by Andrew Reynolds | excerpted from PP73
Pat Hanlin has been locking his bike up for two years in the same location— in front of the Oasis Restaurant on the Ohio University campus in Athens, Ohio. For two years, no one took notice of the bike’s sticker that promoted the Pensacola, Fla. band This Bike is a Pipe Bomb. But on a Thursday morning in early March, a campus security officer saw the sticker and interpreted the message literally.
“I knew I was never gonna take this [bike] on a plane,” the 28 year-old graduate student said in a phone interview, “you can’t joke around at all in an airport. But you can’t joke around Athens? Around town?”
Ohio University police contacted the Athens police and fire departments. Four nearby buildings were evacuated while a bomb squad traveled 75 miles from Columbus to assess whether or not the bicycle posed a threat to campus security. When Hanlin came forward to defuse the situation, university officials charged him with “inducing panic,” a crime that carries a maximum sentence of six months.
Ohio University’s Dean of Students, Terry Hogan, released a statement to the media, saying, “I encourage our students and other fans of the band to not display the name of the band in such a way that it leads to safety concerns.”
“Authority figures do not have a sense of humor,” noted Chris Link, executive director of the Ohio chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, “and they’re not all that tied into popular culture.” She attributed the overreaction to the current political climate.
“They said inducing panic was like yelling, ‘Fire,’ in a crowded theater,” said Hanlin. “In this case it’s more like I put a sticker that said, ‘Fire,’ inside of an abandoned theater.”
Terry Johnson, bassist and vocalist with This Bike is a Pipe Bomb, said, “Maybe everyone is seeing how out of control this fear is. Obviously, if you’re planning some sort of subversive activity, you’re not gonna advertise it.” The band did not intend any subversion when they named themselves in 1996. “Honestly, we booked a two-week tour before we had a name. People kept calling, saying, ‘We need a name to put on the flyer.’” Johnson and guitarist Rymodee were in tight with the Bike House in Pensacola so they knew they wanted a bicycle-themed band name. “One night me and ‘Modee were on the porch and said, ‘That’s it!’ Just because it’s long and stupid.”
“Long and stupid,” is also a good description of the ordeal that authorities put Pat Hanlin through for six days before dropping the charge of inciting panic. Hanlin describes a Chris Rock routine where the comedian is pulled over by police who are suspicious that he is driving an expensive car. Rock begins to believe that perhaps the cops are right after all—that maybe he did steal it. “That’s how I felt when I left the police station, that everyone in the world would feel the way the cops did.” He knew his story would attract attention; he was surprised that it also attracted so much support.
“People from everywhere wrote to the president of Ohio University and the police station,” said Hanlin. “Nobody knew what I looked like, who I was; all they knew was I was Patrick Hanlin, 28 years old, graduate student.”
“I definitely don’t look like a punk fan, whatever that means,” Hanlin added. “But all these people saw something that was unfair and they started doing something about it. And I was so grateful; it really eased my mind. I’m amazed at people willing to stand up and speak out for somebody they don’t even know.” Hanlin is amused by the T-shirt designs he has seen online, including one that says, “Patrick Hanlin is Not a Pipe Bomb,” and, “I, Myself, am a Pipe Bomb.”
The bomb squad destroyed his bike and, a few days later, his car died. He’s getting around Athens on a borrowed bicycle. This Bike is a Pipe Bomb is planning a benefit concert in Ohio to raise funds for a replacement bike for Hanlin. People have posted to Internet bulletin boards, encouraging him to put another one of the band’s stickers on his next bike as well.
“I think the next sticker might say, “This Bike is a Bike,” Hanlin says.
