Star Wars Alerts, Incidents, and Security

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opened widely on Friday, December 18, 2015. The film had limited showings earlier in the week, and some events have caused alarm.

Even before the new Star Wars movie was nationally released in the US, the widest, most discussed level of theater security every reported has been noted by the media. Some theaters installed metal detectors, banned backpacks and costumes, and allowed patrons with nothing more than lightsabers to cos-play. In the wake of the Aurora theater shooting of 2012, the Lafayette movie shooting in July 2015, the attack at a performing venue in Paris a few months ago, and the San Bernardino terrorist shootings of last month, the Star Wars movie was considered a major target for trouble.

There seems to have been some, but the media appears to have quieted what is really occurring. And the security is high.

There have been hints of a few instances that have bothered theater owners this week.

In an incident Wednesday night [December 16, 2015], two men in their 20s who were “Middle Eastern in appearance” and “spoke with a heavy foreign accent” entered a theater inside a mall in Tempe, Arizona, without tickets, and one of the men began recording video of the theater with his cellphone “in one slow swooping motion,” according to documentation of the incident obtained by Deadline. When asked what they were doing by theater security, the men replied they had “just wanted to see the restaurant,” pointing to the concession stand, and then exited the theater to a patio, where both men made phone calls.
In a separate incident last week, a man reportedly drove up to a theater in Southern California and began asking suspicious questions including, “When are the most people here?” and “How crowded is it going to be this weekend?” before driving off in a car with no license plates. A second man reportedly drove up to the theater and asked similar questions, before again driving off in a car with no plates. ~ Source.

The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO) then sent a notice out to its members about these suspicious incidents, on Thursday, December 17, 2015, to be alert, aware, and heightened security.

One film buyer who has the film booked on the majority of their screens said they have five security guards employed at each theater. “We’ve hired security at every location to be safe,” the buyer said. “We will have five (guards) posted and reserve the right to check (customers’) bags. We will not let anyone walk in with a backpack or anything larger than a purse, and whatever they are carrying will be checked.” ~ Deadline. 

The incidents continued Thursday, December 17, 2015:

Moviegoers were evacuated from the Pacific Theatres at The Grove after a fire alarm was pulled on Dec. 17, 2015. (Credit: Michael Drake)

Hundreds of moviegoers were briefly evacuated from the Pacific Theatres at the Grove in Fairfax on Thursday evening. The evacuation occurred after a fire alarm was triggered inside the building, said Officer Norma Eisenman of the Los Angeles Police Department's Media Relations Section. There was no threat to the theater or "anything else of that nature," she said.Several disgruntled movie fans took to Twitter and Instagram after the incident, which prompted a response from the Los Angeles Fire Department.Showings of the much-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens were interrupted, according to witnesses."As soon as the previews were over and the movie was about to start -- fire alarm. They evacuated the whole building," said an exasperated Andrew Gouch, adding that he had purchased his Star Wars tickets two months in advance."My kids want to still sit in there but … I don't know," he said. "I don't drink; I may start."The screenings resumed after firefighters determined that no fire had occurred and the building was safe. ~ Source.

A more serious threat occurred on Friday, December 18, 2015:

A showing of the new Star Wars movie was interrupted Friday in New Jersey after a theater was abruptly evacuated during the show. Friday night, police in Freehold Township announced that they had arrested a Middletown man and charged him with making a pair of bomb threats at the AMC Theater.
22-year-old Jesse Carroll of Middletown is charged with two counts of second degree Public False Alarm. He is currently being held in the Monmouth County Correction Institution on $200,000 bail with no 10% option.
On Monday evening, Dec. 14, and again on Friday afternoon, Dec. 18, notes were found in the men's room of the movie complex containing threats to either the theater management or specific threats of bombs inside the theater. One note on Friday afternoon read: "I'm coming for blood; 4pm bomb, 6pm empty mag in guests." ~ Source.

How widespread are these security measures? As of December 17, 2015, Disney (who owns the Star Wars franchise after George Lucas and Lucasfilms sold it to them) ceased the sales, display or brandishing of Star Wars blasters and any other type of toy guns as part of enhanced security policies.

There are also new metal detectors at the entrance of California's Disneyland and Florida’s Disney World. Furthermore, there is now a ban on individuals over the age of 14 wearing costumes or masks on the properties. Similar measures are going in place at Universal theme parks across the nation, reportedly. Random more extensive checks will now occur too, in addition to the bag checks that have been taking place at the parks for years.

Predictions, prevention and preparedness appear to be working.  Sometimes paranoid is really total awareness.

Tridents, Pitchforks, and Satan in the News

"We will follow them to the gates of Hell until they are brought to justice. Because Hell is where they will reside. Hell is where they will reside," Vice President Joseph Biden speaking about ISIS on September 3, 2014, at the Portsmouth Naval Yard, New Hampshire. Portsmouth Naval Shipyard is one of four remaining naval shipyards in the nation, and is capable of docking all active classes of submarines including the Los Angeles, Trident and Virginia classes.

When is a trident really a pitchfork?

A trident is a three-pronged spear, used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the god of the sea in classical mythology. In Hindu mythology it is the weapon of Shiva, known as trishula (Sanskrit for "triple-spear"). Parallel to its fishing origins, the trident is associated with Poseidon, the god of the sea in Greek mythology, the Roman god Neptune, and Shiva, a Hindu God who holds a trident in his hand. In Hindu legends and stories, Shiva uses this sacred weapon to fight off negativity in the form of evil villains. The trident represents the deity in his three aspects of creator, preserver and destroyer.

A pitchfork is an agricultural tool with a long handle and long, thick, widely separated pointed tines (also called prongs) used to lift and pitch (throw) loose material, such as hay, straw or leaves. Pitchforks typically have only two, three or four tines. The three-pronged pitchfork has grown to be associated with the Devil or Satan. The pitchfork is often used in satire of Christian demonology in popular media, especially in early humorous cartoons where a popular joke was a caricature of an angel and a pitchfork-wielding devil sitting on the opposite shoulders of the conflicted protagonist. The "pitchfork" of Satan looks remarkably like a trident. One has merged with the other.

Author Chris Woodyard's research on Herman Menz and his carved stone Devil of
Detroit (see above) has revealed a trident on the monument, although it was called the "big ugly fork" in the original news story. Woodyard has a new look at this Devil and others here.

Speaking of Detroit, the site of "Devil's Night" every October 30th, it is directly in the news in conjunction with Satan's followers coming to that city.

The Satanic Temple, a New-York-based religious group, announced on September 7, 2014, it wants to build its first chapter house in Detroit, Michigan, where it will perform services such as marriages and funerals. It noted the sacrificing of babies, humans and animals will not take place.

This is the same group that caused a stir when it said it wanted to erect a seven-foot tall statue of Satan near the Ten Commandments monument at the Oklahoma State Capitol.  The proposed image (see above) of the statue suggested that the Temple wanted to depict Satan as a goat-headed Baphoment figure with a long beard, horns, and wings, with a pentagram design placed overhead. Two smiling children would be placed on both sides of the statue. Early reports of a Black Mass in Oklahoma also circulated. The plans for the Black Mass appear to be on a fast track.

However, the group’s leaders say they do not worship Satan. “We believe in a metaphorical, literary construct of Satan,” a Temple leader said. “He’s a symbol for rebellion, a symbol of human nature, the thirst for knowledge.”

Meanwhile, across the continent, in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Devil made a very dramatic appearance in that city on Tuesday morning, September 9, 2014. The Devil was placed on a location that had formerly held a statue of Christopher Columbus.

The 9-foot-tall statue - please note, was left on 9/9 - thus 666 (upside down) - was a representation of Satan, Lucifer or the Devil, complete with red skin, a pointed tail and horns atop his head. The statue also holds one hand up in a devil-horn salute familiar to heavy metal fans the world over. It also sported an enormous erect penis.

The last detail caused headline writers to have a field day, from "Naked devil statue erected near SkyTrain line" to "NSFW Satan statue erected (and taken down) in East Vancouver" to "City crews remove satan statue erected alongside busy Vancouver roadway."

"I'm going to have nightmares tonight," said one city worker who removed it around 3:15 p.m. PT.

All of this news of Satan exist closely in time with the bizarre death of Sarah Bean, who was killed when a gargoyle was beheaded by a piece of metal and then the gargoyle's head hit her directly on her head. She died in front of Chicago's Second Presbyterian Church, on September 4, 2014.

And speaking of a beheading...

Back to ISIS/ISIL, for a moment, as "Satan" is part of their justification for their campaign of terror and beheadings. And I mean more than the old "Americans are Satan" line. Members of the Yazidi religion, one of Iraq’s oldest minorities, are in the midst of a genocide by ISIS. Gruesome images of brutally slain people have emerged in recent weeks, as local officials say that at least 500 Yazidis, including 40 children, have been killed in northern Iraqi.

What is ISIS's reasoning for targeting the Yazidis?

As the Guardian reported in August 2014,

At the core of the Yazidis’ marginalization is their worship of a fallen angel, Melek Tawwus, or Peacock Angel, one of the seven angels that take primacy in their beliefs. Unlike the fall from grace of Satan, in the Judeo-Christian tradition, Melek Tawwus was forgiven and returned to heaven by God. The importance of Melek Tawwus to the Yazidis has given them an undeserved reputation for being devil-worshippers – a notoriety that, in the climate of extremism gripping Iraq, has turned life-threatening.

Representations, such as this one above, of the Kurdistan Yazidis’ Melek Tawwus or Melek Taus can have a trident-like appearance. It is a familiar image from The Exorcist movies, an overlap with the same region's Assyrian demon Pazuzu. To the Yazidis, Melek Taus is an angel; to ISIS, Melek Taus is Satan. It is the difference between life and death in modern day Iraq.

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UPDATE: Conservative blogger Matt Drudge took an image from President Obama's 9/10 speech about confronting ISIL.

"We cannot erase every trace of evil from the world, and small groups of killers have the capacity to do great harm. That was the case before 9/11, and that remains true today." - President Obama, 9/10/2014

Drudge posted the 9/10 image to his blog on 9/11 with the caption "Photos Capture Obama's Head of Horns."

Needless to say, I have to point out it looks like a trident.

Of course, the real question is why would anyone wish to photoshop the real image - there are no drapes that low behind the president (see here) to make President Obama look like the Devil?

Below is the actual background for the speech of 9/10.

See also "Synchromystic Symposium: The Meaning of Tridents."