Engineering while brown/non-Christian

[freyar]

Yuck. Just yuck.

And it's not limited to this poor kid, either. The US Justice Dept (based on an FBI investigation) indicted the chair of the Temple University physics department with four counts of wire fraud for "economic espionage" in May because he'd sent some emails to colleagues in China. Of course, the investigators didn't bother to find out that the emails had nothing to do with economically valuable technology. Charges were just dropped, but he was placed on leave from his job, has suffered damage to his reputation, and probably incurred substantial legal fees (he could have faced 80 years in prison and a million dollar fine). Another example of overreaction and lack of sense. Article here.

 

[was]

...Ok. I finally found a picture of the actual 'clock' in question. I can see why a teacher would be concerned for her students' safety when this thing started beeping in the middle of her class.

..Sorry...the link to the picture stopped working and I can't figure out how to fix it.

...There's been a lot of conflicting stories/allegations. From what I gather, he took it to school for a class project. The male (engineering?)teacher approved it, but told him not to show it in other classes. He then put it into his bag where it remained until it beeped in another class.

.....The second teacher, a female English teacher, asked to see it and thought it was a bomb. She then confiscated it and called the principal who called the police to investigate. This is proper procedure today for most school districts.

...Many people are under the mistaken impression that teachers have discretion in interpreting the seriousness of potential threats. The reality today is that such discretion is beyond the authority given to teachers by school districts.

..."The school issued a statement saying it "always ask our students and staff to immediately report if they observe any suspicious items". In reality, the term ask should be replaced with 'demand' when applied to school staff.

...Up to this point, the actions taken by the school are logical and by-the-book. It's when the police show up, handcuff the kid and treat him like a criminal before really doing any investigation that things go seriously awry.

...The police response was: "The apparent contents of the “bomb” were a circuit board, a power supply, and a digital display, all of which prompted Dallas police spokesperson to say “It could reasonably be mistaken as a device if left in a bathroom or under a car. The concern was, what was this thing built for? Do we take him into custody?”

...While that sounds like a reasonable argument, I do think that they could have done their investigation while still at the school. This kid hardly looks like a credible threat that needs to be cuffed and hauled off to the police station in full view of his classmates.

...Regardless of how this incident happened, the student won in the end. He pretty much got everything he ever wanted. A trip to the Whitehouse, the attention of his dream school, MIT, and the support of wealthy technolgists like Mark Zuckerberg.

http://www.businessinsider.com/ahmed-mohamed-arrested-after-bringing-clock-to-high-school-2015-9
http://www.todayonline.com/world/americas/boys-arrest-over-clock-stirs-outrage-wins-him-time-obama
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34266389
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/0...rested_for_bringing_homemade_clock_to_school/

 

[tomBitonti]

I'm OK with most of that, until ...

...The police response was: "The apparent contents of the “bomb” were a circuit board, a power supply, and a digital display, all of which prompted Dallas police spokesperson to say “It could reasonably be mistaken as a device if left in a bathroom or under a car. The concern was, what was this thing built for? Do we take him into custody?”

Bold added by me.

And, if any of those things were done, that seems to be cause for an arrest. At that point in time, the device was demonstrably not a bomb, and there was no evidence of intent. And, the device was in police custody, and the student was not a visible threat. The leap to an arrest and interrogation, and the denial of access to a parent or guardian, seem to still be a problem.

Thx!

TomB

 

[was]

I'm OK with most of that, until ...

Bold added by me.

And, if any of those things were done, that seems to be cause for an arrest. At that point in time, the device was demonstrably not a bomb, and there was no evidence of intent. And, the device was in police custody, and the student was not a visible threat. The leap to an arrest and interrogation, and the denial of access to a parent or guardian, seem to still be a problem. TomB

...Good point. I think that the whole situation/investigation could have easily been handled in the principle's office with both the police and a parent/legal guardian present. Even if Texas law doesn't requires the presence of a parent/guardian, one should have been there.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'm pretty sure Texas Law does require presence of a parent or legal guardian when interrogating a minor, but my last exposure to our criminal code is more than a decade past.

As I recall, there's a distinction between questioning and interrogation, but if the kid is a suspect in custody, I'm pretty sure it is an official interrogation, with full Miranda, etc. protection being applicable.

 

[billd91]

...Regardless of how this incident happened, the student won in the end. He pretty much got everything he ever wanted. A trip to the Whitehouse, the attention of his dream school, MIT, and the support of wealthy technolgists like Mark Zuckerberg.

Some people are trying to make things right, but that's not going to change the way he felt when the system was turning on him for kit bashing a clock. So he got quite a bit more than he ever wanted - some of it pretty bad.

 

[Janx]

Some people are trying to make things right, but that's not going to change the way he felt when the system was turning on him for kit bashing a clock. So he got quite a bit more than he ever wanted - some of it pretty bad.

Ultimately that's the problem right there. He might not have PTSD from this, but I would bet he'll have recurring troubled memories of the incident.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Hopefully, he can turn it into a positive.

 

[billd91]

Ultimately that's the problem right there. He might not have PTSD from this, but I would bet he'll have recurring troubled memories of the incident.

As well as cynicism, distrust of his teachers and school administrators, the humiliation...

 

[Scorpio616]

...Ok. I finally found a picture of the actual 'clock' in question. I can see why a teacher would be concerned for her students' safety when this thing started beeping in the middle of her class.

..Sorry...the link to the picture stopped working and I can't figure out how to fix it.

...There's been a lot of conflicting stories/allegations. From what I gather, he took it to school for a class project. The male (engineering?)teacher approved it, but told him not to show it in other classes. He then put it into his bag where it remained until it beeped in another class.

.....The second teacher, a female English teacher, asked to see it and thought it was a bomb. She then confiscated it and called the principal who called the police to investigate. This is proper procedure today for most school districts.

Damn right, to most people's perceptions, a ramshackle disassembled clock is just a distressingly small piece of explosive short of being a bomb. And the actual differences are way outside the paygrade of teachers, principals & local cops.