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While bringing a bomb to an airport is one of the stupider things a person can do. Bringing a fake bomb to an airport might be one of the stupidest — but it certainly raises the question: why would someone do it?
Three African refugees were arrested after one of them, a woman, tried to pass through security at Sky Harbor International Airport with a bomb on Friday — well…a fake bomb.
According to the Phoenix Police Department, the woman, 51-year-old Luwiza Daman, a refugee from Ethiopia, attempted to board a plane with an object that appeared to be an improvised explosive device (I.E.D.).
An alert U.S. Transportation Security Administration employee discovered the device — a cellphone attached to a container holding “organic material” — as she tried to pass through security at terminal 3.
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The Phoenix Police Department’s bomb squad, and the Phoenix Fire Department’s hazardous-materials crew, were called to the scene, where they determined the device wasn’t an actual explosive.
Daman told investigators that a friend gave her the device and asked her to deliver it to someone in Des Moines, Iowa. The recipient remains unknown.
Following Daman’s arrest, authorities picked up another African refugee allegedly connected to the faux-bomb, 25-year-old Shullu Gorado, a refugee from Eritrea, who was picked up at his house near 19th Avenue and Camelback Road.
Gorado told police he gave the device to Daman after a third African refugee, 34-year-old Shani Asa, also a refugee from Eritrea gave it to him. He was arrested Monday afternoon at his home near 43rd Avenue and Osborn Road. He admitted to attaching the phone to the device and giving it to Gorado.
All three were arrested on suspicion of having a hoax device and conspiracy to obtain a hoax device.
And the question remains: why would three African refugees try to sneak a fake bomb onto an airplane?
We don’t want to speculate, but you’re welcome to in the comment section of this post.
