At 3:30 A.M. on Memorial Day 2009, a homemade bomb went off outside a Starbucks on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Since the bomb went off in the middle of the night, no one was injured, but it was powerful enough to have caused serious injuries. It shattered the windows of the Starbucks and damaged a nearby bench. The bomb was made out of a plastic bottle, firework powder, a metal cap, and electrical tape.

In July of that year, police arrested 17-year-old Kyle Shaw after they discovered that he had boasted to his friends about the bomb, telling them to watch the news on Memorial Day. It turned out that Shaw had been attempting to launch his own “Project Mayhem”, a plan to destroy various corporate properties described in the 1999 film Fight Club. The film also includes a scene where several characters destroy a Starbucks.

It was clear to authorities that Shaw was trying to emulate Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), one of the main characters in the film. He even started his own fight club where he and other boys would violently fight each other in various places around New York City. When investigators searched his home, they found homemade bomb materials, a newspaper clipping about the bombing, and a copy of Fight Club.

There had been a few other small bombings around New York prior to the Starbucks explosion, and “Project Mayhem” in the movie is supposed to culminate in a mass bombing campaign, but no evidence was ever found to connect Shaw to them. He pleaded guilty to attempted arson and attempted criminal possession of a weapon in 2010. He was released from prison in 2013, but as of 2018 still claims he did not place the bomb and only took the plea deal to reduce his prison time.

Related: George Metesky: The Mad Bomber of New York City

5 Real-Life Murders and Crimes Inspired By Movies

Get our eeriest tales and best book deals delivered straight to your inbox.

Follow Us

More from

Corporate

© 2021 OPEN ROAD MEDIA