On my way to a client site yesterday afternoon, I heard a report on the radio of a Fremont neighborhood being locked down as police searched for explosives.
This morning, I find stories on line. E.g., here, here, and here.
Not very informative, are they?
Police in San Jose stopped somebody, apparently for a traffic violation, and just happened to spot something in the vehicle that looked bombish; this led to a search of a residence in Fremont, which led to something being found and blown up.
So... are we talking terrorist cell here? Or a semi-harmless hobbyist? Or a complete misunderstanding, mayhap?
For all I know, the guy who was stopped might have had in the back seat of his car a liquid-fuel rocket engine he planned to install on a hang-glider, and the cops panicked, searched his home, and blew up an inert training round for a WWII bazooka. (If this were Boston, I'd suggest they'd blown up an animated LED sign.)
Or he could have been a terrorist. The news stories just tell us that SOMETHING EXCITING IS HAPPENING!!!... and then, afterward, that SOMETHING EXCITING HAPPENED!!!, but, somehow, never much actual detail.
Update, 27 Oct, AM: OK, there's a followup of sorts in the dead-tree morning Murky and on line. Names are named.
There's a claim that there were actual explosive devices, but somehow it's not at all clear that there were explosives involved, other than those brought by the bomb squad. Also, it sounds like the evidence was destroyed by the bomb squad, which seems a bit unhelpful.
The brother of the purported mad bomber claims that the Evil Thing In His Car was a gadget for turning household appliances on and off by cellphone. OK, so if that's what it really is, and it's spotted by, say, a cop who's a military reservist fresh back from Iraq, I can see how a homebrew electronic gadget involving a cellphone would set off the "IED trigger" alarm, but, really, if it doesn't have that all-important 155mm shell hooked up to it, how is it an explosive device?
What's really going on here? Were there any real bombs? Why can't we get some competent reporting on stories like this?
Update, 30 Oct: More detail here. Police are claiming actual explosives, of a sort. Also sounds like the accused is one of those guys who are always getting in trouble. Time to revisit the Police Squad episode entitled "The Guilty Alibi."
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