Posted on Sep 16, 2015
Ahmed Mohamed, 14, arrested over clock mistaken for bomb. Reasonable precaution or massive overreaction?
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What do you guys think? I can understand their initial reaction, however had this been someone else? Would the reaction be the same? Race card aside, it was handled pretty inappropriately as well. The situation could and should have been assessed on the spot especially since the engineering teacher already had knowledge.
Terrorism
Political Correctness
Law Enforcement
Edited 9 y ago
Posted 9 y ago
Responses: 100
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""This wouldn't even be a question if his name wasn't Ahmed Mohamed. He is an excited kid who is very bright and wants to share it with his teachers."....I want to say and believe this isn't true, but inside I think it was a factor. I just hope that this unfortunate event does nothing to stop this child from his desire to learn. He is what America needs for the future; dreamers who can make those dreams reality.
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TSgt Kenneth Ellis
Lt Col (Join to see) - If that is what you think. You are welcome to your opinion. But under Obama I'm a racist and a biggit and homophob because I'm white, Christain and believe in traditional marriage.
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Lt Col (Join to see)
You are if you seek to use those things as weapons against others who are not white, male, or straight. You believe in traditional marriage. Great. Get married to a woman. Encourage your kids to do the same. But you don't get to tell everyone in America that they must act in accordance with your beliefs.
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SrA Edward Vong - Airman; Let's see now:
[1] Really bright kid is interested in electronics and makes a digital clock.
[2] Really bright kid is proud of his achievement and takes the clock to school to show to a teacher.
[3] A teacher who is not involved thinks "Muslim + wiring = !!B!!O!!M!!B!!" and calls the cops.
[4] Cops arrive, think "Muslim + wiring = !!B!!O!!M!!B!!" and lock the kid up without asking anyone any questions whatsoever.
[5] Everyone congratulates themselves on how much safer they have made America by deterring terrorist attacks.
[6] No one apologizes to the really bright kid and he forms the "completely unjustified" idea that people hate Muslims.
Nope, nothing wrong here folks, move along, nothing to see, move along.
[1] Really bright kid is interested in electronics and makes a digital clock.
[2] Really bright kid is proud of his achievement and takes the clock to school to show to a teacher.
[3] A teacher who is not involved thinks "Muslim + wiring = !!B!!O!!M!!B!!" and calls the cops.
[4] Cops arrive, think "Muslim + wiring = !!B!!O!!M!!B!!" and lock the kid up without asking anyone any questions whatsoever.
[5] Everyone congratulates themselves on how much safer they have made America by deterring terrorist attacks.
[6] No one apologizes to the really bright kid and he forms the "completely unjustified" idea that people hate Muslims.
Nope, nothing wrong here folks, move along, nothing to see, move along.
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PO2 Mark Saffell
COL Ted Mc The following are excerpts and information I have read about the story.
Ahmed took a store-bought alarm clock out of its case and installed it in a pencil box. Not just any pencil box, but a metal one, that resembled a small briefcase. Once this extraordinarily technical use of a Phillips-head screwdriver was accomplished, the device very closely resembled the type of briefcase bomb / timer seen in the movies and on TV.
Ahmed clearly knew what the device looked like when he took it to school and if there was any doubt his first period teacher, according to Ahmed's own account, told him not to show it to anyone else because it LOOKED LIKE A BOMB.
Now there is ZERO legitimate reason for a kid to take the guts of an alarm clock and put them im a pencil box to look like a time bomb, other than to LOOK LIKE A BOMB. It was not an "invention" it was not a "science project" it was not intended to "impress his teachers" with this electronics skills (no electronic skill are involved in mounting a caseless alarm clock into a pencil box, just screw-driving skills).
So only one possibility remains. Ahmed KNEW the device looked like a bomb, Ahmed INTENDED the device to look like a bomb, and Ahmed intended to alarm his teachers and fellow students. That is a childish prank, but is also a crime in Texas. Ahmed was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing a hoax bomb which is exactly what the kid did. No "islamaphobia. No "racism". No "profiling". Just a bad kid who went too far and got caught, and then, strangely enough, richly rewarded for it with thousands of dollars in cash and prizes and a celebrity world tour. Poor, poor, traumatized little Ahmed....
Ahmed took a store-bought alarm clock out of its case and installed it in a pencil box. Not just any pencil box, but a metal one, that resembled a small briefcase. Once this extraordinarily technical use of a Phillips-head screwdriver was accomplished, the device very closely resembled the type of briefcase bomb / timer seen in the movies and on TV.
Ahmed clearly knew what the device looked like when he took it to school and if there was any doubt his first period teacher, according to Ahmed's own account, told him not to show it to anyone else because it LOOKED LIKE A BOMB.
Now there is ZERO legitimate reason for a kid to take the guts of an alarm clock and put them im a pencil box to look like a time bomb, other than to LOOK LIKE A BOMB. It was not an "invention" it was not a "science project" it was not intended to "impress his teachers" with this electronics skills (no electronic skill are involved in mounting a caseless alarm clock into a pencil box, just screw-driving skills).
So only one possibility remains. Ahmed KNEW the device looked like a bomb, Ahmed INTENDED the device to look like a bomb, and Ahmed intended to alarm his teachers and fellow students. That is a childish prank, but is also a crime in Texas. Ahmed was arrested on suspicion of manufacturing a hoax bomb which is exactly what the kid did. No "islamaphobia. No "racism". No "profiling". Just a bad kid who went too far and got caught, and then, strangely enough, richly rewarded for it with thousands of dollars in cash and prizes and a celebrity world tour. Poor, poor, traumatized little Ahmed....
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COL Ted Mc
PO2 Mark Saffell - PO; I'll agree with you that there are TWO issues here:
[1] What was the device and why did the lad make it; and
[2] What did the school do about the device once they had it in their hands.
It's just barely possible that the boy found a perfectly functional 1970s clock, disassembled it, and stuck it inside a new case. Its also possible that the boy found a NON-functional 1970s clock, figured out why it wasn't working, repaired it, and stuck it inside a new case. That one is going to have to wait for the trial to get sorted out.
As to why the boy showed the device around after being told not to do so - I don't know. But I do know that 14 year-olds do dumb things - it's in their job description.
As for the second issue, I think that the consensuses is that the school (and the police) screwed up big time and that under the legal doctrine of "Profunda Loculos" they (well, actually, their insurers [OK, so the entirety of their insurers client base {OK, OK, OK, so actually everyone who buys any sort of insurance whatsoever}]) will simply have to pay up.
[1] What was the device and why did the lad make it; and
[2] What did the school do about the device once they had it in their hands.
It's just barely possible that the boy found a perfectly functional 1970s clock, disassembled it, and stuck it inside a new case. Its also possible that the boy found a NON-functional 1970s clock, figured out why it wasn't working, repaired it, and stuck it inside a new case. That one is going to have to wait for the trial to get sorted out.
As to why the boy showed the device around after being told not to do so - I don't know. But I do know that 14 year-olds do dumb things - it's in their job description.
As for the second issue, I think that the consensuses is that the school (and the police) screwed up big time and that under the legal doctrine of "Profunda Loculos" they (well, actually, their insurers [OK, so the entirety of their insurers client base {OK, OK, OK, so actually everyone who buys any sort of insurance whatsoever}]) will simply have to pay up.
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PO2 Mark Saffell
Part that worries me about paying up...Will we be directly funding terrorism now that his family has moved back to Qatar and there has been some reports as to their, lets say political leanings?
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COL Ted Mc
PO2 Mark Saffell - PO; Have no fear, the Qataris are America's friends.
Indeed, the boy's father actually supported democratic government for the Sudan and is a Sufi.
Both of those are highly suspicious traits.
Indeed, the boy's father actually supported democratic government for the Sudan and is a Sufi.
Both of those are highly suspicious traits.
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For all those with their heads in the sand who don't think this happened because this kid's name was Ahmed Mohammed, I give you this article:
http://gawker.com/7-kids-not-named-mohamed-who-brought-homemade-clocks-to [login to see] ?rev= [login to see] 94&utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_facebook&utm_source=gawker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
http://gawker.com/7-kids-not-named-mohamed-who-brought-homemade-clocks-to [login to see] ?rev= [login to see] 94&utm_campaign=socialflow_gawker_facebook&utm_source=gawker_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow
7 Kids Not Named Mohamed Who Brought Homemade Clocks to School And Didn't Get Arrested
Hoping to impress the teachers at his new school, an Irving, Texas, high school freshman named Ahmed Mohamed brought a homemade clock with him to MacArthur High Monday morning, which he’d assembled before bed the night before. When he showed it to those teachers, though, they were something other than impressed, and by Monday afternoon, Mohamed was being led out of school in handcuffs. Ahmed’s English teacher believed the device was a bomb.
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SPC David Hannaman
None of the kids mentioned in the article are in Texas either. It's a different mentality, but we look for opportunities to stop bad situations sooner rather than later.
Some people might see that as paranoia... we see the other states as lackadaisical.
Some people might see that as paranoia... we see the other states as lackadaisical.
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PV2 Scott Goodpasture
And I wore a watch to tell time. Those kids with those experiments using vegetables for batteries, water.... were all assigned projects. Do You understand that? There was no science project for this little jerk and his clock. if there was he would have failed. putting the guts of a clock into a pencil box.... stupid
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PO2 Mark Saffell
Soooo All the people slamming the school, lets reverse things. What if it was a bomb and the school did nothing and 200 kids where blown apart. What would you say about the school now and to those kids parents? Would you tell those parents those 200 kids lives are a price we pay to be free and PC?
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