70-year-old scientist sparks bomb scare at Miami airport

[Haole Girl]

Source: msnbc.com

MIAMI — A 70-year-old scientist sparked a bomb scare at Miami airport Thursday night when screeners found a metal canister in his luggage that looked like a pipe bomb, a government official said.

Hundreds of people were evacuated from Miami International Airport and four concourses were closed, before the all-clear was given.

The official said the FBI and Miami Dade police were interviewing the man, but said no explosives had been found. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.

An onsite hotel was also evacuated and airport roadways were closed down.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38986605/ns/us_news-airliner_security/

---

"The passenger was located and is now in law enforcement custody," it said.

If there was no bomb, why is the man in custody?

:shrug:

[n2doc]

1. I dunno, But I sure feel safer!

That terrorist loving scientist probably believes in evolution and other devil worship!





:sarcasm:

[InkAddict]

2. I donno - For his safety? n/t

[svpadgham]

3. More information would be nice.

I wonder what the object was.

[EC]

4. Probably his pipe tobacco or something

like that...maybe peanut brittle....

[Gold Metal Flake]

5. The can...

[Renew Deal]

6. I'll never forget the guy who tried to check replica hand grenades at JFK.

Partly because my flight was supposed to leave 20 minutes after the airport was evacuated! :nuke:


:rofl:

[Gormy Cuss]

7. He's in custody to prove that TSA is bad ass.

I really hate the way this stuff is reported as if there's something good about innocent people being held in custody.

[awnobles]

8. Me too

The media is an arm of law enforcement now.

[Ian David]

9. It was Plutonium for his Explosive Space Modulator. n/t

[Lightning Count]

10. I would detain him too.

[L0oniX]

11. Sounds like the screeners should be the ones in jail.

[Heywood J]

12. "Was it something to do with my plutonium ray?"

[IndianaGreen]

13. This guy did time because he tried to use bubonic plague

in some hare-brained plot of his a few years ago. I believe he served 10 years in the slammer.

On edit:

Washington (CNN) -- The man being questioned by the FBI after authorities found a suspicious object in his luggage at Miami International Airport is a scientist who has spent time in prison for illegally transporting vials of bubonic plague, CNN has learned.

The airport was closed for more than seven hours when screeners spotted a metal canister in his luggage that "greatly resembled a pipe bomb," a U.S. government official told CNN. The airport reopened early Friday.

The 70-year-old man was convicted of transporting the plague nearly a decade ago. CNN is not naming because he has not been charged in this incident.

The man's criminal history helps explain why authorities shut down much of the airport late Thursday, and why first responders in hazardous materials suits were dispatched to the scene.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/09/03/miami.airport.evacuation/index.html?hpt=T2

[mike r]

14. Thomas C. Butler?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_C._Butler

[IndianaGreen]

15. Could very well be him. CNN alluded to his name being on a 'list'

It is rather disquieting to have people carry stuff like that on a commercial flight, but it is not the first time that hazardous materials have been carried on commercial flights without the knowledge of the passengers.

[Haole Girl]

18. Thanks for the updated link

:hi;

[jberryhill]

16. Another "dry run" terrorist incident

Oh, wait, is his name "Muhammad" or anything like that?

[hedgehog]

17. Apparently, there are things more dangerous than explosives that

can be carried on-board.

[mike r]

19. Update: Police release professor held in airport scare

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g97Co_9SzfHKWHGxnE0S9-kAwuoQD9I0I4IG0

A senior law enforcement official says investigators have released a scientist detained at Miami International Airport after screeners spotted a metal canister in his luggage that looked like a pipe bomb, prompting an evacuation.

The official told The Associated Press on Friday that no charges were filed against the 70-year-old man and he was allowed to continue his trip. He says the man was cooperative. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

Neither the professor's name nor his itinerary has been released.

[Freddie Stubbs]

20. This guy has a prior criminal history:

Scientist in Miami airport scare has conviction in plague-shipping case

A suspicious item that triggered a scare at Miami International Airport late Thursday was actually an empty metal canister in the luggage of a science professor, federal authorities told The Miami Herald.

The professor, identified by sources as Thomas C. Butler, was convicted in 2003 on several federal charges related to shipping vials of plague bacteria. He was convicted for the improper shipment of plague samples to Tanzania.

His past history raised a red flag after the item, which looked like a metal pipe bomb, was spotted in his luggage. He was speaking with authorities Friday morning, but prosecutors declined to file charges against the former professor at Texas Tech University.

The professor started his journey in Saudi Arabia, traveled through London, then to Miami, with plans to fly to Puerto Rico and on to the Dominican Republic, sources said.


more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/03/1806508/police-question-scientist-in-miami.html

[mike r]

22. The Case Against Dr. Butler:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/17/60minutes/main578660.shtml

-------------------------------

He was careless and got screwed in the post-9/11 hysteria.

[Downwinder]

21. Water proof fishing pole case? n/t

[skoalyman]

23. sound fishy