Kayvon Edson

Criminal Act or Performance Art?

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kmp1284

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Criminal Act or Performance Art?

Tue, Apr 15 - 11:09 pm EDT | 59 mins ago by Stephen Kersey

A 25-year-old fashion student named Kayvon Edson has been arrested after he placed two suspicious backpacks near the finish line at the Boston Marathon. Authorities were initially worried that the bags contained bombs, however they turned out to be confetti-filled rice cookers.

It’s unknown what crimes the police will charge him with. Considering the seriousness of the situation, he could end up going to prison. However, many of his friends are saying it was simply a matter of performance art. In fact, there is a petition making the rounds on social networks for him to be spared all criminal punishment since what he did should be considered artwork.

http://www.everyjoe.com/2014/04/15/...crime-performance-art-boston-backpack-bomb/#1
 
I really enjoy performance art and will take great pleasure in sitting through a Marina Abramović performance any day, but what happened last night was a disgrace to performance art. There is no question. Possessing a hoax device is a federal crime. End of story.
 
I voted for 'Performance Art', but that doesn't mean I think it was AT ALL a good, well-executed idea. It was reasonable to arrest him.
 
Update: The brother of the Marathon Finish Line hoax suspect posted a message on Facebook calling his sibling's actions "sick."

On a separate page, a person who claimed to be the suspect’s brother posted a message on Facebook calling Edson’s actions at the finish line “sick”:

I ask for those of you who know my family to take a moment to pray for myself, my sister, my mother, and my father. My dad is an American Hero. The kind of man you hate to see on his last legs sick with cancer. But that is the reality. It is stressful enough as it is. Another reality is that my brother is a different kind of sick. What he did at the finish line earlier today is absurd and shameful. It should not be considered art or condoned in any way. Do not play into that. He is a sick person with multiple diagnoses. Unfortunately, no consequences of his abnormal behavior were dire enough for him to shape up before he thought something like this could get him that fame he always chased. Ultimately, he is a disillusioned and very sick individual. I apologize to anyone that takes offense to his actions as his brother. My family has done all we can to foster Kevin’s mental health. He is an artist. I am an artist. I understand that much. Thank you God that he did not hurt anybody.

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2014/04/16/kevin-kayvon-edson-arrested-marathon-finish-line/
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I consider it criminal. He planted items that appeared to look a lot like the tools of destruction that last year killed 3 and maimed dozens in the very same place the attack happened. He did it at a period of heightened security and forced the evacuation, investigation and subsequent arrest. "Art" or not, it incited a good deal of fear and cost even more money (and resources). The guy's not an artist. He's an attention starved, out of touch loser. What he did easily falls under the umbrella of a "bomb hoax" which, as Data mentioned, is a federal crime.
 
So it sounds like he's mentally ill. Probably shouldn't go to prison, but it definitely sounds like he needs some sort of treatment.
 
BussesAin'tTrains said:
So it sounds like he's mentally ill. Probably shouldn't go to prison, but it definitely sounds like he needs some sort of treatment.
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You've touched on the root of a much larger issue in the United States. US prisons are now widely being used as mental asylums. Far too many people in prison are mentally ill. It is counterproductive to any hope of rehabilitation. There's this American mentality of "oh he/she's crazy - lock him/her up" that is really just ass-backwards.
 
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^ bass-ackwards is the technical term, I believe.

And yeah, clearly this guy has a few screws loose and clearly he shouldn't end up in jail.
 
Actually, it turns out that he didn't put a backpack there at all. It belonged to a TV station, NECN.
 
So basically we have a sick kid, and further confirmation that the media are complete morons.
 
Huh?? Didn't he admit to having a pressure cooker in the bag filled with confetti?

Also, how would an NECN bag end up in the middle of Boylston Street? I was there 10 minutes before this happened; Boylston St was jammed with traffic Tuesday night. He had to have made this scene between cycles of the lights. There's no other way Boylston would have been that empty. How would a stray bag end up there?

Where is this news about NECN's bag coming from Ron? UHub or any local stations are not covering this story.
 
Ron Newman said:
Actually, it turns out that he didn't put a backpack there at all. It belonged to a TV station, NECN.
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That's not correct. There were two backpacks. One was the 'hoax device' with the rice cooker full of confetti and the other was equipment that had been left behind in the midst of the evacuation. The story isn't always what you want it to be Ron. Some people are fucking nuts, they do stupid things and have no business being amongst other unless they can effectively deal with their issues.

BussesAin'tTrains said:
So basically we have a sick man, and further confirmation that the media are complete morons.
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Fixed. He's 25. He's a man, at least on paper. He should be treated accordingly. I wouldn't send him to a conventional prison but a year or two in Bridgewater with treatment while providing him some time to consider his transgressions would be entirely appropriate.
 
I knew he was being sent for evaluation but if he is convicted, assuming he's even competent and convictable, it would be a good home for the next couple of years.
 
kmp1284 said:
Fixed. He's 25. He's a man, at least on paper. He should be treated accordingly. I wouldn't send him to a conventional prison but a year or two in Bridgewater with treatment while providing him some time to consider his transgressions would be entirely appropriate.
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Agreed.
 
BussesAin'tTrains said:
Agreed.
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I disagree with the whole security theater going on; but protest, performance art, an attempt at fame, the actions of a mentally unstable individual, or a bit of all of the above are no excuse. You don't yell fire in a theater, you don't put a fucking fake bomb at a bombing site on the anniversary of the bombing. As for Edson, I'm fine with him ending up institutionalized instead of in prison, since having an idea that is this stupid and reckless shows at the very least terrible judgement, and at the most insanity. I doubt his actions were malicious, but they are still inexcusable.

Has anyone touched on the fact that with all this 'heightened security', an extremely conspicuous individual was able to get right to the finish line , drop off a backpack with a rice cooker in it, and walk away? Maybe I haven't been following close enough, but shouldn't they have seen him as he was putting it down with that many eyes on the street? If the response was nearly instantaneous then fine, but if not it just goes to show what a waste all this really is.
 
davem said:
I disagree with the whole security theater going on; but protest, performance art, an attempt at fame, the actions of a mentally unstable individual, or a bit of all of the above are no excuse. You don't yell fire in a theater, you don't put a fucking fake bomb at a bombing site on the anniversary of the bombing. As for Edson, I'm fine with him ending up institutionalized instead of in prison, since having an idea that is this stupid and reckless shows at the very least terrible judgement, and at the most insanity. I doubt his actions were malicious, but they are still inexcusable.

Has anyone touched on the fact that with all this 'heightened security', an extremely conspicuous individual was able to get right to the finish line , drop off a backpack with a rice cooker in it, and walk away? Maybe I haven't been following close enough, but shouldn't they have seen him as he was putting it down with that many eyes on the street? If the response was nearly instantaneous then fine, but if not it just goes to show what a waste all this really is.
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There were police near the stands in their neon yellow jackets when I was there slightly before it happened. As I said before, Boylston was reopened to all traffic after the ceremony that afternoon and there was a good amount of volume on the road. I believe it must have been a pretty instantaneous response.
 
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