US: Outcry after Muslim teen is detained over homemade clock

[webfact]

Outcry after Muslim teen is detained over homemade clock
By DAVID WARREN and JAMIE STENGLE

IRVING, Texas (AP) — A 14-year-old Muslim boy became a sensation on social media Wednesday and got an invitation to the White House after word spread that he had been placed in handcuffs and suspended for coming to school with a homemade clock that teachers thought resembled a bomb.

Police declined to seek any charges against Ahmed Mohamed, but his arrest and suspension ignited a wave of criticism of police and school officials and raised suspicions that they had overreacted because of the boy's religion.

"I built the clock to impress my teacher, but when I showed it to her, she thought it was a threat to her. So it was really sad she took the wrong impression of it," Ahmed said at a news conference in front of his family's home.

Ahmed was pulled from class Monday and taken to a detention center after showing the digital clock to teachers at his suburban Dallas high school.

Irving Police Chief Larry Boyd said the clock looked "suspicious in nature," but there was no evidence the boy meant to cause alarm at school. Boyd considers the case closed.

Ahmed said he plans to transfer out of MacArthur High School.

Asked what he would say to other kids who like tinkering, he replied: "Go for it! Don't let people change who you are, even if you get a consequence for it. I suggest you still show it to people, at least show them your talent."

In a matter of hours, the clock made Ahmed a star on social media, with the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed tweeted more than 900,000 times by late Wednesday afternoon.

Linda Moreno, an attorney representing Ahmed, said the family is considering taking legal action against police after officers interrogated, handcuffed, searched, booked and fingerprinted the teen. She would not give details on questions he was asked by police.

Groups including the American Civil Liberties Union condemned what they called the school's heavy-handed tactics.

"Instead of encouraging his curiosity, intellect and ability, the Irving (school district) saw fit to throw handcuffs on a frightened 14-year-old Muslim boy wearing a NASA T-shirt and then remove him from school," Terri Burke, executive director of the ACLU in Texas, said in a statement.

Among those messaging their support on social media were President Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

In a tweet, Obama called Ahmed's clock "cool" and said more kids should be inspired like him to enjoy science, because "it's what makes America great."

Asked if bias was involved, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said it was too early "to draw that direct assessment from here." But, he added, Ahmed's teachers had "failed him."

"This is an instance where you have people who have otherwise dedicated their lives to teach our children who failed in that effort, potentially because of some things in their conscience and the power of stereotypes," he said.

The boy was invited to participate in an astronomy night the White House is organizing sometime next month with premier scientists.

In a post to his site, Zuckerberg said, "Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause."

"Ahmed, if you ever want to come by Facebook, I'd love to meet you," Zuckerberg posted. "Keep building."

Ahmed's Sudanese father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, said his son is a wizard at electronics, repairing the family's clocks, phones and electricity, and Ahmed said he has built a go-kart. He said he was moved by the support for his son from across the country.

"I am grateful to the United States of America," he said, attributing the widespread support to "something that was touching the heart for everybody."

Ahmed said he was suspended until Thursday.

School district spokeswoman Lesley Weaver declined to confirm the suspension, citing privacy laws. Weaver insisted school officials were concerned with student safety and not the boy's faith.

The police chief said the reaction to the clock "would have been the same regardless" of his religion.

"We live in an age where you can't take things like that to school," Boyd said.

Boyd said police have an "outstanding relationship" with the Muslim community in Irving and that he would meet the boy's father Wednesday to address any concerns.

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.

Khalid Hamide, a spokesman for the mosque the family attends, appealed for politicians "to be careful with the words that they use when they refer to Muslims, because this event is not an isolated event."

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is reviewing the action against Ahmed.

"This all raises a red flag for us: how Irving's government entities are operating in the current climate," Alia Salem, executive director of the council's North Texas chapter, told the Dallas Morning News.
___

Warren contributed from Dallas.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-09-17

[NeverSure]

http://www.wired.com/2015/09/heres-bomb-clock-got-ahmed-mohamed-arrested/

Edited September 16, 2015 by NeverSure

[kotsak]

The upside to this is that he'll land himself on a good job

Edited September 17, 2015 by kotsak

[smedly]

well it is not a homemade clock it is a normal digital electric clock with the frame removed and is not something that would be safe to handle since it is plugged into main power with the innards exposed, touch the wrong thing and you are toast, not really something that should be brought into a classroom, as for looking like a bomb - well I guess to the uneducated anything could look like a bomb in that part of the country if it has wires connected to it

[Scott]

well it is not a homemade clock it is a normal digital electric clock with the frame removed and is not something that would be safe to handle since it is plugged into main power with the innards exposed, touch the wrong thing and you are toast, not really something that should be brought into a classroom, as for looking like a bomb - well I guess to the uneducated anything could look like a bomb in that part of the country if it has wires connected to it

And the job of a teacher is to help him understand the need for safety in the device and to assist him to refine his ability.

Hopefully, this can be a teaching moment for everyone, including the teachers.

[Ace of Pop]

Teachers a Fool..most likely tells Bomb jokes at Airports.

[khwaibah]

Normal knee jerk reaction by the red neck crackers in that part of the US.

[Wolfe]

A.jpg

http://www.wired.com/2015/09/heres-bomb-clock-got-ahmed-mohamed-arrested/

That picture sure looks like a homemade something and its PERFECTLY SANE to be suspicious of a Muslim with a contraption like that on them, ESPECIALLY if you dont know what you are looking at.

Better safe than sorry and all this hoopla is the Politically Correct Brigade spouting off and in this day and age its times to throw that crap out the window.

[BuaBS]

well it is not a homemade clock it is a normal digital electric clock with the frame removed and is not something that would be safe to handle since it is plugged into main power with the innards exposed, touch the wrong thing and you are toast, not really something that should be brought into a classroom, as for looking like a bomb - well I guess to the uneducated anything could look like a bomb in that part of the country if it has wires connected to it

If it is indeed powered by the mains and not batteries , all the exposed "innards" would be behind the transformer & rectifier , and be a low DC voltage , completely harmless.

The US is completely out of control paranoid : a teen kisses another teen in school on a dare , and he's a sexual deviant , another brings a selfmade digital clock and considdered a terrorist bombmaker.

Edited September 17, 2015 by BuaBS

[gandalf12]

It is a digital clock. Probably one of the easiest things to build but does look good

[gandalf12]

Had he not been a muslim would there have been an outcry? I doubt it

[Seastallion]

If the teacher really thought it was a bomb, she should have activated the fire alarm and had the building evacuated. Instead, she called the principle, who called the police...all the while waiting there with the "bomb".

It says that they didn't really believe it was a bomb.

If it looked like a bomb to the police, same thing, evacuate the area and call the bomb squad....So the police didn't think it was a bomb either.

Racist rednecks.

Some more to the story...

In English class, a teacher complained after the alarm went off. He showed her the invention after class and apologized that the alarm had interrupted class.

“She was like, it looks like a bomb,” Mohamed said.

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

The teacher called the principal. The principal called the police.

Ahmed was pulled out of sixth period and arrested.

Four other police officers waited for the one who grabbed him. Once there, one of the officers said: “Yup. That’s who I thought it was.”

Ahmed had never seen him before, so he had no choice but to assume that this meant the officer had racially profiled him.

The principal and police told him that unless he signed a confession statement then he would be expelled from school.

“They were like, ‘So you tried to make a bomb?’” Ahmed recalled.

“I told them no, I was trying to make a clock.”

“He said, ‘It looks like a movie bomb to me.’”

The officers interrogated him for several periods, never letting up.

http://countercurrentnews.com/2015/09/president-obama-stands-with-ahmed-tweets-invitation-to-muslim-teen-genius-arrested-for-making-clock/

[smedly]

well it is not a homemade clock it is a normal digital electric clock with the frame removed and is not something that would be safe to handle since it is plugged into main power with the innards exposed, touch the wrong thing and you are toast, not really something that should be brought into a classroom, as for looking like a bomb - well I guess to the uneducated anything could look like a bomb in that part of the country if it has wires connected to it

If it is indeed powered by the mains and not batteries , all the exposed "innards" would be behind the transformer & rectifier , and be a low DC voltage , completely harmless.

The US is completely out of control paranoid : a teen kisses another teen in school on a dare , and he's a sexual deviant , another brings a selfmade digital clock and considdered a terrorist bombmaker.

the transformer is sitting there fully exposed mate with 240vac ready for anyone to poke a finger on, I didn't go into that much detail becacse most here wouldn't quite understand it, this thing is still dangerous to anyone touching it that doesn't understand it

[stevenl]

This is indicative of the mistrust that exists in the US. I find it incomprehensible that his teacher knew him that bad she thought it was a bomb he made.

[Seastallion]

A.jpg

http://www.wired.com/2015/09/heres-bomb-clock-got-ahmed-mohamed-arrested/

That picture sure looks like a homemade something and its PERFECTLY SANE to be suspicious of a Muslim with a contraption like that on them, ESPECIALLY if you dont know what you are looking at.

Better safe than sorry and all this hoopla is the Politically Correct Brigade spouting off and in this day and age its times to throw that crap out the window.

Rubbish bigoted racial profiling and stereotyping.

What would have been "PERFECTLY SANE" in the circumstances would have been to evacuate the building, and for the police to call the bomb squad....IF THEY TRULY THOUGHT IT WAS A BOMB.

But they didn't do that which proves the teacher, the principle, and the four police are idiots OR they did not actually think it was a bomb.

And if they didn't think it was a bomb, why did they harass the boy?

[Petchou]

A.jpg

http://www.wired.com/2015/09/heres-bomb-clock-got-ahmed-mohamed-arrested/

That picture sure looks like a homemade something and its PERFECTLY SANE to be suspicious of a Muslim with a contraption like that on them, ESPECIALLY if you dont know what you are looking at.

Better safe than sorry and all this hoopla is the Politically Correct Brigade spouting off and in this day and age its times to throw that crap out the window.

Totally insane generalization. It's equivalent to say you are a paedophile since priests have been assaulting kids all over the place. I should conclude that you should be reported to Thai police because this is perfect destination for sick pedophiles. Right? Isn't same analogy?

[reptile91602]

It does look a bit scary after watch '24'hours on tv.

[Loptr]

A.jpg

http://www.wired.com/2015/09/heres-bomb-clock-got-ahmed-mohamed-arrested/

That picture sure looks like a homemade something and its PERFECTLY SANE to be suspicious of a Muslim with a contraption like that on them, ESPECIALLY if you dont know what you are looking at.

Better safe than sorry and all this hoopla is the Politically Correct Brigade spouting off and in this day and age its times to throw that crap out the window.

Rubbish bigoted racial profiling and stereotyping.

What would have been "PERFECTLY SANE" in the circumstances would have been to evacuate the building, and for the police to call the bomb squad....IF THEY TRULY THOUGHT IT WAS A BOMB.

But they didn't do that which proves the teacher, the principle, and the four police are idiots OR they did not actually think it was a bomb.

And if they didn't think it was a bomb, why did they harass the boy?

What do you expect from the USA, considering that every man, woman and child has been conditioned (programmed) to distrust all muslims since 9/11/2001... Classic case of watch the shiny object, while the real evil runs amuck pulling the strings...

On the upside, this episode got the kid an invite to the White House, along with a nun that advocates abortions and an openly gay catholic priest... We truly do live in interesting times...

[Seastallion]

well it is not a homemade clock it is a normal digital electric clock with the frame removed and is not something that would be safe to handle since it is plugged into main power with the innards exposed, touch the wrong thing and you are toast, not really something that should be brought into a classroom, as for looking like a bomb - well I guess to the uneducated anything could look like a bomb in that part of the country if it has wires connected to it

If it is indeed powered by the mains and not batteries , all the exposed "innards" would be behind the transformer & rectifier , and be a low DC voltage , completely harmless.

The US is completely out of control paranoid : a teen kisses another teen in school on a dare , and he's a sexual deviant , another brings a selfmade digital clock and considdered a terrorist bombmaker.

the transformer is sitting there fully exposed mate with 240vac ready for anyone to poke a finger on, I didn't go into that much detail becacse most here wouldn't quite understand it, this thing is still dangerous to anyone touching it that doesn't understand it

I agree that it looks as if it might be an electrical hazard, IF indeed that is a photo of the "clock built inside a pencil case" "with batteries and wires". From the story, and the fact that the alarm went off during class, I would say the lad built a battery powered clock and the photo is not it.

But even if that photo is THE clock...you'd call the police for an electrical hazard!

[Tywais]

The things I built in high school would probably have me in prison for life in this climate.

[JakeSully]

His future is already set from the lawsuits. MIT, Harvard they would kill to have this kid and so would NASA.

He's 1 in 100 million because only 1 in 100 million kids are bright enough to think this mechanical stuff at a freshman age. Most just think about how to be a bigger jock and woo the girls. This kid's already thinking how to be a billionaire.

Too bad he had to go through this to prove his worth to the world but obviously a beautiful mind!

[jesimps]

I back the teacher 100%, best to be alive and take the flak later. Muslims have brought this mistrust onto themselves, and I know, "Not all muslims are terrorists".

[oneday]

"Linda Moreno, an attorney representing Ahmed, said the family is considering taking legal action against police after officers interrogated, handcuffed, searched, booked and fingerprinted the teen. She would not give details on questions he was asked by police."

Go for it Linda...sue their asses off.

Why are people and most especially police so dumb. All the police had to do was have an expert inspect the clock and once it was found to be exactly what it was purported to be they should have let him go with apologies. From that picture there is nothing threatening about that device. It is just an electronic circuit hooked up to a really large LED display. The police had zero right to interrogate, handcuff, search, book and fingerprint him.

[robblok]

I back the teacher 100%, best to be alive and take the flak later. Muslims have brought this mistrust onto themselves, and I know, "Not all muslims are terrorists".

how about most Muslims are not terrorists your not all Muslims are terrorists sounds like the majority of Muslims are terrorists.

[hugh2121]

well it is not a homemade clock it is a normal digital electric clock with the frame removed and is not something that would be safe to handle since it is plugged into main power with the innards exposed, touch the wrong thing and you are toast, not really something that should be brought into a classroom, as for looking like a bomb - well I guess to the uneducated anything could look like a bomb in that part of the country if it has wires connected to it

And plenty of space for a block of C4

[Taco]

at least they didn't rape his sister and decapitate him

[Jingthing]

Better bodies still intact, than politically correct.

I can see the optics on this story don't look so good, but if there was a concern about a bomb, they really had no choice but to react.

[smedly]

maybe just me but are you all making an assumption that the teacher who made the complaint is not a muslim ? I would have thought in that part of the country the teacher is very likely to infact be a muslim

anyway enough said in this thread for me, imo that thing should never have been brought into a classroom simply because I believe it is dangerous to other kids from electrocution

[Ghostnigel]

well it is not a homemade clock it is a normal digital electric clock with the frame removed and is not something that would be safe to handle since it is plugged into main power with the innards exposed, touch the wrong thing and you are toast, not really something that should be brought into a classroom, as for looking like a bomb - well I guess to the uneducated anything could look like a bomb in that part of the country if it has wires connected to it

If it is indeed powered by the mains and not batteries , all the exposed "innards" would be behind the transformer & rectifier , and be a low DC voltage , completely harmless.

The US is completely out of control paranoid : a teen kisses another teen in school on a dare , and he's a sexual deviant , another brings a selfmade digital clock and considdered a terrorist bombmaker.

Scenario 2). It turns out to be a bomb, and he explodes it....

Then the police are wrong for NOT doing anything, better safe, than sorry.

Remember a certain Erawan Shrine incident? A backpack left unattended, probably people (who are now DEAD) thought that it was just an innocent backpack, result, over 20 people dead.....wake up you pc brigade, its a different world now.

Everyone trying to get on a plane with liquids is 'suspicious'. But 99.9% of them are innocent, BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY......If you STILL don't understand it, then there is no hope for any of us.

[RPCVguy]

The 9th grader takes it to show his teacher. ... then another teacher. They report him, and take him to a room with 5 police officers and the school principal. They interrogated him for 1½ hours and ignored his requst for calling his parents... all because of his name being Islamic.
This should not have been what transpired, but as others point out - paranoia runs deep in the USA.

In this instance, his brains and social outcry did act to soften the injustice...

Ahmed Mohamed gets an invitation from his dream school

Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas 14-year-old who was arrested for bringing a homemade digital clock to school after a teacher said it looked like a bomb, receives an invitation to visit his dream college, MIT.