14-year-old Texas boy arrested for bringing homemade clock

[Cow Poke]

I certainly hope I've retained that bit of my Network+ cert.

Well, truth be told, I haven't kept it up, so I'd have to refer to my notes.

So why are you looking at an unplugged LED display and asking where the time would show up?

Because it was a crappy picture, and I didn't realize that the display was actually that huge red bar at the top of the case. One of the devices inside the case looked like it was a clock display. Tabibito made it much more clear with the contrast.

[tabibito]

Yes, and it takes FAR fewer components to make that display show time than are depicted in the photo.

The picture shows: LED readout, Printed circuit board with ribbon feed to the LED, 9V battery connector (pale blue, left), AC - DC transformer with appropriate leads. The PCB doesn't seem to be overly complex, but it looks oversized because of the components being individual resistors and such, much as would be expected of a home assembled electronics kit prior to micro circuits. I can't see anything that doesn't belong to a digital clock. (The chequered object doesn't seem to be part of or connected to the assembly - maybe a folded cloth)

[Sam]

Just so we're all pretty much agreed that no one could reasonably look at that set-up, have the kid explain that it's a clock, and still be baffled or incredulous.

[Cow Poke]

The picture shows: LED readout, Printed circuit board with ribbon feed to the LED, 9V battery connector (pale blue, left), AC - DC transformer with appropriate leads. The PCB doesn't seem to be overly complex, but it looks oversized because of the components being individual resistors and such, much as would be expected of a home assembled electronics kit prior to micro circuits. I can't see anything that doesn't belong to a digital clock. (The chequered object doesn't seem to be part of or connected to the assembly - maybe a folded cloth)

So, you obviously know something about electronic components. Good on you. Are you assuming the cops and school officials were that familiar with the components?

[tabibito]

So, you obviously know something about electronic components. Good on you. Are you assuming the cops and school officials were that familiar with the components?

Not in the least, but I am familiar with procedures regarding a suspicious object. So while I would expect that the response would be in accord with those procedures. Like: could the police be expected to see that object and realise that there is no evidence of explosives? If they couldn't, could they be expected to call the bomb squad? could it be expected that they would tamper with the object?

And either way, should they be expected to take a person into custody without knowing whether an offence had actually been committed?

[Mountain Man]

How is it suspicious to answer "It's a clock" when that's exactly what it was?

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...ophobia-clock/

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Based on other details that have emerged, it seems the kid got exactly the reaction he wanted.

[Sam]

"It's a clock" is a sufficient answer, given what the officers were looking at.

[Cow Poke]

Not in the least, and I am familiar with procedures regarding a suspicious object. So while I would expect that the response would be in accord with those procedures. Like: could the police be expected to see that object and realise that there is no evidence of explosives? If they couldn't, could they be expected to call the bomb squad? could it be expected that they would tamper with the object?

The stated offense dealt with a "hoax bomb". Even the kid has said that. That's been pretty consistent in this story. The concern was that the kid built a FAKE bomb to cause excitement or fear. In the "hoax bomb" scenario, there doesn't need to be "evidence of explosives".

I think that's what keeps getting lost in all this hysteria --- It's all about a FAKE bomb.

And either way, should they be expected to take a person into custody without knowing whether an offence had actually been committed?

You and I don't have all the information available to the school officials and police at the time, so I'm going to do the reasonable thing and say I don't know. I think there are a whole lot of assumptions going on here on both sides.

And, actually, it's very common to take a person into custody without knowing that an offense had actually been committed - that's what "probable cause" is all about.

[Mountain Man]

"It's a clock" is a sufficient answer, given what the officers were looking at.

No, it wasn't a sufficient answer, you liberal dumbass, not when the questions were "Why did you make it?" "Why did you bring it to school?" Etc.

[tabibito]

http://www.breitbart.com/big-governm...ophobia-clock/

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Based on other details that have emerged, it seems the kid got exactly the reaction he wanted.

The young man's responses might be attributed to sheer panic at the way he was approached. However, if that article is right - the police assuredly played into his father's hands.

[One Bad Pig]

How did anyone ever get that idea :-/

Oh, wait, it's because the grammar nazi made a stupid grammatical mistake by saying "part of" instead of "at"

edit: incidentally, correcting people on typo's is kind of a waste of time. So what if someone writes advise instead of advice? Or the wrong version of there? I mean, you mostly do it when you've got nothing better to say (like now) because your arguments (and jokes, incidentally) are terrible

For someone who allegedly teaches English, you appear to be incredibly poor at practicing what you teach.

[Cow Poke]

The young man's responses might be attributed to sheer panic at the way he was approached.

There is nothing in any of the stories - even the kid's own account - that indicates he was in a panic mode in any way, shape or form. Zero evidence. He seems like a pretty calm and cool customer.

However, if that article is right - the police assuredly played into his father's hands.

It's always easy to "monday morning quarterback" a decision that officials have to make based on the limited information available to them at the time.

[Sam]

Well, it took a couple days but it looks like we know what the line is going to be: the kid built a fake bomb to get media attention that obviously looked like a basic electrical engineering class project and kept calling it a "clock" in order to have plausible deniability that it was really a fake bomb. Once again, Pamela Gellar and Frank Gaffney show the way.

alice-face-palm-featured.jpg

[Cow Poke]

Well, it took a couple days but it looks like we know what the line is going to be: the kid built a fake bomb

Sam, from the VERY FIRST - not a couple days later - it was about a "fake bomb"... even the kid said so.

Source: CNN from WEDNESDAY

"They arrested me and they told me that I committed the crime of a hoax bomb, a fake bomb," the freshman later explained to WFAA after authorities released him."

© Copyright Original Source

[Sam]

Sam, from the VERY FIRST - not a couple days later - it was about a "fake bomb"... even the kid said so.

Source: CNN from WEDNESDAY

"They arrested me and they told me that I committed the crime of a hoax bomb, a fake bomb," the freshman later explained to WFAA after authorities released him."

© Copyright Original Source

My point is that's what the counter-response to this event will be. One would hope that a couple days' reflection on the poor judgement of looking at a clock, having the kid tell you it's a clock and deciding that he actually made a fake bomb would be enough time to realize what a loser of an argument that is. Yet, here we are -- there's gotta be some reason this wasn't a massive failure of common sense, some way to put this back on the kid.