One curious thing we've learned from Sunday's horrific arson attacks in Queens is that Starbucks Frappuccino bottles may not have been randomly chosen as the weapon of choice, since they apparently are ideally suited for making Molotov cocktails. In a follow-up report today to the attacks, in which Muslims and Hindus seemed to be targeted in four separate firebombings, The New York Times talked to two retired bombs experts about the Starbucks Frappuccino bottle. (Police couldn't definitively say if a Frappuccino bottle was used in one of the attacks.) Retired NYPD bomb tech Kevin B. Barry gave a strangely glowing review of the coffee-container-cum-bomb:
“They are excellent for what you need, because it is a weak-sided bottle with a screw-on cap,” Mr. Barry said. “It is small enough to be concealed in your pocket and it fits in your hand, so you can throw it almost like a Nerf football. It’s a small projectile you can get a good grip on and you can toss it.”
Retired Los Angeles bom technician Barney T. Villa added:
“You don’t want a wide-mouth, Mickey beer. You want a small opening.”
They'd be great public-relations men, these retired bomb experts, if Starbucks were actually in the business of making Molotov cocktails. But this is probably not the kind of buzz Starbucks wants its coffee to make. "Starbucks did not immediately reply to inquiries Tuesday about the use of Frappuccino bottles in the firebombings," The Times writes.
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