Cosplayers beware! You might want to rethink trying to bring any of your steampunk gear on an airplane. This watch caused a bit of a furor at the Oakland airport when some TSA agents saw it pass through an x-ray machine just before Thanksgiving. As you can imagine, it looked to them like a miniature explosive device and – not being familiar with steampunk – they stopped the owner of the watch, artist Jeoffrey McGann, 49, of Rancho Palos Verdes, and questioned him.
McGann is an artist out of the Art Center in Pasadena and explained that he is a designer of Steampunk watches. After deciding the watch was, in fact, harmless, local law enforcement decided to arrest the man anyway. He is charged with possessing materials to make an explosive device.
I imagine that the charges will probably be dropped once the judge is familiarized with steampunk. Then again the man might be made an example of. Either way, this was obviously a big misunderstanding. Whether you agree or not, after 911, they’re just being really careful so unless you want to possibly miss your plane or get arrested, it might be better to leave the steampunk at home… either that or drive to that con instead of flying there.
[Source: Infowars, TSA]
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