Couple get armed police visit for googling "pressure cookers"

[DudeistBelieve]

Holy shit, I live in Suffolk County.

I mean this is what they tell you to do. If you see something, say something. Still I think showing up with the fucking riot police is a little fucking extreme.

 

[Bestival]

This has actually made me pretty interested in finding out how to make a bomb with a pressurecooker, you know, just from an intellectual point of view...

But I'm not gunna fuckin' google it!

 

[Jacco]

Exactly right.
The irony is that when this sort of information comes out in the wake of some gruesome atrocity, the same people now screaming "police state" would be howling for heads to roll at the anti-terrorism agencies:

"The guy's boss tells you he's Googling 'pressure cooker bombs' right after losing his job, and you didn't even talk to the guy? What, was there a 2-for-1 sale at Dunkin' Donuts or something?"

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

THANK YOU. People don't think in more than one way most of the time. They don't take into consideration other points of view. The police did their job and did it well and thankfully nothing came of it. If I were the boss and I saw google searches like that in the same day, I'd report it too.

This isn't a police state. People saying it is don't know what that means.

 

[Jacco]

I have said this in similar threads before, but things like this are the reason I don't oppose the crazies that like to shoot at federal agents. The less of them there are, the less there is to harass us for stuff like this.

That is an absolutely disgusting statement and you should be ashamed of yourself.

 

[PatrickXD]

I loved the 'question bombardment' part. "What the hell is quinoa?!?"
Also, you know what irks me? There's a place called Suffolk in America. Get lost, America! Suffolk is English turf!

OT: I think that this all makes sense. I mean, what if this guy had actually been looking that stuff up to make plans for a bombing?

 

[Spacefrog]

At first, I felt bad for the Americans that have to live in conditions looking more and more like communism. But then I remembered the citizens are exactly the ones paying the taxes and voting so having them pay for their own hubris makes a twisted kind of sense.

Communismm US?

Dude, read a bit about Communism before posting.

Anyway, one more to the pile of 'Why the US is a police state'

I completely agree it does not have much in common with communism (Not that much of what people connect with communism was described in Marxx manifest)
Actually the current state is coming a lot closer to the Fascistic rule of Nazi Germany and the Gestapo than the USSR and the KGB.

And before someone takes offence by that comparison, according to a quick refresher on Wikipedia there are more or less 5 parts of recognising a facist.
1) You have to be nationalistic, the Americans call it Patriotism, but it's the same difference
2) You have to be authoritarian, in short you have to blindly obey the goverment (Not trust or believe but obey) and considering the amount of people who applaud (Or don't say anything openly about) the measures the government takes, it could be seen as obeying.
3) The state have to hold total authority over the society and seek to control all aspects of public and private life whenever necessary (which is basicly what everybody is complaining about on the internet)
4) You have to be more or less hostile to liberal democracy, socialism, and communism
And lastly
5) take the above to an extreme (Like most pure -isms)

 

[cthulhuspawn82]

I have said this in similar threads before, but things like this are the reason I don't oppose the crazies that like to shoot at federal agents. The less of them there are, the less there is to harass us for stuff like this.

That is an absolutely disgusting statement and you should be ashamed of yourself.

You have the right to defend yourself from kidnapping and false imprisonment. I don't think they are allowed to make an exception because the kidnappers have FBI printed on their vests.

If I ever committed a federal crime, and agents showed up to arrest me, I would be inclined to go peacefully. If I did the crime the punishment is just. But if they tried to falsely imprison me, when I have done no wrong, I dont see why I wouldn't have the right to resist that.

 

[Dr. Cakey]

I have said this in similar threads before, but things like this are the reason I don't oppose the crazies that like to shoot at federal agents. The less of them there are, the less there is to harass us for stuff like this.

That is an absolutely disgusting statement and you should be ashamed of yourself.

You have the right to defend yourself from kidnapping and false imprisonment. I don't think they are allowed to make an exception because the kidnappers have FBI printed on their vests.

If I ever committed a federal crime, and agents showed up to arrest me, I would be inclined to go peacefully. If I did the crime the punishment is just. But if they tried to falsely imprison me, when I have done no wrong, I dont see why I wouldn't have the right to resist that.

Actually, I think if you had genuinely committed a federal crime you would be more likely to resist arrest, but that's just me.

Thing is... Im kinda curious about "pressure cooker bombs". Is that an actual explosive device? or what happens if one miss-uses a pressure cooker?

Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice xkcd...

http://what-if.xkcd.com/40/

 

[Spacefrog]

At first, I felt bad for the Americans that have to live in conditions looking more and more like communism. But then I remembered the citizens are exactly the ones paying the taxes and voting so having them pay for their own hubris makes a twisted kind of sense.

Communismm US?

Dude, read a bit about Communism before posting.

Anyway, one more to the pile of 'Why the US is a police state'

I completely agree it does not have much in common with communism (Not that much of what people connect with communism was described in Marxx manifest)
Actually the current state is coming a lot closer to the Fascistic rule of Nazi Germany and the Gestapo than the USSR and the KGB.

And before someone takes offence by that comparison, according to a quick refresher on Wikipedia there are more or less 5 parts of recognising a facist.
1) You have to be nationalistic, the Americans call it Patriotism, but it's the same difference
2) You have to be authoritarian, in short you have to blindly obey the goverment (Not trust or believe but obey) and considering the amount of people who applaud (Or don't say anything openly about) the measures the government takes, it could be seen as obeying.
3) The state have to hold total authority over the society and seek to control all aspects of public and private life whenever necessary (which is basicly what everybody is complaining about on the internet)
4) You have to be more or less hostile to liberal democracy, socialism, and communism
And lastly
5) take the above to an extreme (Like most pure -isms)

Well, to be fair, the US has at least Freedom of Speech. I think it's the only thing that makes it not a fascist state.
And elections, but elections doesn't mean shit in the US.

As far as I understand what you are allowed to say have no influence on this, as long as you don't DO anything you would still be obeying and it would still be qualified as a fascism.
On the other hand would you still call it free speech when you can be arrested for googling "pressure cooker"

 

[WanderingFool]

Thing is... Im kinda curious about "pressure cooker bombs". Is that an actual explosive device? or what happens if one miss-uses a pressure cooker?

Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice xkcd...

http://what-if.xkcd.com/40/

Read it. Scared shitless just thinking about the affects of O2F2.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

See now i'm tempted to make some very funny combinations of google searches. Wonder if the local CIA branch would knock on my door (Wouldn't surprise me there are CIA agents in my country).

From a purely technical standoint, if speaking about an American citizen, the CIA cannot legally "visit" or even "investigate". It violates the rules of intelligence oversight and, to save a lot of reading I'll just be succinct: there is only one Federal Agency allowed to investigate American Citizens and it's the FBI. Of course it should be said that just because it is illegal doesn't mean much. Strictly speaking, the CIA operates purely in the realm of illegal given the endless national and international laws against espionage so you might be inclined to think they might show up anyhow but even then you'd be wrong. The CIA deals largely with human intelligence - they run sources (i.e. spies) and interrogations and all the intelligence missions with a key human element. The NSA, on the other hand, handles technical collection and, as a result, they'd be the more likely of the two to come knocking. Neither group has any official means to project combat power of course so realistically they'd probably just send your local police instead.

 

[Jacco]

I have said this in similar threads before, but things like this are the reason I don't oppose the crazies that like to shoot at federal agents. The less of them there are, the less there is to harass us for stuff like this.

That is an absolutely disgusting statement and you should be ashamed of yourself.

You have the right to defend yourself from kidnapping and false imprisonment. I don't think they are allowed to make an exception because the kidnappers have FBI printed on their vests.

If I ever committed a federal crime, and agents showed up to arrest me, I would be inclined to go peacefully. If I did the crime the punishment is just. But if they tried to falsely imprison me, when I have done no wrong, I dont see why I wouldn't have the right to resist that.

No. Just no. There is a HUGE difference between defending yourself from someone trying to kidnap you and from a lawful arrest. They aren't kidnapping you. They are arresting you and they have a warrant to do so. You do have the right to defend yourself, but in a court of law. Not by shooting at the police officers. Your mentality scares me to death because I'm sure you're not the only one who shares it and I am planning on becoming a Deputy US Marshal.

And as for your last part, what an asinine statement.

 

[TakerFoxx]

So...

>Guy notices employee couple googling something suspicious. Worried, he tips off the police.
>Police show up. Ask employees a few questions.
>Turns out to be a false alarm. Everyone goes home.
>Escapist overreacts anyway.

Nothing to see, people. Move along.

 

[Moth_Monk]

So someone explain to me why people in this thread are cool with militarized cops being allowed to enter your home just because of something you've googled at work?

That'd be great.

 

[Zealous]

Welp, I think I know what I need to do now: google "how to convert to Islam", "fertilisers", "quick tips on beginner flying" and maybe "blast radius of home made explosives" every couple of days. I'll be a laugh when a SWAT team shows up and they have nothing on me except some sketchy collation of my search history for evidence.

 

[Compatriot Block]

I have said this in similar threads before, but things like this are the reason I don't oppose the crazies that like to shoot at federal agents. The less of them there are, the less there is to harass us for stuff like this.

As someone who has had multiple family members in that line of work, what a piece of shit thing to say. And the worst part is, 99% of them would still put themselves in danger to protect scumbags who say things like that.

On topic, this is pretty textbook overreaction. Nobody was hurt, questions were asked because police followed up on a tip, which is their job. I see absolutely no problem.

 

[TakerFoxx]

So someone explain to me why people in this thread are cool with militarized cops being allowed to enter your home just because of something you've googled at work?

That'd be great.

They didn't show up just because the guy and his wife googled something, they were just following up on a tip the couple's boss left. And once it became clear that it was a false alarm, everyone went home. End of story.

 

[Olas]

I get a feeling this probably wouldn't have happened had it not been for the Boston bombing in April. Anyway, clearly an unfortunate example of unchecked overreaction from multiple parties.

Really?
Maybe it's time they stop with faking they're a free country and a democracy and just admit they're a dictatorship police state.

You didn't read the article, nor do you appear to have any idea what a 'dictatorship' is. Please stop turning the escapist forums into a place of ignorance and contempt.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

I get a feeling this probably wouldn't have happened had it not been for the Boston bombing in April. Anyway, clearly an unfortunate example of unchecked overreaction from multiple parties.

Really?
Maybe it's time they stop with faking they're a free country and a democracy and just admit they're a dictatorship police state.

You didn't read the article, nor do you appear to have any idea what a 'dictatorship' is. Please stop turning the escapist forums into a place of ignorance and contempt.

Actually, I did read the article and I do realize dictatorship may be the wrong term for it.
It's just the one that happened to be the closest one I could think of after just seeing The Dictator just before I read about this.

Seriously though, what do you call a country where you can't even google cooking wares and backpacks without being suspected of planning terrorism and getting armed police at your door?

A paranoiarchy maybe?

 

[Moth_Monk]

So someone explain to me why people in this thread are cool with militarized cops being allowed to enter your home just because of something you've googled at work?

That'd be great.

They didn't show up just because the guy and his wife googled something, they were just following up on a tip the couple's boss left. And once it became clear that it was a false alarm, everyone went home. End of story.

Yes. I know. But why is OK that militarized police can go into one's home only based on a tip from your boss about internet search habits???