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Home Front: WoT
Man arrested at Tampa airport with box cutter in hollowed book
2008-02-21
Photo via Hugh Hewitt and the Suncoast News.
A 21-year-old Clearwater man was arrested at Tampa International Airport this weekend after security personnel found a box cutter in a hollowed-out book, authorities said.

If convicted, Baines faces up to 10 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine for a federal charge of attempting to board an airplane with a concealed dangerous weapon. He is currently serving a 30 day sentence after pleading guilty Monday to a state misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed weapon.

Officers found books in the backpack titled "Muhammad in the Bible," "The Prophet's Prayer" and "The Noble Qur'an." He also had a copy of the Quran and the Bible.
About 7:30 a.m. Sunday, airport security ran Benjamin Baines Jr.'s backpack through an X-ray machine and saw the image of a box cutter, according to a report from the Transportation Security Administration. When searching the backpack, a security officer found a book titled "Fear Itself." The book was hollowed out, and the box cutter was inside.

After Baines was read his rights, he said his cousin had cut away the pages to make the hollow section in the book. Later, reports state, he said he had hollowed it out himself to hide money and marijuana from his roommates.

Baines told officers he was moving to Las Vegas and forgot the cutter was in the book.

Officers found books in the backpack titled "Muhammad in the Bible," "The Prophet's Prayer" and "The Noble Qur'an." He also had a copy of the Quran and the Bible.
None of those were hollowed out, were they?
Several sheets of paper in the backpack included rap lyrics that referred to police, narcotics, weapons and killing. Baines told officers he is a rapper who writes his own lyrics and that rap music writers need to "play the part," the report states.
Now he gets to play the part of a home-boy in prison ...
Officers performed a background check and found no record of crimes or active warrants.

He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon and booked into Orient Road Jail. At his first appearance in court Monday, Baines pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, according to an employee with the Hillsborough County clerk of court. He remained in Orient Road Jail today.

The U.S. Attorney's Office also filed a federal charge of attempting to board an aircraft with a concealed dangerous weapon. The federal charge against Baines was filed Sunday but was not announced until today, said Steve Cole, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Tampa. Cole said Baines will be arrested by U.S. marshals upon his release from jail on the state charge.
Posted by:lotp

#15  I agree with Mitch that this was not a True Believer but a Fellow Traveller and Useless Idiot wishing to Speak Truth to Power the judge who will be sentencing his sorry butt to prison later this year.
Posted by: Seafarious   2008-02-21 17:30  

#14  CAIR fights with the ACLU for rights to represent this nutjob. Waiting for the two "Reverends" to show up at any time.
Posted by: JohnQC   2008-02-21 17:00  

#13  Fire for effect.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2008-02-21 16:26  

#12  And if it tests negative for THC, jack him for lying to federal investigators. Pile on be good...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2008-02-21 14:41  

#11  Not to advocate 'piling on,' but if the Feds were to swab the book for traces of THC, they might be able to pin a drug charge on this POS too.
As a former TSA guy, it is nice to see some positve press ( but there are still too many slugs running the checkpoints)
Posted by: USN,Ret.   2008-02-21 14:11  

#10  Lock him up as if he intended to slice peoples throats with the box cutter. 2nd Degree murder at least plus any additional terrorism related charges that apply. That should put a stop to helpful journalists and civilians testing security.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2008-02-21 14:10  

#9  Baines told officers he is a rapper who writes his own lyrics and that rap music writers need to "play the part," the report states.

Yo, Benjamin, man. Nuthin increases "playin the part" then a 10 year bid in pound me in the ass federal prison. Think of the street cred that'll get ya...if rap is still around in 2019.
Posted by: tu3031   2008-02-21 13:02  

#8  if we can't take hollowed out books containing weapons on airplanes then the enemy has already won! right?? /snark off
Posted by: Justrand   2008-02-21 10:46  

#7  "Muhammed in the Bible"?

Is it one of those gag books of blank pages?
Posted by: Rob Crawford   2008-02-21 09:01  

#6  Yeah, a would-be rapper deliberately smuggling a *boxcutter* in a copy of "Fear, Itself" - probably the Moseley novel - onto a plane. The rest of his reading material is Islamic or Islamic-themed.

We're looking at a wannabe trying to built a career on a splashy and pseudo-violent arrest. Much safer than actually getting into a fight. He's probably gambling that a fake jihadi rapper will sell to the little assholes who love dangerous black men. Forty years ago it would have been black berets and aviator glasses; fifteen years ago it would have been colors and deliberately crude tattoos. I had been wondering when the henna'd beards and dog-ear'd Korans would make an appearance.
Posted by: Mitch H.   2008-02-21 08:46  

#5  When did box cutters become marijuana paraphernalia? Or for that matter where were the drugs and cash?
Posted by: ed   2008-02-21 08:04  

#4  Nimble, I like that idea. Doesn't even need to be 10 years, 10 days would do. And I want the dog poo selling concession.
Posted by: Glenmore   2008-02-21 07:13  

#3  10 years is too little. They pillory this guy in a security screening area for 10 years so everybody who boards a plane can take a whack at him.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2008-02-21 06:58  

#2  Good on the security personnel for detecting this. Hope they throw the book at this bastard. I don't think I'll ever get over being pissed off at having to empty my purse of nail scissors, nail files, needles, pockets knives, etc. (all the useful things we carry in case the need arises) before boarding a plane.
Posted by: Gladys   2008-02-21 06:01  

#1  Clearwater is where all the Scientologists are.
Posted by: gromky   2008-02-21 02:21  

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