I agree totally with Harvey Silverglate in the Boston Phoenix, who writes that the Aqua Teen terror false alarm was the fault of dim police and counterterrorism officers who couldn't differentiate a friggin' picture of a cartoon character from a bomb.
"I attach no blame (get that – NO blame at all) to the advertisers and performance artists. After all, the same campaign in a number of other cities did not spark panic. (And, besides, the damned things were up two weeks before the first report spurred a panic. How safe does that make you feel?)And no, it wasn't a "hoax." A hoax would have meant they actually wanted it to look like terrorism, when obviously they didn't. I also love this Boston Herald editorial blaming it on Ted Turner- apparently unaware that Ted left Turner Broadcasting several years ago. Posted by Stephen Silver at February 1, 2007 05:52 PMThis could be seen as a serious threat only by the people to whom we have delegated the job of protecting us in the Age of Terror. From the CIA director right down to the local city or town anti-terror squad, we’re in sorry shape. Maybe watching Cartoon Network should be part of the training henceforth. Or maybe just hire a few younger folk."