'Anti-American' teen guilty in school bomb plot

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This case of Travis Biehn makes a mockery of a paranoid society, an over agressive DA, willing to label someone as "Anti-American" for wearing a "Joe Canadian" T-Shirt.

This case also shows how willing the courts are to label someone as having a "mental health problem" simply because they don't fit

If you are a Canadian, just remember not to wear your "Joe Canadian T-Shirt" when you cross the border.

If you live in the USA, its not a good idea to have any intelligent or educated interest in toy-rockets or chemistry,

which is likely to have you arrested on a trumped up charge that will often have more to do with the funding of homeland security

Travis Biehn has moved on with his life and any potential employer should note that the interests that got him arrested,

were not in anyway a security threat, they simply show he has unusual intelligence and an inquiring mind, all the traits

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A Canadian teen, who has been labelled as anti-American by prosecutors after he wore a "Joe Canadian" T-shirt to court, was found guilty yesterday in a plot to bomb his school.

Travis Biehn, 17, was led away from the courthouse in Doylestown, Pennsylvania in handcuffs and leg irons after the guilty verdict was rendered.

Judge Kenneth Biehn, no relation, ordered Travis held for 20 days for a psychiatric evaluation after he was found guilty of uttering terroristic threats and possession of incendiary devices.

He will reappear in court on July 4 for sentencing and could be held in custody until he turns 21 or be given a lengthy term of community service.

"I think everyone who was in that courtroom was shocked, considering the evidence," his mother, Annette, said in a telephone interview after the verdict.

"Travis is devastated and shocked and we just have to continue in his best interests."

Although Travis was wearing a shirt and tie to court yesterday, the scene was quite different less than a week ago when Travis, who has been labelled a harmless prankster by his peers, was brought before a judge wearing his Joe Canadian T-shirt.

The shirt was enough for the prosecution to claim that the teen was displaying his contempt for the U.S. through his choice of clothing.

Citing the shirt, Bucks County District Attorney Diane Gibbons called Mr. Biehn an "angry" and "unhappy" child. She told the Philadelphia Inquirer in a June 4 article that "he apparently has made it clear that he does not like America and that he would prefer to be in Canada."

She also claimed that school authorities said Mr. Biehn has made anti-American remarks in the past and is unhappy living the United States.

Travis had recently returned to school after being suspended for hacking his school's computer network.

The teen, who has been living near Philadelphia since his family moved from Newfoundland six years ago, was accused of scrawling a bomb threat on the wall of one of his school's bathrooms.

Travis was one of a number of students who reported the bathroom threats to teachers, but were ignored. It wasn't until the principal heard about the threats that an investigation began.

No one came forward until the school began offering a $250 U.S. reward for information about the bomb threat.

Travis was arrested after two fellow students fingered him as the person who behind the threats.

On May 30, police raided the the house where Travis lived with parents. They found several kilograms of potassium nitrate, fuses, containers and other materials. Potassium nitrate is legal to possess and is an unlicensed substance in the U.S. It is used to pickle meats, make glass and wicks and is a key ingredient in the fuel for model rockets -- a hobby Travis and his family enjoyed.

The district attorney told the Inquirer: "We do not have a completed bomb. We have everything you need to make a bomb."

The raid's findings were enough for police to arrest Travis, who, at the time he was picked up, was wearing the popular Molson Canadian T-shirt with its famous "rant":

"I have a Prime Minister, not a president. I speak English and French, not American... I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack. I believe in peace keeping, not policing, diversity, not assimilation and that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal. A tuque is a hat, a chesterfield is a couch, and it is pronounced 'zed' not 'zee', 'zed' !"

Travis was still wearing the shirt -- he hadn't been allowed to change -- when he was brought to court the next day. Images of Travis in his "anti-American shirt" appeared on newscasts and in area papers.

Those images and the comments of the district attorney set off a storm of protest, with calls for harsh punishment. Some even called for Travis and his family to be deported to Canada.

Travis's lawyer, William Goldman Jr. -- who today said he was "dumbfounded" by the verdict -- told the Citizen last week that using the pro-Canadian wording on his client's shirt to prosecute him is pure "baloney."

"He was arrested without notice and he was wearing a T-shirt bought at a tourist shop along the Canadian border," said Mr. Goldman. "This is totally out of proportion. This is not an anti-American situation. This is not a terrorist situation ... and to the extent that the prosecution has painted it as such, it is inaccurate."

After Travis was arrested, another bomb threat was scrawled on a different bathroom wall at his school. Authorities chalked it up to a copycat crime that wasn't worth investigating.

Travis's lawyer worries the person who made the threat is still walking the school's hallways. He believes the entire case against his client comes down to the prosecution trying to depict Travis as anti-American.

"Canadians should be irate," he told the Citizen. "Because a young man, a Canadian citizen, is proud of Canada does not make them anti-American."

Travis has not appeared before a jury of his peers. Instead he has been given what courts in Pennsylvania call an adversary hearing, which is a trial before a judge in juvenile court.

During the trial, crowds gathered outside the court to show their support for Travis. Many of his supporters called his treatment "unjust."

Some even offered explanations about why Travis may have had the potassium nitrate, fuses, containers and other controversial materials in his possession.

Cathy Block, a composer who worked with Travis at a community theatre group, told the Canadian Press that Travis and his father would build model rockets and then call the entire neighbourhood out to watch them be launched.

"When they launch rockets, it's a neighbourhood event," she said. "Someone can point a finger and before you know it you're being stormtrooped and your child is being taken away."

Travis's father, Brant, a marketing director for the pharmaceutical giant Merck, has repeatedly told police about his affinity for building model rockets and how he likes to make sparklers that he lights in his back yard. Brant Biehn claimed that is why the materials were in his home when police raided it.

Two Tales of U.S. Justice: The Canadian Teen and the King of Pop


Vito Pilieci, with files from Troy Reeb of Global News
The Ottawa Citizen; with files from The Canadian Press