On October 6, officials at the Asheville Regional Airport discovered an explosive device in a backpack left at the entrance of a terminal; FBI agents found and arrested Estes a day later, according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court. Authorities said in the complaint that Estes agreed to cooperate with law enforcement and confessed to placing the device — a backpack packed with a Mason jar filled with ammonium nitrate, nails, and shotgun shells, and an alarm clock bell rigged to trigger an explosion — at the airport.
Estes described his plan to authorities, noting he purchased the materials at Asheville-area REI, Walmart, and Lowe’s stores. He told officials he prepared the bomb in a nearby wooded area several days before leaving it at the airport. And, he did all this because, federal officials said, Estes told them he was getting ready to “fight a war on U.S. soil.”
Federal officials charged Estes with attempted malicious use of explosive materials and unlawful possession of explosive materials in an airport. No one was injured in the incident.
While Estes’ plans were thwarted, the paucity of news about the airport bombing attempt raises questions about how and why some potentially dangerous criminal activities raise screaming public alarms, while others go mute due to lack of attention. Reporters, editors, and media executives play a key role in setting perceptions and establishing baselines for public polices.
Through a myriad of choices, media representatives help shape our understanding of the world by selecting which stories to cover and deciding whether to portray criminals as sympathetic or evil. Choosing to ignore a significant story of public interest may have just as much impact on the public’s well being as the seemingly endless repetition of already-known facts.
In the Estes’ case, maybe his story didn’t reach the public’s attention because readers and viewers were wholly consumed by a larger and more deadly attack in Las Vegas. Estes’ thwarted attack occurred five days later, while the media remained fixated on trying to understand why a lone gunman opened fire on a crowd at a country music festival, killing at least 58 people and injuring more than 500 others. But that’s hard to reconcile with the bottomless appetite for crime news that seems more voracious than ever with social media and a never-ending news cycle.