Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

Public Schools in Los Angeles Closed over Threatening Message

posted by takyon on Tuesday December 15 2015, @08:10PM   Printer-friendly

An Anonymous Coward writes:

On Tuesday morning, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, a governmental agency which operates hundreds of schools in Los Angeles and nearby areas, sent all its students home. The agency did not make its buses available, but instead asked parents to pick up their children from outside the schools. Superintendent Ramon Cortines ordered all the schools in the district closed because of a threatening message regarding "many schools" which was received by a member of the school board. Cortines called the closure a "precaution based on what has happened recently." Police and the district's "plant managers" are searching the campuses.

Sources:

From Reuters:

The unprecedented move left some 643,000 students of the Los Angeles Unified School District and their families scrambling to make alternate arrangements and drew criticism as officials in New York said they received the same threat and deemed it not to be credible.

A law enforcement source told Reuters that Los Angeles authorities ordered the closure to allow a full search of about 900 public school facilities without consulting with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which takes the lead on any potential terrorism investigation.

Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Public Schools in Los Angeles Closed over Threatening Message | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 56 comments | Search Discussion
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.

  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by Anal Pumpernickel on Tuesday December 15 2015, @09:45PM

    by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Tuesday December 15 2015, @09:45PM (#276829)

    Of course, I was under the impression that the terrorists had won at least since I found out the band on liquids for air passengers was not temporary.

    They win as soon as you give up your freedoms in any capacity, even if it is temporary. A temporary violation of the constitution is still intolerable. The TSA itself is unconstitutional, and not merely because of side issues like whether or not you can bring liquids onto a plane.

    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Insightful=2, Informative=1, Total=3
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  
    Total Score:   5  

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 15 2015, @10:34PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 15 2015, @10:34PM (#276852)

    I thought that the ban on liquids for a week or so in response to a specific threat was reasonable. Dragging the ban on for years, not so much.

    • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Tuesday December 15 2015, @10:47PM

      by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Tuesday December 15 2015, @10:47PM (#276862)

      The TSA's existence itself is not reasonable or constitutional, so no. Taking away the rights of everyone--even temporarily--merely because some people are bad is disgusting.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @01:49AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @01:49AM (#276929)

      You thought that because you are poorly informed about how difficult it is to manufacture a binary explosive onboard a commercial aircraft. [googleusercontent.com] (orig) [theregister.co.uk]

      Man, I miss Thomas C. Greene's column in El Reg.

      -- gewg_

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @08:23PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday December 16 2015, @08:23PM (#277281)

        Liquid explosives have been used in the past.

        For example Korean Air Flight 858 [wikipedia.org] in 29 November 1987.

        On 27 November, two guidance officers who had arrived in Yugoslavia by train from Vienna gave (the bombers) the time bomb, a Panasonic transistor radio made in Japan, which contained explosives, a detonator, and a bottle of liquid explosive intended to intensify the blast, disguised as a liquor bottle.[5][6]

        Other mentions involving liquids:
        Northwest Airlines Flight 253 (underwear bomber) [wikipedia.org]

        About 20 minutes before the plane landed, on its final descent, he secretly ignited a small explosive device consisting of a mix of plastic explosive powder[25] and acid.[26] Abdulmutallab apparently had a packet of the plastic explosive sewn to his underwear,[27] and injected liquid acid from a syringe into the packet to cause a chemical reaction.[28] While there was a small explosion and fire, the device failed to detonate properly.[24][29] Passengers heard popping noises resembling firecrackers, smelled an odor, and saw the suspect's pants, leg and the wall of the plane on fire.[24]

        Philippine Airlines Flight 434 [wikipedia.org]

        United States prosecutors said the device was a "Mark II" "microbomb" constructed using Casio digital watches as described in Phase I of the Bojinka plot, for which this was a test.[citation needed] On Flight 434, Yousef used one tenth of the explosive power he planned to use on eleven U.S. airliners in January 1995.[citation needed] The bomb was, or at least all of its components were, designed to slip through airport security checks undetected. The explosive used was liquid nitroglycerin, which was disguised as a bottle of contact lens fluid.[citation needed] Other ingredients included glycerin, nitrate, sulfuric acid, and minute concentrations of nitrobenzene, silver azide, and liquid acetone.[citation needed] The wires he used were hidden in the heel of his shoe, below the detectable range of the metal detectors used by airports of the day.[citation needed]