Question: Can you go to jail for a plot involving imaginary weapons?
Answer: Yes, but it’s not clear if the charges will stick.
In 2005, Ronald Grecula, a would-be inventor, hatched a harebrained plan to build a fusion bomb that violated the laws of physics. He was arrested in Texas after he pitched the idea to undercover FBI agents. The bomb, Grecula said, used light to activate a hydrogen-chlorine solution, which somehow produced fusion. Hmmm.
Dutiful journalists ran the idea by scientists, who were dubious that the scheme could destroy city blocks, as Grecula claimed. (The fact that Grecula was nutty doesn’t mean he was original, by the way. The idea of a light-activated hydrogen-chlorine engine appears to be first imagined by Robert Scragg of West Virginia.)
Result: Grecula, who pleaded innocent, has been in jail since May of 2005. New charges have recently been added to his indictment.
Now, over in the United Kingdom, three suspects were recently let go after a British court rejected claims that they broke the law when they allegedly attempted to buy something called red mercury, a nasty substance rumored to be, among other things, fuel for a dirty bomb. The best thing about red mercury, however, is it doesn’t exist. And the whole plot was set up by a tabloid hoping to score an expose of terrorism.
Result: The trio was set free.
More recently, you have the bumbling boobs in Miami who dreamed about blowing up the Sears Tower. They never even quite got around to the imaginary weapons part, according to the Washington Post.
Result: Indicted.
Now, it’s easy say that even if these were fools, they were dangerous fools. But in all these cases, it wasn’t even that the ideas were half-baked, but that the law enforcement efforts required to even make their plots look credible were amusing.
For Grecula, the FBI flew him down to Texas to hear him babble about needing to buy fusion bomb materials from the local hardware store. The FBI kicked in money for office space for the Miami gang. As for the red mercury guys, it’s not even clear the would-be purchasers even thought they were buying something that was dangerous.
I suppose what’s troubling in these cases is the concern that law enforcement agencies can’t or won’t differentiate between real weapons that can be relatively simple, but lethal (box-cutters, bombs using fertilizer) and attention-grabbing imaginary weapons that pose little threat to anyone.
P.S. While Wikipedia has its problems, I have to say, if you want any evidence of how hysterically bad About.com is, check out their explanation by the “expert” on red mercury.
– Sharon Weinberger (cross-posted at Imaginary Weapons)
Fake Weapons, Real Jail Time
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{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
Am I wrong in thinking that consipiring to commit a crime is a crime?
Doesn’t matter if the consipirators are fools or not, they’re still conspiring to commit a crime.
The difference is cleary in who you try to sell it to. Al Qaeda? Go to jail. The Pentagon? Here’s $10 million seed money …
It’s the ‘intent to harm’ that got them all locked up. It doesn’t matter if you’re threatening to kill someone with a knife, or a cantelope…the intent is to harm.
Nonsense.
Are we arresting people using voodoo dolls? no.
If I think my lucky hat send out deathrays and I use “it”, it that a crime. No.
Attaching the word “terror” to stupidity is equally dumb.
There is a fool born every minute, the prisons are full enough with imprisoning them too.
Well, the german criminal code describes a felony called “faking a felony” (“
Alexander,
I belivee that would be like “faking your own death” or holding up a bank with a DISGUISED candy bar AND SAYING it was a gun.
Putting a seedless watermelon in Central Park in the hopes it will explode and kill people isn’t the same thing.
I have a feeling I am the lone libertarian in the crowd here, but I think Sharon is exactly right. Conspiracy has always been a difficult crime to prosecute. Unless you draw a clear line between planning to commit a crime and merely thinking about committing a crime, you run the risk of treading into seriously Orwellian territory.
Traditionally, the prosecution needed to produce physical evidence that accused conspirators took steps to plan or otherwise prepare to commit the crime. The problem is that since 2001 the Justice Department has been defining the physical manifestation of conspiracy down in favor of disrupting plots expeditiously.
Even in early planning stages though, it should be easy to draw the line between “simply crazy” and “dangerous crazy.” If the components of a crackpot weapon are themselves weapons (explosives, weapons, chemicals, microbes, fissile materials), you are dealing with “dangerous crazy.”
Otherwise the would-be terrorist is probably better off in a straitjacket than an orange jumpsuit.
It is far from clear whether any sort of ‘red mercury’ exists: given that we don’t know what it is, it’s hard to say. The stuff that is sold to gullible customers on the black market is certainly is not what it is claimed to be, but is there any truth behind it?
Certainly, as Frank Barnaby of SIPRI has pointed out, there has been an enthusiastic campaign of denial from the West, for whatever reason.
Personally I find it interesting that rumors of red mercury began to emerge from Russia in the 80′s, at the time when they started experimenting with nuclear isomers. These are produced in a nuclear reactor, and are supposed to be used for mini-nukes, just as ‘red mercury’ is.
Of course, whether you believe isomer weapons are viable is another matter – some do, some don’t :)
Ok ok ok…we’ve ruled out cantelopes AND seedless watermelons. Are there any other melons out there that may present legal issues? Honeydews?
> Are we arresting people using voodoo dolls? no.
> If I think my lucky hat send out deathrays and I use “it”, it that a crime. No.
How about leading your congregation in fervently sincere prayer that [Deity] smite [Hated Public Official]?
I feel inspired to go make Dihydrogenmonooxide bombs and throw them off rooftops at theese fools.
Anyone with me ?
“Red Mercury” is a code name. It is neither colored red nor does it contain Mercury.
It is the Nuclear Isomer Hafnium 178-m2. It can absorb Gamma rays (ie, can be charged up inside an atomic reactor) and then be triggered to release those gamma rays with a blast of X-Rays (or similar energetic exciter). As such, it can be used as a trigger for an atomic device.
Similarly, the gamma output of Hf 178-m2 is sufficient to do some damage. One gram of it, when fully primed could potentially release about 1300 megajoules of energy, which is about the same energy as exploding 226 kilograms of TNT.
Check the entry in Wikipedia.
“It is the Nuclear Isomer Hafnium 178-m2. It can absorb Gamma rays (ie, can be charged up inside an atomic reactor) and then be triggered to release those gamma rays with a blast of X-Rays (or similar energetic exciter).”
Science fantasy. See Sharon’s fine book “Imaginary Weapons” and this article at GlobalSecurity.org: http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/intro/hafnium.htm
The debate over Hafnium isomer triggering continues.
While it is clear that it can store vast amounts of energy – the figures goven look about right – and it is now proven that energy release from other isomers can be triggered, we don’t know whether it is possible to do this with Hafnium.
However, ‘red mercury’ (I suspect the name is an esoteric joke) might also be some other nuclear isomer…or it might not be real at all.
We just don’t know.
David, I’d like to see some references to energy release from isomers, including the amount of energy necessary to trigger versus the amount of energy released. Thanks.
i once tried to kill the pizza guy with a cantalope disguised as a remote control but he dodged it, and got run over by a car. this stuff really works. so do voodoo dolls, that is how i made husband fall in love with me, and then fall off the house for cheating on me with the pool boy. who’s laughing now!
And I apply a new number, I prepared to play with her, upgrade and earn cheap rappelz rupees together. I felt she is a good girl, I decided I must change myself for her. Later, we often played together, and we are very happy. She also became my wife. But after a few time, I met many things, I was very sad, and I did not spent a long time to play the game. I did not often to play with her. Finally, I said to her, I will leave the game. I let her find another husband. She was very sad, when I left the game, she also left.
During the time pass, my union was larger; my union members are very solidarity, when some people have difficult, we all go to help. I also remembered once a people
Together and he is not a very long time, but I feel very comfortable. He was sometime as a child, lovely, simple, not too many worries, likes a fish in a pure travel freely in the sea. He often took his only cheap GW gold send to me. His world simple, but he is happy.
And I apply a new number, I prepared to play with her, upgrade and earn cheap rappelz rupees together. I felt she is a good girl, I decided I must change myself for her. Later, we often played together, and we are very happy. She also became my wife. But after a few time, I met many things, I was very sad, and I did not spent a long time to play the game. I did not often to play with her. Finally, I said to her, I will leave the game. I let her find another husband. She was very sad, when I left the game, she also left.
I felt you seems not as me to your wife, you called me wife is very rarely, although you often send rohan money to me. Every time you ask me, as I am very happy. I really think you are me, just my own, I do not want you leave me. I am afraid you forget me. I slowly understand, sister and brother in law why they will love so painful, why sister in the final will be sad to leave.
During the time pass, my union was larger; my union members are very solidarity, when some people have difficult, we all go to help. I also remembered once a people