Artist Arrested For Planting "Fake Bombs" In NY

[The Wooster]

Artist Arrested For Planting "Fake Bombs" In NY

Plastic "I Love NY" bags have joined the motley collection of items easily mistaken for explosive ordinance.

As Brooklyn-based designer and artist, Takeshi Miyakawa, found out to his cost, when the NYPD arrested him on Saturday for "planting false bombs." According to Japanese art site, Spoon & Tamago, Miyakawa is currently being held on Rikers Island without bail and a judge has ordered he undergo a mental examination.

The pieces are a fairly cutesy example of "guerrilla art." Miayakawa hung the plastic bags, which light up thanks to an included battery-powered flashlight, from trees and lampposts around the city. He was arrested after a local called 311, the city's non-emergency services line, to ask whether he was required to take the art down. The call was forwarded to 911, and the NYPD - who, let's be honest, have a fairly valid reason for being paranoid - responded to the potential threat. After finding Miyakawa half-way up a ladder, they arrested and charged him with two counts of reckless endangerment, two counts of placing a false bomb or hazardous substance in the second degree and two counts of second-degree criminal nuisance.

It's worth noting that the NYPD didn't think the art pieces were bombs, as was the case in the 2007 Boston bomb scare, where police officers mistakenly identified battery-powered Mooninites for bombs. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Boston_bomb_scare] Instead, they believe that other people could mistake the art installations for bombs, potentially causing a panic. The NYPD apparently receives nearly 100 reports of bomb-like items a day.

Source: LA Times [http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-nypd-arrests-artist-for-i-love-new-york-work-20120521,0,6727115.story?track=rss]

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[Erana]

So... if they didn't think they were bombs, what would make them think that the public would mistake them for bombs?

...Just please don't tell me that its because they light up like in movies and on TV.

 

[RaNDM G]

It's a bag on a pole with a flashlight in it. How is someone going to mistake that for a bomb?

On a side note, if those really were bombs, that would be pretty ironic.

 

[=y]

I don't see how it is art but maybe I'm just not arty enough. I don't see how it is a serious offense either. Well, besides maybe littering or something because eventually they'd have them taken down anyway.

...

100 calls a day? That's a lot.

 

[McMullen]

They say you can't arrest someone for being stupid, but apparently in this country, you can get arrested when someone else is stupid.

I feel so privileged to live in the USA, land of the free, home of the brave. You know, as long as there are none of those utterly terrifying plastic bags around.

 

[chadachada123]

That is...one of the most retarded things that I have ever heard of.

And I've seen a LOT of stupid stories like this come out of New York.

 

[DeepComet5581]

They say you can't arrest someone for being stupid, but apparently in this country, you can get arrested when someone else is stupid.

Well the Police would end up being pretty redundant if that's the case.

I think the very definition of being criminal is being stupid enough to commit a crime in the first place.

 

[Dr Jones]

That is...one of the most retarded things that I have ever heard of.
And I've seen a LOT of stupid stories like this come out of New York.

The terrorist fear value in New York is cranked up on 100%. Most people probably wouldn't think they were bombs, but after what has already happened in NY, I don't think the force is willing to take chances and risk someone flipping out.

Well the Police would end up being pretty redundant if that's the case.

I think the very definition of being criminal is being stupid enough to commit a crime in the first place.

Definition of criminal is just a person who has comitted a crime, nothing to do with stupidity (sometimes crime may be justified?)

 

[Micalas]

Unless it actually looks like a bomb I don't think it should be possible to be arrested for "planting a fake bomb." I think it's bad precedent to make laws for planting fake *insert item here*

In other news, Mr. Miyakawa has also been indicted on planting a fake bag of dog shit, planting a fake ballpoint pen, and planting a fake dead hobo. The bags he hung up look nothing like any of these items but that sure as fuck won't stop us from charging him for planting a fake one!

Give him a ticket for littering and move the fuck on with your lives.

 

[anthony87]

So the NYPD believe the he wasn't planting fake bombs and they charge him with "two counts of placing a false bomb or hazardous substance in the second degree"?

http://forums.omgpop.com/attachments/forum-games/24002d1336250216-break-these-riddles-first-2-break-all-them-wins-d-jackie-chan-meme-jpg

 

[Thaluikhain]

So, doing things that might confuse or frighten New Yorkers is a crime now?

What does that actually exclude?

 

[midij19]

this is just sad. seeing how the police is just wasting time and resources on a non-threat makes me wander if they are incompetent or simply retarded.

 

[McMullen]

They say you can't arrest someone for being stupid, but apparently in this country, you can get arrested when someone else is stupid.

Well the Police would end up being pretty redundant if that's the case.

I think the very definition of being criminal is being stupid enough to commit a crime in the first place.

That seems kind of pedantic and off-topic to me. Besides, the saying exists because many stupid actions are legal, even if they're harmful.

 

[DeepComet5581]

They say you can't arrest someone for being stupid, but apparently in this country, you can get arrested when someone else is stupid.

Well the Police would end up being pretty redundant if that's the case.

I think the very definition of being criminal is being stupid enough to commit a crime in the first place.

That seems kind of pedantic and off-topic to me. Besides, the saying exists because many stupid actions are legal, even if they're harmful.

It's late. I forgot the internet doesn't cater for sarcasm.

I guess the only paranoid person was the operator on the 311 line who felt it necessary to forward the call to 911.

The Police didn't care and, frankly, the public wouldn't have either.

Let's face it: If you're going to put a bomb somewhere, you aren't going to put it atop a lamppost, are you?

Anyway, I though Darwinism existed for the legal stupidity.

 

[McMullen]

So, doing things that might confuse or frighten New Yorkers is a crime now?

What does that actually exclude?

The irony is that supposedly New Yorkers are supposed to Just Not Give A Fuck. This incident makes it look like all it takes to make them run away with their tail between their legs is a plastic bag and a light. This arrest is kind of insulting to New Yorkers, as I see it. Same way Boston has a permanent stink of cowardice about it after that nite-brite campaign.

I wish that there were some reason to believe Americans were as courageous as we like to say we are, but all the evidence indicates that the only reason we haven't crawled under our beds is because we've wet them so hard that we'd drown if we were that low to the floor.

 

[Wintermoot]

what terrorist is stupid enough to place bombs in bright plastic bags in places that are easily spotted?

 

[Rainboq]

this is just sad. seeing how the police is just wasting time and resources on a non-threat makes me wander if they are incompetent or simply retarded.

The police are legally obliged to respond to ANY call, regardless of possibility.

OT: Artist gets crazy idea, artist DOES crazy idea, turns out crazy idea is illegal, artist gets arrested. Pretty open and shut case if you ask me.

captcha: Oh brother.

Amen sister, amen.

 

[Rainboq]

Sounds like the police dispatcher and officers involved are in more need of a mental examination than the guy they arrested.

See below.

this is just sad. seeing how the police is just wasting time and resources on a non-threat makes me wander if they are incompetent or simply retarded.

The police are legally obliged to respond to ANY call, regardless of possibility.