada

[HEyHEY]

6. Know what I think this was?

This guy planned to blow it off in an attempt to bolster Canadian support for the war. Thanks to douche bags like O'Reilly 's comments about the British bomb.

[One_Life_To_Give]

7. Homemade Firecracker?

Using a metal case is a bit dangerous. But this thing isn't much bigger than an M-80.

[Syncronaut Seven]

8. Hahahaha... That's a firecracker!!! There's more powder in an M-80

and brass doesn't fragment well. It most likely would have split the seam, popped of an end, or judging by the size of the fuze whistled like a whistling peet.

Hardly a WMD, Lethal if stuffed in a frog perhaps.

In fact, hardly newsworthy at all.

It's a firecracker folks!

Hahahaha.... :rofl:

[uppityperson]

9. you mean I don't have to be afraid of my mini-mag flashlight anymore?

that's a relief. Ferries have given me the creeps for years.

[Javaman]

20. "Lethal if stuffed in a frog perhaps"...

perhaps you should ask commander in ass* that question, he has experience at blowing up frogs.

[Syncronaut Seven]

22. perhaps you should ask commander in ass* that question, he has experience

Precicely why I mentioned it! :evilgrin:

[maxsolomon]

10. Repercussions: coast guard escorting all ferries today.

As i look out my window in Seattle, i see the coast guard has their inflatables escorting every ferry in & out of the Coleman Dock. These have 50 caliber machine guns fore & aft.

The Bus Tunnel in Seattle had bomb-sniffing dogs riding the buses.

Absurd over-reactions. This guy is an idiot, PROBABLY A WASHINGTON NATIVE (yeah, try & say washington natives aren't some antisocial hayseeds, washington natives) with a left-over 4th of july firecracker.

[iverglas]

11. probably that's not quite it

There are actual facts out there ...

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/07/13/ferry-bomb050713.html

Canada Border Services Agency officers said they became suspicious while questioning the man, who was travelling with his daughter.

They said they examined his truck and found a suspicious device in the glove box – a 7½-centimetre brass pipe that was capped on each end and had a 15-centimetre green fuse-like string glued to one end.

If he had had a "left-over 4th of july firecracker" in his glove box, he wouldn't likely have been acting suspiciously -- unless he's just the sort of loon who makes people suspicious the minute he opens his mouth, which is of course quite possible too.

And the actions being taken may well be "absurd over-reactions". But if Canada didn't put on that show, we might expect to be hearing from the US authorities, wondering what we were doing to stop people with bombs from getting through those permeable borders of ours, I'd expect. (You know, enter Canada at one end, cross back to the US at the other end ...)

Nobody really knows what the hell this guy was up to -- I mean, why *does* someone drive around with a kid in their truck and a pipe bomb in their glove box, let alone cross an international border with it?

It might be eminently reasonable to think he's a loon, off on some loony frolic of his own, and in fact that's certainly what I'd suspect. I'd still want to know what that frolic was, and until it was confirmed and a little more known about him, I wouldn't want the local cops and border authorities just laughing it off, even if it's perfectly reasonable for *us* to do that.

[iverglas]

12. well ... a local real estate agent recommends him

for remodelling jobs:

http://www.jansnook.com/LocalPartners/Default.aspx?NF=1

Hmm, maybe he needed to knock a hole in a wall real quick ...

[maxsolomon]

14. fine points, but

do you live here?

washington natives WOULD drive around with their daughter in their truck carrying homemade explosives. or automatic weapons, or loaded crossbows, or the like. then, once they get questioned, they would realize they did something stupid & start acting suspiciously.

the full story will likely be mundane american idiocy.

Dodge White
The Aerate Co.

he's a LAWN AERATOR! i rest my case.

[iverglas]

16. oh well

Far be it from me to say that Washington State natives are morons. Of course, I thought I'd made it plain that I suspected *he* was a moron, myself.

The fact remains that he was a moron attempting to import an explosive device into Canada. While driving around with a pipe bomb in your glove box may be, um, normal behaviour in Washington state, and even legal, it's not something that any border authorities anywhere in the world would be likely to giggle at.

Now, rereading your initial post, I see that it may be the *US* authorities who are doing all that stuff. Well, yes, that does indeed seem like an absurd overreaction. Nobody was trying to smuggle a pipe bomb *into* the US, after all.

But as a Canadian, I really would like to know what he was doing. If he was a moron who'd forgotten he had a pipe bomb in his glove box, I'll be happy. Let his local authorities worry about people who drive around in their jurisdiction with pipe bombs.

If he actually had it there for a purpose he intended to carry out in Canada -- we don't actually know why he was crossing the border -- I'd kinda like to know what it was. Even if it was for illegal use for fishing (I have no clue as to whether what he had can be used for that purpose), I'd like to know that nasty morons like that are getting caught at the border. There are various things that need to be stood on guard for, not just big buildings and mass transit systems, and fish are one of them.

I'd read the listing as meaning he does renovations. If he aerates lawns, perhaps he just does it the easy way ...

[maxsolomon]

17. we shall see.

i feel confident he will be an idiot.

but no one is ramming ferries with bomb-laden boats, so that preventative measure seems useless.

the only terror attack to be THWARTED since 9-11 is the shoe bomber. and who stopped that? citizens.

[Puzzler]

13. Just a thought...

... but couldn't a small device like that possibly be used to set off something bigger? Anyway, I'm just guessing, since I know little or nothing about explosives.

(hey... this is less than 1/2 mile from my apartment :) )

-P

[Spazito]

15. I wonder what kind of damage a pipe bomb like that one could

do in an enclosed space such as the vehicle area on a ferry. If placed properly could it not cause major damage due to vehicles full of gas in a relatively small space?

[Richard Steele]

21. NO. Way too small to do any such damage. If someone actually HELD it...

...while it detonated,
they might possibly lose a finger,
but that's pretty much the "worst-case" scenario.

[LisaM]

18. Same ferry route that cuaght the millennium bomber

Well at least they are doing their job.

[iverglas]

19. indeed; worth remembering

The concern isn't entirely hokey.