NY Post – by Jamie Schram, Kevin Fasick and Natasha Velez
Police detained two men at a Midtown hotel late Friday after a doorman reported they possessed a pair of pressure cookers like those used to make the Boston Marathon bombs.
But the men say it was a misunderstanding: They plan to use the pressure cookers back home to prepare rice, chicken and meat.
Mohammad Alotaibi, 20, and Ayoub Alawadhi, 21, pulled up to the InterContinental Hotel on East 48th Street on Friday evening with the pressure cookers in their car trunk, said law enforcement sources.
A doorman called Crimestoppers, and NYPD counterterrorism and intelligence officers arrived to question the men.
More than a dozen cops responded, Alotaibi and a hotel worker said.
Police did not charge the two Idaho residents, who are of Kuwaiti background. But sources said the matter remains under investigation.
“The police questioned us for three hours. It was a little scary,” said Alawadhi.
It took a while to figure out why the cops were interrogating them, Alawadhi said.
“They said they found the pressure cookers. I said, ‘Yes, what’s wrong with that?’” he recounted.
“They said, ‘You haven’t heard about Boston?’ And I said ‘No.’ And they told me about Boston.”
Alawadhi said he and Alotaibi are students, and that they just completed summer classes at a Michigan university.
They bought the pressure cookers at an Arab supermarket in Dearborn, Michigan.
Alawadhi said they put the cookers in the back of their car, and drove to Manhattan for a few days of sightseeing fun. Then they planned to drive back home to Idaho.
Alawadhi described the experience of being detained by cops as “disgusting” and “weird.”
“I am leaving New York because of this,” he said. “We were supposed to stay until Tuesday, but we are leaving Sunday.”
http://nypost.com/2014/07/26/nypd-detains-men-who-had-pressure-cookers-to-prepare-rice/
LOL. This is soooo stupid. NYPD are making themselves the laughing stock of the nation.
Yup.
Unfortunately, the Sheeple are eating it up. “If you see something, say something.”
OMG! They have a pressure cooker! Terrorists! Call the Cops!
“Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you’re always afraid”
(Buffalo Springfield)
It gets worse, Angel.
Every time I’ve gone to the movies for the last 3 months or so, AMC has changed their intro from the one they’ve had for years. The second thing the new one says is to “report suspicious characters”. They are REALLY pushing this agenda.
It’s creeping me out.
“But sources said the matter remains under investigation.”
Hopefully their investigation will find out who was dumb enough to have 12 cops descend on a piece of cookware.
“I am leaving New York because of this,” he said. “We were supposed to stay until Tuesday, but we are leaving Sunday.”
Good. Get out, and don’t spend a dime there. Don’t even pay your hotel bill since it was the rat-bastard doorman who started the problem.