In September 2007, several months after the Mooninite Panic, MIT student Star Simpson was arrested at Boston Logan Airport for wearing an electronic LED device and holding Play-Doh.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Simpson
>Shortly after arriving on the MIT campus, she met a student group called MITERS (the MIT Electronic Research Society).[3]
>In September 2007 while a student at MIT, several months after the Boston Mooninite Panic, Simpson created an electronic fashion sweatshirt featuring a colored, glowing name tag.[4][5] While wearing this sweatshirt during a visit to Boston Logan Airport, Simpson was arrested at gunpoint and charged with the possession of a hoax device, a charge that was dropped by prosecutors a year later.[6][7][8] In an echo of MIT's official later treatment of Aaron Swartz, the MIT media office released a statement condemning and disavowing Simpson's actions before she was even released from questioning.[9][10]
>Simpson studied at MIT between 2006 and 2010. She returned to MIT in 2015 to speak about her experience at an MIT conference on the Freedom to Innovate.[11]
>In 2017, MIT established a "disobedience" award to reward forms of disobedience that benefit society, as demonstrated by Simpson while a student at MIT.[12]
MIT Sophomore Arrested at Logan For Wearing LED Device
https://thetech.com/2007/11/13/simpson-v127-n40
>Star A. Simpson ’10, wearing a circuit board that lit up and was connected to a battery, was arrested at gunpoint at Logan International Airport this morning and was charged with disorderly conduct and possession of a hoax device. Simpson was released on $750 bail earlier today; her pre-trial hearing is scheduled for Oct. 29, 2007 at 9 a.m. in East Boston District Court.
>Simpson (a former Tech photographer) was wearing the device, which included green light-emitting diodes arranged in the shape of a star, during yesterday’s MIT Career Fair. Her defense attorney said she was at the airport to pick up her boyfriend who arrived at Logan this morning.
>Simpson approached an information booth in Logan’s Terminal C wearing the light-up device, Assistant Suffolk District Attorney Wayne Margolis said during Simpson’s arraignment today. Margolis also said that Simpson had been wearing the art for at least a few days.
>She “said it was a piece of art,” Margolis said, and “refused to answer any more questions.” Jake Wark, spokesperson for the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, said that Simpson only described the LED lights after she was “repeatedly questioned by the MassPort employee.” Simpson then “roamed briefly around the terminal,” Wark said. Margolis said this caused several Logan employees to flee the building. As Simpson left the building, she disconnected the battery powering the device, according to a press release provided by Wark.
>Simpson had five to six ounces of Play-Doh in her hands, State Police Maj. Scott Pare said in a press conference this morning. The Play-Doh could have been mistaken for plastic explosives. [...]
Star Simpson Receives Pretrial Probation
https://thetech.com/2008/06/06/simpson-v128-n27
MIT student Star Simpson gets probation in Logan security scare
https://www.bostonherald.com/2008/06/02/mit-student-star-sim...
Boston Airport Bomb Scare Should Scare Scientists
https://www.wired.com/2007/09/boston-airport/
Star Simpson, one year after Boston airport terror-scare: unedited BBtv interview transcript
https://boingboing.net/2008/09/22/star-simpson-one-yea.html
She's also the genius behind Taco Copter:
>Simpson had five to six ounces of Play-Doh in her hands, State Police Maj. Scott Pare said in a press conference this morning. The Play-Doh could have been mistaken for plastic explosives.
From the interview, it wasn't even Play-Doh!
STAR: Sure. That was this little hand-sculpted flower I brought to give my friend at the airport. (holds it up to camera, it's a bright pink rose, hardened clay)
XENI: Well did it look like that, or did it look like a wad of C4?
STAR: This is exactly what it was. It wasn't strapped to my chest, it was in my hand looking very much like a flower. It's hard (taps it against desk and against fingernails). It's not play-doh. (taps, audible) It's baked, hard. And this is exactly how it looked on that day, it hasn't changed shape or lost color or anything. They took it from me and kept it from me at the time. It's been about a year since I had this in my possession. But I chose not to show it to people until now.
I remember this incident and how infuriating it was. It's even more infuriating now that I've read the follow-up interview.
Given that MIT was involved, she should thank her lucky stars that she didn’t get the Aaron Swartz level of support. You know, where MIT buys the bus, runs you over, and drags you around for days.
> Given that MIT was involved, she should thank her lucky stars that she didn’t get the Aaron Swartz level of support. You know, where MIT buys the bus, runs you over, and drags you around for days.
That's mentioned in the quote from Wiki in your parent:
> > In an echo of MIT's official later treatment of Aaron Swartz, the MIT media office released a statement condemning and disavowing Simpson's actions before she was even released from questioning.[9][10]