Weapons, WTC Photos Found When Home Probed

[DoYouEverWonder]

AP Wire

January 24, 2004, 4:47 PM EST

NEW YORK -- Police sent to investigate a backyard explosion that injured an artist Saturday discovered weapons and ammunition along with material related to the World Trade Center and other sensitive locations, authorities said.

The discovery brought members of the Joint Terrorism Task Force to the Brooklyn home of Christopher Hackett to investigate, FBI spokesman Joe Valiquette said.

Police said they weren't sure of the significance of the material, which included photos of the World Trade Center and information on the Brooklyn Bridge and a city reservoir.

Hackett, 31, dialed 911 just before noon after suffering burns and head injuries while working on an art project, authorities said. He was in stable condition at Lutheran Hospital.




This guy sounds like a friend of Timothy McVeigh. He blew himself up working on an art project, yeah right. Of course, the Dept of Homeland Security isn't too concerned about home grown terrorists like this guy, they're too busy chasing the illusion of al Qaeda.

[wryter2000]

1. Hey!

I thought once we captured Saddam these guys would stop being a threat. You mean we're not safer?

[iamjoy]

2. Domestic Terrorists

Ashcroft didn't seem too disturbed when some one sent suspicious powder to family planning clinics during the Anthrax scare. To this day I haven't heard any mention of charging Eric Rudolph (suspect in Centennial Park and Atlanta Abortion Clinic bombings.)

[iamjoy]

3. cont.

I mean, charging Mr. Rudolph with terrorism.

[arcane1]

5. ah, yes, using a WMD to assassinate the 2 congressional leaders...

got little more than a yawn out of Asscroft.... maybe if the anthrax assassin had tried to kill a Republican or two, they might show a little more interest...


still, the threat of death (and the 2 days of snooping through their offices) surely got the Dems compliant, didn't it?

Funny how terrorism always seems to provide some kind of benefit to Bush...

[DenverDem]

6. "Funny how terrorism always seems to provide some kind of benefit to Bush"

Funny how it works the same way for Sharon. Sorry, wrong forum for that.

[arcane1]

7. how conveeenient...

and true

[InkAddict]

4. A collage d'patriotism, no doubt!

eom

[NickB79]

8. I think they're jumping the gun on this one (pardon the expression)

"Authorities found eight pounds of black powder, two high-powered rifles, a 9 mm handgun, a shotgun, a machine gun, a case of shotgun shells and 400 rounds of other ammunition, Johnson said."

Other than the "machine gun", that could describe millions of homes in America, mine included. High-power rifles for deer hunting, a shotgun for duck hunting, a 9mm for target shooting. Albeit, I don't have 8 lbs of black powder, but I do have 10 lbs of smokeless powder (somewhat less explosive than black powder). My uncle has several black-powder rifles he shoots every week at the range, and he goes through a couple pounds of black powder every few months. I would also question whether or not that is a true, working machine gun, and not a semi-automatic rifle that many people would mistake for a true machine gun. Most people would call an AK-47 or an AR-15 a machine gun, when actually almost all AK-47's and AR-15's privately owned in the US are semi-auto fire only. Legal, functional machine guns are very rare, very tightly regulated by the BATF, and VERY expensive (on the order of $5,000-$10,000+ each).

And in case anyone thinks "Trained police officers would be able to tell the difference between real and look-alike machine guns", tell that to the moron cop at the rifle range this past summer who threatened to arrest me because he thought I was shooting an illegal assault rifle/machine gun. It took me 20 minutes to explain to him it was a perfectly legal rifle, and this guy said he'd been a police officer for 15 yrs! A badge and a uniform do not confer instant and complete knowledge of all things police-related.

[stevedeshazer]

14. I agree with you

This just sounds like my neighbor. What's the big deal?

Now, that anthrax killer is another matter....

[Whoa_Nelly]

9. Bubbles of Mass Destruction

From the article:
Richard Nelson, 15, who lives in the neighborhood, said Hackett is well-known there, and that concerns over what was found in the apartment were "out of proportion."

Nelson said Hackett would take guns and turn them into something positive, like a toy for blowing bubbles.

"There's not any negativity to him," Nelson said.

Could it be possible that Hackett is really an artist who takes objects, such as weapons and ammo, and turns them into objet d'arts?

[not systems]

10. Yep. But in the new America he is guilty before for

being proved innocent.

Get the hanging mob he had pictures of the WTC and a reservoir.

I bet most Americans have one or more WTC related items
including pictures, books, videos, and computer files.

Most also have pictures of reservoirs from walks, picnics,
boating and camping.

[Sinistrous]

11. Yeah. And don't forget all us terrible terroristic

almanac owners.

[Sugarbleus]

12. LOL Sin..

I had to take a car trip out of state a couple weeks ago. I had to go to Idaho........ :eyes: I also have some inflammatory anti-bush bumper stickers on my car. eeek. Anyway, we got out for a leg break in Nevada where I took out my binoculars to see what the facility was waaaaaaaay up on top of a moutain there. I giggled thinking all I needed was an ALMANAC to complete the picture and the "troopers" would swoop down.
Yowzaaa baby..

[xxqqqzme]

13. we laugh @ this

& treat it as the black humor it is but this is beyond pathetic. I have maps, pictures, binoculars, a telescope, am not shy in my distaste 4 squatter...where will this stop?

[Whoa_Nelly]

21. I would wager that there are many Americans

who have pics of WTC and reservoirs, as well as actual firearms in their homes. :eyes:

[DoNotRefill]

16. Wasn't there a community....

that ran a gun "buy-back", took the guns they got from it, and had an artist turn them into an anti-gun statue? Was that artist also a terra-ist?

[DoNotRefill]

15. Ohhhh....a propane tank!!!!

Ya know, propane is flammable. Propane is also pretty common, I've got 100 pounds (5 20LB cannisters) of it right now for my forced air propane space heater, because it gets COLD here. I've also got a few pounds of gunpowder, reloading press (a progressive press, mind you, not a manual, even my reloading is progressive ;) ) and SEVERAL machineguns! (all legal, though) Guess that must mean I'm a terra-ist, right?

Wow. He had pics of the World Trade Center! AND a propane tank! AND a few pounds of powder! I guess that must mean he was plotting to blow the WTC up!!!! FRY HIM!!! Oh, wait....

[Robb]

17. Yeah, you should see the size

of my propane tank. What's more, I've got it buried in a spider hole so the feds can't find it. :D

[0007]

18. Attention Attention!

The General Attorney Ashcroft is gonna make a statement about this substantial discovery at a National Press Conference. (kidding)

[ElsewheresDaughter]

19. there must be MILLIONS of photos in MILLIONS of homes in HUNDREDS

of countries around the globe of the WTC since 911....so what?

[tinanator]

20. dude

whats the big "A" about? If the JTTF is involved, I wouldnt put it past them to plant evidence to justify their paychecks and funding.
Innocent until proven guilty, youve hearda that, havent you?

[DoYouEverWonder]

22. I'm not the one who gave myself a head injury

making a piece of 'art'?

Sorry if my cynical attitude assumed the worst of some dude playing with explosives in his back yard.

BTW: I'm a dudette. As for my avatar, it does not represent my political leanings. AO happen to be my initials and the I've initialed things for years with an A inside an O. I didn't realize it was also the symbol for anarchy until I picked it for an avator. LOL.

[DoNotRefill]

30. So an artist....

who uses a propane or oxyacetalene torch and gets hurt when the equipment fails is a "terra-ist"?

Hate to tell you this, but not all art involves construction paper, edible paste, and safety-scissors. Some involves metal fabrication, and can be dangerous.

[imax2268]

23. oh man...

the book that documents 9/11 and the commemorative plate and pictures I have puts me in the same boat as this guy...i mean...they might be considered sensative...

[havocmom]

24. Propane and powder...

Just about eveyone where I live has both. There are no gas transport pipes anywhere near here and it is currently one degree outside. Propane keeps people alive in January.

We have 3 law enforcement officers for 2,900,000 + acres which make up this remote county. One can only count on law and order in one's immediate vicinity if one can enforce it themselves should push come to shove. There are also mountian lions and bears in areas where people live and work outside with stock animals.


Guess that makes all my meighbors suspect? I should've know they were a bunch of terrorists who hate America in fall of 2000, when over 80% voted for the shrub!

By the way, the vote count will be different this year. The natives are not pleased. And one third of our law enforcement team got called up to report for active duty. Praise the lord and pass the ammunition; we sure are safer now not!

[DoYouEverWonder]

25. This guy lives in Brooklyn

now I know parts of Brooklyn are 'wild' but it's not deer that the folks that live there hunt.

[havocmom]

26. Could still be tools an artist uses to make his/her point

and that is my point. You cannot always know what legitimate uses someone in a different situation from you might need.

[DoYouEverWonder]

27. Here's a little more about our Brooklyn artist

Maybe after this, he might consider taking up another medium, say oils or acrylics?

Blast Gives Performance Artist an Audience of Men in Uniforms

The initial report seemed typical of Orange Alert America: an explosion at a Brooklyn loft had led the authorities to a cache of weapons, explosives, photographs of the World Trade Center and maps of New York City.

However, after the Police Department's bomb squad, fire marshals and eventually the department's elite counterterrorism unit arrived to investigate, a band of somewhat sheepish — but admittedly relieved — law enforcement officials had a vastly different story to tell.

The owner of the loft, Christopher Hackett, 31, was not a terrorist but a performance artist, they said. His gun powder and assault rifles, while illegal, were not weapons meant for some dark purpose. They were ingredients for eccentric public happenings and pyrotechnic works of art.

Although some might say that Mr. Hackett's only crime was to extend the label of art to a jury-rigged ice-cream truck that spewed flames from its cargo bay, he was, in fact, arrested yesterday and charged with several weapons violations. Mr. Hackett was in stable condition at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn with burns related to the explosion.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

28. Wonder what we'd find if the White House was raided?

[jokerman93]

29. That must mean he has a good lawyer!

n/t