Boy arrested for homemade ‘bomb’ clock gets silver lining: White House dinner and Facebook job offer

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Boy arrested for homemade ‘bomb’ clock gets White House dinner and Facebook job offer

Ways to get invited to the White House for dinner: Make a clock that looks like a bomb.

Ahmed Mohamed, 14, was arrested after his teacher mistook the timepiece for an explosive device.

But Obama has since tweeted inviting the boy for dinner. Then Mark Zuckerberg said he was keen to meet the boy over at Facebook HQ.

What a day it’s been for Ahmed.


Read more: http://metro.co.uk/2015/09/16/boy-arrested-for-homemade-bomb-clock-gets-invited-for-dinner-at-white-house-5394861/#ixzz3m0JywEFF

Ben_Reilly wrote:Sorry, didn't read the whole thread. I hope it's OK now.

Islamophobia exists all through this country, Quill. Here's one of your representatives: https://twitter.com/asmMelendez/status/565177018354913282

I really wasn't entertaining an argument on that point, Ben.  But your state has a problem when it comes to American values.  First in death sentences (of mostly black men); first voter suppression; first in shutting down abortion clinics...many other things.  

Don't take it personally; I used to live in Arizona, and I remember having to say the same thing about where I lived.  California, by contrast, is a breath of fresh air.  We've got some bad Congressmen from LA and Orange Counties, and elsewhere, but we most always have a stable, Democratic government that keeps the kooks in line.  In Texas, they are in command. Same with the inhabitants. California is the largest state in the union, by population. LA is the second largest city. It's bound to have some kooks and idiots in the back alleys. But they are not in charge.

This story is poignant, not because it doesn't happen elsewhere, but because Texas authorities have no conscience in the afterthought.  I just watched an interview of the Chief of Police of Irving.  The young man gave testimony that the police officer made a racial reference toward him at the beginning of the interview.  The cop denied.  The Chief indicated he would take the cop's word for it.  No investigation.  No conscience.  

How do you think police have gotten away with criminal actions for eons?  It's called the Blue Wall...they cover it up.  We both know that an interrogation of a juvenile cannot take place without a parent or guardian.  Texas law says the same, plain and simple.  But the Chief simply shrugs and says it was a confusing situation.  Blue wall of silence.

There are many beautiful things about Texas--yourself and Wendy Davis among them.  But there were many beautiful things about Germany, and look what happened to them.  You got problems.  All southern states have problems.  I'm at the point where I'm saying Trump is right, we need a wall.  But not along the Rio Grande.

rving Police Chief Larry Boyd refused to say on Thursday that his officers erred in arresting 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed on Monday even though they allegedly knew he did not bring a bomb to his high school. MSNBC host Chris Hayes gave Boyd the opportunity to admit to a mistake, while conceding that people understood that officers need to be on high alert regarding possible attacks against a school.


However, Hayes said, “I think it’s hard for folks watching this from the outside, seeing this all link up, seeing this kid — who seems like a tremendously poised, bright, genuine kid — be put through this. To not hear from anyone in officialdom down there that ‘Yeah, we didn’t get this one right.'” “The officers made the decision they did with the information they had with what they thought was right at the time,” Boyd responded. “We are clearly going to review this. We want to always look at ways we can enhance and have a better outcome. There’s a lot of decision points, there’s a lot of alternatives that they have available to them.”


Mohamed was taken out of MacArthur High School in handcuffs on Monday after being accused of making a “hoax bomb” and bringing it to school. While the community’s anti-Muslim mayor has also defended his arrest, the freshman quickly gained support online as well as from both President Barack Obama’s administration and the academic world.

Hayes pointed out that, despite the allegations against the teen, no bomb squad was called to the MacArthur campus, nor was the campus evacuated.


“Once it’s determined that this is just a clock or just a piece of electronics, why then the arrest and all of that?” he asked Boyd. “That’s very hard for folks to understand.”

“I get that. I understand the concern,” the chief responded. “The officers pretty quickly determined that they weren’t investigating an explosive device. What their investigation centered around is the law violation of bringing a device into a facility like that that is intended to create a level of alarm. In other words, a hoax bomb — something that is not really a bomb, but is designed and presented in a way that it creates people to be afraid.”

“Right, but he never called it a bomb, right?” Hayes countered. “He just kept calling it a clock. I mean, it never came out of his lips, he never did something or started showing it around saying, ‘Look at this bomb I have.’ He said, ‘Look at my clock.'”


“There definitely was some confusion and some level of information that didn’t come out immediately,” Boyd said, adding that in many cases, someone who would make a “hoax bomb” would not be likely to admit to doing so to police. “With what they had at that time, they made the best decision that they had at that point in time,” he told a visibly skeptical Hayes.



http://www.rawstory.com/2015/09/irving-police-chief-admits-cops-knew-ahmed-mohamed-didnt-have-a-bomb-when-they-arrested-him/

The overall tenor of that interview (and the job) of Chief Boyd was: Stall…When everyone forgets, we’ll bring down the blue wall of silence.

Oh sure, there was the Pablum about reviews, investigations, and “we’re looking into it…”  But you know they are just waiting for the hour when it will all go away.  The blue wall of silence.

Chief Boyd even contradicted himself in mid-interview: “There definitely was some confusion and some level of information that didn’t come out immediately,”  What confusion?  Earlier in the interview he had said: “The officers pretty quickly determined that they weren’t investigating an explosive device.”  Do you see any confusion?

But then he couldn’t let it go.  So he made something up:  “In other words, a hoax bomb…’ If we can’t getcha on one thing, we’ll getcha on the other thing.  He could as easily have added: Cause boy...we Texans don take lightly bein’ a fookin' muzzlem round these heah parts.

I don’t mind a state full of racists and authoritarian vermin.  What I mind is the absence of controls to keep them in check.  In California, we have those controls…and we are secure that while it’s possible we can watch such travesties as they unfold, the bug spray of due process will take clean ‘em up.

In the south, they ain't got no bug spray.

"I said: it's sad they thought that kid had a bomb.
She said: they didn't think he had a bomb.
I said: yes, they thought he made a bomb and even called the police.
She said: They just wanted to humiliate a little Muslim, African boy. They didn't think he had a bomb.
I said: Don't be a conspiracist. They might be a little prejudiced, but I'm sure they thought he had a bomb.
She said: Ok.
But they didn't evacuate the school, like you do when there's a bomb.
They didn't call a bomb squad - like you do when there's a bomb
They didn't get as far away from him as possible - like you do when there's a bomb.
Then they put him and the clock in an office- not like you do when there's a bomb
Then they waited with him for the police to arrive.
Then they put the clock in the same car as the police.
Then they took pictures of it.
I said: Damn
They never thought he had a bomb."

Irving is not a "good old boy" town. Population 232,406, 33 percent of whom are foreign-born, 41 percent Latino, 12 percent African-American, 12 percent Asian, and only 30.8 percent Anglo-American. It's within a short drive of 26 mosques and has two within city limits.

Ben_Reilly wrote:Irving is not a "good old boy" town. Population 232,406, 33 percent of whom are foreign-born, 41 percent Latino, 12 percent African-American, 12 percent Asian, and only 30.8 percent Anglo-American. It's within a short drive of 26 mosques and has two within city limits.

Ok thanks for that info. You live in Texas?

Ben_Reilly wrote:Irving is not a "good old boy" town. Population 232,406, 33 percent of whom are foreign-born, 41 percent Latino, 12 percent African-American, 12 percent Asian, and only 30.8 percent Anglo-American. It's within a short drive of 26 mosques and has two within city limits.

Irving is a suburb of Dallis, I know. But look who gets to be in charge.  The good 'ole boy network somehow manages to get a lilly-white old man in charge of things.  And the lilly-white old man says things like We're lookin' into it... and ...weeeeeelllll, now, it were pretty confusin' round theah....  Stall, stall...until everyone forgets.

Look...I understand.  Mississippi actually has a majority black population.  Yet every elected official is a good 'ole white boy.  There's a club or league down in the south, in most every community, that runs things.  They put up the candidates.  They make sure the "right" people get elected.  Etc., etc., etc.  You might know, Ben.  What is it called?  Something like 'The Southern Community...' or 'South League'??

Presumably, they didn't think it was a real bomb, which is why they didn't evacuate the school. A hoax bomb could result in an arrest anyway couldn't it?

Raggamuffin wrote:Presumably, they didn't think it was a real bomb, which is why they didn't evacuate the school. A hoax bomb could result in an arrest anyway couldn't it?

It's a story made up on the spot. Opps...the world press is lookin' ovah heah...quick, tell 'em we thot it t'wer a fake bomb...gotta watch fer them fake bombs...pretty dan'erous, them fakes...

The same guy who said it was/was not confusing. Do you believe him? I don't.

SEXY MAMA wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:Irving is not a "good old boy" town. Population 232,406, 33 percent of whom are foreign-born, 41 percent Latino, 12 percent African-American, 12 percent Asian, and only 30.8 percent Anglo-American. It's within a short drive of 26 mosques and has two within city limits.

Ok thanks for that info. You live in Texas?

Yeah, I could drive to Irving within a few minutes.

My point to Quill is that while we do have a white power structure here, it's not like the Civil Rights-era South where law enforcement can get away with trying to run off people of the wrong skin color -- you're never going to kill off North Texas' diversity at this point.

I don't think the teachers were entirely unreasonable in worrying about this device, I think if they'd found it in a locker they'd have called the police as well. Did prejudice play into? Quite possibly. I would be more worried about a white kid carrying something like this under his trenchcoat than a glasses-wearing Muslim science geek wearing a NASA t-shirt who was showing the thing off to everyone who'd give him an opening, but that just shows that the specter of school violence hangs over this as much as anything else.

I do think there was a huge overreaction from the police, but it looks like all that accomplished was making this kid world-famous and getting him the silver lining the story discusses. He may very well look back on it someday as the best thing that ever happened to him.

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned on thread but for those on here who doubt this was Islamophobia, think about this.

If this really was a bomb scare, why wasn't the entire school not evacuated?

The excuse of putting the safety of other children doesn't hold true.

Ben_Reilly wrote:

SEXY MAMA wrote:

Ok thanks for that info. You live in Texas?

Yeah, I could drive to Irving within a few minutes.

My point to Quill is that while we do have a white power structure here, it's not like the Civil Rights-era South where law enforcement can get away with trying to run off people of the wrong skin color -- you're never going to kill off North Texas' diversity at this point.

I don't think the teachers were entirely unreasonable in worrying about this device, I think if they'd found it in a locker they'd have called the police as well. Did prejudice play into? Quite possibly. I would be more worried about a white kid carrying something like this under his trenchcoat than a glasses-wearing Muslim science geek wearing a NASA t-shirt who was showing the thing off to everyone who'd give him an opening, but that just shows that the specter of school violence hangs over this as much as anything else.

I do think there was a huge overreaction from the police, but it looks like all that accomplished was making this kid world-famous and getting him the silver lining the story discusses. He may very well look back on it someday as the best thing that ever happened to him.

I think we have to separate the cause from the effect...which you admit, was an unintended effect.  We can't turn it into a 'feel-good' story just because of an accidental finish.

If it's any consolation, I would be kicking equal ass if this were the Chief of Police of Sacramento or San Jose.  Not all of my animosity is reserved for the south.  The Blue Wall of Silence is practiced everywhere, perhaps nowhere more than New York City.

Dallas-Irving-Ft. Worth?  Don't forget, I've been there...got a daughter who lives in Southlake.  But, like Phoenix--perhaps without the Mormons--it is a nest of mid-American white people, comfortable in their beliefs and judgments, irritated by disturbances like dealing with Muslims and blacks.  

No doubt, it's not as bad as Harris County.  But still, it's a population that elects and re-elects white people, who then turn around and pick on black people, institutional though the process may be.  It's the south.  Somehow, Austin keeps coming up with these laws, and they keep making Texas, in many ways, the worst of the south.

Fuzzy Zack wrote:I'm not sure if this has been mentioned on thread but for those on here who doubt this was Islamophobia, think about this.

If this really was a bomb scare, why wasn't the entire school not evacuated?

The excuse of putting the safety of other children doesn't hold true.

Excellent point. One that Sexy Mama first mentioned, but bears repeating again and again:

Sexy Mama wrote:"I said: it's sad they thought that kid had a bomb.
She said: they didn't think he had a bomb.
I said: yes, they thought he made a bomb and even called the police.
She said: They just wanted to humiliate a little Muslim, African boy. They didn't think he had a bomb.
I said: Don't be a conspiracist. They might be a little prejudiced, but I'm sure they thought he had a bomb.
She said: Ok.
But they didn't evacuate the school, like you do when there's a bomb.
They didn't call a bomb squad - like you do when there's a bomb
They didn't get as far away from him as possible - like you do when there's a bomb.
Then they put him and the clock in an office- not like you do when there's a bomb
Then they waited with him for the police to arrive.
Then they put the clock in the same car as the police.
Then they took pictures of it.
I said: Damn
They never thought he had a bomb."

I doubt this would have made the news if it had been a white kid ...

Raggamuffin wrote:I doubt this would have made the news if it had been a white kid ...

The real point is: I doubt it would have happened if it was a white kid.

Original Quill wrote:

Raggamuffin wrote:I doubt this would have made the news if it had been a white kid ...

The real point is: I doubt it would have happened if it was a white kid.

I disagree.

Raggamuffin wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

The real point is: I doubt it would have happened if it was a white kid.

I disagree.

Yet it keeps happening, over and over to persons of color in the south. You can turn a blind eye, but the rest of us will keep noticing.