9th Grader Arrested for Bringing Homemade Clock to School

[DavidSnider]

The Irving Tx Police Department does not even have a bomb squad. There was nobody qualified to make that determination.

What reason would they have to believe it is a bomb? You can't just go confiscating and dismantling stuff for no reason.

 

[Dale]

Turns out my PVC plastic tube with screw-on ends looked like it could be part of a pipe bomb -- yikes.

Yeah, I can see that. Why did you keep the antenna parts in a pipe? Was it to protect them from getting bent?

 

[Bystander]

nobody qualified

That about sums it up for all parties involved.

 

[RooksAndBooks]

25 million people down there. Do you live and travel widely in Tx?

Here's why I bash on Texas public schools:

"Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority." The Texas GOP platform (from 2012) was opposed to teaching critical thinking because it would challenge parental authority and the student's fixed beliefs. http://www.texasgop.org/about-the-party/

(C) identify the individuals whose principles of laws and government institutions informed the American founding documents, including those of Moses, William Blackstone, John Locke, and Charles de Montesquieu.. Texas schools forgot that the Founding Fathers said that the USA was not founded on Christian principles. As the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion,-as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquility of Musselmen,-and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries. --John Adams

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/local-news/20141007-texas-sat-math-scores-hit-a-22-year-low.ece I'm sure this is self-explanatory.

This is why I think Texas schools are bad (not all of them though).

Can we say that POLITICIANS from Texas are dumb?

Here's American public schools in general (one, because listing all their flaws would take too long):

The USA had a graduation rate of 81% in 2012-2013. In other words, 1/5 people didn't graduate.

 

[rootone]

Even the dumbest ought to be able to figure out that a bomb requires some kind of explosive.
Electronic circuits are not explosives and a timing device isn't even necessary to produce a crude bomb.

 

[RooksAndBooks]

Even the dumbest ought to be able to figure out that a bomb requires some kind of explosive.
Electronic circuits are not explosives and a timing device isn't even necessary for a crude bomb.

Well, that kid is probably smarter than 95% of the population of Texas.

 

[Astronuc]

From a story in The Dallas Morning News.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/northwest-dallas-county/headlines/20150915-irving-9th-grader-arrested-after-taking-homemade-clock-to-school.ece?hootPostID=532c3696eb235a3f481ed45f733e6d90

Ahmed never claimed his device was anything but a clock, said police spokesman James McLellan. And police have no reason to think it was dangerous. But officers still didn’t believe Ahmed was giving them the whole story.

“We have no information that he claimed it was a bomb,” McLellan said. “He kept maintaining it was a clock, but there was no broader explanation.”

Asked what broader explanation the boy could have given, the spokesman explained:

“It could reasonably be mistaken as a device if left in a bathroom or under a car. The concern was, what was this thing built for? Do we take him into custody?”

What more to the kid's story? The 14-year old, 9th grade student built a clock - a digital clock. Certainly clocks are built to tell time. In this case, Ahmed build a clock because he could - he likes to tinker and build electronics. I used to do the same thing when I was 13-14. So did a kid down the street. I started with a Tandy 100-in-1 electronics kit. A clock and short wave radio were just two of the projects. I also learned about circuits and soldering - at home - not school.

It probably didn't occur to him that making a clock is a big deal, since it was so easy for him. How is a 14-year old supposed to ascertain the minds or suspicions of adults? How is the kid supposed to know about the anxiety/fear in some people? Isn't that the job/responsibility of the principal?

I'm sure that fact that he is Muslim is a factor in his treatment, or mistreatment as the case may be.

The police could have simply taken the device for analysis.

 

[Fooality]

This should be somewhat worrying to anybody that does amateur electronics. This could have easily been "Makers" in a public library.

Its an issue with amateur science in general, one has no idea what will get the black helicopters over ones house, due to a connection with something else you didn't even know about your research could be related to. When it comes to the war on terror, its too easy to let science as a public endeavor be a casualty, but it can't be. This kid, if he gets his dream of going to MIT could be part of inventing a new technology that saves thousands of lives, very easily. Its important to compare numbers of people who die from terrorism, vs. the things science is working on to get a clear picture. Its also important to remember the one principle that's useful for both national security AND innovation: openness and information sharing.

 

[atyy]

'He kept the clock inside his school bag in English class, but the teacher complained when the alarm beeped in the middle of a lesson. Ahmed brought his invention up to show her afterward.'

Q: How much time elapsed between the beeping and when he showed the English teacher the clock?'“She was like, it looks like a bomb,” he said.

“I told her, ‘It doesn’t look like a bomb to me.’”

The teacher kept the clock. When the principal and a police officer pulled Ahmed out of sixth period, he suspected he wouldn’t get it back.'

Q: Where did the teacher keep the suspected bomb? How quickly did the teacher inform the police of the suspected bomb? Was the school immediately evacuated?

 

[mheslep]

Texas SAT scores are staggeringly mediocre.[/URL] I'm sure this is self-explanatory.]

Like the hand made clock in school, no the explanation is not self evident. Check the stats on poor immigrants in Tx.

 

[Bystander]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/12/30/preschool-kids-education-grades-column/4239891/

 

[nsaspook]

https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/11/the_war_on_the.html

The War on the Unexpected
We've opened up a new front on the war on terror. It's an attack on the unique, the unorthodox, the unexpected; it's a war on different. If you act different, you might find yourself investigated, questioned, and even arrested -- even if you did nothing wrong, and had no intention of doing anything wrong. The problem is a combination of citizen informants and a CYA attitude among police that results in a knee-jerk escalation of reported threats.
...
Of course, by then it's too late for the authorities to admit that they made a mistake and overreacted, that a sane voice of reason at some level should have prevailed. What follows is the parade of police and elected officials praising each other for doing a great job, and prosecuting the poor victim -- the person who was different in the first place -- for having the temerity to try to trick them.

This is a perfect example.

 

[RooksAndBooks]

Like the hand made clock in school, no the explanation is not self evident. Check the stats on poor immigrants in Tx.

I was citing low SAT scores to suggest academic failure within Texas.

 

[lisab]

Like the hand made clock in school, no the explanation is not self evident. Check the stats on poor immigrants in Tx.

Sorry, you lost me here. What are you talking about?

 

[lisab]

I have a hobby that I love, but I've been neglecting it for several years now: when I experience or hear of an absurd or funny situation, a cartoon often pops into my head. I like to draw these in Paint because I like the primitive way they come out.

While discussing this absurd case, this picture popped into my head - so I drew it:

Look - I know we have PFers who live in Texas, or used to live in Texas, or who will live in Texas in the future - please don't take this too seriously. It is not intended to cause offense, but rather just a giggle. Hugs to all of you, or I should say hugs to y'all. The struggle is real.

 

[RooksAndBooks]

I have a hobby that I love, but I've been neglecting it for several years now: when I experience or hear of an absurd or funny situation, a cartoon often pops into my head. I like to draw these in Paint because I like the primitive way they come out.

While discussing this absurd case, this picture popped into my head - so I drew it:

Look - I know we have PFers who live in Texas, or used to live in Texas, or who will live in Texas in the future - please don't take this too seriously. It is not intended to cause offense, but rather just a giggle. Hugs to all of you, or I should say hugs to y'all. The struggle is real.

To be honest, I'm surprised that "embarrassment" was spelled correctly. :3 As for the members who live in Texas: they are most likely intelligent. I'm sure that those people look at their state right now with equal discontentment.

 

[mheslep]

I was citing low SAT scores to suggest academic failure within Texas.

Yes, I know, and that may be the cause or it may be a post hoc rationalization. The cause is not "self-explanatory"

 

[lisab]

To be honest, I'm surprised that "embarrassment" was spelled correctly. :3

I realize I'm a crappy speller , but I try not to be a lazy one. Cheers.

 

[Astronuc]

http://news.yahoo.com/i-stand-with-ahmed-clock-bomb-detained-texas-184053328.html

Mohamed said his son received a three-day suspension from the school.

 

[OmCheeto]

This story just keeps getting better.

The Bizarre Backstory Behind #IStandWithAhmed’s 2-Time Sudanese Presidential Candidate Father [okayafrica]
SEPTEMBER 16, 2015
...
Comments
...Wait, are you saying the son may have been "nudged" by his dad to set off this publicity firestorm?,,,

I think this is plausible. As DEvens pointed out, this happens every day across the nation, and nobody hears about it. Why is this incident so special?

Might this be what Trevor Noah was talking about the other day?

...we live in a world of faux outrage. It’s hashtag this, hashtag that. There are people who jump onto trends before they even know what the trend is about. People want to be part of the good, but they don’t want to put the work in, so they think, “Can’t I just say that I agree?” Then you have an artificial inflation of what the problem is. All of the sudden you get all of these big scandals, but they’re not big, because everyone is on the periphery of the argument.
...

I'd like to read the police interview. Ahmed reminds me of someone I knew personally, who liked to play "social prankster" games. Time will hopefully tell which hashtag wins. #IStandWithAhmed or #AhmedsPlayingUs*

*I just made that up.

 

[jim hardy]

Wow have times changed.

In my high school electronics class it was required that every kid build some electronic project.
Our class was given some old army surplus stuff from Cape Canaveral to pillage for parts. I was interested in audio, built a hifi amplifier with push-pull 6AQ5 tubes... but that's another story

One of those .army surplus panels had a placard with wording that was just irresistible to a 14 yr old kid.
I put it on an aluminum box, installed Neon lamp indicators above each legend on the placard , and just for effect added a telescoping antenna that did nothing.
A 90 volt radio " B "battery made the neon lamps flash (this was 1961, before LED's).

So what i had was a curious looking aluminum box with an antenna and flashing lights above these words :
"Warhead Arming OK"
"Warhead Vacuum OK"
"Arm and Fuse Continuity OK" ,
and a couple other ominous sounding phrases.
I told anybody who asked it was the target for my guided missile.

Teacher liked it so well he immediately tucked it under his arm and carried it directly to teacher's lounge where it made quite a splash. Even my English teacher remarked next day she thought it was "cool".

I guess that's why we're allotted just threescore and ten - the world changes more than we can stand.

Have Fun Ahmed. "Ni Illegitimus Non Carborundumus..."

 

[Enigman]

Personally, I think that the reaction by the police etc was good.

Not really, if this report's to be believed:
Police Violated Ahmed Mohamed’s Civil Rights by Keeping Away His Parents - Juvenile Justice code, Section 52.025.

 

[Anama Skout]

Ahmed Mohammed's family offers pizza to crowd of waiting media at his home

 

[Dale]

Not really, if this report's to be believed:
Police Violated Ahmed Mohamed’s Civil Rights by Keeping Away His Parents - Juvenile Justice code, Section 52.025.

If that report is correct then that is wrong. Arresting him and evacuating the school is the correct immediate action, but any subsequent mistreatment in custody is not.

 

[WWGD]

EDIT
There are no strained , difficult relations with white Christians, who are not a minority in this country.. Of course this does not mean they should be mistreated, but context matters. And remember you are dealing with a 14 yr old. Could have been addressed more tactfully, I think that is largely what it comes down to.
Again, if the kid intended to blow up the place, would he have shown it to everyone?

I think I was wrong here, any child who had to go through something like this should get the same treatment.

 

[DEvens]

EDIT
There are no strained , difficult relations with white Christians, who are not a minority in this country.. Of course this does not mean they should be mistreated, but context matters. And remember you are dealing with a 14 yr old. Could have been addressed more tactfully, I think that is largely what it comes down to.
Again, if the kid intended to blow up the place, would he have shown it to everyone?

So what you are saying is, no, you would not treat the white Christian sprog the same. You would treat him as "context." That is, you'd treat him as a member of a tribe. Right. Gotcha. Racism is fine as long as it's not directed at the Officially Sad.

And I don't know what country you live in. But I sure have seen some angry, bordering-on-psychotic-but-not-sure-from-which-side xtians of late.

If the kid intended to create a fuss, be the centre of attention, maybe scare a bunch of people? Who would he have shown it to then? And the cops can read his mind exactly how?

 

[DEvens]

Even the dumbest ought to be able to figure out that a bomb requires some kind of explosive.
Electronic circuits are not explosives and a timing device isn't even necessary to produce a crude bomb.

Hmm... And how big is 100 grams of, say, home-made TNT? Or a quarter liter of gasoline for that.

In public school, grade 8, we had a lovely demo of a dust explosion. A half teaspoon of flour managed to explode with enough force that a paint can lid made a nice impact mark on the ceiling. Where we quickly noticed the pre-existing impact marks from previous years of this same demo. Of course, being a farm kid, I already knew about dust explosions. It was a famous story about how flour mills would occasionally just disappear. Loudly.

 

[JorisL]

The Irving Tx Police Department does not have a bomb squad. There was nobody qualified to make that determination.

Well then they should've taken every possible precaution and just evacuate the school, no?
This would be a dream for people intended to attack the police.
Just make a bomb looking like a portable radio, once they are transporting to the station detonate it and boom.

The right response would've been to find out who to turn to.
I suppose the engineering teacher would've volunteered if they asked.

In general I think a lot of publicity is giving to something that should be a 10 minute thing.
I understand the white house as this can affect the image of science throughout the country and can send a powerful message.
The other invitations (NASA, MIT, ...) are merely a publicity stunt if you ask me.
In fact I believe interested kids should have more chances to visit such institutes. Not only those that make the news.

Wow have times changed.

Even now its a cool story :-)
But indeed, times are different. Not only in schools but kids in general are protected way too much. (this is my opinion!)
A sports coach can't yell at a teenager without parents nearly suing him.
Teachers can't give bad grades or give detention because "my child is an angel".
Again that's what I see/hear over here on a regular basis. Before it didn't happen.

 

[newjerseyrunner]

The look on the black cop's face: "Are these white people serious?"

 

[OmCheeto]

Well then they should've taken every possible precaution and just evacuate the school, no?
This would be a dream for people intended to attack the police.
Just make a bomb looking like a portable radio, once they are transporting to the station detonate it and boom.

The right response would've been to find out who to turn to.
I suppose the engineering teacher would've volunteered if they asked.

This is another reason why I'm very suspicious of the whole situation.

Irving Police Chief Larry Boyd discusses MacArthur High freshman Ahmed Mohamed's arrest
Published on Sep 16, 2015​

t = 24 seconds
"School resource officers questioned the student about his intentions, and the reason why he brought the device to the school. The student would only say that it was a clock, and was not forthcoming, at that time, with any other details..."

Why did Ahmed not mention the engineering teacher?

In general I think a lot of publicity is giving to something that should be a 10 minute thing.
I understand the white house as this can affect the image of science throughout the country and can send a powerful message.
The other invitations (NASA, MIT, ...) are merely a publicity stunt if you ask me.
In fact I believe interested kids should have more chances to visit such institutes. Not only those that make the news.
Even now its a cool story :-)
But indeed, times are different. Not only in schools but kids in general are protected way too much. (this is my opinion!)
A sports coach can't yell at a teenager without parents nearly suing him.
Teachers can't give bad grades or give detention because "my child is an angel".
Again that's what I see/hear over here on a regular basis. Before it didn't happen.

And why was the clock's alarm system set to go off during English class?

Ahmed Mohamed swept up, 'hoax bomb' charges swept away as Irving teen's story floods social media
...
He showed it to his engineering teacher first thing Monday morning and didn’t get quite the reaction he’d hoped for.

“He was like, ‘That’s really nice,’” Ahmed said. “‘I would advise you not to show any other teachers.’”
...

This implies, IMHO, that the engineering teacher also thought it looked a little too "bombish".

As was stated by the Police Chief, they never said they thought it was a "bomb", but a "hoax bomb", which is apparently a crime in Texas.

I don't trust 14 year olds. I was one once, so I know what they are like.
And apparently, Old Jim was one once, also. He has the best stories!

 

[OmCheeto]

Cha-Ching!

Bruce Fenton
18 hrs ·
Looks like we can offer more like $250,000 if Abmed(sic) wants to attend leading prep school Wilbraham Monson instead of Irving TX school. Please let his parents know. ‪#‎IstandwithAhmed‬

Bruce Fenton is apparently the executive director of "Bitcoin".

 

[nsaspook]

"School resource officers questioned the student about his intentions, and the reason why he brought the device to the school. The student would only say that it was a clock, and was not forthcoming, at that time, with any other details..."

The sign of a very smart kid.
Rule #1 if you are arrested or detained, give them the needed ID information and then SAY NOTHING ELSE (double important if you are innocent) until you have legal representation. (or your parents in this case)

 

[WWGD]

Maybe the next step should be to require schools to have s

So what you are saying is, no, you would not treat the white Christian sprog the same. You would treat him as "context." That is, you'd treat him as a member of a tribe. Right. Gotcha. Racism is fine as long as it's not directed at the Officially Sad.

And I don't know what country you live in. But I sure have seen some angry, bordering-on-psychotic-but-not-sure-from-which-side xtians of late.

If the kid intended to create a fuss, be the centre of attention, maybe scare a bunch of people? Who would he have shown it to then? And the cops can read his mind exactly how?

Please see my post after this one, I said I thought I was wrong about this. And, yes, many xtians are pissed. And, I would said if it was a publicity stunt, it is most likely that it came from the dad. And, yes, the pictures posted with the Pizza don't make him look good, but it may be a Sudanese custom of showing hospitality, but I don't know for sure.

 

[nsaspook]

 

[Astronuc]

Irving Police Chief Larry Boyd discusses MacArthur High freshman Ahmed Mohamed's arrest
Published on Sep 16, 2015​

t = 24 seconds
"School resource officers questioned the student about his intentions, and the reason why he brought the device to the school. The student would only say that it was a clock, and was not forthcoming, at that time, with any other details..."

@53 s - "Under Texas law, a person is guilty of possessing a 'hoax bomb' if he possesses a device that is intended to cause anyone to be alarmed or a reaction of any type of law enforcement officers."

The student indicated that he built a clock. However, the teacher and principal determined the device looked like a bomb. As far as I can tell, the student did not intend to cause an alarm or response from police. Rather the teacher appears to have gone wacko, then the principal through reason out the window and called police. (I'd like to hear the phone call from the principal to the police) From what I've heard so far, it appears that the police attempted to coerce the student into confessing to a 'hoax bomb'.

Why was Ahmed suspended for 3 days, especially after the police dropped the charges?!