Consumerist
The TSA says a 21 year-old man was caught smuggling a box cutter onto an airplane by hiding it inside a secret compartment inside a book. The man says he forgot the box cutter was inside the book.
From the TSA's website:
The X-ray image of a box cutter inside Benjamin Baines Jr.'s backpack caught the attention of federal officers Sunday morning at Tampa International Airport.Relatives say that it was just a misunderstanding: "He's not militant," said James Layne, a 28-year-old cousin. "He's not a crazy blow-yourself-up kind of guy. It's all a major misunderstanding." Baines said that he cut the compartment into the book to conceal marijuana and to keep money from being stolen by roommates. We think Baines might want to cut back just a bit on the marijuana.But it was the packaging that really jolted them: a hollowed-out book that hid the razor-sharp tool. Also inside the backpack: a Koran, a Holy Bible and rap music lyrics referencing police, drugs and guns.
Baines, 21, of Clearwater told investigators he forgot the box cutter was inside the copy of Fear Itself when he packed his bag for a trip to Las Vegas, states a report by Tampa International Airport police.
He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor. He pleaded guilty Monday in Hillsborough County court and received a 30-day jail sentence. The U.S. Attorney's Office is looking into the case but has not filed charges.
"What raises our concern is when an item is artfully concealed," said Christopher White, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration. "It's different than a box cutter inside a backpack."
Comments
You know for a fact he knew full-well that he had those...
"hiding it inside a secret compartment inside a book"
yeah, thats a real secret. no ones EVER done that before
Commence the banning of books on planes in 3, 2, 1...
~j
Sweet more news about Tampa... what a great week with cops dumping people of of wheel chairs and dummies trying to test airport security!
Poor book.
Obviously SOMEONE has seen "The Shawshank Redemption" a few too many times. Unfortunately for him, a prison sentence, not freedom, lay within this book. And, WTF? he put it in a book titled "Fear Itself". Is that supposed to mean something? Ooohh... don't scare me Mr. Wannabe Terrorist.
I like the excuse given by family that he usually uses the secret compartment for pot.
"The man says he forgot the box cutter was inside the book."
Six months later, the police say they forgot that the man was inside the Jail cell.
Oops!
"No... you put your WEED in there...."
But why would ANYONE EVER put a box cutter inside a secret book compartment, let alone FORGET about it?
Pot, yes, but ... a BOX CUTTER?
Maybe he was hoping to raise a stink about the "terrible TSA security" after smuggling it on board?
What I learned:
1. Cutting a 3" by 7" hole to store a 1" by 4" item is considered 'artfully concealed.'
2. Ben thinks he's pretty clever, making literal that the only thing you have to fear is Fear Itself
3. Some people apparently think that rap music sometimes DOESN'T contain references to police, drugs, and guns.
Clever subterfuge, considering that no TSA employee has even passing knowledge of a book.
Next time I'm caught with plastique, an alarm clock, a primer and a tangled mess of wires at the airport, I have to remember the "my stoner roommates" excuse.
This guy better know he's a Dead Man Walking. The US Librarian Association is one vengeful bunch, and they're on to him now.
"Also inside the backpack: a Koran, a Holy Bible and rap music lyrics referencing police, drugs and guns."
Lemme guess...the rap music lyrics also referenced "hos"?
"You cut a bible. You all will hang for this" to paraphrase an old pirate.
Let's hope TSA doesn't ban that...
Commence the banning of books on planes in 3, 2, 1...
Won't be long before we have Firemen to deal with those pesky 'book' things.
Well I guess it can no longer be said that airport screening has never successfully prevented a terrorist act
Salvation lies within.
Well, this jackass was bound to be busted sooner or later for something.
Well, duh, he just left the boxcutter there after he used it to make his super-secret compartment! You know how it is: cut up a book to make a place for your stash, smoke your stash, leave your boxcutter in there by mistake, go get some munchies, forget where you left your boxcutter. If I had a nickel for every time that's happened to me...
My God...he had rap music that referenced police, drugs and guns. This, in itself labels him a terrorist, as any patriotic american listens to rap music that references a well rounded education, investing for retirement and sex for procreation purposes only.
It is possible that he forgot about it. Say he was using the box cutter to hollow out the book, then left it in there. If the book was sitting around long enough, he would probably forget it was there. It doesn't excuse him from the misdemeanor, but it is possible that he forgot about it. I'm torn about what to do in a circumstance like this. If the box cutter had just been at the bottom of his bag, they probably would have just taken it and let him go on. Did he raise a scene at security, or did they arrest him without a second glance?
Wow, it get's even better if you read the artice...
The violent rap lyrics, Baines said, were his work. "He stated that rap music lyrics is all lies and that rap music writers have to play the part," the report states. A national records check found Baines had no criminal convictions.
Uhhhh...I don't know how to respond to that. But then in the next paragraph:
At an initial hearing Monday, Hillsborough court records show, Baines pleaded guilty to the concealed weapons charge. He wasn't represented by an attorney, said Butler. TSA and airport officers charged him because "he was black and carrying the Koran," he said.
Really? Are you sure it didn't have anything to do with the boxcutter hidden in the cutout pages of a book?
@nardo218: Brings new meaning to "print is dead."
@redhelix: Yes, he might have gotten out those lyrics and started singing on the plane. Oh, the humanity!
@Erskine: Good one!
I don't know why you would travel with a hollowed out book of which you don't know what the contents are.
"TSA and airport officers charged him because 'he was black and carrying the Koran,' he said."
No - that's the reason that you might have gone to Gitmo, not to prison.
@NoWin: :-)
This guy sounds like Jim Anchower's roommate. Hola amigos!
Clearly this is just gorilla marketing effort to sell Kindles and Sony Readers.
I'd be willing to bet that the TSA program to get your name off the no-fly list is not going to be an option in this guys's future.
The shocking thing is that this guy actually got caught with a weapon by airport security. If he'd had a bottle of water as well the TSA thingy would probably have found the water, upbraided him for it, and then let him board with the knife.
Welcome to the National Counterterrorism Center's potential terrorist list, retard. Good luck opening a bank account.
@ianmac47: Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how many songs' worth of "rap music lyrics referencing police, drugs and guns" can be hidden in THOSE? Not to mention Bibles and Korans!
I bet he'll claim he was "testing the system" or something *eyeroll*
I hate the TSA monkeys as much as the next person, but you just don't fool around with stuff like this. It's too blatant.
@Trai_Dep:
Actually, its the American Library Association (ALA). And yes, they will be holding a funeral for this book.
further proof that pot makes you stupid
I think this is a secret ploy to sell more of Amazon's Kindle. No books? No problem.
But in all seriousness, I can't believe his excuse was "I forgot it was there." Really? I mean, cause it looks like you forgot that you cut out a slot for the box cutter, and then forgot you placed a box cutter inside that compartment, and forgot that you had a giant, gaping hole in your book and couldn't read it during your flight. And what's all this about "he's not crazy" and "he isn't militant"? He might not be, but he sure is stupid, and I advocate keeping stupid people off planes just as much as I advocate keeping terrorists off planes.
I guess "artfully concealed" refers to the craftlike or scrapbook like artistry of cutting the book out versus say female terrorists concealing weapons or explosives in fake pregnant bellies (or other cavities).
[www.msnbc.msn.com]
@HeyHermano: He DID know what the contents were... until he smoked the majority of them... THEN he forgot.
People killed because of the Bible: Millions.
People killed because of the Koran: Millions.
People killed because of Rap Music that references police, drugs, and guns: thousands.
Is this like carrying a loaded gun and claiming I did not know there was anything around the bullet?
@sam1am:
"People killed because of Rap Music that references police, drugs, and guns: thousands."
People? I guess it depends on one's definition of what constitutes a "person".
@dorkins:
I could see that, if you used the box cutter to make the compartment to begin with. It is also possible for it to end up inside the book just by things getting jostled around inside a bag.
Regardless "I usually have weed in it!" isn't the best excuse when you're suspected of trying to smuggle something onto a plane.
@sam1am:
You have to look at rates per unit of time.
@gorckat: nice Fahrenheit 451 reference
"Also inside the backpack: a Koran, a Holy Bible and rap music lyrics referencing police, drugs and guns."
"...he forgot the box cutter was inside the copy of Fear Itself when he packed his bag for a trip to Las Vegas"
This sounds like a performance art piece or some kind of social essay.
I have 1 question, what was his purpose behind boarding a plane with a hacked-up book? Surely he wasn't going to read it. No way could he have gone through his personal library and thought to himself " Wow, I almost forgot that one, it will make a nice read on the plane " No way he forgot that it was chopped up.
Put him in jail and let him rot, air travel is hard enough with clowns like him in the mix.
Darn, another question! How many responsible adults pack for air travel and don't know what they are taking?
@sam1am: Only because rap has only been around for, what, 25 years or so? The Bible and Koran have had thousands of years of a head start.
OMFG we got friggin' Serpico working for the TSA now.
His colleagues will stab him with the box cutter by the end of the next week due to the amount of times he has told his story of the "would be" terrorist whom he alone was able to tame and capture the 21 year old miscreant.
Oh great TSA maven of security! I salute you!
-sarcasm off
@rhombopteryx: Who knew there was any other kind of rap music.
I suppose, in their effort to co-opt everything normal, there is probably evangelic