Former Northeastern U. Employee Convicted in 2022 Bomb Hoax Case
“Police and bomb squads swarmed the area in one of the most significant responses to a bomb threat locally since the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing”
We covered this when it happened. The story below is an update.
From Reuters via U.S. News:
Ex-Employee of Boston’s Northeastern University Convicted of Hoax Bombing
A former employee of Northeastern University was convicted on Friday of U.S. charges that he staged a hoax explosion in 2022 and fabricated a story about being injured after opening a package delivered to the school’s campus in Boston.
A federal jury in Boston found Jason Duhaime, 47, guilty of charges that he conveyed false information related to an explosive device and lied to investigators after an incident that prompted an evacuation of buildings on campus.
Police and bomb squads swarmed the area in one of the most significant responses to a bomb threat locally since the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and wounded 260 others.
The Sept. 13, 2022, emergency response began when Duhaime, at the time the new technology manager and director of Northeastern’s Immersive Media Lab, called 911 to report he was injured after opening a package containing a “violent note.”
Duhaime said “very sharp” objects flew out of the package, a hard plastic case. But prosecutors said Duhaime’s arms had only superficial marks, while his shirt, the case and the note had no signs of damage.
“And the reason was the defendant made the whole thing up,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Kistner told jurors in his opening statement on Monday.
The note ranted about virtual reality; the lab, a hub for immersive technologies; and Meta Platforms founder Mark Zuckerberg and referenced matters known to a handful of people including Duhaime, prosecutors said.
When police and federal agents later interviewed Duhaime, he “doubled down on his made up story,” Kistner said.
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For a professional technology mentor, Duhaime wasn’t the brightest NPC in the VR:
“Rollins and investigators said that a forensic analysis of one of the computers seized during a search of the man’s office at Northeastern revealed a word-for-word electronic copy of the letter allegedly in the case, stored in a backup folder. Metadata associated with the file indicates that it was created on Sept. 13 at 2:27 p.m., about four hours before Duhaime called 911, officials said.”
The most notable aspect of this case was that the hoaxer was a white male. Everything else is cold porridge.
I thought all terrorists knew to get free Wi-Fi at a hotspot when you use a computer for your planning.
And use a burner phone/ second hand computer, paid for with cash.
Also, don’t bring your cell phone to the scene of the crime.
Park at least a block away.
And whatever you do, don’t tell your new Internet friend, who shares all your fringe beliefs, about your nefarious plot.
HE IS AN ATF AGENT!