Patterico's Pontifications

1/6/2011

Breaking: Incendiary Devices Go Off at Maryland State Buildings (Updated)

Filed under: General — Aaron Worthing @ 11:56 am



[Guest post by Aaron Worthing; if you have tips, please send them here.]

Update: The WAPO’s coverage suggests that it was merely an “incendiary device” and not actually a bomb, and that it did not actually explode.  I guess we just have to sit back and see what develops.

Update (II): WTOP reports that one of the packages was addressed to the Governor.  And they back up the claims that there were no explosions.  But some of it suggests that they might have been badly made bombs.  Still, I have changed the title of the post to reflect that they didn’t explode.

Not a lot is known right now.  In fact, bluntly if anyone knows more, please share.  Here’s some local coverage for now:

The Anne Arundel County Fire Department is responding to a report of an explosion in Hanover at the Department of Transportation headquarters.

Officials say it happened in the 7200-block of Corporate Center Drive around 1 p.m. Thursday, possibly on the fourth floor where the administration offices are.

Three people are injured.

It’s not clear what caused the explosion.

Meanwhile, a Maryland State House mailroom employee was injured Thursday afternoon while handling a package and the incident is being investigated by bomb squad officials, according to Annapolis city officials.

The Annapolis Fire Department’s bomb squad is investigating the incident and the state’s bomb squad and FBI officials were at the Jeffrey Building on Francis Street in Annapolis, where the incident took place, according to Phillip McGowan, a spokesman for Annapolis Mayor Joshua J. Cohen.

The mailroom employee had minor burns to his hands and refused treatment. The Jeffrey Building was evacuated.

Well, if we are having two in one day, that suggests that this is some kind of concerted, deliberate attack.

This story adds some additional information:

Officials are investigating possible explosions at the Maryland Department of Transportation’s headquarters in Hanover and a state government building in Annapolis.

Firefighters and hazmat crews were sent to the MDOT building in the 7200 block of Corporate Center in Hanover shortly before 1 p.m. Thursday.

A source has told 11 News that two packages exploded, one at the MDOT building and another at the Jeffrey Building on Francis Street in Annapolis.

The source said when the packages were opened in the mail rooms of the buildings, a small explosion happened.

State agencies have been advised to not deliver or open any mail.

There are no confirmed reports of injuries.

Police are still investigating.

I will share an experience I had, however.  One of my company’s offices is in Maryland and one day one of our employees got a bomb threat.  It turned out to be nothing, but I was stunned by the lackadaisical attitude of the police.  One person actually said, “making a bomb threat is not illegal.”  Yeah, technically not.  But it is made illegal indirectly as follows.  One statute makes it illegal to plant a bomb.  Another makes it illegal to lie about planting a bomb or its location.  So if the threat is honest, then you bust the guy for planting a bomb; if the threat is hot air, you bust him for giving false information about a bomb.  Its amazing that nine years after September 11 that people would be so unconcerned about something as serious as a bomb threat.

That was a different jurisdiction than these explosions seem to have occurred in, but fwiw…

[Posted and authored by Aaron Worthing.]

17 Responses to “Breaking: Incendiary Devices Go Off at Maryland State Buildings (Updated)”

  1. It was something on a par with flares.

    Kman (d30fc3)

  2. It should be easy to find the person. Just narrow the search to somebody that’s angry about the condition of the roads – or angry about the taxes on gas – or angry about a traffic ticket – or angry about lack of enforcement – or angry about government – or angry about losing a job with the DOT. That should get you down to about…

    What’s the population of Maryland these days?

    Gesundheit (cfa313)

  3. Gesundheit

    you are leaving out virginian who might have gotten tickets, too.

    Aaron Worthing (b1db52)

  4. Nappy just called in to say that once again the system worked. Bloomberg also called and warned that if anyone even dares mention a possible religious subtext to this incident that they’ll be summarily executed on the spot. Further bulletins as events warrant.

    Dmac (498ece)

  5. Forgot to mention that Bloomberg also suggested that a Tea Party motive may be involmed here.

    Dmac (498ece)

  6. “involved”

    Dmac (498ece)

  7. I think a lot of people just aren’t ready to go back to work after the holidays

    happyfeet (a55ba0)

  8. A Larry Johnson * type guess, another one of these anarchist types like Bedell,or Stack, upset with technology;

    * as a NBC consultant, labeled as fmr State Depart, in 1996, he called TWA 800 an explosion.

    narciso (6075d0)

  9. Clearly the act of another violent reichwingnutz teabagger.

    JD (e1cd2f)

  10. a terrorist explosion, not an mechanical malfunction.

    narciso (6075d0)

  11. I was stunned by the lackadaisical attitude of the police.

    Hey, the threat wasn’t aimed at them …

    SPQR (26be8b)

  12. Probably New Year’s pyrotechnics that were delayed by the USPS.

    Or, they were probably sent by a Republican bitter about the recent election of a Democrat Governor.

    AD-RtR/OS! (b8ab92)

  13. The Maryland Mafia is VERY ticked off about the booze tax. Either that, or it’s a false flag operation intended to smear the Right.

    democratsarefascists (5a5d33)

  14. Back in the dim, dark days of 1979, the south Florida radio station where I was working received a telephoned bomb threat. The local authorities reacted swiftly (they were on site less than five minutes after we reported the threat) and in all seriousness. Fortunately, the threat was a hoax.

    Our staff didn’t take it as seriously as the cops, but with the “new reality” of threats today that are often real, I think we would have departed the studios in 30 seconds or less.

    navyvet (db5856)

  15. I saw one story on this that stated the package included a statement complaining about signs put up on the Maryland highways asking citizens to report suspicious activities with the complaint that these signs are just going to cause the very problem they say they are trying to avoid.

    Have Blue (854a6e)

  16. Fairly amusing watching CNN go over-the-top with their reporting on this story. Using incendiary (pun completely intentional) words like “explosion” and “detonate”, neither of which occurred.

    Icy Texan (87db83)


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