--- description: Authorities shut down a section of the Port of Charleston Wednesday night after a conspiracy theorist called in a false bomb threat title: Conspiracy Theorist's Dirty Bomb Tip Shut Down South Carolina Port Overnight image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef95cc7674ac03fc/6988d2018fd2ee92f7357938/port-of-charleston-maersk-ship-bomb-scare.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [South Carolina](/tag/south-carolina/) ## South Carolina Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Conspiracy Theorist's Dirty Bomb Tip Shut Down South Carolina Port Overnight by [Abigail Abrams](/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 15, 2017 11:45 PM CUT  Trucks wait in line next to the Maersk Hartford cargo ship at the Port of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina, on Dec. 17, 2015. Trucks wait in line next to the Maersk Hartford cargo ship at the Port of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina, on Dec. 17, 2015.Luke Sharrett—Bloomberg/Getty Images by [Abigail Abrams](/author/abigail-abrams/) ## Abigail Abrams Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jun 15, 2017 11:45 PM CUT Authorities shut down a section of the Port of Charleston in South Carolina for about seven hours Wednesday night after a conspiracy theorist called in a false bomb threat. The Coast Guard responded to the port’s Wando terminal after they received two calls around 8 p.m. on Wednesday notifying them of a possible dirty bomb — an explosive containing radioactive material — on the container ship Maesrk Memphis, according to the [New York ](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/us/port-dirty-bomb-south-carolina.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined")[_Times_](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/us/port-dirty-bomb-south-carolina.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined"). Authorities scanned four containers on the ship and cleared them, [reopening the terminal](https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDHSCG/bulletins/1a2876a "undefined") around 3:30 a.m. on Thursday. The Coast Guard said the terminal was evacuated during the search. The tip calls were prompted by a YouTube video, Coast Guard spokesman, Lt. James B. Zorn told the _Times_. An account of one call appeared in a YouTube video on Wednesday, according to the newspaper. In the video, George Webb, a frequent peddler of far-right conspiracy theories, described having a conversation with the Coast Guard. “Well I just got off the phone with the Coast Guard in South Carolina, and they were very obviously, you know, hesitant to call out all the dogs and call out all the radiation meters and all that without knowing who our source is,” Webb said in the video. The U.S. Coast Guard [said on Twitter](https://twitter.com/USCGSoutheast/status/875260873673236480 "undefined") early Thursday that the person who reported the threat has been detained and was being questioned by authorities, but did not name the suspect. Webb has thousands of followers on Twitter under the name “Truth Leaks” and YouTube, where his channel describes himself as “Reporting on Political Corruption.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4820968/port-of-charleston-bomb-threat-conspiracy-theorist/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4820968/port-of-charleston-bomb-threat-conspiracy-theorist/"},"headline":"Conspiracy Theorist's Dirty Bomb Tip Shut Down South Carolina Port Overnight","datePublished":"2017-06-15T23:45:59.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T11:03:29.401Z","description":"The Coast Guard said authorities have detained the tipster","url":"https://time.com/4820968/port-of-charleston-bomb-threat-conspiracy-theorist/","keywords":["South Carolina","Crime","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef95cc7674ac03fc/6988d2018fd2ee92f7357938/port-of-charleston-maersk-ship-bomb-scare.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Abigail Abrams","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/abigail-abrams/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltef95cc7674ac03fc/6988d2018fd2ee92f7357938/port-of-charleston-maersk-ship-bomb-scare.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Operations At The Port Of Charleston Ahead Of International Trade Balance Figures","caption":"Operations At The Port Of Charleston Ahead Of International Trade Balance Figures","creditText":"Luke Sharrett—Bloomberg/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/south-carolina/","name":"South Carolina"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4820968/port-of-charleston-bomb-threat-conspiracy-theorist/","name":"Conspiracy Theorist's Dirty Bomb Tip Shut Down South Carolina Port Overnight"}}]}] ```