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

[Cerebrum123]

Yeah... root bear.

What's a root bear?

[Sam]

As always, there's even more to the story. He had the "clock" hidden in his backpack and only revealed it to a teacher after its alarm went off.

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(NYPost) Ahmed Mohamed, 14, was arrested by cops in Irving, Texas, after the clock, made from a circuit board and tucked into his backpack, started sounding its alarm. When he was forced to show it to his teacher, she mistook it for a bomb.

http://nypost.com/2015/09/16/muslim-...lock-for-bomb/

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The more facts we learn, the less Ahmed looks like an innocent victim.

Oh, you never said that the kid had his project stored in his school backpack. Changes the whole perspective.

[Mountain Man]

Another story describes the clock as making a ticking sound.

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(news.com.au) When the clock began ticking in class, an English teacher claimed it looked suspicious, prompting the principal and several police officers to question him, search his belongings and march him from the school in handcuffs.

http://mobile.news.com.au/lifestyle/...-1227530988060

[Sam]

Another story describes the clock as making a ticking sound.

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(news.com.au) When the clock began ticking in class, an English teacher claimed it looked suspicious, prompting the principal and several police officers to question him, search his belongings and march him from the school in handcuffs.

http://mobile.news.com.au/lifestyle/...-1227530988060

Looking at the picture of the clock, would you say was "ticking"?

[Mountain Man]

So we have a Muslim kid sneaking something that could easily be mistaken for a briefcase bomb into school in his backpack, a teacher became suspicious when it started making a ticking sound, and the teen adopted a passive aggressive attitude when questioned by school authorities and the police and refused to explain himself. But let's just go ahead and accuse the police and school of overreacting. That's a totally reasonable conclusion. At least if you're a low-information moron.

[Mountain Man]

Looking at the picture of the clock, would you say was "ticking"?

You're right, I'm sure the teacher was lying about that. No really.

[Sam]

You're grasping. The same article describes it as "beeping." And by that article, the kid wasn't "sneaking" it: he showed it to his teacher, who advised him not to show it off to other teachers. So it was in his backpack. Let's say, then, that the alarm goes off and it starts beeping. The kid shows it to his teacher who ... suspects it's a bomb? Doesn't evacuate the class. Then the kid explains to other school officials and the police that it's a clock, having shown it already to the engineering teacher, and gets arrested for ... reasons.

This Quixotic effort to pin the blame on the kid is equal parts risible and revolting.

[One Bad Pig]

So we have a Muslim kid sneaking something that could easily be mistaken for a briefcase bomb into school in his backpack,

That he showed to a teacher?

a teacher became suspicious when it started making a ticking sound,

That would be the "alarm" going off.

and the teen adopted a passive aggressive attitude when questioned by school authorities and the police and refused to explain himself.

Doesn't sound like anything unusual for teenagers.

But let's just go ahead and accuse the police and school of overreacting. That's a totally reasonable conclusion. At least if you're a low-information moron.

I'm a low-information moron now?

[Mountain Man]

You're grasping. The same article describes it as "beeping." And by that article, the kid wasn't "sneaking" it: he showed it to his teacher, who advised him not to show it off to other teachers. So it was in his backpack. Let's say, then, that the alarm goes off and it starts beeping. The kid shows it to his teacher who ... suspects it's a bomb? Doesn't evacuate the class. Then the kid explains to other school officials and the police that it's a clock, having shown it already to the engineering teacher, and gets arrested for ... reasons.

This Quixotic effort to pin the blame on the kid is equal parts risible and revolting.

Typical liberal response: I cite facts, and you bend over backwards to explain them away.

[Mountain Man]

That he showed to a teacher?

That would be the "alarm" going off.

Doesn't sound like anything unusual for teenagers.

I'm a low-information moron now?

You tell me. I'm just describing the facts.

[rogue06]

What's a root bear?

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[Irate Canadian]

Typical liberal response: I cite facts, and you bend over backwards to explain them away.

Yeah! Lets hand wave any other possible explanation away! /s

[One Bad Pig]

You tell me. I'm just describing the facts.

I think you're doing rather more than that.

[Sparko]

Innocent until proven guilty, Teal. Accusing somebody of having a bomb when you don't know the first thing about one is never justified. One doesn't have to be an expert to know the difference between a circuit board hooked into a display panel, and an actual explosive device.

I am an electronics expert and sometimes it is NOT possible to tell the difference, expecially when the clock is bread boarded. If you don't know how to spot an actual explosive, a bomb and a clock can look pretty similar. And most people won't disassemble a device to see if it contains explosive material or not. Not worth the risk.

[Sparko]

This is the clock he made

fullsizerender.jpg

being that it is in a briefcase and there are places where you can't tell what is behind like the red area on the lid, there is no way anyone can look at it and say "duh. that's a clock, not a bomb"

Now having said that, the teacher who Ahmed showed the clock to should know Ahmed well enough to know whether he would make a bomb or not. A stranger would not. I for one, would not risk my life to find out if it is a bomb or not.