“My apologies go out to all but why can’t y’all take a joke,” said one Twitter user named Alden Fernandez. This was in response to a tweet he earlier sent to American Airlines that a bomb was “going [to go] off on six of your aircrafts”.
This is one of many tweets coming in from some very stupid and idiotic teenagers – because they think it’s pretty funny to send tweets to major airlines with bomb threats.
I have just one thing to say to these people.
What the fuck is wrong with you?
Airlines take these threats seriously – and they have to so that they can ensure the safety of their passengers. A lot of airline and law enforcement resources are used to track down who made the bomb threat, even if it just a joke.
This “trend” – and I really do hate using that word to describe it – started after a 14-year-old Dutch user @queendemetriax_ thought it would be funny to send a tweet saying she was from Afghanistan, a member of a terrorist group and that “on June 1st I’m gonna do something really big bye”. After American Airlines told her she sent her details to security and the FBI, she started backtracking.
Rotterdam Police have confirmed that the girl has been arrested on Twitter but a spokesperson, Wessel Stole, told Business Insider that they were “not in a state that we can communicate any state of charges at this point”
After that, many people started posting their own bomb threats to American Airlines.
@AmericanAir I have a bomb in my ass Im gonna blow up the toilet call the FBI quick or everyone here will die!!!
— ㅊㅈ (@boc__rottm) April 15, 2014
@AmericanAir i will drop a bomb on your company. This is osama bin laden
— dahna (@dahnaxstyles) April 15, 2014
@AmericanAir Hi my name Sluha Benn Tala There will be a series of bomb attacks on your district at exactly 3PM Eastern Standard Time.
— Nick M | Upbind rT (@Woodplanks) April 15, 2014
@AmericanAir hi :) im ibrahim’s brother and im gonna kill you all with two nuke bomb, im not joking guys im really bad
— Nomen Omen (@Obferito) April 15, 2014
@americanair Hello me name is Ibrahim and I’m feo Irak. I’m part of Al Qaida and in June 1st I’m gonna bomb one of your planes. bye
— bombusalol (@bombusalol) April 14, 2014
@AmericanAir i am sarah’s friend and i am gonna bomb you lolol
— Spyros R (@SpyrosGrant) April 14, 2014
@AmericanAir there’s a bomb under one of your planes, have fun xxx
— Beko (@Voldemental) April 14, 2014
@AmericanAir I’m from Pakistan and see me bomb now.
— AllTimeSlow (@maryamful) April 13, 2014
@AmericanAir Hello im box and my friend Jamal want to bomb one of ur planes on Agust 12 2014 just giving out a warning. :)
— Lola (@MartiezLola) April 13, 2014
That’s all I could find from a simple Twitter search today. There were plenty more tweets, but they have since been deleted and their accounts suspended. You can see a selection of these tweets from The Washington Post, The Daily Dot and News.com.au.
So, why are they doing it? It appears many of these tweeters are showing solidarity with Sarah, according to Dr Terri Apter, a psychology lecturer from Cambridge University. She told the Daily Telegraph that they are angry that one of them – the idiots – is being punished for a “harmless gesture of teen defiance.”
“Their response is to mimic the offence. In this way they show peer solidarity and at the same time make punishment more difficult by transforming an individual gesture into a mass movement,” she said.
Teenagers do stupid things. I should know, I’ve done a lot of stupid things in my past. But to think that this – making a bomb threat to an airline, regardless of medium – is a “harmless gesture of teen defiance”? And it should have a mass movement of teenagers to protest against the punishment – that she rightfully deserves – for making such a ‘joke’?
Again, let me reiterate.
What the fuck is wrong with you?