One of the hallmarks of a totalitarian state is the laying of bogus charges against artists. And in those places, it's also not uncommon for the targets of those charges to turn around and praise the state that works to eliminate them simply to survive, particularly when restitution for the state's feigned outrage is demanded from the victim.
CNN and others are now reporting that Peter Berdovsky, 27, of Arlington, Massachusetts, a recent graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art, has been arrested. The Boston Globe reports that Berdovsky is "facing charges of placing a hoax device in a way that results in panic." The law under which he was charged allows the state to pursue restitution.
Faced with the prospect of paying for Boston's costly and frightful response, Turner Broadcasting obviously doesn't dare point out the obvious: that Boston's authorities will seize on the most absurd misunderstanding to justify their existence, to play the game of "homeland security theater" for a paranoid public - and send their victims the bill for it. But no amount of government produced theatrics will stop people, who've allowed themselves to be fearful, from pissing their pants.
Berdovsky and Turner Broadcasing are also facing a more informal charge, since it's being reported that the Attorney General, Martha Coakley, is insisting that those involved should have known the devices could cause panic. An online survey on the website of Boston's ABC affiliate - in a story that repeats the "hoax device" meme in headline and lede - alleges that 71% of respondents say that Turner should be "fined," for what is never mentioned.
How is anybody supposed to anticipate the response of authorities and public that seem paranoid beyond belief, and whose actions in response to the most mundane things can't be predicted? There was no hoax, these devices never looked like bombs and were never placed in such a way as for them to be placed as bombs. They were signs, and were placed in visible locations to be seen, not hidden where people would expect bombs to be hidden. There is no "should have known" here to be known!
Perhaps more disturbing is the response from Turner Broadcasting, aired throughout the evening on the "Cartoon Network" and posted on the CNN website. It is the ultimate suck-up to authorities that are out of control, without one iota of push-back or basic attempts to correct the public record. Perhaps when faced with the prospect of having to foot the bill for a whole city's emergency responders chasing their tails for a day - and the following civil lawsuits from everyone affected, since after all, if the city can make bogus claims, so can they - they have no other choice. It's almost reminiscent of the executioners of Chinese dissidents forcing the families of the condemned to pay for the bullets.
Update: It's been pointed out to me that, according to his resume, Peter Berdovsky is from Belarus and was granted political asylum in 2000. This opens the possibility that, if he is not yet a U.S. citizen, he may be facing deportation if his case goes badly from here.