This is for you Aqua Teen Hunger Force fans out there!
CHARLESTOWN, Massachusetts (CNN) -- Two men pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges they created panic by placing electronic light boards that caused a bomb scare Wednesday in Boston.
The boards depicted a cartoon character making an obscene gesture at passing motorists.
Assistant Attorney General John Grossman called the light boards "bomb-like" devices and said that if they had been explosive they could have damaged transportation infrastructure in the city. (Watch suspects avoid answering reporters' questions )
Asked by the judge to describe what the figure on the light box was doing, Grossman said, "Colloquially, he was flipping the bird, your honor."
Judge Paul K. Leary told Grossman that, according to law, the suspects must intend to create a panic to be charged with placing hoax devices. (Watch a Web video of men placing the light boards on structures around Boston )
It appears the suspects had no such intent, the judge said, but the question should be discussed in a later hearing.
Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens were released on $2,500 bail, said Mike Rich, their attorney. The next pretrial hearing is scheduled for March 7.
Both men were cooperative with authorities, and neither has a previous criminal record in Massachusetts, Grossman said.
At a news conference after the hearing, Stevens and Berdovsky stepped to the microphones and said they were taking questions only about 1970s hairstyles.
When a reporter accused them of not taking the situation seriously, Stevens responded, "We're taking it very seriously." Asked another question about the case, Stevens reiterated they were answering questions only about hair and accused the reporter of not taking him and Berdovsky seriously.
Reporters did not relent and as they continued, Berdovsky disregarded their queries, saying, "That's not a hair question. I'm sorry."
Their attorney said the two were putting on a "performance," and noted that he had told them not to discuss the case.
On Wednesday, Boston authorities shut down bridges and a stretch of the Charles River. The scares sparked criticism of Turner Broadcasting System Inc., the parent company of CNN, because the cartoon moon men were part of a guerrilla marketing campaign to promote the late-night Adult Swim cartoon "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." (Watch how the scare unfolded )
The moon men, or Mooninites, as they're known to the show's faithful, are delinquent outer-space men who make frequent appearances on the program. Photographs of the devices show several tiny lightbulbs protruding from a circuit board that houses wiring and at least four batteries.
Berdovsky, 27, a freelance video artist from Arlington, Massachusetts, and Stevens, 28, face charges of placing a hoax device in a way that results in panic, as well as one count of disorderly conduct, said Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. The hoax charge is a felony, she said.
According to his Web site, Berdovsky is a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art who goes by the nickname "Zebbler." Berdovsky, a Belarusian, has a green card and is seeking asylum in the United States, Rich said.
Devices for sale on eBay
As of Thursday afternoon, at least four of the devices were being sold on the online auction site eBay -- two from Boston, one from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one from Atlanta, Georgia, the owners said.
The top bid so far was $625.
Rich said the company that hired the two to install the devices told them where to put them -- under bridges and overpasses -- so people in cars would see them.
A Web site, www.zebbler.com, features a video of people assembling the moon men light boards and driving around Boston installing them on buildings and other structures. Turner Broadcasting has said a third-party New York advertising firm, Interference Inc., conducted the campaign, and the Web video's introduction states, "The Interference Information Network takes on the ATHF," referring to "Aqua Teen Hunger Force."
Interference Inc. had no comment on the incident.
Mayor calls stunt "outrageous"
Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis called the stunt "unconscionable," while Boston Mayor Thomas Menino called it "outrageous" and the product of "corporate greed." Democratic Rep. Ed Markey, a Boston-area congressman, added, "It would be hard to dream up a more appalling publicity stunt."
Phil Kent, TBS's chairman and CEO, issued an apology to the city and said in a statement that police were notified as soon as Turner realized the marketing campaign was mistaken for something sinister.
"We also directed the third-party marketing firm who posted the advertisements to take them down immediately," Kent said in a statement. (Read the full statement)
But while Menino and Coakley called the apology inadequate, others disregarded Boston's response as much ado about nothing.
Twenty-two-year-old Todd Venderlin, a design student at the Parsons School of Design in New York City, saw one of the devices two weeks ago as he left a lounge in south Boston, according to The Boston Globe. He said he was stunned when he saw bomb squads removing them.
"It's so not threatening -- it's a Lite-Brite," he told the newspaper, referring to the children's toy that allows its users to create pictures by placing translucent pegs into an opaque board. "I don't understand how they could be terrified. I would if it was a bunch of circuits blinking, but it wasn't."
Devices in place for weeks
Turner said the devices have been in place for two or three weeks in Boston; New York City; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; San Francisco, California; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
However, only in Boston did the light boards create such a furor. In Seattle and several suburbs, the signs were removed without fuss, according to The Associated Press.
"We haven't had any calls to 911 regarding this," Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb told AP on Wednesday.
Police in Philadelphia told AP that authorities had confiscated 56 of the devices. In New York, a street was shut down for 45 minutes after two of the devices were found on an overpass, the New York Post reported. In all, 41 of the devices were found in the city, according to the newspaper.
In Portland, police Sgt. Brian Schmautz said officers had no plans to remove any of the signs, so long as they weren't on municipal property. Nor had officers been dispatched in any kind of bomb scare related to the devices.
"At this point we wouldn't even begin an investigation, because there's no reason to believe a crime has occurred," Schmautz said.
In Boston, however, state, local and federal authorities on Wednesday shut down the Boston University and Longfellow bridges, and blocked maritime traffic from the Charles River into Boston Harbor. Bomb squads scrambled throughout the city and its suburbs, snarling traffic and mass transit in the city.
Coakley and Menino did not rule out the possibility of criminal charges, or a civil suit to recoup what they say is the hundreds of thousands of dollars the city spent to respond to the bomb scares.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the legal department is sending Turner a letter asking the company to reimburse the city for all costs incurred during the incident, but the authority had no plans to unilaterally file a lawsuit.
Coakley, who said she didn't learn of the devices until Turner sent a fax to City Hall about 5 p.m. Wednesday, said Turner did not provide the locations of the devices. Officials believe there were 38 light boards placed around Boston, some on private property, she said. As of Thursday morning, 15 had been recovered, Boston police spokesman Eddie Chrispin said.
"It had a very sinister appearance," Coakley told reporters. "It had a battery behind it, and wires."
Asked whether Massachusetts authorities have the jurisdiction to arrest people out of state, Coakley said she believed they would if the offenses took place in Massachusetts. Turner Broadcasting's headquarters is in Atlanta.
Adult Swim shares channel space with Cartoon Network, another Turner enterprise. The Cartoon Network broadcasts during the day and is aimed at a younger audience. At night, Adult Swim takes over the airwaves with its more mature programming.
The boards depicted a cartoon character making an obscene gesture at passing motorists.
Assistant Attorney General John Grossman called the light boards "bomb-like" devices and said that if they had been explosive they could have damaged transportation infrastructure in the city. (Watch suspects avoid answering reporters' questions )
Asked by the judge to describe what the figure on the light box was doing, Grossman said, "Colloquially, he was flipping the bird, your honor."
Judge Paul K. Leary told Grossman that, according to law, the suspects must intend to create a panic to be charged with placing hoax devices. (Watch a Web video of men placing the light boards on structures around Boston )
It appears the suspects had no such intent, the judge said, but the question should be discussed in a later hearing.
Peter Berdovsky and Sean Stevens were released on $2,500 bail, said Mike Rich, their attorney. The next pretrial hearing is scheduled for March 7.
Both men were cooperative with authorities, and neither has a previous criminal record in Massachusetts, Grossman said.
At a news conference after the hearing, Stevens and Berdovsky stepped to the microphones and said they were taking questions only about 1970s hairstyles.
When a reporter accused them of not taking the situation seriously, Stevens responded, "We're taking it very seriously." Asked another question about the case, Stevens reiterated they were answering questions only about hair and accused the reporter of not taking him and Berdovsky seriously.
Reporters did not relent and as they continued, Berdovsky disregarded their queries, saying, "That's not a hair question. I'm sorry."
Their attorney said the two were putting on a "performance," and noted that he had told them not to discuss the case.
On Wednesday, Boston authorities shut down bridges and a stretch of the Charles River. The scares sparked criticism of Turner Broadcasting System Inc., the parent company of CNN, because the cartoon moon men were part of a guerrilla marketing campaign to promote the late-night Adult Swim cartoon "Aqua Teen Hunger Force." (Watch how the scare unfolded )
The moon men, or Mooninites, as they're known to the show's faithful, are delinquent outer-space men who make frequent appearances on the program. Photographs of the devices show several tiny lightbulbs protruding from a circuit board that houses wiring and at least four batteries.
Berdovsky, 27, a freelance video artist from Arlington, Massachusetts, and Stevens, 28, face charges of placing a hoax device in a way that results in panic, as well as one count of disorderly conduct, said Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. The hoax charge is a felony, she said.
According to his Web site, Berdovsky is a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art who goes by the nickname "Zebbler." Berdovsky, a Belarusian, has a green card and is seeking asylum in the United States, Rich said.
Devices for sale on eBay
As of Thursday afternoon, at least four of the devices were being sold on the online auction site eBay -- two from Boston, one from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and one from Atlanta, Georgia, the owners said.
The top bid so far was $625.
Rich said the company that hired the two to install the devices told them where to put them -- under bridges and overpasses -- so people in cars would see them.
A Web site, www.zebbler.com, features a video of people assembling the moon men light boards and driving around Boston installing them on buildings and other structures. Turner Broadcasting has said a third-party New York advertising firm, Interference Inc., conducted the campaign, and the Web video's introduction states, "The Interference Information Network takes on the ATHF," referring to "Aqua Teen Hunger Force."
Interference Inc. had no comment on the incident.
Mayor calls stunt "outrageous"
Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis called the stunt "unconscionable," while Boston Mayor Thomas Menino called it "outrageous" and the product of "corporate greed." Democratic Rep. Ed Markey, a Boston-area congressman, added, "It would be hard to dream up a more appalling publicity stunt."
Phil Kent, TBS's chairman and CEO, issued an apology to the city and said in a statement that police were notified as soon as Turner realized the marketing campaign was mistaken for something sinister.
"We also directed the third-party marketing firm who posted the advertisements to take them down immediately," Kent said in a statement. (Read the full statement)
But while Menino and Coakley called the apology inadequate, others disregarded Boston's response as much ado about nothing.
Twenty-two-year-old Todd Venderlin, a design student at the Parsons School of Design in New York City, saw one of the devices two weeks ago as he left a lounge in south Boston, according to The Boston Globe. He said he was stunned when he saw bomb squads removing them.
"It's so not threatening -- it's a Lite-Brite," he told the newspaper, referring to the children's toy that allows its users to create pictures by placing translucent pegs into an opaque board. "I don't understand how they could be terrified. I would if it was a bunch of circuits blinking, but it wasn't."
Devices in place for weeks
Turner said the devices have been in place for two or three weeks in Boston; New York City; Los Angeles, California; Chicago, Illinois; Atlanta, Georgia; Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Austin, Texas; San Francisco, California; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
However, only in Boston did the light boards create such a furor. In Seattle and several suburbs, the signs were removed without fuss, according to The Associated Press.
"We haven't had any calls to 911 regarding this," Seattle police spokesman Sean Whitcomb told AP on Wednesday.
Police in Philadelphia told AP that authorities had confiscated 56 of the devices. In New York, a street was shut down for 45 minutes after two of the devices were found on an overpass, the New York Post reported. In all, 41 of the devices were found in the city, according to the newspaper.
In Portland, police Sgt. Brian Schmautz said officers had no plans to remove any of the signs, so long as they weren't on municipal property. Nor had officers been dispatched in any kind of bomb scare related to the devices.
"At this point we wouldn't even begin an investigation, because there's no reason to believe a crime has occurred," Schmautz said.
In Boston, however, state, local and federal authorities on Wednesday shut down the Boston University and Longfellow bridges, and blocked maritime traffic from the Charles River into Boston Harbor. Bomb squads scrambled throughout the city and its suburbs, snarling traffic and mass transit in the city.
Coakley and Menino did not rule out the possibility of criminal charges, or a civil suit to recoup what they say is the hundreds of thousands of dollars the city spent to respond to the bomb scares.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the legal department is sending Turner a letter asking the company to reimburse the city for all costs incurred during the incident, but the authority had no plans to unilaterally file a lawsuit.
Coakley, who said she didn't learn of the devices until Turner sent a fax to City Hall about 5 p.m. Wednesday, said Turner did not provide the locations of the devices. Officials believe there were 38 light boards placed around Boston, some on private property, she said. As of Thursday morning, 15 had been recovered, Boston police spokesman Eddie Chrispin said.
"It had a very sinister appearance," Coakley told reporters. "It had a battery behind it, and wires."
Asked whether Massachusetts authorities have the jurisdiction to arrest people out of state, Coakley said she believed they would if the offenses took place in Massachusetts. Turner Broadcasting's headquarters is in Atlanta.
Adult Swim shares channel space with Cartoon Network, another Turner enterprise. The Cartoon Network broadcasts during the day and is aimed at a younger audience. At night, Adult Swim takes over the airwaves with its more mature programming.
Yep, it's official, Americans are really the stupidest people on earth.
It's already crazy enough we have people who lack so much common sense as to mistake a BIG LITE-BRITE for a bomb, but that the government of Boston can't even admit they f*cked up and go off and charge these guys for a hoax (Which it isn't. The "hoax" is imaginary. For it to have been a hoax they would have had to intentionally make the items look like bombs. Which we've already established look nothing like bombs), it's nuts! Now these guys are going to face prison time for a harmless advertising campaign, all thanks to our sensationalist, backwards, brainwashed government and people.
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