Another bomb in Beantown

As you may have heard by now, MIT computer science student Star Simpson was arrested in Boston’s Logan Airport last week for wearing an outfit that airport security thought was truly da bomb.

The 19 year old was wearing a jacket she’d designed featuring a circuit board with green LEDs attached to a 9-volt battery. She was also allegedly carrying Play-Doh in one hand, which airport officials apparently mistook for plastic explosives. That was enough to bring out Logan’s SWAT team, which arrested her at machine gun point after she’d left the airport.

Simpson (no relation to O.J.) said she had created the ‘art shirt’ for a college job fair, and had been wearing it for several days.

(Memo to Star: If you want to impress potential employers, you probably want to change your clothes more often than that. And if you’re going to be shaking peoples’ hands, you might also want to reconsider the Play-Doh. Just a suggestion.)

This is twice now that Boston’s finest have been made to look like tools by what are essentially toys. The first time was last January, when the city was brought to a standstill by glowing Hasbro Lite-Brite gizmos promoting Cartoon Network’s “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” which had been deployed in a dozen other cities without incident. Likewise, Simpson managed to wander around MIT’s campus wearing her art jacket without anyone mistaking her for a terrorist.

Prosecutors insist they will pursue a case against Simpson, though chances of a conviction under Massachusetts’ “infernal machines” law seem slim.

Maybe it’s time they all took a deep breath and a class in bomb recognition. Admittedly Simpson’s fashion choices weren’t very smart (hey, she’s 19 — what do you expect?). Clearly airport security overreacted — fortunately for Simpson, not fatally. Can’t we just admit that everybody blew this one and move on?

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