I'm saying they probably didn't have the ability to not say something.

I don't know how often they receive fake bombs, but I would like to have stats on that.

If this is something that happens once per month, it's theater for the elections.

Also, these bombs are so primitive, I wonder if the Secret Service would have immediately realized they are fake.

The bomb squad is going to always assume the things are live.

I am pretty sure they have the ability to not take it to the press.

Just being filled with black powder is dangerous enough.

They have tens of thousands of security related incidents each year.

i don't know man

IF they disclosed each one, they would have enough to fill their own newspaper

if they think a device is a real danger they typically blow it in place

or get a robot to transport it where it can be safely detonated.

^

i've never seen EOD defuse something

they always blow it

I'm more surprised they got good X-rays.

And yeah, @Atkins this is very odd.

Anyway. I get the feeling as if this election hype.

To at least 70%.

Whomever built this didn't do a good job.

oh yeah, terrible job

Whoever built this wasn't even trying.

Was there even any explosive material?

they should at the very least have used steel instead of PVC

We will never hear about the followup.

What's with the detonator wires looping back over to each other?

That's just weird.

it's not a detonator

it's a solenoid

That is their strategy these days: Make a big deal about breaking a story and then cut it off if the story doesn't fit your narrative anymore.

They have been doing this like clockwork.

OK. Solenoid that's supposed to act as a detonator.

@Undead Mockingbird that's been the strategy since I was born.

They've only been getting more brazen with it.

They splashed the story all over because it supports the narrative:

Orange man bad!
Whammen and Democrats in danger!
We good! Vote us!

detonators are extremely uniform

I have to admit, I'm not super experienced in professional explosives.

Then, when sobriety sets in and the initial emotional shock value wears off, the story suddenly rotates out of the news cycle.

But this thing is just...I don't know. It's not how I'd build it.

*IF* there was a large battery attached to this, it could conceivably be a fire hazard

but that is not going to explode as is.