A woman has revealed the four words you should avoid Googling to ensure the police do not pay an unexpected visit to your house.
Michele Catalano and her husband, from Long Island, New York, were browsing for everyday household items back in 2013 when they unexpectedly ran into trouble.
Recounting the events following the incident, she wrote in her blog at the time: ‘Googling of certain things was creating a perfect storm of terrorism profiling.’
Michele, a freelance writer, wanted to order herself a pressure cooker while her husband was looking to purchase a new rucksack.
This led to them carrying out separate searches online for the items they both wanted – an exercise that would not normally cause alarm in the police force.
A woman has revealed the four words you should avoid Googling to ensure the police do not pay an unexpected visit to your house (File image)
However, her husband typed in keywords for both items from his work computer two days later, just prior to quitting his job.
IT staff flagged the searches, which his former employer reported it to the local Suffolk County Police Department.
This was brought up by staff due to the actions of the people allegedly responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings earlier that year.
The incident, which took place during the annual Boston Marathon on April 15 2013, saw two individuals plant two homemade pressure cooker bombs that detonated near the finish line of the race 14 seconds and 210 yards apart.
Three people were killed and hundreds injured during the attack, including 17 who lost their limbs.
Following the couple’s unintentional internet search, several black SUVs pulled up at the couple’s house to ensure they were not a terrorist threat.
So, if you don’t want police to show up at your door, don’t search the four words – ‘pressure cooker bomb’ along with the word ‘backpack’.
Following the couple’s unintentional internet search, several black SUVs pulled up at the couple’s house to ensure they were not a terrorist threat (File image)
Michele described the surreal experience on her blog saying that her husband ‘saw three black SUVs in front of our house; two at the curb in front and one pulled up behind my husband’s Jeep in the driveway, as if to block him from leaving.’
Following the security concern, Suffolk County police released a statement which read: ‘Suffolk County Criminal Intelligence detectives received a tip from a Bay Shore-based computer company regarding suspicious computer searches conducted by a recently released employee.’
Michele wrote on her blog: ‘Mostly I felt a great sense of anxiety. This is where we are at. Where you have no expectation of privacy. Where trying to learn how to cook some lentils could possibly land you on a watch list.’
She jokingly added: ‘All I know is if I’m going to buy a pressure cooker in the near future, I’m not doing it online. I’m scared. And not of the right things.’
