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Woman Flying To SFO Checks Luggage Containing Explosives
CBS SF ^ | 5/1/12 | CBS SF

Posted on 05/01/2012 1:26:35 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

NEWARK, NJ (CBS SF) — A New Jersey woman headed to San Francisco International Airport was briefly detained Tuesday after Transportation Security Administration screeners found explosive devices inside a suitcase she had checked for the flight, federal authorities told CBS San Francisco.

TSA explosives experts said the woman’s luggage contained three small Claymore land mine casings, two of which were “packed with shrapnel.” ..

...

TSA and local police confiscated the weapons, but allowed the woman – identified only as a resident of Union, New Jersey – to travel on a later flight to San Francisco.

(Excerpt) Read more at sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com ...


TOPICS: Government; US: California; US: New Jersey
KEYWORDS: airlinesecurity; claymore; claymores; explosives; landmines; luggage; njcell; sfo; shrapnel; tsa
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To: NormsRevenge

Perhaps she was an appropriately upholstered anti-American jihadi. You know, a Mo foe.


21 posted on 05/01/2012 1:45:30 PM PDT by Lady Lucky (Fleece, tallow, and get out to be weighed.)
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To: CitizenUSA

You are correct. They are quite harmless. But very scary looking, and bound to provoke a response. It was dumb to take them on a plane. Send them via big brown and pick them up at Mailboxes whatever on the other end.


22 posted on 05/01/2012 1:45:30 PM PDT by SargeK
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To: NormsRevenge
TSA agent, upon arriving home:

Hey, Honey - Check out what I got today!

23 posted on 05/01/2012 1:46:54 PM PDT by real saxophonist (The fact that you play tuba doesn't make you any less lethal. -USMC bandsman in Iraq)
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To: NormsRevenge

Don’t know if it’s true....It’s a fun read but seems wildly unlikely.....

As the Chalk Leader for my flight home from
Afghanistan, I witnessed the following:

When we were on our way back from Afghanistan, we
flew out of Baghram Air Field. We went through customs
at BAF, full body scanners (no groping), had all of
our bags searched, the whole nine yards.

Our first stop was Shannon, Ireland to refuel. After
that, we had to stop at Indianapolis, Indiana to drop
off about 100 folks from the Indiana National Guard.
That’s where the stupid started.

First, everyone was forced to
get off the plane–even though the plane wasn’t
refueling again. All 330 people got off that plane,
rather than let the 100 people from the ING get off.
We were filed from the plane to a holding area. No
vending machines, no means of escape. Only a
male/female latrine.

It’s probably important to mention that we were ALL carrying
weapons. Everyone was carrying an
M4 Carbine (rifle) and some, like me, were also
carrying an M9 pistol. Oh, and our gunners had M-240B
machine guns. Of course, the weapons weren’t loaded.
And we had been cleared of all ammo well before we
even got to customs at Baghram, then AGAIN at customs.

The TSA personnel at the airport seriously considered
making us unload all of the baggage from the SECURE
cargo hold to have it reinspected. Keep in mind, this
cargo had been unpacked, inspected piece by piece by
U.S. Customs officials, resealed and had bomb-sniffing
dogs give it a one-hour run through. After two hours
of sitting in this holding area, the TSA decided not
to reinspect our Cargo–just to inspect us again:
Soldiers on the way home from war, who had already
been inspected, reinspected and kept in a SECURE
holding area for 2 hours. Ok, whatever. So we lined up
to go through security AGAIN.

This is probably another
good time to remind you all that all of us were
carrying actual assault rifles, and some of us
were also carrying pistols.

So we’re in line, going through one at a time. One of
our Soldiers had his Gerber multi-tool. TSA
confiscated it. Kind of ridiculous, but it gets
better. A few minutes later, a guy empties his pockets
and has a pair of nail clippers. Nail clippers.
TSA informs the Soldier that they’re going to
confiscate his nail clippers. The
conversation went something like this:

TSA Guy: You can’t take those on the plane.

Soldier: What? I’ve had them since we left country.

TSA Guy: You’re not suppose to have them.

Soldier: Why?

TSA Guy: They can be used as a weapon.

Soldier: [touches butt stock of the rifle] But this
actually is a weapon. And I’m allowed to take it on.

TSA Guy: Yeah but you can’t use it to take over the
plane. You don’t have bullets.

Soldier: And I can take over the plane with nail
clippers?

TSA Guy: [awkward silence]

Me: Dude, just give him your damn nail clippers so we
can get the f**k out of here. I’ll buy you a new set.

Soldier: [hands nail clippers to TSA guy, makes it
through security]

This might be a good time
to remind everyone that approximately 233 people
re-boarded that plane with assault rifles,
pistols, and machine guns–but nothing that could
have been used as a weapon.


24 posted on 05/01/2012 1:47:37 PM PDT by Tenacious 1 (With regards to the GOP: I am prodisestablishmentarianistic!)
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To: Tenacious 1

Bad reporting. Not weapons. SIMULATED weapons. There was no criminal intent, just... dumb.

I support not arresting people when there is no criminal intent and no harm done.


25 posted on 05/01/2012 1:48:24 PM PDT by SargeK
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To: SoldierDad

‘The fact two had shrapnel should have warranted an arrest IMO.’

Shrapnel in an inert device isn’t very dangerous. It’s not federally restricted in any way, you can own pounds of it with no permit.


26 posted on 05/01/2012 1:48:50 PM PDT by DBrow
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To: NormsRevenge
***...identified only as a resident of Union, New Jersey – to travel on a later flight to San Francisco.***

This tells me either she was a mudslime who had connections in the WH, or the whole thing was staged to fool the public into thinking the TSA actually keeps us safe.

My guess is the latter.

27 posted on 05/01/2012 1:49:12 PM PDT by MichaelCorleone (Forget the GOP and join the Constitution Party, because the status quo is no longer the way to go.)
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To: DBrow

Being in possession of shrapnel while not at an airport, and attempting to board a plane with devices containing shrapnel are NOT the same thing.


28 posted on 05/01/2012 1:52:49 PM PDT by SoldierDad (Proud dad of an Army Soldier who has survived 24 months of Combat deployment.)
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To: CitizenUSA
I know very little about mines, but it appears these were only mine casings. While they probably contained some explosive residue, they were not “explosive devices” since they were incapable of exploding. The fact that two of them contained shrapnel, i.e. non-explosive ball bearings or whatever is used in the darn things, is irrelevant. A ball point pen is probably more dangerous than an inert mine, because a person could get accidentally jabbed by the pen. The TSA had no logical reason to confiscate the items. By doing so, they may have hampered development of technologies that actually aid our military.

I hope now that you have read what you wrote you are embarrassed. This gets the "missed the point" award for today. LOL

Why do you suppose they don't let guns, nail clippers, liquids, etc. on a plane? That's right! For a whole host of very stupid reasons devoid of any logic, our government confiscates nail clippers. You drone on and on about how harmless claymore mines are without the explosive charge in them.

What did the article say about the reason she gave for toting two inert claymore mines in her carry on luggage? Women have been groped and fondled for far less. I would have expected that she at least got a strip and cavity search for this minor "oversight."

29 posted on 05/01/2012 1:55:10 PM PDT by Tenacious 1 (With regards to the GOP: I am prodisestablishmentarianistic!)
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To: CitizenUSA

I agree. Stupid TSA cant tell the difference.


30 posted on 05/01/2012 1:56:35 PM PDT by taxcontrol
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To: SoldierDad

Why? It was the casing only. no explosives.


31 posted on 05/01/2012 1:56:54 PM PDT by mamelukesabre
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To: SoldierDad

OK, lock her up for having bb’s.

I went to a conference with someone who had, in carry on, pipe bomb fragments from an experiment on blast mitigation.

Holy cow you’d have thought there was an attempt to smuggle a nuke on board! Naturally xray picks up the fragments, and on inspection, they were faced with two packages labeled “pipe bomb fragments” with some info on the experiment. These are little pieces of metal. You could fit most of them back together to see how the device blew.

TSA reacted like the little chunks were actual pipe bombs! Lock down the gate! Guess who missed the flight? lol


32 posted on 05/01/2012 1:59:00 PM PDT by DBrow
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To: NormsRevenge

Beaucoup Boom-Boom.

You realize we are SERIOUSLY dating ourselves here. “Charlie” - the Gen-Xers and below on the seniority roster will have no idea... Heck, it’s even a couple years ahead of me. I hit draft age shortly after the last Huey flew off the embassy roof.


33 posted on 05/01/2012 1:59:04 PM PDT by SargeK
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To: SoldierDad

my laptop is packed with shrapnel.


34 posted on 05/01/2012 2:02:48 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: NormsRevenge

This woman was VERY lucky. In the past, the TSA has even arrested people for possessing PICTURES of guns in carry-on magazines!


35 posted on 05/01/2012 2:03:06 PM PDT by 2harddrive
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To: driftdiver

ONLY if it also has explosives packed inside - LOL


36 posted on 05/01/2012 2:05:27 PM PDT by SoldierDad (Proud dad of an Army Soldier who has survived 24 months of Combat deployment.)
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To: NormsRevenge

Just a natural reaction to a war on women IMHO.


37 posted on 05/01/2012 2:07:20 PM PDT by blackdog (There is no such thing as healing, only a balance between destructive and constructive forces.)
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To: Tenacious 1

Yes, you’re right. I’m embarrassed for thinking logic would drive the TSA. I’m glad they confiscated the “explosive devices” that weren’t really explosive and presented zero risk to anyone on the plane. That said, I do think the woman was foolish for not realizing how the TSA would react in a totally non-threatening, threatening situation. I can visualize the TSA agents clucking around the lady’s bags like chickens when they found the non-explosive devices. Can you imagine the fun?


38 posted on 05/01/2012 2:14:17 PM PDT by CitizenUSA (Why celebrate evil? Evil is easy. Good is the goal worth striving for.)
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To: NormsRevenge

The headline is wrong. She had ZERO explosives.


39 posted on 05/01/2012 2:22:49 PM PDT by 2harddrive
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To: SargeK

Lots of gen-x know “charlie”. It was still going on when some of us were born. 1965-1981.


40 posted on 05/01/2012 2:23:26 PM PDT by Secret Agent Man (I can neither confirm or deny that; even if I could, I couldn't - it's classified.)
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