Liberty Bell Bombing Suspect, Still in Jail, Ordered to Stand Trial

The man charged with threatening to blow up the Liberty Bell more than a month ago was ordered to stand trial today. Portuguese native Carlos Balsas, a former assistant professor at Arizona State, has been in prison on $250,000 bail since the January 26th incident, which took place while he was visiting Philly. The incident in question:

A security screener testified today that Balsas entered the Liberty Bell Center, on Independence Mall, with a messenger bag and backpack.  The screener says he was about to check them but Balsas refused to hand over the backpack, saying, “There’s explosives in there.” The screener testified that he called for an armed security guard, and as Balsas walked out in a huff muttered, “This is how you treat people in America?”

Balsas then walked out and was arrested outside the Liberty Bell Center on Independence Mall. Charges include: making a bomb threat, making a terroristic threat with “intent to terrorize another” and resisting arrest. The trial should be interesting. Possible defense options include: “Geez, I was kidding,” and “That thing has a huge crack in it, don’t you want a new one anyways?” By the way, should anything tragic happen to Ol’ Liberty, he’s got a long-lost relative stored nearby. [CBS 3]