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Forget your backpack in Copley Square? The bomb squad would like a word with you

Abandoned bag in Copley Square

Bit of unwanted excitement in Copley Square shortly after 5 p.m., when somebody discovered a backpack just sitting there on St. James in front of Trinity Church.

Police taped off the area to await the arrival of the bomb squad, which soon after determined the backpack was, in fact, just a backpack.

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Comments

Bomb squad blew up my homework is the new dog ate my homework.

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Boston shaking knees.

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idiots like this should suffer some consequences. i'm sure the owner can be identified by the contents

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blow the backpack up. That would have been an appropriate consequence for a demonstration of brazen stupidity.

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Have you never forgotten anything before? Never misplaced something or left it behind?

Not sure I have left a backpack laying in Copley Square before, but people do make mistakes.

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Right, but look at the context here... a backpack, laying in Copley Square (of all places), a couple weeks before the Marathon. Of course people are going to be a bit more on edge than usual.

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If there was no intent to cause trouble, there is no crime.

Remember folks, this is a city where a truck driver can make an illegal lane swap, kill a cyclist, leave the scene of the collision, and have the police protect them, not prosecute them. If fatal negligence with a piece of heavy equipment is not actionable (due to lack of intent), I don't see how negligently forgetting a backpack and not killing anybody could be (due to lack of intent)!

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Seriously? Can you stop relating everything to bicycling for once? How does that relate, even remotely, to a backpack being left in the middle of Copley Square? I know, I know... all bicyclists are law-abiding, church-going, doe-eyed angels that NEVER break the law.

Besides, I never mentioned anything about any sort of legal consequences for the owner of that backpack, that was another commenter.

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Examples where negligence resulted in fatal consequences, but no criminal charges due to lack of intent?

People were saying that someone should be prosecuted for forgetting a backpack, which killed nobody. I merely pointed out that BPD has refused to prosecute negligence that killed somebody ... so why should they charge the backpack's owner?

That was the first example to come to mind ... you reactionary ZOMG SHE MENTIONED A BICYCLE!!!!!!111!!!!! twits are more than welcome to cite other examples.

Read before reacting, please. Also, reread your post - you appeared to be rebutting you replied to.

/sheesh

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I'm reacting to you bringing "fatalities as a result of negligent acts" into the conversation, and spinning your own personal pro-bicyclist agenda into it for no reason. It was a misguided and poorly worded analogy.

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You cannot argue with someone who is paranoid; they take everything you say as an attack, and only dig themselves in deeper and deeper with their nutty diartribe.

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BICYCLE!

There. Swirly said BICYCLE! Unlike the last mention, this is completely superfluous.

That should keep you guys going for another 30 comments while the grownups have an actual discussion.

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Case in point.

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Swirly, it's not that you said "bicycle". It's hilarious that's what you latch on to whenever someone debates you on the issue.

The reason I responded to your original post was because every time you bring up the word "bicycle", it's attached to deeper issues that fit your agenda. You inherently believe that bicyclists do no wrong, are never breaking the law, and are singlehandedly saving the world with their eco-friendly choices. Maybe it's not that cut and dry, but you sure do a good job making it seem thats the way you truly feel.

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THAT about sums it up. Very concise. Thank you.

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That it would be right if the BPD blew up the backpack.

I think I missed where jail time was mentioned.

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We could look at house fires that injure or kill people from burning candles which are pretty unnecessary now that we have electricity and light bulbs, besides giving off toxic fumes from the burning paraffin (Fall River fire last week resulting in death, injury). Cigarettes are also unnecessary with careless handling/disposal cause fires, toxic fumes, property damage, injuries, and death.

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Swirly has prosecuted hundreds of negligence motor vehicle crimes (mostly in the Portland, Oregon area), but in the real world, she is pretty clueless when it comes to most aspects of the legal system.

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have a link to the incident? Not ball-breaking, just curious about particulars.

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where a truck driver hits an inattentive cyclist trying to beat a light by passing said truck on the right side (i.e. in their blind spot).

Fixed it for you.

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It's your primate brain making a pattern out of the timing/location. The person that left it just made the same mistake anyone could have made anywhere at any time.

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Hahaha... primate brain? You're right I guess, because even a monkey could figure out the significance of an abandoned backpack in the same location that the Marathon will be staged, nearly marking the 1-year anniversary of a deadly bombing.

Yes, whoever left the backpack made a mistake, I get it. But if your house was robbed last weekend and you saw someone walking through your yard as a shortcut, with no ill intentions, wouldn't you be overly cautious of that person?

That's about as much as my primate brain can process on the matter.

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But never something as large and important as a backpack (and I carried a backpack with me nearly every day for five years commuting to and from college). And I've never left something like that behind in a public place.

Just another example of how the current generation is truly lacking a sense of basic responsibility and common sense.

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" current generation" ... How do you know which generational group the backpack's owner is a part of?

Get off my lawn pops.

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Identify the contents and return the bag like a good samaritan you mean?

At most the worst crime committed is littering. Last time I checked, striking a cord with the city's collective paranoia isn't a crime. If anyone really wanted to cause harm in a place like Copley square, the marathon, or any public place they could do it again very easily. It doesn't hurt to be cautious, but if you're that worried about it, move out into the woods.

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Can we all, collectively, take a major chill pill? It's a backpack. Someone dropped it. Go cop a feel (of the backpack) if you're that concerned. If it's heavy and has wires, yeah, freak out. If it's books and such, go put it over by the T stop or a bench or something. Or, open it up, find the person's name and see if you can get in touch with them. And not have Copley closed down. The OMG BACKPACK TERRORIST freak out thing is getting old, guys.

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If you are going to bomb Boston. Make it a trash bag. Bostonians have such a high tolerance for random trash around it would never be suspected.

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I was going to say that if you really want to take out Boston, disguise your bombs as broken chairs and toilets and leave them in the street. Nobody will touch them for fear of TOWNIE RAGE ZOMG.

But then I thought that, turn that around, maybe the way to end space-savers is blinking throwies.

Just attach blinking lights to any space-saver you want picked up, and the whole damn street will be mooninited.

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Isn't it possible that the backpack was stolen then dropped for some reason by the thief? That would make more sense.

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Yesterday I thought I read on twitter (an Adam retweet) that the backpack was originally left on a bench and it was moved by authorities then the area was taped off.

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Authorities would never have moved it if they really thought it might be dangerous. What a farce!

Here's the initial tweet.

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who left their grey fox (and yes it is a grey fox) in the front yard on Comm Ave.

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...a truckload of bunnies to munch trash alder bark alongside the Muddy so swans can take over and fill restaurants with all you can eat Swoobit specials.

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