Magazine insert prompts courthouse bomb scare in Idaho

[cynatnite]

SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) - A magazine embedded with a small electronic musical device prompted a security alert and the evacuation of a federal courthouse in southeastern Idaho on Tuesday when mail screeners mistook the parcel for a possible bomb.

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The insert, apparently some kind of promotional material, was "like nothing ever seen before" by the courthouse personnel who first examined it, Pocatello police spokeswoman Diane Brush said.

Darrin Lambert, supervisor of the U.S. Marshals Service in Pocatello, said the item was similar to devices found in musical birthday cards, with wires and other parts that security screeners had not encountered before in a mailing.

He said his agency's strict protocol for such circumstances required an evacuation of the building and immediate vicinity out of "an abundance of caution."

http://news.yahoo.com/magazine-insert-prompts-courthouse-bomb-scare-idaho-000544686.html

[hedgehog]

1. "An excess of caution" has to be put into the context that

there are a lot of anti-government/survivalist types running around in the area.


Good thing there was "an excess of caution" in this case:

SPOKANE, Wash. — A man with ties to the white supremacist movement was arrested and charged Wednesday in the foiled bombing of a Martin Luther King Day parade in this city last January.

Kevin William Harpham, of the Colville area in northeastern Washington, was charged with one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and one count of possessing an unregistered explosive device.

Officials praised as heroes the three city workers who spotted the backpack about an hour before the parade was to start on Jan. 17. They looked inside, saw wires and immediately alerted law enforcement.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41991581/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts

[MineralMan]

2. I wonder what magazine it was.

A musical ad inside, I imagine. Expensive ad, too.

[slackmaster]

3. Things that are "like nothing ever seen before" are SERIOUS BUSINESS!

[MineralMan]

4. +1E6

[treestar]

5. Thank you for the reminder!

That was a funny day on DU!

[frylock]

6. never forget