NFL Dirty Bomb Hoaxer to be Charged

The hoaxer who [re]produced a plot to detonate dirty bombs outside a number of NFL games at the end of October is going to be charged later today, which is something I had predicted yesterday.

Federal authorities Friday charged a Wisconsin man in a hoax threat that warned seven football stadiums across the nation would be targeted by terrorists with radiological "dirty bombs" this weekend.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark did not immediately identify the man but said in a news release announcing the charge that he would be in court in Milwaukee later Friday.

The person, whose screen name was javness, was apparently in some kind of contest with another individual from Brownsville, Texas, to see who could come up with the scariest threat.

Guess who won.

UPDATE:
The hoaxer surrendered to authorities today. His name? Jake J. Brahm.

Jake J. Brahm, of Wauwatosa, Wis., surrendered to the U.S. Marshal's Service on Friday morning and was scheduled to appear in court in Milwaukee later in the day.

He was charged in a sealed criminal complaint filed Thursday in Newark, U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said. One of the seven stadiums allegedly targeted was Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.

Christie said Brahm admitted that between September and Wednesday he had posted the same threat about 40 times on various Web sites.

"These types of hoaxes scare innocent people, cost business resources and waste valuable homeland security resources. We cannot tolerate this Internet version of yelling fire in a crowded theater in the post-9/11 era," Christie said.

UPDATE:
So, what is the maximum charge dirty bomb hoaxer Jake Brahm faces? Five years and a $250,000 fine.

Others blogging the arrest of Brahm and noting the utter stupidity needed to go ahead with such a stunt: Museum of Hoaxes, Lorie Byrd, and Blue Crab Boulevard.

Technorati: NFL, dirty bomb, jake j brahm, brahm, security, ACLU.