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98 Comments
- hurrayforschool, on 11/05/2009, -1/+62Seems like their prank...
*Sunglasses*
...just went up in smoke.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA - Shitokki, on 11/05/2009, -1/+42Was it terrorist-like actions or were they just typical teens screwing around without really thinking? If when I grew up was anything like today then there would have been a lot more felonies handed out over nothing more than teen stupidity and curiosity.
- adamward, on 11/05/2009, -1/+29"The devices had been modified so they would explode more quickly."
So they cut the fuse shorter? Why did they have to make it sound so much more sinister? - nahsrocketeer75, on 11/05/2009, -3/+30This seems a lot more like a dumb-ass prank gone epic fail than a 20-year felony.
- Frankzulla, on 11/05/2009, -1/+21Welp, that blew up in their faces.
- artfiend77, on 11/05/2009, -2/+18Good thing they were White, or they'd get sent straight to Guantanemo.
I still say waterboard them just in case.
/s - Czyskimo, on 11/05/2009, -0/+14I go to MSU and I can guarantee it was just a bunch of stupid teens.
- Maxplosion, on 11/05/2009, -4/+18Those 'morters' were fireworks... Good idea, ruin a couple kids lives over detonating some fireworks at ground level.
- superkendall, on 11/05/2009, -0/+12I played with explosives as a kid.
But these kids weren't just screwing around, they threw the thing at a house.
Now these are just fireworks, it's not like it's C4 or (what I think of when the word commercial grade is used) dynamite or the modern equivalent. But these are the real deal fireworks, 5" globes that pack a serious blast, not to mention a ton of essentially flaming debris (not really shrapnel since it's not hard). Forget injuring people, that probably wouldn't happen directly but the thing could easily blow out windows and send a lot of flaming material into the house.
In short, it's one thing to mess around with explosives which lots of kids do. But it's a whole other level to take something of this power and throw it onto OTHER people's property. I'm not really that sorry to see them get caught and punished, plus there's no way they are getting 20 years for this. - torrange, on 11/05/2009, -1/+1220 years for fireworks - I agree with an earlier poster, if I grew up now I would have been in much more trouble. My younger brother was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon - he and some friends were shooting water balloons with a slingshot at a driving range.
- freeridstylee, on 11/05/2009, -0/+9Oh, from the title, I thought this was about MSU's football season.
- veriix, on 11/05/2009, -2/+11What a horrible title.
- ramaboo, on 11/05/2009, -0/+9I used to live next to that street. In MI kids do stuff like that all the time.
- TSK05, on 11/05/2009, -2/+11It's not really "terrorist-like" to blow up fireworks..
- freeridstylee, on 11/05/2009, -1/+9In fact it's up there with one of the most American things you can do.
- leprix, on 11/05/2009, -1/+9Looks like they really had a blast at college.
- newerakb, on 11/05/2009, -0/+8Their specialty is wiring, and the Spartans use napalm.
- newerakb, on 11/05/2009, -0/+7They'll never go to prison: They are white.
- IphtashuFitz, on 11/05/2009, -0/+7"dumb-ass" is a huge understatement. Those mortars are much bigger than firecrackers, M-80's, etc. They'd have to be morons not to know how dangerous they are. If, as the article claims, they threw this thing at a house then they showed some extreme recklessness at the very least. If somebody happened to walk out the door of the house at the same time the explosion could have seriously injured or killed them.
But no, not a 20-year felony. - LMN8R, on 11/05/2009, -0/+7Oh alma mater, how I've missed you for these past few years....
- pinchduck, on 11/05/2009, -0/+6Go Green! Back in my day, we just lit couches on fire. Now the kids are blowing them sky high. That's progress for you.
- DjBearPDX, on 11/05/2009, -0/+6HTML fail
- xtraimagination, on 11/05/2009, -0/+6Ok, let's stop just throwing around the word "bomb", shall we? Fireworks.
- Greengoo, on 11/05/2009, -1/+7When I was at MSU we set off a canister of US Army decon spray. That was probably more unsafe than what these guys did.
- Greengoo, on 11/05/2009, -3/+8On the banks of the Red Cedar, there's a bomb about to blow...
- Barackalypse, on 11/05/2009, -0/+5Most fireworks are illegal to use in many cities, throwing large commercial ones at a house is illegal everywhere.
- Greengoo, on 11/05/2009, -0/+5Blowing ***** up is part of growing up Michigan... right up there with learning to drive a boat, or bagging your first deer. It's just what we do.
- jester510, on 11/05/2009, -0/+5Spartan teens are never beaten, They all throw the bombs at night.
- RyanistheRyan, on 11/05/2009, -0/+5Cutting the fuse shorter and not using a tube, makes them light faster and not fly into the air.
I use to use these all the time, exactly as described in the manner in the article. Granted, I wouldnt toss them at peoples houses, because yes tons of flaming shrapnel that may cause a fire, but its nothing near a giant explosive.
I am not sure exactly what size those are in the pictures, a little bigger then the ones i used, and yes that is exponentially stronger, but generally I wouldn't consider it that serious of an issue.
The only issue I have is they could have burnt a house down, and killed the tenants inside it easily. Parole seems like a punishment to keep most people from doing something again.
I had my case dropped, for drawing a penis in a carpet with toilet cleaner, and I won't do anything possibly illegal and stupid again. I think most people learn to fear the legal system after the costs of their first case. - marktastic, on 11/05/2009, -1/+5More like <blink>HTML FAIL</blink>
- shroommi, on 11/05/2009, -5/+9U of M for the Win?
- Barackalypse, on 11/05/2009, -1/+5They threw it at a house. While its pretty stupid to me that they're calling it "detonating a commercial explosive" instead of "lighting a large commercial firework), its still a pretty big deal. Its not like it was a bottle rocket or even a roman candle.
- m4ngo, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4the headline is like OMFG SRSLY?! then you read it and you're like "oh, fireworks"
- inactive, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4Hey..dumb *****...the cops don't set the maximum prison time for specific charges.
- WiretapStudios, on 11/05/2009, -1/+5Sounds like they are really blowing through their freshman year...
- Takfam, on 11/05/2009, -0/+4Fireworks = "commercial grade explosive"? Man, I want these people to write about my sex life. I can see it now: "A roller coaster, up and down solo adventure with the happiest ending imaginable."
- funkeepickle, on 11/06/2009, -0/+3GO GREEN!
- tenaciousb154, on 11/06/2009, -0/+3GO WHITE!
- soundchaser, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3drawing a penis in carpet with toilet cleaner?
elaborate, please! this story must be shared! - Greengoo, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sarYH0z948
- lukeatron, on 11/05/2009, -0/+3If you can feel the thump in your chest from one of those things going off 1000 feet over your head, I suspect that damage they could do to something much closer would be significant. Just because it doesn't spray metal shrapnel all over doesn't mean it's not going to cause damage. The shock wave from a moderately powerful explosion can be quite destructive in its own right. Especially if it's any way contained, such as being indoors.
These things are far from harmless. - ghee, on 11/05/2009, -2/+5Didn't they know this would turn into a volatile situation?
- WiretapStudios, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2True, but if you've been to college, or been a rowdy teenager...this seems like one of thousands of things I participated in that could have gone awry. Stupid, yes. But at the time...
- IphtashuFitz, on 11/05/2009, -1/+3Those mortArs, unlike consumer fireworks, are strong enough to kill or seriously injure somebody. They threw one at a house, and if somebody happened to be walking out of the house at the same time they could have been seriously hurt or killed.
- MrMagik, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2those are not mortars. they sell them at every fireworks stand ive ever been to. theyre called artillery shells. if blown up on the ground they blow colors about 50 feet wide. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=232w1SOS_Bw now if you cut 12 of them open and pour all the powder in the launch tube and then put a fuse in it and cap it then you have a bomb. stupid police.
- arkaycee, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2Fitting name: Sasha Savage ... sounds like she could be Natasha Fatale's daughter.
- RagnabroK, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2They mention Grove street, and nobody brings up GTA: San Andreas?
- WiretapStudios, on 11/05/2009, -1/+3When I was around 18, we mounted a heavy duty cardboard tube to my car roof and drove around shooting fireworks out of it. You could light them, toss them in the tube, and close the sunroof. I see how that could have gone horribly, horribly wrong. But it actually went horribly right. Sometimes the stupidity of an idea is only measured by how much trouble you get in as a result.
- michirican123, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2and drinking
- ianrogers, on 11/05/2009, -0/+2I'm an MSU student, and this whole thing is being blown out of proportion on all fronts.
"Johnstone would not speculate why the device was thrown at the home."
It was just some girl exploding a firework on an ex-boyfriend's lawn. There's no reason this should be making national news. Sure, you've gotta be borderline retarded to explode a mortar one block away from the police station, but why is this more important than the millions of dollars in funding for higher education being cut just down the road? -
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