Ronin38 2,117 Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 (edited) Man Wearing Body Armor Busted With Luggage Full of Weapons at LAX A Boston-bound man wearing body armor, flame retardant leggings and knee pads under his trench coat arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a Customs and Border Protection officer found a smoke grenade and several weapons in his checked luggage is facing a federal charge for transporting hazardous material on an airplane. According to an affidavit filed in federal court, Yongda Huang Harris, 28, a naturalized U.S. citizen of Chinese descent, was flying from Kansai, Japan, via Inchon, Korea, to LAX on Friday. He was pulled aside in customs for a secondary baggage inspection when an officer noticed Harris was wearing a bullet-proof vest. The officer asked Harris if he had anything he would like to declare in his checked luggage. Harris told the officer he had a knife, but when his bag was searched, the officer found a troubling array of suspicious items. In addition to the smoke grenade, officers found three leather-coated black-jack billy clubs, a collapsible baton, a full-face respirator, several knives and a hatchet. Perhaps even more disturbing, officers also found body bags, a tyvex biohazard suit, various masks, duct tape, hand cuffs, leg irons, flex cuffs, oven mitts and cooking tongs. The smoke grenade, manufactured by a company called Commando, is classified as an explosive and is capable of filling a 40,000-cubic-foot space with smoke, according to the affidavit. The grenade is also capable of causing a fire. It is not clear why Harris had those items in his luggage, but the investigation is ongoing. Authorities say they are working with investigators in Japan, where Harris has been living, to learn more about why he would bring such an alarming assortment of implements on board an international flight. LAPD and FBI are assisting in the investigation. Harris, according to a Department of Homeland Security statement, makes his permanent home in Boston. Though he was arrested Friday, due to the federal holiday Harris made his initial appearance Tuesday in a Los Angeles federal court and remains in federal custody. Harris is being represented by criminal defense attorney Steven A. Seiden, who is also representing the controversial anti-Islam film maker Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. Reached for comment, Seiden's office described Harris as a highly intelligent and diligent student who attended excellent schools in Boston and has no criminal history or violent tendencies. Seiden hopes to issue a statement Tuesday. He is scheduled to be back in court Friday for a detention hearing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interesting array of items, but hardly what I'd call "full of weapons"! Freakin' idiot media... Now, how in the hell did he get through all those other airports with nobody else noticing?! Edited October 10, 2012 by Ronin38 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
nlacy 692 Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 Someone took the Wal Mart challenge a little too seriously... 11 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DrThunder88 912 Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 (edited) It does raise the question once again, why the heck do we have a TSA if no other nation on the planet does? On the other hand...oven mitts. Edited October 10, 2012 by DrThunder88 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Syndicate 812 Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 Someone took the Wal Mart challenge a little too seriously... I believe the 1st Rule of Walmart Challenge is: Don't take this to the airport lol I think we should start a new thread called "The Airport Challenge" 3 items that a legal that will make TSA have an image never leave their mind. 5 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BpS12 512 Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 Ok, so the guys a little kinky, who isn't? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DogMan 2,343 Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 It's still all wild speculation at this point. None of the the items are illegal except maybe having a smoke grenade on an airplane. But even then, it should be pretty obvious he wasn't trying to do anything with it except transport it. The bulletproof vest they might object to just on the basis of them wanting passengers to feel vulnerable to being shot dead by their hired goons if they step out of line. I'm sure they'll throw everything they have at him just to see what sticks, but unless they can come up with something concrete they are going to have to give him his stuff back and let him go. And wonder........ 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JoeAK 337 Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 Someone took the Wal Mart challenge a little too seriously... I was thinking the same thing as I read it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
thebuns1 4,323 Posted October 10, 2012 Report Share Posted October 10, 2012 Maybe he wanted to blackjack the air marshal fags, hatchet the cockpit door open, knife the pilots while wearing the repsorator, duct tape and flex cuff the stewardesses, make the ugly one wear the bio suit, start a fire with the smoke grenade and wear the oven mitts and use the cooking tongs to eat the "hot" flight attendant. Sounds legit. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChileRelleno 7,071 Posted October 11, 2012 Report Share Posted October 11, 2012 It's still all wild speculation at this point. None of the the items are illegal except maybe having a smoke grenade on an airplane. But even then, it should be pretty obvious he wasn't trying to do anything with it except transport it. The bulletproof vest they might object to just on the basis of them wanting passengers to feel vulnerable to being shot dead by their hired goons if they step out of line. I'm sure they'll throw everything they have at him just to see what sticks, but unless they can come up with something concrete they are going to have to give him his stuff back and let him go. And wonder........ Harris is charged with one count of transporting hazardous materials, as smoke grenades are prohibited on board passenger aircraft. If convicted, Harris could face a fine up to $25,000 in fines and five years in prison.That is correct, the only crime he is currently charged with... If he is smart he will never let go of his 5th Amendment Right and continue to remain silent. But if he had made it to his final destination, which was Boston Mass, he would have quickly become in violation of many other weapons laws. Mass LE would have taken his body armor, flame resistant pants and assortment of weapons to constitute, Breach and/or Disturbance of the Public Peace, and the baton, knives, black jacks and such would be illegal. GENERAL LAWS OF MASSACHUSETTS PART IV. CRIMES, PUNISHMENTS AND PROCEEDINGS IN CRIMINAL CASES. TITLE I. CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS. CHAPTER 269. CRIMES AGAINST PUBLIC PEACE. Chapter 269: Section 10. Carrying dangerous weapons... ( Whoever, except as provided by law, carries on his person, or carries on his person or under his control in a vehicle, any stiletto, dagger or a device or case which enables a knife with a locking blade to be drawn at a locked position, any ballistic knife, or any knife with a detachable blade capable of being propelled by any mechanism, dirk knife, any knife having a double-edged blade, or a switch knife, or any knife having an automatic spring release device by which the blade is released from the handle, having a blade of over one and one-half inches, or a slung shot, blowgun, blackjack, metallic knuckles or knuckles of any substance which could be put to the same use with the same or similar effect as metallic knuckles, nunchaku, zoobow, also known as klackers or kung fu sticks, or any similar weapon consisting of two sticks of wood, plastic or metal connected at one end by a length of rope, chain, wire or leather, a shuriken or any similar pointed starlike object intended to injure a person when thrown, or any armband, made with leather which has metallic spikes, points or studs or any similar device made from any other substance or a cestus or similar material weighted with metal or other substance and worn on the hand, or a manrikigusari or similar length of chain having weighted ends; or whoever, when arrested upon a warrant for an alleged crime, or when arrested while committing a breach or disturbance of the public peace, is armed with or has on his person, or has on his person or under his control in a vehicle, a billy or other dangerous weapon other than those herein mentioned and those mentioned in paragraph (a), shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than two and one-half years nor more than five years in the state prison, or for not less than six months nor more than two and one-half years in a jail or house of correction, except that, if the court finds that the defendant has not been previously convicted of a felony, he may be punished by a fine of not more than fifty dollars or by imprisonment for not more than two and one-half years in a jail or house of correction. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted October 11, 2012 Report Share Posted October 11, 2012 My uncle had a crewman who had a reputation for being a bit slow in the early ninties. He got stopped in the airport on the way home with his .357 in his jacket pocket. They had the sense to recognize him for a harmless idiot, and after missing his flight and getting a few people to vouch for him to the effect that he was clueless, they let him check it properly. Sadly everything is zero tolerance now and even airports in Alaska would ruin a guy's life over a dumb mistake like that now. He didn't even think it would be a problem, and just plain forgot it was in his jacket. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poolingmyignorance 2,191 Posted October 11, 2012 Report Share Posted October 11, 2012 (edited) Sadly everything is zero tolerance now and even airports in Alaska would ruin a guy's life over a dumb mistake like that now. Of course, we have a privatized prison system to keep runing and expand. The beast can"t survie if it's not fed. Edited October 11, 2012 by poolingmyignorance 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted October 11, 2012 Report Share Posted October 11, 2012 There are a lot of empty jails, both public and private that have closed because the state is not willing to pay to store convicted criminals, or choose more effective deterrence methods. I should know. The place I used to work just closed down a five or so year old 700 bed facility that it built to make money off of other counties. A couple of the big state facilities are in the process of closing off portions or closing altogether as well, including a long term extra bad Pedo storage. (I can think of a much more cost effective solution to that particular problem too) 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poolingmyignorance 2,191 Posted October 11, 2012 Report Share Posted October 11, 2012 It seems like we pass laws with the intent of creating criminals despite a lack of victims. I didn't know that so many prisons went under so offten, I guess that's slightly less malicious than I originally thought. I'm not a big fan of paying to house killers, and pedo. Hell some bleeding hearts here in Houston tonight were protesting the execution of a man who raped and strangled a 12 year old girl...I can only wonder if they'd feel the same if it was their daughter he'd taken from them. What planet do these people live on? 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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