January 31st, 2007
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.
Peter Berdovsky, 29, of Arlington, was arrested on one felony charge of placing a hoax device, and one charge of disorderly conduct, state Attorney General Martha Coakley said.
"We're not going to let this go without looking at the further roots of how this happened to cause the panic in this city," she said at a news conference Wednesday night.
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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."
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.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16902707/
Apparently, all it takes to put an entire city into panic is a cartoon character giving the city the finger with a blinking light these days. OMFG TERRORISM! Our government has officially won the masses.
I hope Emu, our resident Bostonian, is ok after this frightful event.