(C) BoingBoing
This story was originally published by BoingBoing and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Man caught with dangerous "vampire straw" at airport [1]
['Mark Frauenfelder']
Date: 2023-04-26
A 26-year-old man was stopped by TSA workers at Boston Logan Airport while attempting to bring a metal drinking straw with a sharpened tip in his carry-on luggage. Known as "vampire straws," these items are marketed as dual-purpose drinking straws that can also function as stabbing weapons. The man was arrested and charged with a state crime.
Dan Velez, a spokesperson for TSA New England, wrote, "This is a Vampire straw. These items are not allowed in passenger carry-on bags. A passenger found that out yesterday @BostonLogan when @MassStatePolice confiscated the item and eventually arrested the 26-year-old man on a state charge."
One website that sells the straws describes them as follows: "Designed for self-defense, the Vampire straw is super tough and long enough to be used like a dagger; its chiseled tip is sharp enough to puncture most synthetic materials. The Vampire straw is also a very effective tire deflator, and can be carried in a cup, in public without attracting attention. From a cup, the Vampire straw is very easy to deploy in reverse grip, and put into action almost instantly,"
Although these straws sound dangerous, it raises the question: why was this individual arrested, while Madison Cawthorne, who was caught going through airport security with a handgun, was not?
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://boingboing.net/2023/04/26/man-caught-with-dangerous-vampire-straw-at-airport.html
Published and (C) by BoingBoing
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/boingboing/
