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Prank Prompts Panic at Council Meeting
He slipped in almost unnoticed — an unidentified man wearing a turban and a body-length robe, carrying a small statue covered in a cloth.
He put the statue down on a table by the door in the Thornton Wilder Auditorium Tuesday night, removed the cloth, and exited as quickly as he appeared.
...
When it was clear no one [knew anything about what had just transpired], panic set in and the room cleared within seconds. Both council and audience members fled out a side door into the parking lot at the Miller Memorial Library.
Hamden Police Chief Tom Wydra, who was in the audience, darted outside to look for the man, who was still in the parking lot — minus the turban and robe.
...
The council's meeting resumed normally shortly after the incident. But for several tense moments, when no one knew why the statue was there, it was clear that everyone was thinking that it could be a bomb.
Quinnipiac University Political Science Prof. Colleen Driscoll said it is a sign of the times that people would react that way to what turned out to be an innocent prank.
"If he hadn't been dressed that way, would the reaction have been the same?" she asked.
Originally posted by kro32
We live in different times now. If I see someone come into one of my college classes put something suspicious down then leave rapidly i'm gonna be panicked too.