f you’re caught Googling these three words, the cops could show up at your home.
Michele Catalano, a freelance writer based in Long Island, New York, has issued a cautionary warning after an ordinary internet search led to an unexpected visit from law enforcement.
The incident dates back to 2013, when Catalano and her husband were independently browsing online for common household items.
She had been searching for a pressure cooker while her husband looked up backpacks.
At the time, neither of them had any idea their internet activity would trigger a police investigation.
Catalano shared the incident in a blog post, revealing that their combination of internet search terms unintentionally resembled patterns associated with terrorism-related activity.
As reported by MailOnline, she wrote: “Googling certain things was creating a perfect storm of terrorism profiling.”
The situation intensified when her husband made similar searches on his work computer, looking up terms like “pressure cooker” and “backpack” shortly before he resigned from his job.
This activity raised concerns among the company’s IT staff, who reported it to the Suffolk County Police Department.
Their concern stemmed from the tragic events that occurred during the Boston Marathon bombing earlier that same year.
On April 15, 2013, two homemade bombs constructed from pressure cookers were detonated near the marathon’s finish line, killing three people and injuring hundreds more, including 17 individuals who lost limbs.
The bombs were concealed in backpacks, making the similarity to Catalano’s husband’s search terms particularly alarming.
Soon after, the couple experienced a dramatic response.
Several black SUVs appeared outside their home, prompting a visit from law enforcement officers who wanted to ensure the couple posed no threat.
Catalano recalled seeing ‘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.’
A statement from Suffolk County police clarified the reasoning behind the visit: “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.”
Following the incident, Catalano expressed her concern over the loss of innocent privacy.
She said: “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 added with dry humor: “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.”
