Artist arrested at Oakland airport for wearing ornate watch

Geoffrey McGann, a southern California artist, was arrested at Oakland airport for wearing an assemblage sculpture/watch he'd made. The TSA were also worried because he had a lot of insoles in his shoes. He was eventually released on $150,000 bail.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A Southern California man was arrested at Oakland International Airport after security officers found him wearing an unusual watch they said could be used to make a timing device for a bomb, authorities said Friday... McGann told Transportation Security Administration officers that he's an artist and the watch is art, Nelson said.

Geoffrey McGann, Man With Strange Watch, Arrested At Oakland Airport [AP] (Thanks to everyone who suggested this!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: art • aviation • Gadgets • horology • sculpture • tsa • you've got to be fucking kidding me • ZOMGWEREALLGONNADIERUNHIDE

More at Boing Boing

Eurovision 2013: An American in London

The technology that links taxonomy and Star Trek

Grey Devil

I saw this reported yesterday and i just knew it’d pop up on here eventually. What i’d really like to see is a picture of this evil “timing device”. And honestly one of the reasons i don’t wear my Casio watch when traveling is because the government is convinced that anyone that owns a Casio must be a nefarious terrorist since its listed as a bomb-making material.
- http://twitter.com/jondean jondean
  
  I’m just amazed that they can do a whole report talking about the watch without ever bothering to show it. I’m really curious what it looks like!
  - Paul Renault
    
    Same here. After a few days of reporting on this story now and still neither hide nor hair of the watch, I’m beginning to suspect that the reason the TSA is not releasing a photo of the ‘ornate/unusual watch’, is that they know that we’ll all be laughing at them when we see it.
    
    /Any bets you can soon buy a copy on thinkgeek?
    - $8357570
      
      those evil timing devices! What’s next, showing up at boarding BEFORE it starts? maybe something like *puts pinkey towards lips* 1 million milliseconds before boarding!?
      MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAH.
      
      /facepalm
  - yadayada
    
    The TSA has probably blocked the release of any photos. Don’t want any copycats getting strange ideas.
  - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
    
    It’s either embarrassing for the TSA (normal watch) or for the guy wearing it (clearly provocative).
    
    My bet is on the former.
    
    Either way reporting on how something looks without showing you what it looks like it is a pet peeve of mine.
- fuzzyfuzzyfungus
  
  Casios seem to be the most prominent brand, for historical and cost reasons; but once you’ve started down the path of describing anything that keeps time as a ‘bomb-making material’, the category just becomes ludicrous (also, since cell phones are generally designed to run a little vibrator motor directly, unlike the much wimpier output of watch alarms, they would presumably be even easier for electronics n00bs to connect to detonators. And, why would you even need a timer if you are there to detonate ze bomb yourself?)
  - hyljelyhje
    
    Ha! Imagine someone sneaking timebomb into a toilet, returning their seat, sit calmly for awhile and then start to slowly realize what’s wrong with his plan. I’d like to see his face at that moment….uh wait, no I wouldn’t
    - http://bhtooefr.org/ Eric Rucker
      
      Well, there have been cases where the bomb was set to go off after the plane had landed, the bomber had disembarked, and it took off again.
      - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
        
        When has this happened?
      - http://bhtooefr.org/ Eric Rucker
        
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Air_Flight_858 is one example I could quickly find.
      - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
        
        @bhtooefr:disqus
        
        Wow, seems like it was a pretty important event too!
      - http://crissa.twu.net/ Crissa
        
        This is another:
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bojinka_plot
        Still, though, everyone carries watches, phones, etc that could be used to detonate a bomb. It’s as ridiculous as calling water a drug paraphernalia.
  - http://glitch.tl/ Michael Smith
    
    cell phones are generally designed to run a little vibrator motor directly, unlike the much wimpier output of watch alarms, they would presumably be even easier for electronics n00bs to connect to detonators
    
    Yeah especially since they have that handy earphone socket. Maybe do it with an NE555 (there’s a terrorist tool for you) and a loop of nichrome wire.
    - kjh
      
      Yeah, who wears watches any more anyway?
      - fuzzyfuzzyfungus
        
        Terrorists, apparently.
  - FoolishOwl
    
    http://xkcd.com/651/
    
    I begin to wonder if someone could work up a script to automatically link to the most relevant XKCD comic.
- Grahamers2002
  
  For those of you who didn’t bother to read the story, it states that his watch had “switches, wires and fuses.” Granted, that this description comes form the sheriff’s dept. but even with the insanity we have seen in the security drama we now live in, it seems to be likely that this was the case because the bomb squad had to be called. I am not saying that this fact is determinative - merely that it lends credence to the description of the watch as containing “switches, wires, and fuses.”
  
  Now, if someone goes through airport security with anything that contains switches, wires, and fuses, the matter away from TSA being crazy and into the realm of some jackoff being either idiotically forgetful (e.g., people leaving loaded guns in their carry-ons) or intentionally provocative. Either way, I am giving this one a “meh” and suggesting we get back to criticizing the TSA for their obvious cock-up, evidence of which abounds.
  - Lurking_Grue
    
    I wonder if it was a nixie tube watch.
gorfulator

OMG I read this on some news site (can’t remember which) and it was worded like this guy was some sort of kook doing a terrorist “test run”.

I should have known way better!!
- fuzzyfuzzyfungus
  
  The ‘test run’ theory just doesn’t make any sense to me in general, let alone this guy’s case.
  
  So, if you succeed at doing a ‘test run’, you don’t get to do anything to the plane because this is only a test and you didn’t bring the real payload. If you fail, you run the nontrivial risk of essentially unlimited punishment for having done something terrorism-related.
  
  If you just make an educated guess and send a device aboard? Pretty much the same, except you actually get to do something if it works.
  
  Never mind the, um, no-doubt superb Al-Qaeda recruitment rates among “artists from southern California”…
  
  (edit: it also seems worth mentioning, in the context of the ‘test run’ theory, that the TSA’s performance is known to be lousy, missing test devices and such fairly frequently; but is also known to be pretty variable by location/person/phase-of-moon. This makes it a lot easier to get something through, since your odds of hitting officer hardass on any given run aren’t too high; but it also makes R&D for ‘undetectable’ devices difficult, since all that most runs can tell you is that an oblivious and overworked TSA goon didn’t find anything. It just isn’t a sensible strategy.)
- http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
  
  By news do you mean Fox?
  - https://plus.google.com/104067355242126774300/posts?hl=en Dennis Smith
    
    Those 2 things are not the same thing. Fox and News cannot appear in the same sentence, just not possible.
    - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
      
      Except for “Fox is not news”.
      - https://plus.google.com/104067355242126774300/posts?hl=en Dennis Smith
        
        True!
http://www.kmoser.com kmoser

News flash: every cell phone can be used as a “timing device”.
- Terazilla
  
  Yeah, really all you need for a really basic setup is some kind of surface-mounted speaker that you can solder some leads to. Set an alarm (or call the phone, or whatever) and once current goes through those leads do whatever you’re going to do.
- Zadaz
  
  My favorite part of this article is TSA agents calling a watch a “timing device”. Can’t get nuthin past these guys.
fuzzyfuzzyfungus

The TSA knows that airplanes are just tools that people use to get uppity very quickly. Anybody attempting to board one must be a threat.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Justin-Forposting/100002531076048 Justin Forposting

Someone just got the MacGuyver full-series box set as an early Christmas present and has been WATCHing it a little too much.
- Sagodjur
  
  Getting “the MacGuyver full-series box set as an early Christmas present” == stole or “confiscated” it from a suspicious piece of luggage that had the DVD set that the TSA officer wanted…
- DreamboatSkanky
  
  Credit where credit is due, now: He didn’t “get the MacGuyver full-series box set.” He made the MacGuyver full-series box set from a pack of bologna, a gem clip, and some toaster scrapings.
nixiebunny

Pics or GTFO!

I make wacky Nixie tube watches, which somehow get past the TSA just fine.

As far as timing devices go, I think I learned here on BB that some generic Casio alarm watch is what’s actually used to trigger bombs in the Middle East.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Drop/100000929402049 Robert Drop
  
  “…which somehow get past the TSA just fine.”
  So far, you mean.
  - nixiebunny
    
    I’ve sold over 700 of them in the last 7 years, and no reports yet of trouble with the TSA. The Woz wears one wherever he goes, and he travels a lot.
    - Lurking_Grue
      
      Yes, but he is rich. That gives him some leeway.
      - http://crissa.twu.net/ Crissa
        
        Not much with the TSA.
      - acerplatanoides
        
        you’d think. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Registered_Traveler
      - http://crissa.twu.net/ Crissa
        
        Yes, all those plans so far have failed.
        
        The idea of putting more security on airline pilots than those who pay more? Not really a great idea.
- morcheeba
  
  pong watch guy here checking in…. no troubles on my end either!
  
  ps. thanks for inspiration!
nixiebunny

Another thing… why are wires so scary to both the general public and the TSA?
- Trefunk
  
  Seriously? Protruding wires means that someone has tried to tackle (whatever problem) on his own and you have to trust his judgment and reasons. I’ve noticed that art installations seem somehow much more intriguing (or sinister) if you don’t cover and polish everything, but leave some wires etc exposed.
  - nixiebunny
    
    But why does wires == bomb?
    - Trefunk
      
      Unusual situation + predisposition.
    - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
      
      The result of maintaining a consistent state of fear and suspicion.
      - donovan acree
        
        ^This
    - Lurking_Grue
      
      Hollywood and narrative shorthands.
  - http://crissa.twu.net/ Crissa
    
    It’s stupid. If I wrap my wires nicely, they don’t bother it; if a wrap comes loose, they inspect it.
    
    Apparently this means all bomb makers need to be OCD.
- kjh
  
  Another thing… why are wires so scary to both the general public and the TSA?
  
  It means you’re not just a consumer of corporate product.
Johnathan Greyshade

If this is the same Geoff McGann, he is the Managing Creative Director at Locomotus, a new marketing school in LA for minorities and women. He also worked at Public Interest, the Gates Foundation funded non-profit ad agency for socially aware initiatives (AIDS-AID, Wounded Warriors), and a number of other projects. Sounds a lot less like a “kooky artist” (as portrayed in some stories) when you look into his background. http://www.geoffmcgann.com/
- http://profile.yahoo.com/TS56Z5EJYRFVBTWSWKIZUSVFCM Max
  
  I like my artists kooky! Who is interested in art by laid-back average people?
gtrjnky

Please let us know when you linking to HuffPost. I do not patronize that sweatshop.
- http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy
  
  You click through unknowingly? How?
  
  Nevermind, just visit this website I have set up to help pervert your visits to webpages you don’t like. You just have to confirm your age with your Paypal account name & password once on entering.
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/karnuvap/ Karnuvap

If you keep watching you end up on the cupcake story with a big shout out to boingboing.
mccrum

“Attention! You are all our bitches now. If you have a watch, you will be branded a terrorist. If you have a cell phone, you will be branded a terrorist. If you have water in your bag you will be, say it with me, branded a terrorist. Now then, why don’t you just give me all your little iPhones, all your little Droids, all them iPads, ’cause that shit is going nowhere today except to my house.”
dbergen

Sounds like his fault really, if he didn’t want to be arrested he should have worn a normal watch, like everyone else. Take some personal responsibility!
- Atomicpanda
  
  If you outlaw individuality only criminals will be individuals.
- http://pulse.yahoo.com/_ZH5LQHHJPERMWNVHCR2Y5GRHHE Jose
  
  Sounds like his fault really, if he didn’t want to be arrested he should have worn a normal shirt, like everybody else.
  
  Sounds like his fault really, if he didn’t want to be arrested he should have had a normal haircut, like everybody else.
  
  Sounds like his fault really, if he didn’t want to be arrested he should have left his skin untainted by tattoos, like everybody else.
  
  Sounds like his fault really, if he didn’t want to be arrested he should have had a normal skin color, like everybody else.
  
  Somewhere, bin Laden is laughing and laughing…
- Syn -
  
  Please, re-read your post. Take a deep breath, and let it seep in. Do you smell It now?
  - dragonfrog
    
    The smell of a joke that flew by without you noticing? Yep, pretty distinct smell.
    - http://crissa.twu.net/ Crissa
      
      Jokes that are indistinguishable from a common opinion are not jokes.
      - dragonfrog
        
        I was able to draw the distinction it just fine. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one.
        
        Satire that 100% of the audience understands as satire is generally not very biting satire – it’s better if it’s close enough to the thing it satirizes that a minority of the audience might miss the fact it’s satire.
      - acerplatanoides
        
        How sure are you that you weren’t the only one?
        
        To me it’s not about accidentally offending someone, it’s the minimizing of their opinion thats odious.
        
        Smell it yet?
        
        You’re no andy kauffman,
      - http://crissa.twu.net/ Crissa
        
        Satire that is indistinguishable from what it is supposedly mocking is not very biting.
http://imcravingpresidency.tumblr.com/ SedanChair

YOU! YES YOU! STOP! YOU LOOK DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS! THAT MAKES ME SUSPICIOUS! AND AFRAID!

I…I REALLY DON’T HAVE ANY OTHER CRITERIA
- Robert
  
  YOU! YES YOU! THAT’S STILL NOT IT!
bazzargh

McGann: “But officer, wires are perfectly normal and non-threatening”
Tessa McTSA: “Not on my watch!”
McGann: “Do I look like a terrorist?”
Tessa: “If the shoe fits…”
McGann: “But that’s just it officer, they don’t!”

etc etc
http://twitter.com/fossilfuels Funk Daddy

This man should immediately offer to sell me and others a version of this anti-TSA watch he has developed.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5LZRT6P3DZDXBE766NAUKUEGPM Stumpy

I once took art through the Atlanta airport. The TSA morons had probably never even heard of art. It was a stained wooden dowel with a couple other pieces of wood on it. ”I wonder what happens if I try to bend it.” Yeah, it breaks motherbleeper. Bleep the TSA.
Over the River

Here is an enlarged photograph of the face of my watch. The watch is made by Nefarious Devices, LLC

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/123/358766067_da00b3656e.jpg
- Lurking_Grue
  
  Never forget.
gobo

There’s a big chunk to the story we’re not hearing, I suspect. His watch may have looked like TNT, for all we know, but you don’t get arrested and thrown in jail for just having an oddball watch and thick-soled shoes. Questioned, frisked, groped, yes; asked to remove said bomb-looking watch and possibly FedEx it home, yes.
- http://twitter.com/zaren Jim Schmidt
  
  More detailed version of the story:
  
  http://www.marinij.com/ci_22011356/police-man-wearing-watch-bomb-making-supplies-arrested
  
  “In addition to the strange watch, Nelson said there were other suspicious things about McGann: his boots were two sizes too big and they were stuffed with layers of homemade insoles, which allowed for large cavities where someone would be able to hide items.
  
  Nelson also said McGann was wearing a military-style shirt with a built-in tourniquet in the sleeves, often used by soldiers to stop bleeding if they receive an arm injury.”
  - Antinous / Moderator
    
    his boots were two sizes too big
    
    Was he perchance also carrying seven crowns, five rods and a set of unusually large keys?
  - BillStewart2012
    
    Obviously the guy’s worried that he might get an arm injury while blowing up the plane?
  - Zadaz
    
    his boots were two sizes too big and they were stuffed with layers of homemade insoles
    
    Short people got no reason to live.
    
    Nelson also said McGann was wearing a military-style shirt with a built-in tourniquet in the sleeves,
    
    You know that these can be bought at any military surplus store right?
    Oshit! The military is helping terrists!
    - Lurking_Grue
      
      No shit, What with those little hands and little eyes I bet they walk around tellin’ great big lies.
- http://www.facebook.com/people/Robert-Drop/100000929402049 Robert Drop
  
  “but you don’t get arrested and thrown in jail for just having an oddball watch and thick-soled shoes”
  That statement might make more sense if this was the first time something like this has happened, but it isn’t. (Previous examples include people carrying nothing more suspicious than unmodified consumer electronics and had a laptop power cable freak someone out.) At a certain point in the process, it seems the police have to justify an initial over-reaction, at which point they often double-down and arrest the person.
- http://runeghost.pip.verisignlabs.com/ runeghost
  
  Do you have any reason beyond reflexive (and in my opinion, foolish) trust in authority to believe that there is some “secret” information that will somehow change the TSA’s actions from being both idiotic and oppressive? Given the risible information the media is cheerfully regurgitating, such as: “covered his watch with his coat before it was x-rayed” and “wearing a military-style shirt with a built-in tourniquet”, isn’t it far more likely that this is a case of (at best) over-reaction? Or is it the TSA’s long history of successful interceptions of terrorists (zero) along with the number of times their knee-jerk fear of anything strange has prevented attacks (also zero) that convinces you of their rectitude in this case?
- http://www.facebook.com/danhuby Dan Huby
  
  At there’s least one measured, sensible comment. Everyone else seems too keen to leap to assumptions.
Atomicpanda

OAKLAND, Calif. — A Southern California man was arrested at Oakland International Airport after security officers found he had a hand at the end of each of his arms they said could be used together as a choking device, authorities said Friday…McGann told Transportation Administration officers that he is human and was born with the hands, Nelson said.
IslandBased

Art makes me nervous…….
- http://twitter.com/writebastard Ian Wood
  
  Yeah, I don’t like that guy.
http://www.facebook.com/allen.owens1 Allen Owens

How ornate was it. Could you say he baroque the law?
brainflakes

Ugh, everyone knows that Casio F-91Ws are used to set explosives off, get with the program TSA!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Guantanamo_Bay_detainees_accused_of_possessing_Casio_watches
- FoolishOwl
  
  That’s astounding. That’s a perfectly ordinary, cheap, extremely common watch. If you go into the nearest drug store, there’s probably a couple of those on a rack.
  - echolocate chocolate
    
    Not really astounding. That’s exactly WHY they are used!
    - FoolishOwl
      
      No, the astounding part is that owning such a common watch is grounds to arrest someone and imprison them at Guantanomo.
blue moon

can there be an rss feed for unreasonable arrests that i can unsubscribe from? shit like this makes me want to run in front of a train.
macegr

Cory, please note that he was not simply “eventually released” as if the misunderstanding was cleared up and the only harm done is some red faces. His bail of $150,000 was posted and that is why he is temporarily free. Contrast that with Star Simpson’s case, where her bail was set at $750 cash. This is not over and hasn’t turned out OK yet. He could still be incarcerated. http://www.presstelegram.com/breakingnews/ci_22022210/rancho-palos-verdes-watch-bomb-suspect-released-bail
- macegr
  
  Thanks for updating the teaser!
- http://scavenger-ethic.blogspot.com/ scav
  
  Well, he could still be incarcerated IF he is found guilty of an actual crime. That has to get past a judge (who is educated and experienced in the law) and a jury (who know bullshit when they smell it).
  
  No explosives = no “materials for making an explosive device”. Otherwise basically any container or any electronic components whatsoever would have to be illegal as such. That’s absurd and a judge won’t buy it. I don’t even think a prosecutor (or DA or whatever you call them) will.
  Sucks to be him though. I don’t think I could rustle up £100,000 for bail if it happened to me.
PathogenAntifreeze

This man made one mistake: trying to fly in the “land of the free, and the home of the brave.”

Equating Technomancy with terrorism is not in anyone’s best interests. If this shit had been going on 30 years ago, Wozniak and Jobs might’ve never gone anywhere. Let that sink in. This country wishes to hobble itself, completely. Worried about other countries taking over industries and jobs? You ain’t seen shit, if this is how our country treats innovators now.

Now, imagine when they do that to someone who is trying to make art or product, and that person takes it badly? Decides he or she has had enough, and has nothing but complete despair for his or her own future and the future of this country? I really don’t like that scenario. Can we *please* get some people who aren’t chicken-shit cowards to run our country, some day soon? Before they get us all killed, preferably?
- nixiebunny
  
  My family and I got the supreme pat-down treatment when I wore my wire-laden video coat into the Detroit airport last year. I remarked to my son, as he was getting extra-friendly-inspected, that this is the land of the free. The nice TSA lady said, “Not any more.”
- Lurking_Grue
  
  The war on tourism continues.
Ping Kee

I noticed in one report it stated that among the things that “didn’t add up” about Geoffrey McGann was that “[h]e was on a trip for work and he didn’t have to check any bags.” The technical term is that it didn’t pass the “smoke test”.

For the last ten years I’ve flown at least twice a week for work, and never checked in a bag. Ever. In fact, I often fly with just a briefcase (and would only take something larger – though still not as large as a bag – if I am away for more than 4-5 days). I have never been seriously questioned on this, although customs officials have sometimes asked if I’ve forgotten to pick up my bag from the belt when flying into the US.

In fact, I will get on a plane this afternoon with only my briefcase. Admittedly, I travel light, but many frequent business travellers don’t check in bags.
- mccrum
  
  I certainly don’t check bags whenever I fly. It’s mostly because of the, wait for it… TSA.
- FoolishOwl
  
  I thought it was common sense to try to avoid carrying luggage you can’t carry-on, since it’s such a nuisance to retrieve your luggage, and there’s a significant risk of losing it.
Dv Revolutionary

I have a homemade “artsy” watch on right now and it stated life as a $10 Casio. No wires sticking out though just a cool iris from a broken camera lens. Made it through screening several times but that’s probably because of the fit and finish.
http://twitter.com/joeybladb joe k.

McGann… McVeigh… yeah tell me this “Mc” thing ain’t some kind of terrorist coded language. McHammer… it’s all suspicious!!
- mccrum
  
  Aw shit, they’re on to us lads! Retreat to Scotland!
  - cdh1971
    
    You know what Mc & Mac are in Arabic? Bin & Ibn!
    
    Zsa in Arabic? Sirhan! Giddyup.
    Obama…O’bama? Yeeeeaaah!
smut clyde

“I shall stand upon my watch,” announced the prophet Habbakuk, not realising that the TSA would promptly arrest him and hold him on suspicion of possessing a pressure-activated explosive device.
http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby

So all this time, the missing part of the puzzle for me to make my own bomb was an ornate watch!

Who knew!
howaboutthisdangit

The watch had switches, wires, and fuses, and he was charged with possession of materials to make an explosive device.

Well damn! Just about everything at the TSA checkpoint is material to make an explosive device, then. I knew those bastards were up to something.

This country is being run by and for insane sheep.

(I’m assuming those were electrical fuses, and not cannon fuses.)
http://www.facebook.com/danhuby Dan Huby

Bad summary. It wasn’t just an ornate watch, it was an “ornate watch that had switches, wires and fuses”….i.e. looking rather suspect. Combined with all the in-soles, it looks like he was out to make a statement.
- zeppelinrider
  
  Until they show us a picture of the watch, there’s no telling what’s going on.
  
  Ill-fitting shoes are common. I’ve known people with shoe fitting issues to customize insoles & shoe padding to deal with conditions like bunions and bone spurs.
  
  The shirt is not that unusual either, I can imagine someone wearing something like that just because they like the way it looks and the price was right at the Army-Navy store.
  
  Suspicious? Maybe. But remember, the charge was having bomb-making materials. That’s not the shirt, that’s not his shoes.
http://twitter.com/dethbird dethbird

It’s the artist’s fault. An artist should be aware of his/her surroundings and thus this one should have known he would be travelling through the manhandling paws of these illiterate oafs with too much authority. The artist should have disguised himself as the perennial toolbag: Dockers, button down, nondescript shoes, and a complete lack of soul as far as you can look into those dead eyes.
- switcha
  
  “perennial toolbag”? That judgement pendulum sure swings to the other side easily, doesn’t it.
mattdidthat

Updates: All the charges have been dropped.

The Mercury News has published a photo of the watch in question.

McGann’s attorney says his client has traveled with the watch before and has never previously been arrested. In fact, Horngrad said the first time McGann traveled with the watch, he showed it to a TSA supervisor at Los Angeles International Airport and the supervisor told him it was OK to wear it on the plane.

Sgt. J.D. Nelson, an overwrought and overpaid sheriff’s department lackey, said McGann had no explosive material, but Nelson said the items had to be taken seriously, asking in a shaky voice and trembling with terrornoia, “What reasonable person would take those items into an airport in this day and age?”
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Jeez, was he wearing it around his thigh? It looks huge.
Guest

This whole anti-terrorism business seems to create quite a pressure for conformity in behavior and appearance, if not expression. Duh!