Is This Your Mercury?
Eric Richardson
[Flickr]
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — If you dropped some mercury on the platform at the Pershing Square Red Line station, the FBI would like to talk to you.
It's a bit of a bizarre story all around -- a man drops something on the platform, immediately reports it via the callbox, and then disappears before responders arrive. The dropped substance turns out to be mercury, and the whole thing is caught on videotape.
The KTLA video included with the Times story above makes the requisite mention of terrorism, but I don't tend to suspect that here (neither, apparently, do the authorities). What I take from this: there are weird things going on in this city every day that we have no idea about.
David Kennedy on January 22, 2007, at 07:14AM – #1
The more I read about this, the more I realize this situation is a complete disgrace. It represents a total security breakdown on the part of the MTA. In this age of 9/11, this kind of casual attitude is unacceptable. This reminds me of the testing of the airline security system months prior to 9/11 as terrorists rehearsed their plans. I don't think at all this is the case here. But, it indicates the people manning the frontlines of security at the MTA are not up to the task.
This is a major wake-up call to the MTA. The people responsible must be held to account Heads must roll.
As an aside, I'm puzzled by the lack of editorial concern on the part of the Downtown News. Typically, they take the right attitude on these issues. Compare this incident with their coverage of the mural painted out last year. Their priorities need an adjustment here. They should be leading the charge on this.
Dennis Smith on March 06, 2007, at 11:44AM – #2
The subway station at 5th and Hill has been closed for the last few hours for what we are told is a bomb threat. The K9s have just been led away and it looks like some of the police units have left but plenty of Sheriffs and Bomb Squad folks remain. 5th Street between Broadway and Hill remains closed to auto and pedestrian traffic. The security guard in the building mentioned something about suspects being arrested at LAX this morning but he gave no other details. The police on site have been pretty closed lip about any further information and there is no prediction of when the yellow tape will be lifted.