Report: Security Lapse Allowed Unauthorized Individual Into Big House
News report at 11 will feature a report that an individual in the military was able to sneak into the Big House during the UM/MSU football game with a non-loaded weapon.
Details are available via this Ann Arbor.com report
A member of the military who didn't have a ticket to the University of Michigan-Michigan State game was able to make his way onto the field undetected armed with two rifles, campus police confirmed this afternoon.
But U-M police spokeswoman Diane Brown said the weapons did not have ammunition and were checked before he entered the stadium. She said no one was in danger at any point.
"It was very unfortunate that this man abused his uniform and his position to gain access to the stadium unauthorized," Brown said this afternoon. "It's very disappointing."
The 42-year-old man's name has not been released, and it's unclear where he is stationed or what discipline he could face from the military. Brown said he is in the National Guard and is based in Southeast Michigan.
While the news blurb was a bit of sensationalism, this is still a bit bothersome.
October 20th, 2010 at 9:51 PM ^
Somebody's gonna get fired...
October 20th, 2010 at 9:52 PM ^
...the details from A2.com. No need to wait until 11.
Kudos to the Tri-Service Color Guard for alerting authorities to the presence of the interloper. This guy's in some serious trouble.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:23 PM ^
That's pretty goddamn disturbing. I am sufficiently paranoid that whenever I am in a big stadium, especially the Big House where egress is incredibly slow, I can't help but think how things would shakedown if somebody started firing an automatic weapon or explode a bomb. Hay-zoos fucking kreestay! How the hell is somebody allowed onto that field with a fucking gun!
October 20th, 2010 at 10:40 PM ^
I remember being in Michigan Stadium for the first home game after 9/11 and thinking something along the lines of "man, maybe cramming 110,000 people into a borderline inescapable hole in the ground isn't such a good idea..."
Then the game started and my concerns were whisked away.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:55 PM ^
October 21st, 2010 at 8:29 AM ^
If its my time to go, I cannot think of a better way to go than watching my beloved Wolverines at the end!! GO BLUE!!
October 20th, 2010 at 10:47 PM ^
You need to see the movie Two Minute Warning.....
October 20th, 2010 at 10:54 PM ^
It can't possibly be as good as Sudden Death. He beats up a mascot and makes the game winning save!
October 21st, 2010 at 1:37 PM ^
I can see one M16 (/s), but TWO!? I did not realize that a National Guardsman in full get-up consisted of two M16s.
Rambo leading the Color Guard?
No red flags here. Move along.
October 20th, 2010 at 9:52 PM ^
Not to get political or anything, but concealed firearms? Really? Because I always feel the need to bust a human killing cap at the Big House... good lord...
/I'm drunk
October 20th, 2010 at 9:53 PM ^
I heard on the radio a bit ago that 2 M-16s were brought in. The person that brought them in pretended to be a member of the Color Guard and they were allowed entry because they weren't loaded.
Unreal...
October 21st, 2010 at 12:19 AM ^
I mean at that point, he was probably getting in either way.
October 20th, 2010 at 9:56 PM ^
At least he didn't bring in a bottle of water ***sigh**
October 20th, 2010 at 10:01 PM ^
isn't your username supposed to be Plessy v. Ferguson?
October 21st, 2010 at 6:58 AM ^
October 20th, 2010 at 9:56 PM ^
Guy standing next to me in the ticket line tried to sneak 2 bottle waters into the stadium. They jumped him, stripped searched him and took him away in a paddy wagon. Now he is doing time, upstate in the pen.
October 20th, 2010 at 9:57 PM ^
wow, and I was afraid of them noticing me letting friends borrow my ID to get into the stadium...
October 20th, 2010 at 9:57 PM ^
All these security measures do is keep the honest man inconvenienced. Airport security, pat downs at the stadium are more of a visual deterrent than an effective measure of stopping the act from taking place. Stop a fan from bringing a water bottle but miss a few guns slipping through. Meh, seems like a wash to me...
October 20th, 2010 at 10:50 PM ^
to make us imagine that we are safe. I have heard this concept aptly described as "security theater."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security_theater
October 20th, 2010 at 9:59 PM ^
checked that they were unloaded, what was he going to do club someone with them. Sadly this will be used to make life even harder for the fans going to the games.
*At least Sparty didn't get their hands on them, that could have been dangerous*
October 20th, 2010 at 10:03 PM ^
I can think of a couple things he could do:
1. Carry the ammo in his pocket.
2. Have an accomplice carry the ammo in for him.
You're obviously a bright one.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:04 PM ^
after hearing the details i think this will force stadium personnel to maintain a list of approved personnel 3-4 days before, etc. perhaps even IDs for the band and security. this is a lapse in trusting people showing up are supposed to be showing up and shouldn't affect the average fan.
October 21st, 2010 at 8:51 AM ^
I can't believe they don't do that already....
October 21st, 2010 at 10:43 AM ^
They kind of do. Alumni Band was held up at the tunnel on Saturday so they could check our ID badges like the guy checks ID's at Dominick's.
Although that's nothing compared to what the NCAA does to pep bands at tournaments. We had to bring ID's they'd check against a list. Someone forgot theirs at the hotel on a Frozen Four trip one time, and they made the bus take her back to get it. It was ridiculous.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:02 PM ^
You would think the admins and police have more important things to do than ruin some poor guy's military career over wanting to see their product so badly that he snuck in.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:05 PM ^
You would think that a military guy would have more important things to do than ruin his career over wanting to see a football game so badly that he snuck in.
October 21st, 2010 at 7:05 AM ^
October 21st, 2010 at 11:43 AM ^
people hated millen but that's taking it a bit far
October 20th, 2010 at 10:11 PM ^
Hindsight being 20/20 he probably shouldn't have brought the guns, I'm guessing he though that they are a key part of being in the color guard so he felt they were necessary for him to get in. But yeah this seems excessive given that he was clearly no threat, seems like more a problem with how the university admits the color guard members to the stadium.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:12 PM ^
...uses no weapons for football games. For basketball games, there are two flag bearers and two members with drill rifles.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:15 PM ^
Thanks for clearing that up, having only been part of a Boy Scouts color guard I was unsure of what the tri-service used.
October 21st, 2010 at 3:50 PM ^
No waepons for football games. And if they did have weapons they would be drill rifles not functioning M-16's.
Members of the Tri-Service Color Guard also all march together down to the stadium from North Hall. Someone should have noticed when he showed up on his own with two weapons that aren't used by the color guard.
October 20th, 2010 at 11:13 PM ^
Nobody ruined his military career but himself. He snuck into a game, without a ticket, and used his military position to do so. That is abuse of "power" and serious lapse of judgement. It's a huge security risk either way and he should be kicked out of militiary service for attempting such a stunt.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:00 PM ^
Yeah? Find me a military guy who isn't bothered by some guy misusing his uniform in this way. It's low.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:10 PM ^
No worries guys, I forgot to show them my ticket.
My ticket to what you ask?
October 20th, 2010 at 10:10 PM ^
Basically if you look like you know where you're going and look official you can get in anywhere. A clipboard, a hard hat and a blue collared shirt will really get you into just about anything. Don't make eye contact, don't break stride. When I worked for IT I used to constantly breaking into buildings by coming in through the loading dock. I'd just walk like I owed the place, grab a computer and walked out. No one ever said a word. I had DPS officers hold the door for me when I had my hands full with the computer.
I was taking a tour of a US military base, got lost and got into a sensitive area. I was nicely dressed and tend to walk like I have a purpose. No one questioned me when I walked right into the F1117 hangar by mistake. I wish I'd had the guts to actually try to get into the plane and sneak a peek. Instead I realized "Hey this isn't the bathroom" and started back tracking.
A guy with a military uniform was likely just assumed to be ROTC or there to coordinate the paratrooper landing. I can't say I'm shocked he was allowed to walk right though.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:13 PM ^
...has it right. The parachute drop was what made this guy's presence seem not out of place. Any other game, it certainly would have been very out of place.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:25 PM ^
Aren't there military personell there every game for the flag raising?
October 20th, 2010 at 10:44 PM ^
...raises the flag. The Color Guard's membership is made up of midshipmen and cadets from the University's Navy, Army and Air Force ROTC units. The members are all students. There are also active duty instructors from those units who accompany and supervise the Color Guard. The NROTC Unit is the lead organization for the Color Guard and typically supplies the vast majority of members and leaders. For instance, throughout my three years in the Color Guard, the CO and XO were all NROTC (Navy and Marine Option). I was XO my senior year. I commanded the Color Guard for half of the games and the CO commanded it during the other half. We also split responsibility for Color Guard duty at basketball games.
What was different for this game was the presence of support personnel for the parachute drop. That meant there were other military personnel on the field other than the Color Guard. From the story, it appears that when it became clear to the personnel who were supposed to be there that this guy wasn't supposed to be, they acted. Good on them.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:54 PM ^
Thanks for the info, and it was definitely heads up for the service personell to figure it out.
At first I was confused because I thought this was some sort of plant that was intended to expose security holes, but it's a little disconcerting that someone could just get in.
October 20th, 2010 at 11:14 PM ^
I heard that he claimed he was part of the color guard. Wearing a uniform, having military ID ( I assume since the article said he was legit member of the NG) and having a large (relatively) military presence at the stadium that day, people probably just didn't doubt his reason for being there, even though he had no reason to be there.
October 21st, 2010 at 4:04 PM ^
Yeah I know this pilot guy who got upstairs in the White House while the Obamas were asleep!
October 20th, 2010 at 10:17 PM ^
I blame RR
October 20th, 2010 at 10:27 PM ^
MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY PROTECTING AMERICA ARRESTED UNDER RR: 1
MEMBERS OF THE MILITARY PROTECTING AMERICA UNDER CARR: 0
UNACCEPTABLE THAT THERE DOING THIS MAYBE THATS HOW IT WORKS IN WEST VIRGINIA. THIS IS THE ONLY DEFENSE DEMONSTRATED ON SATURDAY. WE DEMAND BETTER GO BLUE
October 21st, 2010 at 7:13 AM ^
October 21st, 2010 at 8:26 AM ^
Actually security was having a hard time communicating because of all the rattling keys creating deafening noise.
October 21st, 2010 at 12:25 AM ^
it's Greg Robinson's fault- there were holes in that defense that a truck could drive thru
October 20th, 2010 at 10:46 PM ^
Tacopants.
I hope security is much tighter next time.
October 20th, 2010 at 10:46 PM ^
the 2001 UM-MSU game in East Lansing when that Northwest DC-9 pulled an "aw, hell" over the stadium? scariest moment of my life up to then....