It is good that people are looking for and reporting things that don't look right and the police response was appropriate. But once they determined that there wasn't a bomb and that she wasn't a threat, why did authorities charge her with having a "hoax device" and disturbing the peace. A hoax, by definition and as specified in the hoax device law requires intent. She didn't didn't do anything to disturb the peace; it was other people's actions, base on their misperception that made it a big deal.

Are circuit boards now just thought to be bombs?

After seeing the image of the 'device' I would not think it a bomb. Some LEDs and some resistors on a piece of plastic with a 9volt battery.

It is much more probable that any true 'bomb device' would be a mobile phone with extra wires than the primitive hunk of plastic sewn onto her sweat shirt.

Her only error was thinking that average people are smarter than they are, because that device is obviously not dangerous.

I agree with guest post #2. Okay, they're checking out things that appear suspicious to them. That's fine. But once it is clear that it was a simple misunderstanding, they should not charge her with a crime.

I do not think it is unreasonable for a technically minded girl of 19 who just came from a career day at MIT to not even consider that others would think of her plastic artwork as a bomb. Why would she? We all bring computer circuit boards into airports all the time via our laptop computers.

Unfortunately, she did possess something that appears to be the one thing most of us do not possess which is what will cause her trouble in this case: innocence. She simply possess innocence. I mean innocence of the mind, innocence of the heart, innocence in that when she sees a plastic board with lights, playdoh and a battery, she innocently sees it as nothing but a plastic board with lights, playdoh and a battery. She is guilty of not having bombs so carved into her brain to the point in which she would immediately know that a plastic board with lights, playdoh and a battery isn't artwork, but a bomb, threatening the very lives of all at the airport.

So we simply must throw the book at her. If we work really hard, we might be able to screw up her future. We can't possibly let an innocent young girl succeed in life! She must be stripped of her innocence until she, too, has a paranoid and fearful way of viewing the world. We must beat this girl's innocence into submission!

Yeah, right. The biggest danger we have right now is our leadership, not a bright, but somewhat socially awkward, teenage girl who's being a good kid, striving to achieve high goals through education. How dare she be so good, so pure, so innocent that she can't see the evil in everything like the rest of us can. For that, she must be punished!

The terrorists of 9/11 succeeded. Just look at us now.

What is next for this "MIT" student...going to Virginia Tech with a fake bomb/gun for the sake of art? She may be smart but the common sense is lacking.

I like the half assed retraction of "crazy biotch." Too late. You're an ignoramus and a misogynist.

It was a REAL circuit board device, not a fake one. This article should be corrected. The security is saying it is a fake bomb, but it really isn't a fake anything.

This proves how incompetent our airport security really is. If she had taken the time to put it in a little plastic box, or even a discarded cardboard one, there would not have been any problems. Any security staff that can't tell the difference between LEDs and explosives should be fired. I have carried vary complex electronic instruments through security and they have inspected them by making me turn them on. They happened to be in plastic manufactured looking boxes, with blinking lights and dials, so they were thought to be OK. It was clear that they had no idea what I had in the box other than the blinky lights on the front. She had everything in the open for them, and they proved they don't know a threat when they see one. I think people should test this all over until the FAA decides to give the security personnel some training in what they should be looking for, so the rest of us can go about our lives, not in fear of persecution for having 'electronics' as a hobby.

Has anyone noticed that they now let you on a plane with up to 4" pointed metal scissors, but you still can't bring a 2" pocket knife on board?

And, really, this is none of our business, but we also read in the Herald that Simpson's boyfriend, Tim Anderson, who paid her $750 bail, is 42 years old. Is he her professor? The Herald described him as a "retired 3-D printer inventor." Simpson is 19. You gotta admit that's unusual.

It's none of your business, it's none of mine. Why did you even print it? Bad reporter! If you understood higher intelligence or you would have realized that their physical ages are irrelevant when their mental ages match. What kind of relationship would a 19yo with a 160+ IQ (I'm guessing) have with the average 19yo idiot at 90 IQ (not guessing)?

The device that was attached to her jacket was a breadboard, not a circuit board. Some of the components were covered with tape. They could have been anything. She was also carrying modeling clay, which looks just like plastic explosives. So, for those of you who don't know, it's easy to build a bomb with a breadboard, electronic components, a 9 volt battery, and plastic explosives.

She walked into LOGAN AIRPORT, for God's sake! She had what appeared to be an electronic detonator, a battery, and explosives. She asked about an incoming flight. When the woman at the information both questioned her about the device, she didn't answer, but walked away and left the airport.

No, I don't think airport security overreacted. In fact, I think they showed amazing self restraint. If she had been male, I think she'd be dead now.

Yeah! Everyone who doesn't go to MIT is dumb!