14 yr old kid creates clock, accused of making a bomb and arrested

By the way, he's Muslim:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/16/us/texas-student-ahmed-muslim-clock-bomb/

https://twitter.com/hashtag/IStandWithAhmed

I like Obama less and less every day...but not today.

Even more disturbing than the initial overreaction is the fact that the Irving police can't seem to sincerely apologize to this student.

"Irving Police spokesman Officer James McLellan told the station, "We attempted to question the juvenile about what it was and he would simply only tell us that it was a clock."

The teenager did that because, well, it was a clock, he said.
On Wednesday, police announced that the teen will not be charged.

Chief Larry Boyd said that the teen should have been "forthcoming" by going beyond the description that what he made was a clock. But Boyd said that authorities determined that the teenager did not intend to alarm anyone and the device, which the chief called "a homemade experiment," was innocuous."

tjohn said:
Chief Larry Boyd said that the teen should have been "forthcoming" by going beyond the description that what he made was a clock.

Interesting. When they read you your rights in Texas do they do the "right to remain silent" part?

RobB said:

tjohn said:
Chief Larry Boyd said that the teen should have been "forthcoming" by going beyond the description that what he made was a clock.

Interesting. When they read you your rights in Texas do they do the "right to remain silent" part?

And what do you do when the truth isn't enough?

And the school didn't call the father. They turned him over to the police. Dad first heard about it from the cops.

How do you go beyond describing a clock as a clock? How could he have been more forthcoming?

If the cops ask you what the device is, it does seem like there's a big difference between something like:

"Well, it's a clock that I made in my bedroom using stuff I got a Home Depot. See, I connected this wire to this battery, and those hook up to these things here, which tell you the hour and the minute. I know it looks kinda weird, but I was teaching myself electronics and thought it would be a fun way to learn about circuits."

and:

"It's a clock [hostile, confrontational stare]."

Now, I have no idea if it was the former or the latter, and either way what happened to this kid is outrageous, but there certainly are different ways that people can (and do) respond to cops that can affect what happens next. If the school called the cops because of a "suspicious device" and the person who brought it in is acting in an evasive manner, then you can see why the police might overreact. That said, they DID overreact, and they should be apologizing profusely. I do think the school is much more at fault here than the police, though. It never, ever should have gotten that far.

its obvious these folks look at too much fiction on the TV.

it looks so dangerous - it has wires and electronic dodads and that kid is MUSLIM. Must be a b-b-b-bomb.

imonlysleeping said:
If the cops ask you what the device is, it does seem like there's a big difference between something like:
"Well, it's a clock that I made in my bedroom using stuff I got a Home Depot. See, I connected this wire to this battery, and those hook up to these things here, which tell you the hour and the minute. I know it looks kinda weird, but I was teaching myself electronics and thought it would be a fun way to learn about circuits."
and:
"It's a clock [hostile, confrontational stare]."
Now, I have no idea if it was the former or the latter, and either way what happened to this kid is outrageous, but there certainly are different ways that people can (and do) respond to cops that can affect what happens next. If the school called the cops because of a "suspicious device" and the person who brought it in is acting in an evasive manner, then you can see why the police might overreact. That said, they DID overreact, and they should be apologizing profusely. I do think the school is much more at fault here than the police, though. It never, ever should have gotten that far.

If the kid was white, this wouldn't have happened.

Funny that his science teacher told him not to show the clock to his other teachers. I wonder why the police didn't involve the science teacher, since he/she would have been the best person to explain what the device was.

imonlysleeping said:
If the cops ask you what the device is, it does seem like there's a big difference between something like:
"Well, it's a clock that I made in my bedroom using stuff I got a Home Depot. See, I connected this wire to this battery, and those hook up to these things here, which tell you the hour and the minute. I know it looks kinda weird, but I was teaching myself electronics and thought it would be a fun way to learn about circuits."
and:
"It's a clock [hostile, confrontational stare]."
Now, I have no idea if it was the former or the latter, and either way what happened to this kid is outrageous, but there certainly are different ways that people can (and do) respond to cops that can affect what happens next. If the school called the cops because of a "suspicious device" and the person who brought it in is acting in an evasive manner, then you can see why the police might overreact. That said, they DID overreact, and they should be apologizing profusely. I do think the school is much more at fault here than the police, though. It never, ever should have gotten that far.

do you see the picture of this child genius? his most threatening look would still make you think of puppies. I hope they sue.

hoops said:

imonlysleeping said:
If the cops ask you what the device is, it does seem like there's a big difference between something like:
"Well, it's a clock that I made in my bedroom using stuff I got a Home Depot. See, I connected this wire to this battery, and those hook up to these things here, which tell you the hour and the minute. I know it looks kinda weird, but I was teaching myself electronics and thought it would be a fun way to learn about circuits."
and:
"It's a clock [hostile, confrontational stare]."
Now, I have no idea if it was the former or the latter, and either way what happened to this kid is outrageous, but there certainly are different ways that people can (and do) respond to cops that can affect what happens next. If the school called the cops because of a "suspicious device" and the person who brought it in is acting in an evasive manner, then you can see why the police might overreact. That said, they DID overreact, and they should be apologizing profusely. I do think the school is much more at fault here than the police, though. It never, ever should have gotten that far.

do you see the picture of this child genius? his most threatening look would still make you think of puppies. I hope they sue.

I don't think you can expect the police to make these kinds of decisions based on how somebody looks. Lots of school killers are small and nerdy-looking. Once the police are called in, they have to investigate. AGAIN, I'm not saying anyone's actions here were in any way justified, but you can see how, once the idiocy was set in motion by the school, things might have taken this course, especially if the kid isn't being cooperative, which is what the cops are suggesting (which could very well be a lie, of course).

The cops haven't said he wasn't cooperative:

"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?”
Police led Ahmed out of MacArthur about 3 p.m., his
hands cuffed behind him and an officer on each arm. A few students
gaped in the halls. He remembers the shocked expression of his student
counselor — the one “who knows I’m a good boy.”

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/northwest-dallas-county/headlines/20150915-irving-ninth-grader-arrested-after-taking-homemade-clock-to-school.ece

Going by the information available to this point....

The teacher involved was concerned. The cops were concerned. Frankly, looking at the pictures I don't see how anyone could say with confidence "oh hey, alarm clock. Got it".

If he had tried to get that through security at Newark Airport, he would have been detained, period.

He was in a school full of kids. He was detained, period.

Picture this: you're a teacher. An electronic alarm goes off in class. A kid takes out a box full of wires and circuit boards. Do you:

Immediately recognize the item as a clock, but more importantly, recognize it is nothing that could be used for a dangerous purpose, using your electrical engineering expertise OR

Recognize you have no idea what you're looking at, but it's not the sort of thing you've ever seen a student carry around the school before, and out of an abundance of caution call someone who might know more, and not having the number for Q, called the cops?

The police, at least the normal cops, likewise have no idea what they're looking at, and decide to detain the kid until they do know.

Does the situation suck? Yes. Does it make all involved racist? No.

Since everything has to have a racial angle (TEXAS! OMG!) it might be worth pointing out that Irving is more diverse than Maplewood, with more students of Asian descent than Maplewood, and is overall just slightly white majority (50.3%). 33% of the citizens are not US born. So this isn't the fantasy of a white area freaking out over non white people- they live in a community much more diverse than yours.

But by all means, let's bash the cops and start in with tweets inviting the kid to the White House (why, because he built a clock? That's all we have to do to swing an invite?)

Unreal.

I've never been a 14-year-old boy, but I would think a "hostile, confrontational stare" is likely a normal state of being.

Also, @RobB, agree that President Obama's tweet is a total win. Mark Zuckerberg expressed a similar sentiment. The #IStandWithAhmed Twitter response is just terrific.

Pure idiocy by the police and I'm shocked that anyone would defend or try to excuse this behavior.

And they had no business "interrogating" a 14-year old without a parent or lawyer.

The handcuffs were a nice touch. Big tough guys.

Then maybe we have just lost our sanity as a nation.

Jackson_Fusion said:
Going by the information available to this point....
The teacher involved was concerned. The cops were concerned. Frankly, looking at the pictures I don't see how anyone could say with confidence "oh hey, alarm clock. Got it".
If he had tried to get that through security at Newark Airport, he would have been detained, period.
He was in a school full of kids. He was detained, period.
Picture this: you're a teacher. An electronic alarm goes off in class. A kid takes out a box full of wires and circuit boards. Do you:
Immediately recognize the item as a clock, but more importantly, recognize it is nothing that could be used for a dangerous purpose, using your electrical engineering expertise OR
Recognize you have no idea what you're looking at, but it's not the sort of thing you've ever seen a student carry around the school before, and out of an abundance of caution call someone who might know more, and not having the number for Q, called the cops?
The police, at least the normal cops, likewise have no idea what they're looking at, and decide to detain the kid until they do know.
Does the situation suck? Yes. Does it make all involved racist? No.
Since everything has to have a racial angle (TEXAS! OMG!) it might be worth pointing out that Irving is more diverse than Maplewood, with more students of Asian descent than Maplewood, and is overall just slightly white majority (50.3%). 33% of the citizens are not US born. So this isn't the fantasy of a white area freaking out over non white people- they live in a community much more diverse than yours.
But by all means, let's bash the cops and start in with tweets inviting the kid to the White House (why, because he built a clock? That's all we have to do to swing an invite?)
Unreal.

Maybe we have. Is it possible the police are incompetent here? Of course.

Is it a fact that this was all a big nothing in terms of danger? Manifestly.

Should we have expected police, administration and teaching staff to know this ex ante? I'd give them the benefit of the doubt but engineers are probably in hysterics looking at that thing.

Is the first thing everyone needs to do is get on Twitter and pour gasoline into the outrage machine? Each person's answer will determine which side they think is insane.

tjohn said:
Then maybe we have just lost our sanity as a nation.

Jackson_Fusion said:
Going by the information available to this point....
The teacher involved was concerned. The cops were concerned. Frankly, looking at the pictures I don't see how anyone could say with confidence "oh hey, alarm clock. Got it".
If he had tried to get that through security at Newark Airport, he would have been detained, period.
He was in a school full of kids. He was detained, period.
Picture this: you're a teacher. An electronic alarm goes off in class. A kid takes out a box full of wires and circuit boards. Do you:
Immediately recognize the item as a clock, but more importantly, recognize it is nothing that could be used for a dangerous purpose, using your electrical engineering expertise OR
Recognize you have no idea what you're looking at, but it's not the sort of thing you've ever seen a student carry around the school before, and out of an abundance of caution call someone who might know more, and not having the number for Q, called the cops?
The police, at least the normal cops, likewise have no idea what they're looking at, and decide to detain the kid until they do know.
Does the situation suck? Yes. Does it make all involved racist? No.
Since everything has to have a racial angle (TEXAS! OMG!) it might be worth pointing out that Irving is more diverse than Maplewood, with more students of Asian descent than Maplewood, and is overall just slightly white majority (50.3%). 33% of the citizens are not US born. So this isn't the fantasy of a white area freaking out over non white people- they live in a community much more diverse than yours.
But by all means, let's bash the cops and start in with tweets inviting the kid to the White House (why, because he built a clock? That's all we have to do to swing an invite?)
Unreal.

Jackson_Fusion said:
Going by the information available to this point....
The teacher involved was concerned. The cops were concerned. Frankly, looking at the pictures I don't see how anyone could say with confidence "oh hey, alarm clock. Got it".
If he had tried to get that through security at Newark Airport, he would have been detained, period.
He was in a school full of kids. He was detained, period.
Picture this: you're a teacher. An electronic alarm goes off in class. A kid takes out a box full of wires and circuit boards. Do you:
Immediately recognize the item as a clock, but more importantly, recognize it is nothing that could be used for a dangerous purpose, using your electrical engineering expertise OR
Recognize you have no idea what you're looking at, but it's not the sort of thing you've ever seen a student carry around the school before, and out of an abundance of caution call someone who might know more, and not having the number for Q, called the cops?
The police, at least the normal cops, likewise have no idea what they're looking at, and decide to detain the kid until they do know.
Does the situation suck? Yes. Does it make all involved racist? No.
Since everything has to have a racial angle (TEXAS! OMG!) it might be worth pointing out that Irving is more diverse than Maplewood, with more students of Asian descent than Maplewood, and is overall just slightly white majority (50.3%). 33% of the citizens are not US born. So this isn't the fantasy of a white area freaking out over non white people- they live in a community much more diverse than yours.
But by all means, let's bash the cops and start in with tweets inviting the kid to the White House (why, because he built a clock? That's all we have to do to swing an invite?)
Unreal.

Nailed it.

Jackson_Fusion said:
Going by the information available to this point....
The teacher involved was concerned. The cops were concerned. Frankly, looking at the pictures I don't see how anyone could say with confidence "oh hey, alarm clock. Got it".
If he had tried to get that through security at Newark Airport, he would have been detained, period.
He was in a school full of kids. He was detained, period.
Picture this: you're a teacher. An electronic alarm goes off in class. A kid takes out a box full of wires and circuit boards. Do you:
Immediately recognize the item as a clock, but more importantly, recognize it is nothing that could be used for a dangerous purpose, using your electrical engineering expertise OR
Recognize you have no idea what you're looking at, but it's not the sort of thing you've ever seen a student carry around the school before, and out of an abundance of caution call someone who might know more, and not having the number for Q, called the cops?
The police, at least the normal cops, likewise have no idea what they're looking at, and decide to detain the kid until they do know.
Does the situation suck? Yes. Does it make all involved racist? No.
Since everything has to have a racial angle (TEXAS! OMG!) it might be worth pointing out that Irving is more diverse than Maplewood, with more students of Asian descent than Maplewood, and is overall just slightly white majority (50.3%). 33% of the citizens are not US born. So this isn't the fantasy of a white area freaking out over non white people- they live in a community much more diverse than yours.
But by all means, let's bash the cops and start in with tweets inviting the kid to the White House (why, because he built a clock? That's all we have to do to swing an invite?)
Unreal.

the cops deserve bashing.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/16/us/texas-student-ahmed-muslim-clock-bomb/index.html?eref=rss_latest

The town is no where near Maplewood/South Orange with regards to diversity:

http://nypost.com/2015/09/16/muslim-teen-arrested-after-teacher-mistakes-clock-for-bomb/

This spring, the city council endorsed one of several bills under discussion in the Texas Legislature that would forbid judges from rulings based on “foreign laws” — legislation opponents view as unnecessary and driven by anti-Muslim sentiment.
At a later council meeting, the turnout included some denouncing Islam. One woman declared “Sharia law is Islam, and Islam’s goal is to immigrate, assimilate and annihilate.” A man sitting in the audience shouted “That is offensive!” and was escorted out.

hoops said:
If it was so dangerous, then why wasnt the school evacuated and the bomb squad called? this was pure intimidation done by idiots in authority, both the police and the school.

+10

Unfortunately, we live in a world where there are sometimes shootings and other violent acts in schools, often perpetrated by students. If this HAD been a bomb, I don't think anyone would be happy if the cops had said, "Well, he looks harmless and he says it's just a clock, so..." Clearly this whole situation was terribly mishandled, but I don't think it's as simple as "authoritarian racists bully nice kid for kicks."

Or maybe--just maybe--adults act like adults and calmly assess the situation rather than poop their pants. (BTW, "a box full of circuit boards and wires" is a pretty good description of a digital clock.)

A smart, ambitious kid gets shamed by authority for being a suspected terrorist. Turns out he's just a smart, ambitious kid. An invitation to the WH is a nice gesture to remind the Muslim community that we aren't all after them.

The handcuffs were a nice touch, don't you think?

Jackson_Fusion said:
Going by the information available to this point....
The teacher involved was concerned. The cops were concerned. Frankly, looking at the pictures I don't see how anyone could say with confidence "oh hey, alarm clock. Got it".
If he had tried to get that through security at Newark Airport, he would have been detained, period.
He was in a school full of kids. He was detained, period.
Picture this: you're a teacher. An electronic alarm goes off in class. A kid takes out a box full of wires and circuit boards. Do you:
Immediately recognize the item as a clock, but more importantly, recognize it is nothing that could be used for a dangerous purpose, using your electrical engineering expertise OR
Recognize you have no idea what you're looking at, but it's not the sort of thing you've ever seen a student carry around the school before, and out of an abundance of caution call someone who might know more, and not having the number for Q, called the cops?
The police, at least the normal cops, likewise have no idea what they're looking at, and decide to detain the kid until they do know.
Does the situation suck? Yes. Does it make all involved racist? No.
Since everything has to have a racial angle (TEXAS! OMG!) it might be worth pointing out that Irving is more diverse than Maplewood, with more students of Asian descent than Maplewood, and is overall just slightly white majority (50.3%). 33% of the citizens are not US born. So this isn't the fantasy of a white area freaking out over non white people- they live in a community much more diverse than yours.
But by all means, let's bash the cops and start in with tweets inviting the kid to the White House (why, because he built a clock? That's all we have to do to swing an invite?)
Unreal.

Jackson_Fusion said:
Maybe we have. Is it possible the police are incompetent here? Of course.
Is it a fact that this was all a big nothing in terms of danger? Manifestly.
Should we have expected police, administration and teaching staff to know this ex ante? I'd give them the benefit of the doubt but engineers are probably in hysterics looking at that thing.
Is the first thing everyone needs to do is get on Twitter and pour gasoline into the outrage machine? Each person's answer will determine which side they think is insane.

tjohn said:
Then maybe we have just lost our sanity as a nation.

Jackson_Fusion said:
Going by the information available to this point....
The teacher involved was concerned. The cops were concerned. Frankly, looking at the pictures I don't see how anyone could say with confidence "oh hey, alarm clock. Got it".
If he had tried to get that through security at Newark Airport, he would have been detained, period.
He was in a school full of kids. He was detained, period.
Picture this: you're a teacher. An electronic alarm goes off in class. A kid takes out a box full of wires and circuit boards. Do you:
Immediately recognize the item as a clock, but more importantly, recognize it is nothing that could be used for a dangerous purpose, using your electrical engineering expertise OR
Recognize you have no idea what you're looking at, but it's not the sort of thing you've ever seen a student carry around the school before, and out of an abundance of caution call someone who might know more, and not having the number for Q, called the cops?
The police, at least the normal cops, likewise have no idea what they're looking at, and decide to detain the kid until they do know.
Does the situation suck? Yes. Does it make all involved racist? No.
Since everything has to have a racial angle (TEXAS! OMG!) it might be worth pointing out that Irving is more diverse than Maplewood, with more students of Asian descent than Maplewood, and is overall just slightly white majority (50.3%). 33% of the citizens are not US born. So this isn't the fantasy of a white area freaking out over non white people- they live in a community much more diverse than yours.
But by all means, let's bash the cops and start in with tweets inviting the kid to the White House (why, because he built a clock? That's all we have to do to swing an invite?)
Unreal.

Battery, wires, electrical components, solder and a briefcase. Where is the danger? You do not need to be a member of the bomb squad or an engineer to come to survey these items.

They could have investigated this by calling in the science teacher. Was it necessary to put him in handcuffs, fingerprint him and send him to a juvenile facility??? NOPE.

imonlysleeping said:
Unfortunately, we live in a world where there are sometimes shootings and other violent acts in schools, often perpetrated by students. If this HAD been a bomb, I don't think anyone would be happy if the cops had said, "Well, he looks harmless and he says it's just a clock, so..." Clearly this whole situation was terribly mishandled, but I don't think it's as simple as "authoritarian racists bully nice kid for kicks."

Bombs need propellants such as gunpowder, gasoline, ether, propane, etc. Where is the propellant (basic logic)?

RealityForAll said:

imonlysleeping said:
Unfortunately, we live in a world where there are sometimes shootings and other violent acts in schools, often perpetrated by students. If this HAD been a bomb, I don't think anyone would be happy if the cops had said, "Well, he looks harmless and he says it's just a clock, so..." Clearly this whole situation was terribly mishandled, but I don't think it's as simple as "authoritarian racists bully nice kid for kicks."

Bombs need propellants such as gunpowder, gasoline, ether, propane, etc. Where is the propellant (basic logic)?

Plastique is a white plastic block that looks like none of the above.

I can't believe I've just read this.