From the Morristown Police:
Man arrested for making a bomb threat.
On October 2nd, 2018 at approximately 3:00pm, a Morristown Police officer was approached by a concerned citizen who advised that an unknown male had just made a threat against the Morristown Police Station.
According to the citizen, the male had stated that he was a member of a terrorist organization and was going to blow up the police station with a bomb that was contained in his backpack.
Police officers quickly located a male matching the description near the Morristown and Morris Township Library and began to conduct their investigation. The reporting citizen confirmed that the male being questioned was the person that had made the threats at which time he was taken into custody.
A search of the male and his possessions was conducted subsequent to his arrest but no bombs or threatening items were discovered.
The male, identified as 25-year-old Edrick Martinez of Rockaway, was charged with creating a false public alarm and terroristic threats and was remanded to the Morris County Correctional Facility.
At this time, there is no information to believe there is any threat to the public however citizens are reminded to always remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to the police.
If I heard something, I would absolutely say something. And if the concerned citizen in fact heard something, then he did the right thing. No one is arguing otherwise. No one is saying the MPD was wrong to investigate the concerned citizen’s complaint.
My issue is with the _arrest_ of Mr. Martinez as described in this article. Now as I’ve said at least twice, there may be more to the story, and I certainly hope there is. But now a man can be _sent_to_jail_ because someone says he heard him say something scary? That is a frightening scenario, Margret. We have a Fourth Amendment for a reason.
I did not say the concerned citizen’s complaint should not be investigated. I also did not say the concerned citizen was white. I merely presented a plausible scenario that _may_have_ occurred, and frightens the bejeezus out of me.
For the umpteenth time, I hope there’s more to the story than what is reported here.
If someone said something like this to you, what would you do? Hope it wasn’t true and keep your mouth shut and put everyone at risk or say something? What if the police refused to investigate the potential threat until they had required you to prove that what you heard was true. There was no description of the person who reported the threat and yet the writer seems to assume they were white. Why? I would prefer as a citizen that the police would rather its citizens were safe than sorry they did not investigate.
Much missing to this story. Did the man admit to the threat? I suppose he must have if he was arrested. Either way, something is missing here.
That’s just it – what does “started their investigation at the scene” mean? I want to believe that the MPD did the right thing here, which is why I’m wondering if there’s more to the story. Because otherwise, this is a narrative that matches the reporting perfectly:
Concerned citizen: (to self) There’s a brown guy I don’t like. I bet he’s an illegal. Of course I can’t get away with saying that, so I’ll tell the cops he threatened to blow up a building. (to officer) Excuse me officer, a man just said he would blow up the police station. He went that way.
Officer: Can you describe him?
CC: Sure. He’s Latin, in his 20s, carrying a backpack.
(police find the guy on South Street)
Officer: Is this him?
CC: Yup, definitely.
Male: What? I’m just going to the library!
CC: No, he’s the one that made terroristic threats.
Officer: You’re under arrest.
Male: Please note that I have no bombs or threatening items.
Officer: That’s enough. You’re going to be charged with creating a false public alarm and making terroristic threats. To jail with you.
Again, if there’s more to the story then I agree that the CC is a hero who saw something and said something. But I’m frightened if a man can be jailed based on a single accusation from a “concerned citizen”. That situation is just ripe for abuse. I truly hope that is not what happened here.
The “concerned citizen” did the right thing! Good job! We are told “see something, say something”. If someone walks up to you and says they have a bomb, and they are going to blow something up, that needs to be reported.
It clearly stated that they started their investigation at the scene. I would say, that is considered MPD doing “more to check up” before making the arrest. But, who knows, had he actually followed through with anything, then you would be crying “he wasn’t treated fairly”. Can’t win
Something about this story doesn’t check out. The “male” was arrested and taken to jail on the word of the “concerned citizen”, but what evidence did the concerned citizen present? Did anyone else corroborate the word of the concerned citizen? I’m all in favor of safety, but this looks like an in-person swatting of Mr. Martinez.
I hope there’s more to the story and that the MPD did more to check out the claims of this concerned citizen before sending Mr. Martinez to lockup.