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Multiple Black Vehicles with MD License Plates at Apple Executive Briefing Center
Sources on the scene are reporting multiple black Lincoln town cars and Escalades with Maryland license plates spotted at Apple Executive Briefing Center.
- berkeleynerd 11y agoJust a follow-up to correct the record as much as possible. I believe this motorcade was related to the Prime Minister of Malaysia's visit to Apple per the following tweet. Hat tip to the redditor @frenvedd over on r/apple for this information! https://twitter.com/DelFazli/status/700133655444746241 https://twitter.com/DelFazli/status/700133655444746241
- berkeleynerd 11y agoSources at Apple are reporting multiple Black Vehicles with MD License Plates at Apple Executive Briefing Center this AM. Multiple CHP escorts. Men with ear pieces and sun glasses. Rumor is MD license plate indicates NSA involvement. If anyone at Apple can confirm please let us know.
- daveloyall 11y agoCHP=California Highway Patrol?
- berkeleynerd 11y agoYes, that's my understanding. Deeply disturbing news IMHO.
- Someone1234 11y agoWhy? Just means a VIP is visiting Apple and that is their detail. Might be the Biden, John Kerry, DHS Chief, or others. Sure there's a certain intimidation factor when a VIP comes to visit with a huge security detail, but ultimately if the US Government REALLY wanted to threaten Apple they would use pieces of paper to do so (e.g. court orders, sanctions, national security letters, or w/e).
- berkeleynerd 11y agoI thought that it might be a Secret Service detail of some sort but the timing with Tim's response to the FBI demand led me to jump to this conclusion. Well, that and that was the feeling I got from the source on campus...they were definitely intimidated and phrases like "I don't want to get deposed" were being bandied about in their department.
- berkeleynerd 11y agoAlso the motorcade was there for a very short period of time...under an hour. Usually VIP visits involve meet-and-greets, etc... Maybe they were delivering an NSL as you hinted at?
- Flenser 11y agoAnother theory would be that they were delivering the device for Apple to crack on their premises. This is based on the assumption that Apple could crack it (given as has been stated elsewhere that it is an older device without the secure enclave) but that they refused to hand the tools to do so over, and wanted to perform the crack themselves and the FBI, given the choice between a lengthy legal battle and getting the information on the device quickly, have given in to Apple. In which case either the device was unlock very quickly or if there's an equally short visit some time later, it's the FBI picking up the device again.
- HillRat 11y agoOnly a few agencies have blanket exemptions from using GSA plates -- CIA and NSA, unsurprisingly, are two of them. An official federal VIP motorcade wouldn't have generic state plates, but official federal ones with an agency code.
- the_ancient 11y agoOhh so Naive, If the government really wanted to Threaten Apple Tim Cook would be visited in the night, and not by someone with a CHP motorcade This is a Pre-Threat... Threat Remember this government has no problems killing citizens with drones with out any trial... You do what you are told or you will get a predator missile up your ass
- berkeleynerd 11y agoI've contacted the San Jose Mercury News...hopefully they can get a reporter on site to photograph what must be a very intimidating moment for the folks at Apple.
- bewatson 11y agoInteresting they have MD plates. Why not just have local NSA cars have CA plates?
- berkeleynerd 11y agoAt least one car had MD plates. I don't think the source could see all of them clearly enough to make them all out.
- HillRat 11y agoBased on open sources, NSA has a fleet of about 100 vehicles at most in CONUS, so they would be more likely to fly vehicles cross-country if DIRNSA needed to use a fleet vehicle. Having said that, NSA doesn't just arbitrarily get involved in domestic law enforcement cases, even ones involving crypto, so let's wait to see if there's more evidence than a random HN post to support this allegation.
- berkeleynerd 11y agoThis is a completely fair comment and my source certainly isn't fully aware of the situation...they just relayed what they saw out the window and some discussion among staff. I wanted to make sure this information was recorded for posterity at the time it happened in the (unlikely) event Tim Cook was taken away in hand-cuffs or something similarly dramatic were to happen. I'm hoping someone from Apple feels brave enough to confirm the events here on HN. Ideally with a few pictures showing the motorcade. I doubt Apple PR will comment.
- ProGamerGov 11y agoDid your source take anyone photos of the event with their phone?
- zenbsd 11y ago^ the HN translation of "pics or it didn't happen"
- berkeleynerd 11y agoSource indicates cars are leaving now. Nothing on the twitters so far. Hopefully someone will chime in soon. If I see anything in my news feed I'll post it here.
- BWStearns 11y agoYou scared them away :p
- camillomiller 11y agoThanks Mr James Comey. We have finally found our generation's Edgar Hoover.
- berkeleynerd 11y agoAccording to my source at Apple HQ a TV van is on the way. We should see some news coverage soon with any luck.
- krapp 11y agoThis doesn't seem like a story worth sending a live truck for, but OK. Do you know what station it's from? The story would also probably be posted on that station's website.
- CWuestefeld 11y agoDoes the government really waste our tax dollars on Escalades? I can't imagine why they'd need such a behemoth, but even if they do, why not settle for a Chevy Tahoe instead? Functionally the same car, $25K cheaper.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- amptorn 11y agoIntimidation?
- progressive_dad 11y agoThat's why police drive them in Chicago...
- monksy 11y agoTheres a mix of police vehicles in Chicago. They may have a few older Tahoes.. but most of the newest police vehicles are Ford Explorers. They have to have SUVs due to winter. Most of the standard sedans won't do so well in deep snow.
- hyperbovine 11y agoRest assured, the gov is not paying anywhere near MSRP for its fleet vehicles.
- lawnchair_larry 11y agoEven getting them at "cost" is roughly just as wasteful.
- tertius 11y agoThey're good tools. I'm okay with that.
- lawnchair_larry 11y agoGood thing they probably spent about 100k on this cloak and dagger circus, when all they really needed was a single gov employee taking an uber ride.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- ProGamerGov 11y agoAnyone have any images of the event? Was anyone able to actually photograph the event, and of so, when can we expect to see the images?
- AnimalMuppet 11y agoAny black helicopters? ;-)
- krapp 11y agoIs there any actual, credible evidence of this taking place? Photos? Apple employees on the record? Anything?
- messick 11y agoNope. I see 3-4 tourists taking pictures of the "1 Infinite Loop" sign every time I go to the main campus, yet not one of them took a picture of the giant motorcade that allegedly hung out in front of IL5 for an hour.
- messick 11y agoThere is no parking specific for the "Apple Executive Briefing Center". Also, thousands of employees, and lots of people from off the street, would have seen the cars and someone would have uploaded something to Instagram/Twitter. This reads like something made up by someone who has never actually been to Infinite Loop.
- joering2 11y agoYes true it was just conspiracy theory... like you know.. that government spies on you and stuff like that. Nothing to see here those are not the droids you looking for!
- deathanatos 11y agoHuh. I saw a police escorted (and I mean, they cleared the street of other vehicles and pedestrians and moved alone escorted) line of cars (black sedans, black SUVs, black vans) heading south on 6th in SF today at ~9:55 am. Still curious what it was/is. There a good video someone captured of it on Twitter[1]. Though her post is timestamped at 4:36pm, and the weather kinda looks more like it did at around 4. I have no idea if it's the same one, of course, but how many days do police-escorted motorcades happen in a metropolis? Haven't managed to find anything on an actual news site. [1]: https://twitter.com/Honeybeast/status/700116621952552961 https://twitter.com/Honeybeast/status/700116621952552961 [2]: https://twitter.com/search?q=sf+motorcade https://twitter.com/search?q=sf+motorcade
- sfresident 11y agoAccording to FlightAware data, a Boeing 747SP, tail number N007JB, was scheduled to depart SFO around 4pm Pacific. It's interesting because FAA says there is no such N number and 007JB is obviously a play on James Bond. A jet of that size would absolutely be capable of carrying multiple vehicles and agents.
- tanderson92 11y agoCan you provide a link or alternative data source? I tried the typical flightaware link you would expect and did not observe what you said. https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N007JB https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N007JB
- sfresident 11y agoUnfortunately, I was stupid and didn't think to screenshot it. I did see it there for a while, though; it was a SFO -> LAX flight plan. I know FlightAware has a process by which you can remove flights if you can prove you've got a right to do so (e.g. Owner of aircraft)