Ahmed's sister told me to post this. Yes this situation is real for those questioning. pic.twitter.com/Oxd0JxUS6O
— Prajwol/Ru (@OfficalPrajwol) September 16, 2015
You’ve surely heard the viral story of how 14 year-old Muslim student Ahmed Mohamed was interrogated, arrested and taken to a juvenile detention facility after bringing a homemade clock to school in Irving, Texas this week. The clock was mistaken for a ‘hoax bomb’, although the teacher to whom Ahmed first showed his invention was told it was a clock. Ahmed was a freshman at MacArthur high school, where his reputation as a gadget whiz had not yet been established. In his previous school, he was well known as the kid who could fix anything for anyone. At MacArthur he was not taken at his word and was seen as a Muslim kid who made something vaguely resembling a bomb.
So many people are outraged at how a bright young kid could be so horribly treated. Ahmed has received a personal invitation to the White House from President Obama, a scholarship to NASA space camp, internship offers at Twitter and Reddit, and shout outs from Facebook, Google and MIT. Everyone is talking about this kid and the injustice he suffered.
People Magazine has an interview with Ahmed’s dad in which he reveals that his son will be transferring to another school, although they’re not sure which one yet. Ahmed’s dad, aunt and sister also say that Ahmed is very skilled at fixing things:
He won’t be returning to MacArthur High again, his father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, tells PEOPLE.
“It will bring back bad memories for him,” he says of Ahmed, whom he describes as “bright, gifted and talented.”
Even as a young boy, Ahmed was intensely curious about how things worked, his uncle, Abdul Elhassan, tells PEOPLE. From cellphones to radios to light switches, he was enthralled. And if their car broke down, he’d offer to try to fix it himself.
“I’d say, ‘What are you talking about? You don’t even know how to drive!’ ” Elhassan recalls with a laugh.
He soon developed a reputation as the “fixer” in the family, as well as around the neighborhood and even at Sam Houston Middle School, which he attended until moving up to MacArthur High this fall.
“Everybody knew him” at his former school, says his aunt, Ekhlas “Lucy” Sirelkhtim.
“My daughter was in the same after-school program as he was and the teacher would say, ‘Let Ahmed come fix it’ if anything technical went wrong,” she recalls.
One of her favorite Ahmed inventions was a small car that transformed into a boat when placed in the bathtub. It turned back into a car on dry land.
“To be honest, the clock was not his best product,” she adds.
Creating electronic devices has long been Ahmed’s passion, says his sister, Eyman Mohamad, 18.
“It’s hard for most people to break something and put it back together, but for him, it’s fun,” she says.
As for the dramatic incident at school, Eyman says, “This isn’t right as an American. Ahmed loves to build and create; it’s his hobby. If this was someone else – not being Muslim, not being brown – it wouldn’t be a problem. It became racial discrimination. But the support we’re getting from everyone shows that America is standing up, and it’s so great to see.”
When her brother was taken to the police station on Monday, “he was really heartbroken,” his sister adds. “It just broke his little heart. But now he’s like, ‘I’m never going to stop, no matter what.’ He tells people, ‘Don’t be afraid to be yourself, no matter what the consequences are.’ ”
I love how Ahmed’s aunt points out that the clock wasn’t his greatest invention. This kid reminds me of my son and his interests and my heart went out to him after hearing what he went through. The future is going to be very promising for Ahmed, although I can tell that would have been the case whether or not he was subjected to this ignorant, over the top arrest. It looks like the opportunities are just going to come faster for him now. He’s set to appear on The Late Show with Colbert soon.
Here’s an interview with Ahmed. He said “it made me really happy to see all these people support me and support others.” He also revealed that he’ll be accepting Obama’s invitation to The White House. (The Guardian has some more comments from Ahmed.)
And here’s the Irving police chief giving a press conference trying to defend their decision to arrest Ahmed:
You have to admit those potatoes look a lot like grenades. #FreeAhmedMohamed pic.twitter.com/cwz4smzZze
— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) September 16, 2015
Hey Ahmed- we're saving a seat for you at this weekend's Google Science Fair…want to come? Bring your clock! #IStandwithAhmed
— Google Science Fair (@googlescifair) September 16, 2015
Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.
— President Obama (@POTUS) September 16, 2015
It would be so awesome for this kid to grow up and invent something so amazing he gets the Nobel prize or some other international accolade after this debacle.
+Everything in the whole world!
Love all the support he’s received. His humble tweet thanking so many people for caring about a Muslim boy broke my heart.
“Thank you for your support! I really didn’t think people would care about a muslim boy”
Absolutely heartbreaking!
I can’t see that picture of him in handcuffs looking confused and scared without getting choked up. No 14 year old should have to go through that after show & tell.
YES Mimif That was so heart rending, that a kid that young already KNOWS how people don’t care about his kind to the point he was shocked better nature prevailed, Is a topical dovetail of the whole #afterseptember11 hashtag.. such sad/heartbreaking testimonies
Agree with everything. NUTBALLS – so scary. I mean he’s 14! What did they think? The whole incident was ridiculous, but the handcuffs are especially over the top.
Glad that he gets so much support and I hope that he profits from this big time.
Yes. And that picture with the handcuffs is heartbreaking. There is NO amount of reasoning for putting this child in handcuffs.
The picture in handcuffs is heartbreaking…especially because he is wearing a NASA t-shirt. He looks so vulnerable.
Hearing this story was so upsetting, but seeing that picture of him cuffed and utterly confused just broke my heart and I actually got teary-eyed. No child deserves this.
This was SO heartbreaking. I’m currently trying to decide whether I should just unfriend someone altogether on FB, because he keeps posting these rants about how unfair and ridiculous it is that this kid got invited to the WH, etc. I just want to pull my hair out!
Oh, and the cops have pretty much admitted that they knew it wasn’t a bomb before they arrested him. A-holes. Ahmed’s family is probably too nice, but I hope they sue the hell outta that PD for civil rights violations.
That tweet broke my heart. I sat at my desk crying. My son loves this kind of stuff, he is forever watching little “hack” videos on the internet and trying to build stuff with his very own soldering kit (that he bought himself). He loves to take little electronics apart and fiddle with them. I cant imagine him being arrested for it. Neither would my son ever imagine it. BUT my son doesnt have brown skin and our family isnt muslim, and it probably wouldnt even occur to him. It kills me that Ahmed has grown up honestly thinking no one would care because he is muslim.
That picture and the story of his arrest broke my heart!
Thisis the 1st i’m hearng/reading about this. And wow! That fear mentality has no limits!
That tweet broke my heart, even though he probably never intended it that way. It’s sad that even a boy this young has already internalised the message that the world doesn’t care for his kind. Though I’m glad to see the outpouring of support from people who do know better.
IZZY – unfriend!!! Why would a terrorist show the teacher his “bomb”? If they were so afraid of this “bomb” why did the officer put it in the car with him? Why didn’t they call the bomb squad? Evacuate the school? They KNEW this was just a Muslim boy who brought in an invention to share. Imagine being 14 and taken off in handcuffs for that. He deserves whatever ANYONE can do to attempt to make up for it – and hopefully spare other little brown boys from the same bigoted, vengeful behavior. Sickening.
Belle
I’m just speculating here.
They might have still had to arrest him because a complaint was filed or the school approached it as a threat. Once those wheels go in motion they can’t be stopped. Like some states and nations will file assault charges even if you refuse to file. If there was ever a thought that there was intended harm it has to go through the existing channels.
That’s still no excuse. What teacher worth their salt can’t see a smart kid who loves inventing things shows them a homemade clock and calls it a bomb? Ugh.
@mimif OMG this story really broke my heart but I’m also so touched by the outpouring of support he’s gotten.
What a bunch of ignorant hicks!!!
I’m glad he’s switching schools. I sure wouldn’t want to stay after what he endured. Their loss. Go Ahmed!
And ask yourself — how many other kids have acted out at this school for much more serious things and did NOT get put into handcuffs and treated like this?
Bullying? Fighting? Harassment? Being all-around obnoxious teens? Sure. And their punishments would be milder.
The good thing: This is another case where bad policing and bigotry by authorities are exposed, and get worldwide attention.
The MN animal-killing dentist.
This school and police dept.
The NY cop on video attacking a tennis star.
These days the whole world provides peer pressure against these bad actions.
I wonder what it’s like to have the whole world’s media and the internet on your case when you’re a small TX school principal, police dept, and town. Is it temporary discomfort — or does real change happen?
I know on the big game hunting, at least, there was some good outcome from all the press:
http://money.cnn.com/2015/08/04/news/united-air-canada-ban-big-game-trophies/
Texas public schools are notorious. Unfortunately, big-name national textbook publishers are based there – inflicting their limited views upon innocent school children everywhere.
On of the worst gigs I ever had was consulting on the content of one such schoolbook. If you saw their version of ‘science’ and ‘literature’ and ‘history’ it would make your head spin like that little girl’s in The Exorcist.
Very good point @belle de jour this is something a lot of people don’t know about but it’s so very important! Even textbooks used in universities are guilty of this! Curriculum and textbooks are a racket that need to be examined!
Apparently the Constitution does not apply if you’re a person of color or under 18. I hope his parents or some prosecutor goes after those police for violating that boy’s civil rights.
Did you see the comments of Abstinence Advocate Bristol Palin regarding POTUS inviting Ahmed to the White House?
God no. Please make it stop.
That girl…sometimes I try to bite my tongue and not say the bitchiest thing that comes to mind but WOW you can’t even make yourself take your birth control and hang onto a steady relationship but you’re front and center to put Obama on blast for extending curtesy to a young man?
Bitchbegone!
Bring back the Bitch! We def need it here.
Do you have an online source for the product Bitchbegone? Is it made by the same company that makes Smells Begone (which is incredibly effective even on the stuff certain unnamed cats release from their anal glands)? If Bitchbegone is even half as effective as Smells Begone, they’ve got a winner.
APPLAUSE!
Oh, no, I can’t even imagine. Although the majority of comments on my local paper’s story — this is exactly how the terrorists have infiltrated us, we’re now just a step or two from Sharia law — about this probably should give me a clue.
Geez…how does stuff like that even fly in a ‘paper’ but I guess I have to stop underestimating certain parts of our country. God that sucks.
As an Alaskan, I disavow her and her whole family to infinity.
+1 sourdough pancake with fireweed jelly 😃
mimif, let’s drink another Bellini, shall we? I’m not quite sufficiently drunk yet to be rolling around on the grass with you yet.
(You do realize that when Tom arrives, I’m rolling around with him, right? No hard feelings, but I have specialized needs that only he can take care of.)
No worries, he’s all urine, pee pee. (Sorry I had to, my old Alaska buddy used to say that all the time.) I’m more of a Hunnam gal myself. 🙂
I’d happily roll around with Hunnan too, but for the sake of our CB friendship, I’ll let you have have him today.
I didn’t see your post and mentioned Bristol made crappy remarks. She’s a loser.
BREAKING NEWS: 14 year old boy builds a clock, Bristol Palin STILL can’t figure out how condoms work.
Lolz tweet that immediately!
I didn’t think Bristol would have had time to make
comments to the media since she’s so busy making illigitimate children. The worst part of it is that the media actually posts her comments. Has America really dumbed down this much to where they think what comes out of her mouth has any credibility?
Comment of the day, anon.
*stands and claps*
bwah hah hahahahahah!
HAHAHA!!!
Ahmed will build a time machine before Bristol learns how condoms work, as a nation let us come together and accept that.
Intelligence offends her and her ilk. She’s jealous he’s bright and she can’t keep up with the names of a mountain. The uneducated really are threatened by anyone brighter (and darker) than they are.
@Sabrine: There is a HUGE populist/anti-intellectual streak running a mile wide throughout this country… and, increasingly, the dog whistlers don’t bother with the ‘silent’ part anymore. Quite the opposite, in fact.
I’m dying a little inside @this accuracy.
LOL what a great comment, Anon. Especially because it’s true lol
oh lord…she claimed that Obama was “encouraging more racial strife” and “encouraging victimhood”.
she said that he’s dividing the country “even more today than when he was elected”.
yeah, because it’s Obama’s fault that we have so many bigots in this country. just by BEING a black man who got elected to the presidency is, according to her and her ilk, fanning racial flames.
I didn’t realize that racism was caused by black people being…you know…BLACK. oh, Bristol, thank you for your words of wisdom! if only they could just stop being black, you know?!
Her stance boils down to just let the racists and bigots win! It’s just too hard and unpleasant for me and my ilk otherwise.
Why does anyone take anything she and her idiot mother say seriously? They’re bigots and racists and prefer to relish in and even celebrate their ignorance and lack of intellectual curiosity and critical thinking.
I love how the Bristols of the world focus on the person who recognizes racism while completely ignoring the people BEING racist! She pretends that if only Obama turned a blind eye to such discrimination that it would cease to exist.
@Tiffany: Everything you said. Yes.
Of course to people like her pointing out racism is ‘causing racial strife and perpetuating victimhood’, rather than the actual racism itself. I’ll never understand the logic of this “If you don’t want to cause division and inequality, don’t draw attention to the problems that some groups of people are facing on an unequal level,” argument. It’s really counterproductive- and for some people who make that argument, that’s the point.
Ughhhhh. That story needs its own post just so it can get the hate it deserves. Bring all the bitchy.
You know she’ll get her own post now that we’re talking about it!
Not enough Bellinis in the world for her shit.
We may need to upgrade to Absinthe.
I was thinking moonshine?
Only if it’s strong enough. I need to be damn near unconscious by the third glass.
Everclear?
doofus, excellent choice.
She is a walking advertisement for the birth control she is unable/unwilling to practise, that’s all I am saying. I cannot fathom how an uneducated, hypocritical bigot like that has “fans” and folk who actually read her incoherent rambling, look at her pics, or give any weight to her thoughts.
Go Ahmed, you just know this kid will have a fantastic career in the sciences or technology. That picture of him in cuffs is beyond belief. A white boy bringing a clock to school would have never been suspected of having built a bomb, he would have been praised and lauded for his creativity. God help us all, we need it.
She has fans for the same reason the Kardashians have fans…the average IQ in this country seems to have dropped to double digits of late. Trump as front runner in the GOP race is testament to that.
After thinking about this for a bit, I’m wondering if that teacher may have still called the police if the boy was white. Maybe not, but it’s possible considering Columbine, etc. I mean, was he really paranoid because it looked like a bomb to him, or did he think it looked like a bomb because the boy was Muslim? Who knows, but this teacher really needs to calm down and take a vacation for a long time. I might be more open to considering the general paranoia theory because of a time where I walked away from my bag on a metro platform to check the clock (just a few steps away) and the old man who had been sitting beside me, and talking to me, went nuts. When I walked back he told me he was afraid it was a bomb in my bag. I’m a woman and white, so was he. It was weird. Either way, I’m elated that what matters at the end of the day to this boy is that his country supports him for who he is. And the strength that will give to other kids who feel marginalized.
Dear Palins, may all the fetuses you save from abortion be Muslim engineering prodigies.
+1 home made clock ! ! ! (Thanks mimif)
YASSS! Comment gold.⏰
Thankfully, the tweets/comments under the trending “Broistol Palin” topic and hashtag on Twitter, actually make me hope that there is a chance that humanity might be saved.
There are also some VERY FUNNY people in this world.
“Experts say not even a broken Bristol Palin is right twice a day”
“Abstinence spokesperson and mother of two children out of wedlock, Bristol Palin tells Obama how to run his nation. ”
“bristol palin is just pouting because thankfully we live in a country where we’re proud of kids who can make clocks and not just babies”
Love those tweets.
Thanks layla!
🙂
Ooh. Those last two tweets. Feel the burrrrrn.
Ouch, well she’ll be able to find plenty of ice in Alaska to put on those burns, lol.
Bristol Palin needs to keep her mouth and her legs shut.
if only
The pic of him in handcuffs makes me so angry.
i know !!.. americans must be shamed, they think they have every right but what about the white american kids who go to school with real weapons and start shoothing? people do nothing!
lylaoooo
As an American I am not ashamed. Who should be ashamed are the people within every nation and every society that have that fear and mob based mentality. To point fingers at a nationality or a religious backround is what is causing these issues everywhere.
And people do nothing when a white kid shoots a school? When have people done nothing? It’s an outrage! The Newtown shooting was very close to me and we haven’t stopped hearing about it or discussing how to fix the issues of safety and mental illness in adolesence. It’s not national news in your newsfeed, but people are hardly doing nothing.
Be informed before you start tossing around broad statements. The national and world news might stop covering something, but that hardly means nothing is being done and communities are still rebuilding, healing, figuring out how to safeguard against a repeat.
As an american I am not ashamed, so much as horrified by the actions of that school. And deeply saddened to think that poor kid would have thought that no one would care about what happened to him.
Can we just mull over the fact for even two seconds that maybe it’s BECAUSE of previous school shootings that schools may be on high alert and a touch paranoid?
I’m not saying that the authorities in this incident were in any way, shape or form correct (they were terribly wrong) but your comment makes it sound like as a nation the US skims over school shootings providing they were committed by a white person… Seriously?
Miffy,
if this is how we respond to school shootings, it makes me even more scared: it means we still don’t know how to identify a real threat and when to stop pursuing a false one.
Me too. It hurt my heart and then made me angry
The issue for me is that white people are not racially profiled for mass shootings in the way that brown/black/muslim people are. There is an assumption, based on no actual evidence, that poc are the ones that will ultimately carry out these violent acts.
If we were to look at the stats for which demographic is responsible for most mass murders in the US, I suspect it would not be people of colour. If one wants to use racial profiling as a strategy to prevent these killings, maybe look at the white male population.
Even in the face of huge red flags, white people are given the benefit of the doubt. Two examples, Dylan Roof had an arrest record before he killed those people in Charleston. Adam Lanza was identified as displaying anti-social behaviour and had a preoccupation with violence during his school years, all prior to his mass killing of children in Sandy Hook. I wonder if either of these individuals faced the kind of aggressive treatment that Ahmed received for bringing his invention to school.
So sure, the outcry is great after these heinous events. Prior to it, when disturbing and problematic behaviour is exhibited by these individuals, no one is concerned.
It broke my heart when he said that he wasn’t thinking that a Muslim boy would receive this amount of support. That picture with him handcuffed is downright depressing.
Yeah I said the exact same thing upthread. Like doubled over heartbreak.
Same here. This kid is really something else. His tweet just confirms it. I’m thrilled to see the support he’s getting. There’s hope in the world, that’s my takeaway.
If nothing else his intelligence is being praised and celebrated! He’s being offered oportunities to meet great minds and expand his knowledge with experiences he may not have ever known of. There’s a silver lining in this and it’s wonderful! Just unfortunate that he had to be put through that. I feel for him and his ordeal. Also that his project wasn’t clearly seen for what it was. An educational related project in a school that he didn’t hide, but presented to a teacher. A teacher that should have been smart enough to know what they were looking at.
As a side rant I met a teacher a few weeks ago talking about going on a vacation to Hawaii and they put a rush on their passport. Because they were going to need that passport to go to Hawaii. And they’re teaching the young future.
Now that is scary.
Good Riddance Bad Racists, miss that Endowment money this clearly on his way to the top, BRIGHT, Intelligent young man will surely be making to the next school district that makes him flourish ( and also DAT LAWSUIT)
Also AllLives crew Plllleeeaasseee spare me the “but the teachers Thought” “school Safety” crap, If these people really genuinely believed this was a bomb and Not what it was ( Bringing this uppity brown know it all boy down ALL the notches) then : where was the bomb squad, where was the school evacuation, why was he driven to the police station with his “bomb”
I told my friend if I was Ahmed I’d make sure to mention that racist school in EVERY award and achievement I received.
Smh, some places motivate you to improve and do better and others desperately try to shove you into a box of mediocrity and ignorance.
Have fun losing one of your brightest minds!
Girl! Every single award I’d fax and Email a copy and make my daddy send them one too regular mail, just on some #DontForget tip… But Im also known as Petty Galore
Word
No kidding. IA. One of the FOUR cops on scene said “Yup. That’s what I thought.” when Ahmed was brought into the room for questioning. And the Police Chief is trying to say none of this was racially motivated and they would’ve done the same if it had been a white kid. Sure.
First of all, the English teacher likely wouldn’t have reported a white kid showing off his/her alarm clock invention. And if reported, if the white kid said it was an alarm clock when asked, 9 times out of 10 she/he would just be taken at his/her word and sent back to class by the cops or principal.
Heck, the principal probably wouldn’t have called the cops if a white kid said it’s an alarm clock, I made it to show my teacher. There certainly wouldn’t have been interrogation on scene by four officers, without any parents being called, an arrest made and taking the child out in handcuffs in front of the entire school.
Correct in all counts, pleaseicu, In Fact I bet that if the white kid brought an actual bomb to school he’d probably be escorted courteously to the patrol car, given a burger a la dylan roof and been “mentally disturbed young man/kid” by the end of the news cycle, nothing nearly as savage as the offensive charade they put this actual child thru..
@QQ exactly that scenario.
this story brought out the older one of the white kid who built a NUCLEAR REACTOR in his parents home and brought it to a science fair.
not only was he not arrested, he was OFFERED ASSISTANCE FOR HIS PROJECT BY HOMELAND SECURITY.
so, to sum up… clock built by brown skinned boy = hoax bomb ===> arrested. nuclear reactor built by white skinned boy = offer of help from homeland security.
not sure a link will go through but the story about the double standard was on Raw Story.
He actually showed the clock to his Engineering teacher in first period, who said it was cool but don’t show your other teachers cause they might misunderstand, so he put it back in his bag. And then it went off in front of the English teacher, and we got several levels of racist asshole farce playing out against a 14 year old kid for committing the crime of being brown+smart.
It depresses me on so many levels, what that school must have been like if even the one person who did see his invention for what it was, knew how the rest of the school would react (though not the extent of it)
OMFG QQ! I just read a meme of exactly what you just said! They made him sit in the office with the “bomb”…and called the cops. They didn’t evacuate the building, etc.
The fact that they didn’t immediately take action shows the hollowness of their claims.
They didn’t even call his parents when they arrested him. No bomb squad, no evacuations, no call to his parents, nothing. They knew from the very beginning that this wasn’t a bomb.
Last night a Teabagger said to Donald Trump, “We have a problem in this country. It’s called Muslims”, and wanted to know how Trump planned to fix the “problem” if he was elected. Trump said he would be looking at several options. My blood ran cold. What options might he be looking at? Forced round-ups and deportations? If I was a Muslim living in this country in the present political climate I’d be scared shitless. The inmates are taking over the asylum.
BTW I think this country has several problems but I wouldn’t even put Muslims in the top ten. I’d put republicans as number one.
I 100% agree with that decision, there’s just no going back.
There is no way this would have escalated to this point if he didn’t have the skin tone and name he has. I’ve seen the ‘bomb’ and its a digital clock in a small pencil case with a circuit board.
Don’t most bombs have a…oh you know – bomb actually attached to them? Then they wanted to charge him for making a FALSE bomb?! GTFO.
Kid get out of that school and tbf get out of Texas, some parts of this country are really struggling with Islamophobia and they’re prime on the list.
This. Get thee out of Irving, sweet child.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/metro/20150319-dispute-on-islam-roils-irving.ece
I cried for Ahmed when I read about what he went through. The picture of him in handcuffs broke something open in my heart and all the weariness over so much hatred just poured out of me. It’s outrageous on so many levels that he was taken out of school in handcuffs before his parents could even get to him. Not to mention the police officer who had never met Ahmed before, who apparently leaned back in his chair and said “that’s who I thought it was” when Ahmed walked in the room. Disgusting. Never stop building, Ahmed, never stop dreaming. Don’t let people who can’t see past your name make you feel inferior, for THEY are the true problem. Rock on, Ahmed!
+1
{{Hug}}
“all the weariness over so much hatred just poured out of me.”
It really weighs on the soul. I am so tired of seeing people being treated as less than human.
+1.
I hope he goes on to have a long and great career in science.
The picture of him getting arrested gets me EVERY DAMN TIME. The NASA shirt combined with his face of heartbreak and horror just kills me. Not surprised that people are rallying around him, and I’m happy he will find a new school that isn’t so small minded. Small minded education breeds small minded pupils. We should be encouraging innovative thinking in our youth.
This was so badly handled, but Ahmed will still prevail in life.
Good for him!! Smart kid who’s going to have a lot of great things happening for him. I’d sue the hell out of that school.
In a related note Bristol Palin had something to say about this. It’s what you’d expect from her ignorant ass.
Definitely not his best modification- the potato light idea has been around for years. But you go, Ahmed! Change schools, learn more and become a new generation Tesla. #Isupportbrilliantminds
The potato thing wasn’t his — it looks like a stock photo used to make a joke on Twitter.
I’m so glad he doesn’t have to step foot in that sham of a school again. That faculty should be ashamed of itself.
I’m betting a bunch of private schools will offer him scholarships.
Correction – He first showed the clock to his ENGINEERING TEACHER, who said it was nice.. but also suggested that he probably shouldn’t show it to other teachers. He then showed it to another teacher who was the one who hit the panic button. Because you know.. it couldn’t be just a clock, this kid is brown!!!!!!!
Absolute bullsh*t.
The question of WHY DIDN’T THE ENGINEERING TEACHER STEP UP FOR THIS KID?!?! still remains unanswered.
The questions of why if the teacher/school thought it was a bomb, why didn’t they follow bomb evacuation protocol instead of sending the kid to the principal’s office and calling the police, still remains unanswered.
The school has since sent out a memo reminding parents to not let kids bring “dangerous items” to school citing the school by-laws. Clocks are not included on this list in said by-laws.
No apology.
Just hiding behind that they will “continue to do what is required to keep the school safe” (dangerous clocks everyone. CLOCKS!).
Go get the world young man – it is yours for the taking!
#IStandwithAhmed
From what I read he listened to his teacher and put it in his Bookbag but in English class it beeped (like most clocks do), when the teacher asked what it was he told him/her it was a clock and from there ignorance abounded.
Apparently they KNEW before he was arrested that it wasn’t a bomb but wanted to charge and suspend him for bringing in a FAKE bomb.
Everything I’ve seen of the governed of his state shows she panders to the Kim Davis crowd rather than going for what’s right and true. She was using controlling Muslims as her political fodder a month ago and now she has egg on her face.
Thanks for the further info. And yes! Of course they knew it wasn’t a bomb. Otherwise the school would have been evacuated immediately.
Still… where is this engineering teacher that could have backed this kid up?! The teacher that could have said, “Yes – Ahmed made this and brought it in to show me. He’s a clever kid”
The teacher that could have said “Yes – it is indeed, in fact, just clock” when the police continued to interrogate this kid and refused to believe his answer of ” A clock” to their “Tell us what this is?!”
You know, the teacher that Ahmed was so proud to show his invention to.
Absolutely disgusting.
Sadly that teacher probably went into CYA mode (Cover Your Ass) and decided when it was going South that Ahmed was going to go down alone.
It kills me because most kids are already jaded for a number of different reasons, it takes a lot to get students that not only complete their assignments competently but with any kind of passion.
A kid that goes above and beyond and tries to impress? That’s a freaking unicorn! What does it get him though? Ignorance, harassment, and false imprisonment.
I’m so happy the good people of the world stepped up to give this kid support. Imagine if this was in the 80’s before the Internet how isolated and broken he’d have felt.
Yeah, the fact that there was no school evacuation speaks volumes to me. When I was in HS, there were a couple of times that people called in bomb threats. We were all evacuated ASAP, then we sat outside twiddling our thumbs while the cops/staff figured out what was going on (conclusion was always: no bomb, someone just wanted to get out of class).
If the teacher SERIOUSLY thought this was a bomb, the school should have been evacuated.
As for the engineering teacher, it may be that nobody told him what was going on until the cops had already shown up? If they weren’t making a big schoolwide deal out of it (by not evacuating), I could see how the teacher might not have been aware there was anything going on. My HS had several separate buildings, trailers, etc., and teachers were even sometimes briefly off-campus during lunch. Definitely something could have happened to me and it’s entirely possible that a particular teacher would not have known unless someone came to seek them out.
The governor of Texas is a man
My understanding is that the Engineering Teacher wasn’t informed that any of this was going on. Ahmed showed his Engineering Teacher 1st period. His teacher praised Ahmed’s invention but told him to keep it in his back pack b/c others wouldn’t understand that it was just an alarm clock.
It was his apparently his English teacher, hours later, who heard or saw the clock and Ahmed showed it to her and she flipped and reported him to the principal. The principal flipped and called the police.
By the time Ahmed got to say anything at all in his defense I’m sure the English teacher, principal, and police officers had all decided that Ahmed was in the wrong and he was dangerous and they weren’t interested in verifying Ahmed’s story with the Engineering Teacher.
“….. His teacher praised Ahmed’s invention but told him to keep it in his back pack b/c others wouldn’t understand that it was just an alarm clock. ”
This is possibly the saddest and most frightening aspect of the whole thing. 🙁
Yes, the engineering teacher obviously knew the limited mental capabilities of his or her colleagues. It is so stupid that the original teacher wasn’t immediately brought in to confirm that yes, it was just a clock, and the kid had indeed showed it to the teacher first. You know, the teacher who actually had the experience to know it was just a clock and not intended as a hoax bomb at all.
I wish the engineering teacher had said something like “let me hold on this in my classroom for you, and you pick it up at dismissal so you don’t have to carry it around all day.” I would love to hear how the English teacher explains their behavior. I get a teacher taking something away that they deem inappropriate or a distraction, but that obviously wasn’t the case here.
You know what? While I’m so sorry this poor bright kid had to go through this, I’m glad the engineering teacher didn’t just tuck the clock away. I’m glad that all of this absurd xenophobia and racism has been brought to light, I’m giddy at what the future holds for this intelligent and enthusiastic kid now that he has the world’s attention and support, this scenario has already opened doors for him as well as giving the general population an opportunity to stand up and publicly denounce this kind of treatment and racial profiling. I’m grateful that the idiots in charge made such a spectacle of themselves they’ll never get to do this to someone else. Go, Ahmed! You and the world’s (apparently) deadliest clock!
omg, all of your comments are just spot on!
Why, didn’t y’all know? Clocks are DANGEROUS in Texas. Because they measure TIME PASSING. And in Texas, things are supposed to stay the same way they’ve ALWAYS been.
When they knew it wasn’t a bomb, they claimed it was a “hoax bomb.” And the police weren’t satisfied with his answer “it’s just a clock.” No, they wanted to hear MORE. They wanted to hear “it’s a BOMB,” and they were going to INTERROGATE him (without either his parents or a lawyer present) until they got the answer they wanted to hear.
The only people who claimed it was a bomb were the teachers, administration, and police. Who are all busy trying to cover their asses. Which is really hard when you’ve got assholes that big.
How the feck is at a hoax bomb? It’s either a bomb or is isn’t. Gah. Everything about this story makes me rage. To quote Mugato “I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.”
I just want to say you’re amazing, damn girl that final sentence 🙌
This story had me in tears. As a parent, all you want for your kids is to be happy and accepted, and to find their niche in life, whatever it is.
I so glad he is getting bolstered by a such luminaries as POTUS, Zuckerberg, MIT, etc. He has a bright future.
My heart breaks seeing stories like this.
When will we understand we are all the same, made from same things, with same feelings and insecurities, so fragile and strong at the same time. They convince us we can survive only if we oppose each other. We cant live if we are not the same(religion, nationality,race etc) but there is so much more to being human than that
Even though I know a lot about each religion, respect people who follow it, understand how its empowering to some still I will never decide to say I belong to any since all I see is religion separating people and being used as tool by politicians and many more. Im sure if I was born in Saudi I would be 100% Muslim or USA I would be Christian, we actually just take over whatever tradition our parents have. Its the pressure plus feeling we need to belong or we are endangered by other “different” group.
Spirituality and morals on the other hand…
Good for Ahmed. Hope he continues his interests. We need more brilliant minds.
How stupid are his science teachers not to understand what a clock is? And if it was a bomb, why are they and the other school officials and the cops hanging around at the school for? Because they knew it wasn’t an explosive, that’s why. You don’t hang around what you think is an actual explosive. You evacuate the school, which these nitwits didn’t do. Instead they handcuff a kid, like the fear-mongering, racist idiots they are.
Exactly what I said above. They knew it wasn’t an explosive otherwise evacuation protocol would have been followed. This was straight out racial profiling bullsh*t.
The engineering teacher knew what it was–it was the English teacher who thought it was a bomb. But again as the sister said-if they really thought it was-why didn’t they evacuate? She just wanted to flaunt her ignorance disguised as racism
They knew all along it wasn’t a bomb. They were arresting him on the grounds that he had brought a “hoax bomb” to the school, and it’s illegal to claim you’ve got a bomb, even when you don’t.
So they were trying to make him admit he was going to CLAIM he had a bomb, even though everybody knew it WASN’T.
Considering that earlier on the same day, he had already showed his science teacher his clock and called it a clock, only idiots would start labeling it a “hoax bomb,” especially since they had so many different opportunities to find out what it was before and after they called the cops on him.
Hard to tell if he is a victm of terror scare or irresponsible boy.
Irresponsible indeed! – How dare kids use their minds, imagination, curiosity and passion for the sake of discovery and invention. Get back to your video game Ahmed! [end sarcasm]
Irresponsible boy? You see an irresponsible young boy?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What I see are educators who don’t recognize science or racism when they see it. Sad.
Dude…let’s pretend for a second that the issue is brown kids blowing things up. Let’s pretend that.
When a CHILD without an adult says to you “No it isn’t this, it’s this.” You use DISCRETION. Meaning if need be you call the proper authorities but you keep the child calm, you keep talking to him, you verify his story (call the Engineering teacher) and you make a RATIONAL decision. Then when proper authorities roll up and you open the pencil case to find NO BOMB you apologize to them, give Ahmed a pat on the head and send him back to class.
You DO NOT question him without his parents. You DO NOT make Islamophobic assumptions. You DO NOT arrest him and then keep him from contacting his parents!
It is so clear to me that this was whole incident was informed by islamophobia and I am thrilled that there is a big bright spotlight on Irving right now!!
Interestingly, the Irving ISD claims the public does not know both sides of the story but conveniently we can’t hear the school side due to confidentiality policies.
I feel like this feeds into more racist speculation about what else could have been behind Ahmed’s arrest.
It’s funny how there’s always ‘another side to the story’ but much effort is made NOT to tell that side as if we’re supposed to trust the word of a school system and police force that bungled every single part of this issue.
Hard to tell if you’re actually a fully realized human or just another CB troll.
I vote troll which is why I didn’t bother with an answer #DontFeedTheCharles you guys
Gets the troll vote from me, too.
I figured it was a troll too … but I just couldn’t help myself and replied anyway. Apologies for feeding the animals ladies. 😉
Are you serious?
Oh, Charles – it’s not at all hard to tell. There is nothing about this kid that even hints at “irresponsible”. He showed the clock to his engineering teacher. The teacher said he should keep it in his backpack and not show it to others (knowing what idiots the others were). The kid did as he was told, just didn’t realize the beep from the alarm clock was still active and would draw attention. Then on request he showed it to the other teacher, who just had to contact the engineering teacher to verify it but didn’t. Likewise the principal and the cops didn’t bother to verify the kid’s story. I saw a pic of the clock, it didn’t look anything like a bomb, just a bare clock. The kid wasn’t trying to do anything but put together a clock to show his engineering teacher. That’s not being irresponsible, that’s just being an enthusiastic student.
The teacher, the principal, and the police officers, on the other hand, were being very irresponsible. They all should be looking for new jobs by now, that’s how irresponsible they were.
Oh, go back under your bridge.
This kid was put through way too much. They didn’t need to put him in handcuffs and detain him. That’s ridiculous ! He’s just a child…and a smart one at that. Hope he has one amazing future and I’m sure he will !
Poor kid, he looked so scared in the arrest photo. POTUS’s tweet was pitch-perfect. I am thrilled Ahmed received so many cool invites out of this–can’t wait to see him at the White House!
It’s good this happened while Obama was still in office. If it was Trump as president I’m sure the reply would have been much different. So Americans, are you looking forward to your first Orange president? Please don’t make it happen.
If trump was in office (God Please no) this poor kid and his 10 closest relatives would be in Guantanamo RN
good point. I shudder.
I hope the president sends Air Force One to pick him up with his whole extended family. Imagine the republicans having a shitfit.
I’m glad that so many (POTUS, MIT, etc) have jumped on this very quickly to make it right. What if they weren’t there to combat the racism and this kid ended up turning very bitter and angry–don’t those racists see what could happen if someone so smart and talented took a bad turn?
I’m sure there’s some awesome magnet high school in the area he can transfer to.
Someone made a smart comment that said essentially “The problem with things like the ‘Draw Muhammad’ competitions is you’re not really hurting the terrorists that you’re trying to offend. You’re hurting the teenagers and young men who already feel isolated. Who see a world that doesn’t care about giving them even basic respect and thinks mocking them is tantamount to a public fun event. So when that isolated angry heartbroken person looks for guidance the only arms open are the same terrorist organizations you were trying to hurt.”
I’m glad this was something that happened with the Internet. This whole revelation happened because of Twitter, without it poor Ahmed would have been isolated, angry, and brilliant. Bad combination.
+1 home made clock to every.single.thing you wrote.
+1 home made clock … is now going to be my response to everything. every time.
Aww you guys are awesome. A clock for Ahmed…now I kinda want someone to make a children’s book by that name.
Good for him. He’s a good kid, who is very bright.
Then there’s Bristol Palin. What an idiot. She believes Obama should stay out of it, that the police made a mistake. “This is the kind of stuff Obama needs to STAY out of,” the 24-year-old wrote. “This encourages more racial strife that is already going on with the ‘Black Lives Matter’ crowd and encourages victimhood.”
She and her mom should know about victimhood. They are forever whining about how they are treated by the big bad lefties painting themselves as victims. A kid handcuffed and interrogated, no biggie. Pat him on the back and no attention should be given. I would love to see how she would react if it were here kid.
+ 1 million
What do you expect from a one trick pony who can’t work a condom!?
Bristol has no original thoughts, all that rhetoric came from The Blaze or Breitbart comment sections. Facebook sidebar informed me that a 13 year old boy named CJ Pearson made a video echoing what Bristol is saying. I went on his page and was immediately depressed because a child is obviously being fed party lines and used as some sort of super right wing puppet so that Ted Cruz and his ilk can say “look the young people love us and the young black people at that.” Seriously no 13 year old is talking about Benghazi, making Hillary for Prison jokes, calling BlackLivesMatter Thugsdontmatter, criticizing the Iran deal etc. It makes me sad, google him if you want to be depressed 🙁
That’s so sad (and true.) Sometimes things like that happen when kids grow up dependent on and/or wanting the love and approval of backward adult bigots. Some of them may really fall for their guardian’s beliefs, or just parrot those beliefs to please the ‘grown-ups’ in their lives. You always hope that one day they’ll come to their senses or become strong and independent enough to stand up against the people around them. But Bristol, at 24 and with plenty of exposure to people in this world who don’t think like her parents, isn’t like some of those 13-year-olds you’ll see on youtube or in comment sections. She can choose not to be a puppet. I don’t feel sorry for her anymore, and suspect that she is at least okay with some of the things that go down with her mother and their political allies.
I am really glad that this boy is receiving a lot of support.
The twit is pissed that the closest she will every get to the White House is if she is in a tourist group.
Sounds like he’s best off leaving that school. The teachers and the principal don’t sound very bright and they certainly don’t care enough about their students. Not one of those alleged adults could go with him to the police station and be present in loco parentis during that idiotic interrogation?!? What’s wrong with them?
The police officers should be investigated and penalized for how they proceeded, they must have been violating all sorts of regulations and protocols. It doesn’t even make sense if they really thought it could be a bomb – they would have evacuated and called on the bomb squad. More likely they just wanted to hassle the Muslim kid. At least the boy looks a whole lot happier now that so many people (thanks, Prez!) have very openly supported and encouraged him.
Fun fact: There are about as many American Muslims as there are American Jews. Don’t know comparative percentages for other religions. But we can only hope that anti-Muslim activities and sentiments will some day become as widely unacceptable as anti-Jewish activities and sentiments have become over my lifetime. Won’t stop the complete idiots (anti-Semitism is not dead either) but will make the targets feel less alone and confident about speaking up.
Get to know your muslim neighbours. Look beyond the head covering and talk to them. Start a conversation. Ignorance breeds fear!!!!! On both sides.
It’s really sad this bright young man has to deal with others scared ignorance!
Poor kid.
I want to see MIT offer him a full ride when he graduates. He deserves it.
I saw this story on the news last night. It made me so angry I had to turn the tv off and pace around my house and throw pillows for half an hour.
It was heartbreaking not only seeing that picture of him in handcuffs and reading his tweet of amazement that so many cared. He’s 14 and had his innocence destroyed by a bunch of bigots. He definitely needs to go to a school that will not only appreciate his innovation, but continue to foster it. Ugh…these people make me sick. He’s a lovely, nerdy, intelligent boy. I hope he excels and becomes the next great American innovator.
Bristol Palin needs to keep her trap shut. She can’t even figure out birth control.
The handcuff picture breaks my heart every time it shows up in a news feed, no matter how many times I see it. Now that it’s been well established that they never thought it was a bomb and were treating it as a “hoax bomb,” it’s even more outrageous. Why didn’t they just call his parents? I mean, yeah, the whole thing is ridiculous to begin with and dripping with racist double-standards, but had there been even one tiny legitimate shred of suspicion that a 14 year old boy was being disruptive in school, you call his parents. You don’t call the police.
“…but had there been even one tiny legitimate shred of suspicion that a 14 year old WHITE boy was being disruptive in school, you call his parents. You don’t call the police”
There. Fixed it for you. 😉
Brought tears of sadness for him and the world we live in. It come to this were we live in so much fear that we are driven to conclusion and stereo types that affect the lives and innconce of our children
Like everyone else when I saw the pic of Ahmed in cuffs and looking confused and scared my heart dropped!
From police to teachers and general society we have a loooooooong way to go!!!
#the world is getting madder
I am confused what crime did he commit that warrants being handcuffed and arrested.
We now live in age where school authorities are hypervigilant I guess
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2012/02/26/dad-arrested-strip-searched-after-daughter-draws-a-picture-of-a-gun-in-school/
Actually if the school really thought it was a bomb, they should have called the bomb squad and evacuated the school that would have been the safe and responsible thing to do
The fact that they didn’t just confirms that they and the police were just bullying this child Cuz reasons
Luckily this kid was saved but the school to prison pipeline is no joke on another forum a young woman shared the story of having a group of friends in school that would joke and play harmless pranks with each other, One day she “got” her friend so he “got” her back by hiding her back pack note Hide not steal .The teacher decided to call the police even after she and all the class insisted they are friends and just playing even after the bag was returned , her friend left school in handcuffs and she NEVER saw him again and to this day wonders what happened to him
I will leave you to figure out the respective color schemes
I’m so proud of the way people are standing up for this young man, and so much positivity has come from this heartbreaking situation. I’m in the south so I’ve seen ignorant and racist comments on the local news front, they don’t understand that this wouldn’t happen to a white person, but overall the comments are awesome! He has a bright future ahead and I can’t wait to see where he lands!
I hope he gets to go to a great school that will encourage his talents. But with all the hate they seem to have for Muslims there…is that even possible?
This is so sickening; this teacher; the police…so much prejudice and so much fear. I live in EU, and what is currently happening with Syrian refugees is sickening. Sure, there are so many amazing people helping out but most of the people are filled with these emotions I mentioned before; fear of unknown and second hand hate. It worries me to realize the world we live in.
He’s such a sweet boy, so sorry this has happened to him. I’m not clear though on certain points of the story though. Ahmed only showed the clock to his electronics teacher – and the teacher thought it was a hoax bomb? A mock up? It seems to me this teacher set this clusterf**k in motion and it snowballed from there…
The English teacher saw it too and is the one who called it a bomb.
Is prejudice out of fashion yet? The world really needs to change.
I find this actually too rage-inducing and intensely depressing and sad to even comment upon.
God help an America that has police chiefs like that, justifying the arrest and detention of a 14 yr old boy who wanted feedback on his invention, and whose invention would have received positive feedback, were he not an ‘Ahmed’, and yet still holds his job.
How clever are the teachers if that happened?
The reputation of US americans for being neither educated nor decent is well deserved just have a look at this picture.
He needs to live somewhere other than Texas, seriously. Not Texas, no southern states, etc. Live in the northwest like Oregon/Washington, etc. No one bugs us in these states, were left alone to our own devices (pun intended).
Nothing to say that hasn’t been said already. Just wanted to express my gratefulness…as a Muslim woman who covers her hair and has a much loved child, I have to admit that I’ve been growing more frightened at the ignorance I’ve witnessed…afraid of what my child will have to face one day. But the comments here and the overwhelming support Ahmed has received have really helped restore my faith. Thanks everyone for reminding me that the smiling, open minded souls far outnumber the negative ones. 🙂
Move to Canada:-) LOL… We are not perfect by far but there seems to be less fear and prejudice going around.
The first thought I had when hearing the story was ” thank God that they did not shoot first”. I would be horrified if based on nothing but appearance people, particularly people in authority like cops, could make snap decisions about me based on things like the colour of my skin, or the scarf on my head.
The things happening around the world lately have made me realize how much privilege I have that I am not aware of as a white woman. I have certainly experienced discrimination, as a non-French speaking immigrant in Quebec when I first moved to Canada, and definitely as a woman, but this is a whole other level… and all of it is just plain wrong.
Do we have to wait for Texas to secede or can we go ahead and kick them out anyway?
The only sad thing is the gases from the eventual tire fire that state would become would still effect us, otherwise Bon voyage!
There are a lot of naive people commenting in this thread, lol. This is the world that we now live in. A kid brings a beeping suitcase into an English class and others will have a right to be concerned. We don’t live in a world where we can trust young people anymore. The kid should have brought the engineering teacher into the situation — how it devolved to the extent that the police had him in handcuffs is just bizarre.
Apparently, the first teacher he showed his clock to was his science teacher, who told him to keep it in his backpack, so he did.
And if it was so frightening, then how come none of the idiotic adults who wanted this kid arrested thought to evacuate the school over any real fear of it being an actual explosive.
There were a number of things that could have gone right. Ask the kid questions. Ask the science teacher. Call up his parents. Look to see if there were any explosives attached to the clock. Whatever else that people with any brains would have done. Instead, these jackasses went into dumb-dumb, senseless, fear-mongering mode.
If they had actually thought this was a bomb, then how was standing around with a handcuffed kid going to diffuse it? I don’t think they even called the bomb-squad, which is just another proof that they knew they over-reacted and were acting like do-do brains.
And CLOCKS? {{{{SCARY}}}}. Oooooo. People should start putting clocks in Halloween displays. Costumed ghouls should run around with clocks and wristwatches in Scare Fests.
And thank goodness none of these idiotic adults have ever opened up an energy-saving light bulb —- because they have something in them that looks like circuitry.
Who knows? Maybe it’s the CIA spying on us? Or could be them terrorists using a very smart form of bomb distribution into the homes of every red-blooded American? Who knows???
Yes, let’s put the responsibility on the child – why didn’t the English teacher call in the Engineering teacher for clarification? And when it became obvious that they knew it was not a bomb (hence they did not call in the bomb squad, they did not evacuate the school) – why drag a kid in cuffs to be interrogated without parents or a lawyer, like a wanted criminal???
@lila fowler, There are a lot of
ignorantnaive people, end of. 😏It was a pencil case.
If you’re that terrified of the world that children with circuit boards in pencil cases terrify you then hide in your house and never come out. Problem solved.
If it’s naive not to be numbingly stupid then I’m happy the naive side of things seems to be winning more and more. As Anne said apparently the solution to this ooh so scary terror threat was standing around and waiting for something to explode.
I know – imagine if it HAD been something sinister, and no one did anything? Obviously it was horribly handled and he was treated terribly, but a ticking thing in a suitcase being ignored?
I wish someone would open a Gofundme account for him. He quite possibly could get his entire college career paid for. It won’t make up for what happened, but it would make people like me feel good.
I’m sure there are those out there who will claim that the administrators and police were just being cautious, because after all, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris shot up Columbine, and kids in Iraq and Afghanistan carry bombs all the time.
But this kid 1) had no such background (other than, gosh, his color,* and his religion!); 2) did not HAVE any weapons of any kind; 3) had already shown his “threat” to a teacher in order to get feedback on it as an ENGINEERING PROJECT; and 4) told them exactly what it was. At which point, if they were still feeling paranoid, they needed to call his parents. NOT call a bunch of bigoted police and handcuff him in front of his whole school.
I hope his next school supports him. And I’m really glad that he knows from social media that not everyone will just dismiss him as a “Muslim boy.”
*except of course Klebold and Harris were WHITE. From “good Christian homes.” As are MOST of the jerks shooting up schools in the US. But you don’t see cops saying “Yeah, that’s who we thought it was” about THEM, do you?
Don’t forget Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, and the vast majority of serial killers.
Has there even been any incident of Muslim children attacking schools in anyway? This was such a blown up incident that had no prior occurances, THIS isn’t the issue we’re afraid of when it comes to mass terror attacks.
Frankly I’m more scared of a white kid in a bowl cut, that haircut seems to signify dangerous more than anything else.
Jeez Louise, stupid seems to be the order of the day in American public schools:
http://abc11.com/education/school-suspends-boy-for-possession-of-a-leaf/561813/
I’m glad he’s transferring and getting the support he deserves, but…damage done, as far as I’m concerned. That’s a lot of shattered innocence at a fairly young age, and plenty of other Muslim and Middle Eastern children will have watched this go down and understood for the first time that they will always be under the suspicion of “otherness.” This is what happens when you have media and politicians utilize fear mongering to achieve an objective.
Ahmed said he was surprised by people even coming to his defense and being so kind to him. He knew/was expecting the worst. I don’t think this will be the first time for a lot of Muslim kids.
Unless they’re totally sheltering them I think, sadly, a lot of Muslims kids had been warned of something like this and seeing what happened to Ahmed only confirmed it for them.
Hopefully the kindness he has been shown can also remind him as dark as this world can be there’s a lot of people working to try and make it brighter.
I’m so proud of my town, Denton, TX, who have publicly invited Ahmed to tour the TAMS program to consider becomihg a part of this innovative, competitive program for brilliant young high schoolers in math and science. Sometimes living in this state can be soooo embarrassing but Denton tries to be better.
Kudos to Denton. An island of rationalism in a sea of stupidity.
That’s awesome. Yay Denton!
Props to Denton! I know all of Texas isn’t like this but Geez this was a kick in the teeth! The more people who fight against the stupids the better!
That photo of him in the handcuffs breaks my heart, as does his tone of surprise that so many people cared about “a Muslim kid.” He’s FOURTEEN and learning so much about the racism that plagues the US.
Stay the course, Ahmed. You’ll win where it counts.
Meanwhile, Bristol wants a pat on the back for even the most pedestrian of accomplishments and plays victim when she doesn’t get it. Just go away already.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.
YeaMinority children get a different sense of maturity because they’re subjected to a lot of cruelty and ignorance from a young age that they must learn to process and accept.
I have no doubt Ahmed’s parents probably, sadly, had a conversation with him about the very subject and he was expecting the worst once something so innocent caused him to be arrested.
Oh God just stop. Why americans love self-pity so much? Every week they find new “poor victim” and dive in self-pity and offense. And of course Evil White People are always to blame for something.
School had they right to react. If that would really be some crazy teen (you know like those who shoot in school) who made bomb and would blow up school then everyone would be like: “Oh stupid school. They should have check him and prevent it”.
No one checked all those other that were shooting in schools and they killed people.
If those teachers and the cops can’t even tell the difference between something that has explosives attached to it and the inner workings of a clock, then maybe they shouldn’t be in jobs that require some common sense and some form of 20th/21st century education and knowledge. There were so many options for them on how to handle this without ending up looking stupid.
If they wanted to react to something that they’ve never seen before (like a modern clock), then they should have asked somebody who knew, like the engineering teacher the kid showed his clock to earlier in the day, or asked the kid what it was and had him explain it to them.
The fact that these idiotic adults knew enough not to call the bomb squad or evacuate the school is proof that they knew there was no danger (from a modern clock). They knew there were no explosives or anything else that would go BOOM! Yet, they reacted horribly in a way that was unnecessarily offensive, demeaning, and purposely lacked integrity. That’s on them, not the kid.
And then they tried to pin a ‘hoax bomb’ charge on him? What??? They screwed up tripping all over themselves trying to punish this kid for trying to elevate himself above the fray, and they believe the kid should take the blame and claim responsibility for all their wrong actions. Why? Their egos can’t take it? Tough luck on them. Their egos are not the end all and be all. It should not trump the acceptance and practice of right and wrong and truth. That’s right. They’re not more perfect than ‘other’ people.
So you mean they really believed it was a bomb, but they didn’t evacuate the school and chose instead to put all the other students and teachers at risk? Get a grip. They knew from the get-go it wasn’t a bomb. They just wanted an excuse to harass a brown kid with a Muslim-sounding name. Which apparently is fine with you.
If it had really been a bomb, the school and the students would have been toast anyway because they didn’t even remotely handle it like a bomb threat should be handled. Why don’t you call the school out on that? Are you really that into hating folks that are different from you that you would endanger kids just to excuse some teachers for trying to ruin a Muslim kids life? Sad. Your hatred is going to get a lot of people hurt when you endorse and condone incompetency.
Then evacuate the school to protect the 1400 students
Is it really self-pity when you’re simply bringing ignorance to light? Why be so smug & self-congratulatory about not being able to tell the difference between a terrorist and a 14 year old kid? Or a clock vs. a bomb? They might not be mutually exclusive. However in this case, it appears that all the adults in the situation, with the exception of the English teacher (maybe she should have taken more science classes), knew there wasn’t a clear & present danger but chose to ostracize a brown kid instead.
The photo of Ahmed in handcuffs is shocking and heartbreaking. From one geek to another: Go, Ahmed!!!
I love this kid and his NASA t-shirt. Hopefully Ahmed can now go to a decent school where they can encourage his intellectual curiosity and he won’t be surrounded by morons.
The teacher who thought a digital clock was a bomb should be subjected to an IQ test.
Science nerds unite!!
Many people are on high alert and with good reason. There are alleged to be sleeper cells waiting in America to act so be thankful some were on alert. Had they not been and it had been something else the school and police would be condemned for not stopping it.
If that’s the standard that should be followed, then the police need to send cops to each other and those idiotic teachers if any of them own modern-day clocks. Because {{{{TERRORISM}}}}
Ermagerd, I’m wearing a wrist watch. Does that make me a walking halfabomb?
Oh that’s good then, the cops are wasting their time harassing 14 yr old boys while the ‘sleepers’ keep right on ‘sleeping’ because idiots can’t tell asses from elbows and clocks from bombs.
Sleeper cells? Really? How did Jade Helm work out? Did Obama send the troops to invade Texas yet and confiscate everybody’s guns? How about those FEMA camps he’s supposed to be locking all the republicans up in? Or those death panels he was supposed to set up as soon as Obamacare went into effect? Or the race war he was supposed to start so he would have an excuse to declare martial law, cancel the 2016 election and set himself up as dictator for life?
This is the bullshit Fox News and other conservative media outlets have been polluting the airwaves with for the last seven years. The paranoia would be hilarious if it wasn’t so tiresome.
This situation is similar to Kiera Wilmont. Accused of bringing a bomb to school when it was a school experiment that featured a clock component
“I think that’s a very brave thing to do,” Wilmot said. “When I went back [to school], people would say ‘You should’ve been in jail, you’re a terrorist.’ For the most past, I tried to ignore it as best I could.
“I’d tell Ahmed he’s got to keep his head up,” she added. “He’s got to show them that he’s not going to let this ignorance get him down.”
I am glad all these companies are being so supportive of him. Stupid things happen, but I am glad he is getting a happy ending….and some cool contacts for the future!
I can’t believe some posters on here are actually defending the idiot school members and cops who humiliated and dehumanized a CHILD under the guise of ‘concern’ instead of plain and simple racism and Islamaphobia. At least the vast majority on CB do support Ahmed, which is comforting.
I think a lot of people with disagree with me.
The police definitely took things too far, especially with not contacting his guardians but to be fair, have you guys seen the clock he made? When this first hit the news, I was thinking no way his clock looks like an average clock, it must have really looked like a bomb for the police to be called. And what do you know, after the photos of his clock came out, to the average person (like me) who doesn’t know much, that thing really DOES look like a bomb. I’m not saying this because he’s Muslim (my own husband is Muslim! … and his fathers name is Ahmed…) but if I was a teacher and I saw ANY student carrying a beeping briefcase with wires and numbers, yeah, I think I would call the police just in case.
The whole situation was handled very poorly, but on the other hand, I feel like the whole media and #istandwithahmed thing is way over the top. There have been students who possessed even lesser things that look like a contraband and also hauled off in handcuffs, but you don’t necessarily see all of America focus in on them like this case.
Totally Ste, I agree with everything you said.
I didn’t have the cojones to post my view a few days back, but I was thinking the very same thing when I saw the picture – How many frickin wires does it take to run those two hands? overload of wires for a clock. Just not an impressive “invention” for a 14 year old. And his story, I didn’t find believable at all. (first week of school trying to impress a teacher he doesn’t even know, wasn’t it an English teacher?) Nor did his parents look believable to me on tv. not at all. kind of shady looking in fact.
The big problem is this little guy’s name. Jim-Bob Jones with a potato clock – well done son!
Ahmed Mohamed with a potato clock – Thank god we caught him in time, I mean he brought that thing into the School!
HE SHOULD BE HAPPY HE HAS NOT BEEN SHOT IN THE HEAD!
He should be very thankful he is brown and not black. Blacks get shot before questioning, standard operating procedure for law enforcement, then sent to jail while awaiting trial if they survive.
Enough already, am sick of hearing about this kid….and am a Muslim myself, but enough is enough.
@ lisa
Yeah of course, you’re muslim… how convenient.
But If you’re fed up hearing about this kid and this situation which you seem to consider trivial, maybe you just should go commenting on another post, a post with lot more meaning, substance, and concern and thinking about what the world is going through right now… like for eg the Kardashians or jessica simpson maybe..?
Your smart and compassionate output on the subject will be missed though…