49ers' Aldon Smith detained at airport for claiming to be in possession of bomb

I didn't see this posted yet.

Los Angeles police detained San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday afternoon after he indicated he was in possession of a bomb.

The police did not identify the man they detained as Smith, but 49ers general manager Trent Baalke issued a statement that confirmed it, saying: "We are disappointed to learn of the incident today involving Aldon Smith. As this is a pending legal matter and we are still gathering the pertinent facts, we will have no further comment."

Link

Smith has been in trouble with the law in the past, having "faced three felony counts of possession of an assault weapon"

This is a pretty weird story though.
Apparently he was randomly selected for "secondary screening" and he began to act strange and refused to cooperate.
He also apparently said he had a bomb, before beginning to walk towards the gate area.
Thoughts?

reply to post by Havox


Actual bomb or cover story?

reply to post by Havox


I saw so many people kicked off flights because they were stupid enough to say something about a bomb in their bag. Usually, you are detained a short while at the check point, and rebooked on a later flight.

It sounds like he walked out of the checkpoint, which almost guarantees you're getting in a lot more trouble.

reply to post by Havox


I am willing to bet he just said the word bomb in a sentence and since he was being uncooperative they hit him with a bs charge to detain him.
I think it was him being an ass because he was getting treated like every other person.
Obviously still not that mature. He couldn't even keep out of trouble till after May 2nd, team deadline to pick up their option on his contract.
His absence was missed last season but was also filled fairly well. Also with the draft being delayed this year they now have another option of replacing him with a new prospect, I am sure they could find some one with their abundance of picks this draft.
Well, maybe not replace smith, he is a beast but Skuta did a nice impression, even stuck around in the rotation when smith came back

Apparently there is a video of him too, not sure what it shows, just saw a mention of it on a NFL.com article i was reading

There is also apparently a video of the incident, but I can't search for it on this computer. If anyone could try to find it and post it, it would be much appreciated

reply to post by Havox


So a National and perhaps World known figure walks into an airport...?

Must be a punchline here.

"Hilary Clinton Detained at airport with 500 lbs of blow in her **** "

Seems right to me.

Peace

reply to post by Sremmos80


It's not a BS charge. Mentioning hijacking or bombs in an airport has been a federal offense for over 30 years.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Yeah I haven't traveled by plane in some years but I remember when I did fly a lot, this used be on of the questions they would actually ask you, do you have a bomb or any other explosives ? even back then and this was well before 911, I used to think to myself, what a dumb question because if they did they certainly wouldn't tell you if they had nefarious plans.

reply to post by Zaphod58


And I am sure that 30 year charge (ETA read what you said wrong) is when you are saying it in a threatening manner.
But still, I understand that it is a big deal it it is said in a threatening or intimidating context
And then intent still has to be taken in thought as well, intent is a big deal with this type of charge IMO
Or when it insights riot like screaming fire or I have a bomb in any crowd.
Sure it is a serious offense if you are saying it to scare some one, or intimidate them. ts not like davis said if you arrest me I am going to blow the place up with the bomb I have.

reply to post by Zaphod58


Exactly, any and all words of a threatening nature can and will be used against you in a court of Law in the United States of America.

Sremmos80
reply to post by Zaphod58

 

And I am sure that 30 year charge is when you are saying it in a threatening manner.
Or when it insights riot like screaming fire or I have a bomb in any crowd.
Sure it is a serious offense if you are saying it to scare some one, or intimidate them. ts not like davis said if you arrest me I am going to blow the place up with the bomb I have.

So you're saying just because nobody panicked, it's fine for him to say he had a bomb? Why would you joke about that in a public airport, knowing how serious they take that kind of thing?

reply to post by Sremmos80


Almost every time, the worst that will happen is you get removed from your flight and put on a later flight. The airline gives you a stern talking to, the LEOs come and ask a few questions, and 99% of the time everyone goes their own way, and you just get there a little later than you planned to.

If you mouth off, and then walk out of the checkpoint, it's a different story. At that point you are facing arrest. They don't know if you were being serious, had something on you that you could hide outside the checkpoint, etc.

Havox

Sremmos80
reply to post by Zaphod58

 

And I am sure that 30 year charge is when you are saying it in a threatening manner.
Or when it insights riot like screaming fire or I have a bomb in any crowd.
Sure it is a serious offense if you are saying it to scare some one, or intimidate them. ts not like davis said if you arrest me I am going to blow the place up with the bomb I have.

So you're saying just because nobody panicked, it's fine for him to say he had a bomb? Why would you joke about that in a public airport, knowing how serious they take that kind of thing?

I am saying he never said " I have a bomb"
I think he said something with bomb in it that he should have not said.

Again, I think he was mad that he was not getting star treatment, acted like a five year old about it. Pissed of the cops at the airport and said something with the word bomb in it and they took him in

I think what he did was in the wrong, I am sure he could have avoided it completely.
But I don't think he was in possession of a bomb.
Take a shot in the dark and assume he in fact did not have one, sure we would of heard of it by now

reply to post by Sremmos80


I'm not saying he did or he didn't, but mentioning having one and then refusing to cooperate isn't the smartest thing to do.

I think everyone is missing the underlying theme here. You can be a politician, regular joe, celebrity, professional athlete, 6 year old, 99 year old and it doesnt matter...you are getting the treatment. Shame on him for being irritated for being treated like a common criminal on what I am sure was a first class flight somewhere. That should be the moral of this story not how spoiled he is or how stupid he is. I've talked crazy to the TSA before as well for bein all up on my genitalia and im sure the word bomb was used. They needa get over themselves and go back to being flashlight cops that work at airports.

As a Packers fan, this is good news.

But the human side of me wishes him the best and hopefully it's all a big misunderstanding.

I think that if he DID joke about it, it's a BS charge. I feel like it's taken WAYYY to seriously here, when I was in the Guadalajara airport last week the security officer asked a guy if he was carrying any weapons and he jokingly repliedd 'yeah I got a machine gun in my bag' and they both laughed. If he had said that in the US that would've costed him 10,000 dollars and a trip to a federal prison.

Sremmos80
reply to post by Zaphod58

 

And I am sure that 30 year charge (ETA read what you said wrong) is when you are saying it in a threatening manner.
But still, I understand that it is a big deal it it is said in a threatening or intimidating context
And then intent still has to be taken in thought as well, intent is a big deal with this type of charge IMO
Or when it insights riot like screaming fire or I have a bomb in any crowd.
Sure it is a serious offense if you are saying it to scare some one, or intimidate them. ts not like davis said if you arrest me I am going to blow the place up with the bomb I have.

edit on thSun, 13 Apr 2014 20:04:12 -0500America/Chicago420141280 by Sremmos80 because: (no reason given)

I know at Australian airports it specifically says even JOKES about explosives is an offence.

Probably too scared to fly and wanted to get out of it without looking like a little girl....

I happened to see the story with video on the local news. All I saw was him being detained and acting calmly and cooperative.
We have all known for years, even before 9/11 that you don't joke about bombs and such at the airport.

Maybe he was saying 'I said I didn't have a bomb"