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Arts & Entertainment

Bogus Broadway Bomb "Threat" Nearly Saves Obamas From Spider-Man Musical


By

Garth Johnston

Published Jul 16, 2012

Modified Jul 16, 2012


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By

Garth Johnston

Published Jul 16, 2012

Modified Jul 16, 2012


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Not sure which is worse, that the Foxwoods Theater was evacuated yesterday because a tourist made a lame bomb joke—not knowing that First Lady Michelle Obama and her daughters were coming by for the midday show—or that the poor Obama ladies had to suffer through Spider-Man: It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Turn Off The Dark. You'd think the White House would have somebody in charge of keeping them from that sort of thing?

Anyway, because the Obamas were in attendance, police made guests at the theater check their bags before the 3 p.m. matinee. So of course, 43-year-old Ross Mandell, visiting from North Carolina, allegedly joked to the cops, "Yeah, I'll check my bags. But if the show’s no good, they'll blow up." Which, considering the show in question, can we guess be construed as a pretty valid threat? Also, the kind of thing your father would say to a TSA agent after a long day.

"It was a stupid thing to say to any cops, but particularly in this case," a source quick with the obvious told the Daily News. Mandell was then interviewed and searched by the NYPD and the Secret Service and—since he was "joking"—he was sent on his way to suffer through multiple hours of music by Bono and The Edge. Which was probably punishment enough.

Tagged

bomb threat

Michelle obama

nypd

obama

secret service

spider-man

spider man musical

spider man turn off the dark


Garth Johnston

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