Elaborate Media Hoax: 14 Year Old Arrested for Bringing Clock to School

Kids have got into trouble for making all sorts of pretend 'weapons' from innocent material. Biting a pop tart into a gun shape, using a stick as a gun, using their fingers to make a gun shape etc. Also drawings of arms get much younger kids into trouble [read: seeing headmaster, parents invited to school for lecturing about the deviancy of their offspring].

With that in mind, a much older kid makes something that is too crap to make him look any good but it sure LOOKS LIKE a bomb. If we go by previous behaviour of schools [zero tolerance to any arms, even if they only vaguely resemble the real thing], then it is quite logical to bring this older kid to the headmaster as well.

I am not someone that lies to kids. If they make something that is sloppy, I'll tell them. If they make something amazing, I also tell them.
What this boy produced was useless and sloppy. He merely took the insides of a clock and transferred them into a pencilcase.
That is well below the level of competency of a 14 year old. Unless it was meant to LOOK LIKE a bomb.

I think I mentioned it before but if you live in a country that experiences bomb attacks by terrorists [UK in this case but US is also a target] and when the government and even the announcer in the Underground tells you not to leave your luggage unattended [because it could be a bomb], then making something resembling a bomb is super stupid...or 'funny'...or deliberate for some reason.

I had the bad luck to be in a building when two [IRA] bombs went off [Our flat was on top of a of shopping centre]. I can not tell you how scared I was when it ripped me from my sleep, once - massive bang, then an automated voice telling people to get out [apart from those who lived above, we had to stay put]. tehn another bang, lampshades swaying me hyperventilating, believing the building to collapse. Later that day I came down with shell shock badly.

Anyway, a few years later I found an unattended, strangely square sports bag in the Ladies loo. Guess what? With my experience, I immediately felt scared witless. I went to tell the boss but was laughed at, and later a woman told me that I was 'silly' and it was her bag. Was I really 'silly'? or was I more vigilant due to experience?

Now, back to the boy. These things strike me different from other kids:

- He's 14, not 8. His clock is crap, only good for one thing: to resemble a homemade bomb [even if this wasn't his intentions, I expect more from a 14 year old 'genius].
- Why disguise it to make it look less suspicious??? Did he know it looked suspicious?
- Bring any weapon [or rubber knife or water pistol in pink] to school and you'll get into trouble! Even if you don't agree or did not intend for this to happen, it happens, because such is the school regulation. Knife, gun, bomb, they are all weapons and you'll get into trouble bringing a mildly resembling part to school.

I was once in court, as witness to a gun being held at close range to me, turned out it was 'only' a legal sawn off air gun. I was told that one thing I said, nailed him and that was; "if it looks like a gun, I'll be scared for my life, regardless of what it is in 'reality'.

Same with this. If it looks like a bomb, has digital numbers like a bomb, is carried around by a person of muslim faith [call me all you want, it is a point to be taken into consideration!], is hidden like a bomb, then even if it is 'only' a clock, as a parent I would be happy for the boy to get a good talking to. It can only be ignorance or purpose or extreme naivite, neither which are helping him or the other kids in any way.

Did he have to be handcuffed? Well no. His parents should have been asked to pick him up, and he should have been told off accordingly, but we don't know what led up to the police being called.

The action of the parents show a complete disregard as to the 'why' of the whole situation. They see it as an attack on muslims [which would hold true if it wasn't for all the other non-muslim kids to also get into trouble], I see it as a lack of deliberate misunderstanding of the world we live in nowadays and not being able to put yourself into other people's shoes.

If I EVER see a device like that, anywhere, unattended or in the hands of a suspect, I WILL mention it to someone. I WILL stay vigilant and I WILL be glad if it turns out 'just' to be something innocent. Politeness has cost people's live here in Britain [7/7 bus bomb, sweaty guy with rucksack??? Big red flag but it was polite not to worry, you know why]. Actually only a day after, my sister in law got off a bus a few stops early because a praying, nervous looking muslim guy was rocking to and fro, with a backpack - obviously nothing happened, but was she vigilant or a bigot? What would you do with your two kids in tow? a day after a lot of people died?]

Sorry, it is neither 'racist' nor bigoted to use common sense. I call people who are happy to be ignorant because they believe every human is a beautiful, innocent being: 'Naive to the 9th degree' and I wish you would be more suspicious too, because innocent people rely on YOU too to look out for their safety, not to be PC and dead.

originally posted by: symphonyofblase


I have a better conspiracy scenario.
We have a 14 year old muslim boy and his father. They come up with a plan to take a "home-made clock" to school, and intentionally designed it to look like a bomb in a case. They did this because of all the anti-muslim propaganda that is in the news every day, and they thought it might create a bit of a reaction that they could use for their own gain. They were far more successful than they could have imagined, and it was all because they used the mainstream media's "muslim fear-mongering" to their own advantage.

This is EXACTLY correct! PRECISELY! Well said!

I was going to post this exact same theme, so I'm glad I read back a way and found your response. And it bears repeating, hence my quotation of it.

And then...Dear Leader, reacting to the public outcry over some alleged social injustice, seizes upon yet another opportunity to parade a Muslim activist around the WH. Why not just invite OBL to dinner? Oh wait, another president already did that!

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk

And then...Dear Leader, reacting to the public outcry over some alleged social injustice, seizes upon yet another opportunity to parade a Muslim activist around the WH. Why not just invite OBL to dinner? Oh wait, another president already did that!

Thanks for clearing up this thread's purpose.

The right wing....unable to sufficiently explain their vitriol toward a child they never met..decided to construct a mountain of BS, lies and Glen Beck connect the dots..logic and facts be damned..conspiracy between the President of the United States, A small town Texas Sheriff and 14 Year old boy..

All so you can comfortably return to saying stupid SH*& about anyone with brown skin.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk

parade a Muslim activist around the WH. Why not just invite OBL to dinner?

So...14 year old American boy who likes to tinker with electronics and gets arrested for it....is equal to Osama Bin Laden...because of why again?

Put another way...the right wing can keep up the vitriol for brown people..Even construct conspiracies to excuse it ...from birth certificates to whatever this lump of crap of an OP is..

But in the long run...stupid loses. Just the way history rolls here in the USA.

The right wing wears lies and "conspiracy" as their hood in the national discussion these days, not to hide their identities, but to hide their fear, racism and bigotry.

So, why is it on this forum that there are all of these "the government knew about 9/11" and did nothing threads and how the evidence was there and if we looked closer we could have saved thousands. Evidence. If 'flags' were looked at there would not be an issue. This is one of those 'flags'.

I still find it funny that this kid is such a tech nerd genius as the MSM states and he made a clock at 14. A 5 year old could do what he did and a 10 year old could buy the parts at Radio Shack and actually make it himself. I know that because I did that as a kid. I took apart electronics all the time. The old calculators with the 'red' digits. However, I never took said pieces and put them in something that would resemble something else. Like this kid did.

Kid made out ok from MIcrosoft too with A Surface Pro 3, a Microsoft Band, a 3D printer, an Office 365 subscription, and much more.

Well played Ahmed...well played...however.....

side note - His father is also connected with the Koran burning pastor in Florida so if you do NOT think this is a CAIR/MSM orchestrated event I feel very bad for you....conditioning at its finest.

a reply to: Indigo5

I have nothing against "brown people" as you call them. Nothing at all. What I take issue with is why people cannot see this for what it is. What I have an issue with is Muslim extremists and terrorists. Now, there's a 99% chance this boy is NEITHER of the two. However, this doesn't change the fact that an electronic device, clock or otherwise, in a BRIEFCASE looks like a bomb! Further, if this kid is so bright, which I have no doubt he is, then why would he do something stupid like building a device inside of a case which has been stereotyped as a bomb in movies and the media for as long as I can remember??? (and that's a while). Why? Because he (or his father) likely knew it would cause a stir, that's why!

Secondly, if you, I or anyone else, regardless of skin color, religious affiliation or anything else, showed up at an airport with a device like this we would almost certainly be detained and questioned! So why do something stupid like this at a grade school? Anyone, again regardless of skin color or ethnic background, with a lick of common sense would know better than to do this. AND...if the boy didn't understand the connotation, I can guarantee his father darn sure did! This was a cute little stunt gone wrong on a national scale (maybe it went right in their mind, who knows), but it certainly wasn't some random innocent accidental occurrence. Anyone who thinks it was has their head buried in...the sand.

You probably might check your reading comprehension; I didn't compare the boy to OBL. I compared the lunacy of inviting a known terrorist to the WH vs. the lunacy of inviting this boy to the WH as a result of this incident under the clear guise of a different agenda.

For the record, I lived in Muslim countries for years. I have no issue with their culture, nor their people. Characterizing what I said as such is to misunderstand at very best. I quite like the Muslim people actually. Not all of them, but I don't like all non-Muslims either. My issue is with leadership and their continued agenda to make something seem what it isn't. AND, it's not just this administration, or just this president either. This has been going on for some time (democrat or republican). This is just another example. So, you can paint me any way which makes you feel better about yourself. However, my words here are pretty clear.

There are lots of other bright (brighter even) Muslim children in this country which would serve a far better example of creativity and ingenuity than this boy, so why pick him? Well, in the immortal words of Hillary Clinton...never let a good crisis go to waste.

Oh, and one last thing...just how creative was this supposed "clock"? Did he really make it? It's looking like he didn't.

And lastly, have you seen the pictures of the actual device? Not the ones the media put out initially (which were incorrect), not the ones where it had been disassembled and only selected pieces shown, but the pictures of the actual assembled device inside the case?

originally posted by: matafuchs

I still find it funny that this kid is such a tech nerd genius as the MSM states and he made a clock at 14. A 5 year old could do what he did and a 10 year old could buy the parts at Radio Shack and actually make it himself.

Meanwhile, in the world participating in reality, rational folks are asking what is the relevance? Is the argument that brown non-Christian American teenagers should be feared and arrested for insufficiently impressive DIY electronics?

side note - His father is also connected with the Koran burning pastor in Florida so if you do NOT think this is a CAIR/MSM orchestrated event I feel very bad for you....conditioning at its finest.

His dad started as a Hot Dog vendor in NYC and worked his ass off over 30 years in America to succeed.

He is associated with the Pastor In Florida because of the open challenge the pastor issued for someone to defend the Koran as a book that advocated peace...and he accepted that challenge.

He has twice been nominated and ran for President in his formerly native country of Sudan and ran twice in stark opposition to the extremist government there.

His platform included the repeal of all laws that made it illegal to convert to a different religion than Islam and ratifying international human rights treaties....He ran on a platform of allowing people to leave the Islamic Faith and recognizing human rights...

“This can be done easily. You put laws that conform to international conventions on human rights that would achieve social justice and assert individual freedoms. All laws that restrict freedoms will be abolished,” said Mohamed El-Hassan who is running on the National Reform Party (NRP) ticket.

ElHassan recognized that all people make mistakes but said that the treatment that his son experienced, "in front of his friends and his teacher inside of his school — that is not America. That is not us. That is not like us."

His father from hot dog vendor to successful entrepreneur...practicing his faith while consistently fighting for others rights to practice their own different faith..is one hell of an American by any standard that matters.

What the right wing is doing with this smear campaign is everything that is wrong with America.

Or as the father put it...

ElHassan recognized that all people make mistakes but said that the treatment that his son experienced, "in front of his friends and his teacher inside of his school — that is not America. That is not us. That is not like us."

www.sudantribune.com...
www.vox.com...
www.nydailynews.com...

originally posted by: gentledissident
a reply to: MystikMushroom

There were obviously no explosives present. It was a short scare. It was a briefcase bomb without the explosives and not some amazing clock like the Arduino type device portrayed.

Short scare eh? Then why was he still in handcuffs some time later?

Have you ever traveled internationally? If you have, then you know that leaving a backpack or bag of any kind unattended for any length of time can cause an evacuation of the concourse. If a bomb is suspected, there are no games. I've seen campuses evacuated over a mysterious brown paper bag.

If this was indeed seen as a threat; the teachers, administrators and authorities certainly did not act in ways conducive to it being so.

If they did suspect this clock to be some kind of bomb initially, they acted in a way that is totally out of character and inconsistent with any kind of procedure pertaining to potential explosive threats.

a reply to: MystikMushroom
what is so hard to understand that if you are involved in a hoax bomb scare then they will then have to determine your intentions. again intent is the whole of the law

a reply to: MystikMushroom

They probably figured out it was not hot fairly soon. I think their concern is that he perpetrated a hoax which is against the law. According to law enforcement, when they attempted to question him, he was passive aggressive and less than totally cooperative.

IMO, it was staged, if not by the 14-yr. old, by his father. According to articles I read, his activist father encouraged him to take it to school. hmmmmmn.

a reply to: queenofswords

If you suspect a bomb, you don't stand around and poke at it to determine if it is or isn't. If you think "that might be a bomb!" you evac and call authorities to check it out.

No one in that school was qualified to make the call that it wasn't a bomb.

And that, to me, is troubling. I wouldn't want my children attending a school where the staff arrogantly believes they know a credible threat from a hoax. It very well could have been a bomb. When it comes to situations like this, these kinds of decisions can cost lives.

Nine times out of ten when the bomb squad shows up, the backpack or device turns out to be nothing harmful. And yet, the bomb squads are still always called because being cautious saves lives.

If this was initially deemed as a bomb threat, the staff at that school did not react in a way conducive to keeping the students and staff safe.

The actions of the faculty clearly indicate that they did not see this device as a threat. The question then becomes this: if the devices was not recognized as a threat, why was it called a "bomb" after the kid was in handcuffs?

I wonder how many of the people attacking the kid here would like the tables turned, and the same thing said about their children?

Anyways.... I keep bringing this point up, but no one answers it...

Mad Scientist of the Month: Who’s Afraid of Taylor Wilson?

Taylor Wilson makes people nervous. While his beanpole frame and Justin Bieber–esque haircut suggest he’s just a harmless kid, his after-school activities paint a far more ominous picture. At age 10, he built his first bomb out of a pill bottle and household chemicals. At 11, he started mining for uranium and buying vials of plutonium on the Internet. At 14, he became the youngest person in the world to build a nuclear fusion reactor.

mentalfloss.com...

The people decrying Ahmed Mohamed - please explain to me why in your world Talyor Wilson from the article above isn't in a Max Security Prison for the rest of his days, and why you aren't launching scathing attacks against him?

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: Indigo5

I have nothing against "brown people" as you call them. Nothing at all. What I take issue with is why people cannot see this for what it is. What I have an issue with is Muslim extremists and terrorists.

It is abundantly clear that this boy, nor his father are either.

this doesn't change the fact that an electronic device, clock or otherwise, in a BRIEFCASE looks like a bomb!

So...maybe this is a cultural thing. Many "liberal" engineering types with kids understand that building electronic digital clocks is a good starter exercise for understanding electronics.

Google "DIY Digital Clock"...you get hundreds of returns for kits for people wanting to understand the basics and build their own digital clocks...many geared toward kids.

Or try ebay?
www.ebay.com...

Next up is ELECTRONIC PACKAGING...you need something to hold it together....

this doesn't change the fact that an electronic device, clock or otherwise, in a BRIEFCASE looks like a bomb!

Briefcase?????

.......hint..look at the plug beside the case for scale



ITS A PENCIL CASE...NOT BRIEFCASE


The HOAX is this OP.

a reply to: neformore

I wonder how many of the people attacking the kid here would like the tables turned, and the same thing said about their children?

I have been in the situation with mine and it is not rocket science that they have to determine the intentions of such actions. Failure to do so could result in a kid needing help and not getting it and that is what this is turning out to happen.

the actual size is in between the pencil case you showed us and a briefcase

a reply to: Indigo5

nice try those cases are two different sizes and have different features but even if a criminal used your box and built a bomb it could kill multiple people. If someone wants to get an exact dimension on the box they can use the standard plug in the fake bomb for reference

originally posted by: neformore

The people decrying Ahmed Mohamed - please explain to me why in your world Talyor Wilson from the article above isn't in a Max Security Prison for the rest of his days, and why you aren't launching scathing attacks against him?

Because he is neither brown nor Muslim.

That is just the truth of it that everyone on both sides of the debate knows to be true whether they admit it or not. The rest is just BS, constructed conspiracy, squirming etc.

originally posted by: deadeyedick
a reply to: Indigo5

nice try those cases are two different sizes

No...they are precisely the same. It was a pencil case. Thus the picture the right wing has been showing (while often conveniently cropped to exclude the plug beside it for scale) is exactly the same picture.

How bad do you want to abuse your brain for this?

How about we claim that is a freakishly large plug beside the "briefcase" only making it look identical to a widely available small pencil case?

Then you can claim that every vendor of that pencil case has gone back and jacked the internet to make it appear like it is a common item...all part of the conspiracy!!

if this kid had been white and named, say, 'Brad' , then this story would never have been a story.

a reply to: Indigo5
they look similar but they are not the same

fyi they make more than one size of cases

just because it has the same color patterns does not mean they are the same but even if it was the smallest case you could find it could still be made deadly.

originally posted by: neformore
I wonder how many of the people attacking the kid here would like the tables turned, and the same thing said about their children?

Anyways.... I keep bringing this point up, but no one answers it...

Mad Scientist of the Month: Who’s Afraid of Taylor Wilson?

Taylor Wilson makes people nervous. While his beanpole frame and Justin Bieber–esque haircut suggest he’s just a harmless kid, his after-school activities paint a far more ominous picture. At age 10, he built his first bomb out of a pill bottle and household chemicals. At 11, he started mining for uranium and buying vials of plutonium on the Internet. At 14, he became the youngest person in the world to build a nuclear fusion reactor.

mentalfloss.com...

The people decrying Ahmed Mohamed - please explain to me why in your world Talyor Wilson from the article above isn't in a Max Security Prison for the rest of his days, and why you aren't launching scathing attacks against him?

So, did Wilson actually build something himself, with the supervision of adults and university professors to increase his knowledge in a certain field he had interest in? Or did he shuffle some parts from one case to another and take it to school, disregarding teachers' instructions to not show it off, in what is starting to look like an agenda-driven publicity stunt?

You're comparing apples to oranges. Wilson's research was valuable to the government. Taking an alarm clock and moving it from one case to another so it looks kind of like a bomb isn't anywhere near the same level. If the intent was for people to think it was a bomb, and therefore cause a desired reaction, that is worlds away from what Taylor Wilson was hoping to accomplish.

originally posted by: RoScoLaz4
if this kid had been white and named, say, 'Brad' , then this story would never have been a story.

that is how you feel and not a symptom of the truth

everyday brad is put under just as much scrutiny in school as ahmed is.

this has been proven time and time again and you yourself have posted in such threads where kids have been expelled for simular