+Shaun Graham Its not a suitcase it's a pencil case. Another picture has a cord ending at a USB port which looking at it doesn't look that big next to it.
If the teachers genuinely thought it was a bomb they would've reacted appropriately by evacuating the school..calling the bomb squads etc. No they sent him to the principles office to wait there with his homemade "bomb" in hand and waited for the cops lol. Amazing how Bill Maher links a 14 year old muslim nerd with ISIS..iIl start linking every pale skinned white boy with a bowl cut as a psycho gunman from now on hah
SuperHudaman They didn't think it was a bomb. They thought it was a clock deliberately made up to look like a bomb. That was mainly what he was being accused of before pundits from both sides decided to opportune.
+eggory even if that was the case..it's a bit extreme traumatizing a young boy with cops arresting him. A severe warning would have sufficed instead of bringing the cops in to humiliate and frighten the poor kid. Aah well worked out very well for Ahmed in the end with the amount of publicity he received lol
if they thought it was a bomb, why did they keep the thing in the school?! if you're scared of something is a bonb, you don't keep it in the same vicinity as you, let alone same room as everyone.
+GiantsJets718 You don't even need a toy gun, just chew a pop tart into the shape of a gun and you'll get the same result. (except the media won't care unless the kid isn't white.)
+ThatOnePixel Trump, ummm I mean Maher is also playing the race card. He has come out strongly against "Zero Tolerance" policies in the past. However, for some reason, in this case he supports "zero tolerance".
mitesser80 Why one needs to be in a engineering school in order to build stuff? It is a clock, you can see the red. The reason why it is hard to see is because it is not powered in.
+ITRIEDEL Are you listening to voices in your head? The kid said, "I built a clock to impress my teacher but when I showed it to her, she thought it was a threat to her." It was a digital clock...are you unable to read or just delusional?
+Anthony Trifoglio my 10 year old God son could have made something better... If you're going to even pull the guts out of an alarm clock, the ONLY reason you would put it into a suspicious looking metal case, is to look like a bomb and get attention.. If this was a white kid, or a black kid, he'd be in jail. The liberal media is what saved him.. called for pity on this kid, simply to say people over reacted and arrested him.. Hell no, arrest him again. That's a printed circuit board, by a professional company. You can't just pull the guts out of something and say you invented it. Look, I pulled the engine and transmission out of my car a few times, does this mean I invented a car? He took something useful, tore it apart, it's not useful anymore.. it's a freaking fake bomb. Why not put it in a housing or make a housing that looks good for it? Then it's re purposed, not invented. Media took this hook line and sinker.. The only person who ever said this kid invented a clock, was the kid himself.. nobody questioned it, and now suddenly he invented it. He also claims he invented a USB hub or whatever the circuit board is with 3 USB plugs.. he claims he invented that shit too.. Wow... insane.
***** yes.. he was looking for attention.. he was trolling the teachers. Anyone putting anything in a briefcase, metal case, hand bag, etc, especially a clock of all things, is purposely looking for attention, trying to add some malice to it. He could have made a nice looking acrylic housing to put this into, a wood box, anything.. he chose a metallic, suspicious looking box, just to cause alarm.. If he went around showing it to teachers, and it wasn't an assignment, he was simply causing trouble. The teachers who saw this likely thought it looked very bad.. Surprised the first one didn't report it.
+Poppa Bear True, it's not within the bounds of possibility that Ahmed wasn't being deliberately provocative. You could argue that it was an innocent mistake on his part and while it's possible I'm going to retain an air of cynicism. I find it hard to not consider that either one of his parents didn't put him up to this. As you say the fact that he went from classroom to classroom to show it off may indicate his growing need to spread paranoia. Also the fact that it took a while before a teacher became concerned is indeed worrying. You can't be too vigilant or cautious when it comes to things like this! However I applaud the teacher who wasn't too afraid to be labelled a bigot to raise their concern. We need more people in a position of some authority like this. Sadly however as long as there's PC idiots like Jorge Ramos in the world this is going to prove to be less of the rule than it will be the exception.
It looked like a bomb. Reports say the kid was "passive aggressive" in his responses. His dad has been in the business of pushing the "Islamophobia" myth for quite some time now. it is quite possible that this kid knew that his extremely bomb looking "clock" would arouse suspicion, but also knew that he could cry victim if anybody pulled him up on it. If so, it's worked wonders so far.
+Craig Henry35 At least he was thinking about it might look suspicious beforehand. In a video he said, he closed the box with a cable so that it might not look suspicious instead of a box that´s locked. To me the story stinks from all ends.
+Craig Henry35 Exactly right Craig. Look at the Father in this one. He's a well know "islamaphobia" activist who has an agenda. This whole incident was contrived.
Beautiful Unicorn "Here's a theory. Terrorists aren't offended by cartoons. Not even cartoons that satirise the Prophet Muhammad. They don't care about satire. For all I know they may not even care about the Prophet Muhammad. Instead, they merely pretend to be offended by cartoons, in order to give themselves a pretext to commit murder. Murder so horrifying, on a pretext so unWestern, that non-Muslims - blinded by grief and rage - turn on Muslims. Blame them. Persecute them. Burn their book, attack their mosques, threaten them in the street, demand their expulsion from Western societies. Actions that, in turn, scare Western Muslims, isolate them, alienate them. And thus drive some of them to support - and even become - terrorists. Result: terrorists swell their ranks for a civil war they long to provoke non-Muslims into starting. In our angry innocence, however, we persist in thinking this is somehow about cartoons. In thinking that the terrorists "win" if we don't reproduce those cartoons, and "lose" if we do. As if, at this very moment, terrorist leaders across the West are privately wailing in anguished disbelief because satirical cartoons have been reproduced this morning in several European newspapers.("Disaster! Our plan has backfired in a way we couldn't possibly have foreseen! Ink really does beat Kalashnikovs! Satire defeats us once again!") On the whole, I'm not sure that's very likely. I don't think the terrorists "win" if we fail to reproduce cartoons. I think the terrorists "win" if we leap up, gulp down their bait - and hate Muslims. "
Agora2021 being "passive aggressive" even if he was, isn't a reason to get handcuffed. we don't even have a quote of something the kid said so it's all heresay
+Craig Henry35 When was the last time you saw a real bomb let alone a bomb with a screen on it? Why, if you're trying to blow something up, would you publicize it with unnecessary electronics that'd catch attention? You wouldn't. So common sense would mandate that you recognize its not a bomb instantly unless you don't maintain the mental facets required for even that basic level of rational thought.
I'm no explosives expert, but in order for it to be a bomb, shouldn't there be some form of explosives? A Pencil box, with some circuit boards, does NOT equate a BOMB!!
So the letter the school district sent out about it, saying it was believed to be a bomb, was nothing at all? How many of y'all live in Irving Texas? I DO!!! BTW If they knew all along that it wasn't a bomb, why was he arrested and interrogated? Couldn't they have figured out if there was a nefarious intent behind it WITHOUT arresting him, and then violating his rights by questioning him without a Lawyer or Parent present? Or does he not have Constitutional rights because he is a kid?
+Roberto Flores Cordon there ..is..no..need...for a police squad, if u cant see explosive there is no explosive,u can see there is nothing behind those clocks cause they're right on the side of the case
+2xkiller No, you're absolutely right. We should listen to the NRA and require secondary school teachers to enroll in hand gun training. Then we should make them learn the basics of explosive handling, demolition and disarmament so they'll know what to do if a kid wanders into a school carrying a metal briefcase with wires sticking out of it. We should build an army of super soldier teachers the likes of which have never been seen before.
During the press release the kid started with "I want to go to MIT", obviously this entire thing is a sham to make people pity this kid and give him a bunch of offers and free stuff, which he succeeded at. His parents are in on it too, because every question he answered was out of the mouth of his parents.. I'm brown, maybe if i bring a suspicious clock to school I'll get 100,000 dollars worth of cool tech, a trip to the White House, an internship at Facebook and Twitter, and scholarships, etc. But idk, he just got really really lucky. This clock thing is the greatest thing that ever happened to him, and probably ever will.
+RubberDuckStudios No question. He's cashing in on the ocean of white guilt and political correctness that is rotting the minds of liberals. Few people have the balls to stand up to this trend. This is truly dangerous. People are getting killed by Muslims for cartoons, and what do we have in this country? An attitude that portrays Muslims as a cringing minority that needs to be nourished and protected from any possible insult or injury. If you burn a Qu'ran, or draw a picture of the prophet Muhammad, you very likely may be KILLED for this BY MUSLIMS. And what do we have in this country? Liberals jumping to the defense of Islam and Muslims at every chance they get. And if you speak out against this now, you're branded a racist or Islamophobe by these so-called progressives and liberals that are essentially capitulating to Islamic theocracy and granting their wishes. This is dangerous insanity.
+A Skeptical Human your an idiot who sounds insane already.. not a single Muslim nation has attacked America EVER... how many has America bombed? why is America hated around the world, cuz it keep interfering in the domestic affairs of other nations.
Apparently he didn't even build the clock. Apparently he just dismantled an old clock from the 80s but kept the electrics in tact and glued it into a suit case. He then proceeded play it off like he made it from scratch and just slurped up all the sympathy and attention and all the free stuff.
it was a clock from the 70's probably belonged to his dad and he said it took him 20 minutes to make it, but it clearly would take under 2 minutes to do what he did
SuCKeRPunCH187 He got interviewed again recently and he was telling people that the event of being detained for two hours mentally scared him and he's lost the "creativity" he used to "build" the clock. Somewhere in Syria there is a child the same age as him choking on chemical weapons who's going to get up tomorrow to help is family survive and this little shit's talking like he's a Vietnam vet. I blame the parents... fuck it I blame the kid too.
Lazy Spark He is 14 years old. Everbody loves dismantles electronics and "build" the same thing again at those ages. I am 20 year old programmer and when i was 14 i was just dismantling things and throw them away. You cant expect a 14 year old boy to just code a circuit board and make his own clock. He was just playing around.
+brad bourgeois - Because he wouldn't have gotten all of this media attention. - I think he was put up to this. He used an interesting choice of housing for the inner works of his clock. Particularly since he brought his clock to school days after the anniversary of 9/11 and a mere 25 miles from a recent terrorist attack. I smell CAIR.
+brad bourgeois Because to anyone with 5 minutes electronics experience, it is so obviously not a bomb, that you don't even consider the possibility, that someone is stupid enough to think, that it is a bomb.
Matthews is a democrat. He is taking the side that mostly republicans take. Clearly he has not chosen the majority side from his perspective. He must not be rushing to take a partisan stance.
Euph- What you say about the libtard base and audiences is so true. You can hear them cheer on Maher, Colbert, Stewart, Goldberg and all the rest. Ignorance is bliss and they react and vote on feelings and minimal information with much of it often being factually wrong. That's how we got an obama in the first place, a highly biased mass media and a low information populace.
+S955US84 Every word you just said was 100% true. As an independent I have problems with both parties, but over the last decade the left has transformed into something so ignorant and evil it scares the living shit out of me. I don't know if it's pure ignorance or some form of mind control, but it's real and in your face. I hope people wake up to this shit before it's too late, but the logical side of me knows there is no chance.
The idea that this kid has to "take his lumps" because he's Muslim, and some Muslims have done horrible acts in the name of their religions is ridiculous. I can't think of anything less progressive than stripping a person of their individuality because of broader societal issues. This kid wasn't a stranger like those who attacked the cartoonists and carry out terror attacks, he's been going to this school for years. People know him. His first six teachers found no problem with his engineering project. One teacher did find a problem, and while we don't know exactly how this interaction took place, neither the teacher nor the principal nor the police must have been that concerned with this device because the school was never evacuated.
+Jason Jackman Well we can't all the sterling track record of crony capitalism and neo-conservative foreign policy. Lol. Have you had a pulse for the last 50 years?
If a white kid had a clock that looked like a real gun he would have to deal with the same thing, the only mistake they made was put him in handcuffs, but the kid will survive, i got put in handcuffs at school when i was 15 because i had my ibuprofen in a baggy and the school officer thought it was illicit drugs. And im white. If the clock didnt look like a bomb this wouldnt have happened. And i dont care how clean you think your mind is when it comea to profiling.... But i promise you that if ahmed pulled his clock out on your airplane you would think you were about to die, and part of it would be because of the way he looks. And you would be a bold faced liar to deny that. Every human being profiles to a degree, and profiling is healthy to a degree, it is not the same as racism or muslim phobia. If a white kid has a gun clock.... Is it white phobia to acknowledge that white kids shoot up schools and we should have a serious talk with him about his gun clock? I didn't think so.
While bill maher is right, the thing did look like a bomb, but what is sad was the kid was arrested for it after the teachers established it wasn't a bomb......
+The muslim Atheist sure it's sad but it's not wrong, given that like that guy said, the kid wasn't communicating with anyone about what exactly that thing was. And it's not like he was charged with anything.
He admitted in an interview that he knew it would look suspicious and be seen as a threat. That is a crime and he could have been charged with it. You can't go into a school with a hoax bomb that you know is suspicious then when people get suspicious say "it's not a bomb you're all racist". Bringing a hoax bomb into a school is a crime also
Why's everyone glossing over the fact that he SHOWED IT TO HIS TEACHER ...seriously if he wanted to make a hoax bomb wouldn't he leave it unattended why THE FUCK WOULD HE SHOW IT TO HIS TEACHER AND SAY "HEY MISS HERE'S A CLOCK THAT I BUILT" ...for real???
People are getting mad at the wrong thing here. Everybody wants to use this as an example of racism, or religious persecution, but the real issue here is that our nation's zero tolerance policies fuck with innocent kids' lives all the time. Kids have gotten expelled (and some arrested) for having steak knives in their lunch boxes, bringing toy guns to school, or even pointing their finger like a gun at students and teachers. It's out of control.
+MOONSTAR 313 Please show me where the EXPLOSIVES are? Oh wait, it's just got wires and circuit boards... Watch out, your TV has a bomb in it. Watch out your computer has a bomb in it... LOL! Idiot
Josh Walker Really, so all teachers are required to be technicians now and able to assess circuit boards? Don't be daft, it was a clicking device in a fucking suit case!
MOONSTAR 313 LOL! Bombs require ZERO electronics, they require EXPLOSIVES... You can take dynamite and a wind up clock with a match. And there you go, a bomb without electronics.... So cellphones don't click? Oh wait, those mobile bombs! Everywhere is bombs! In the walls there are bombs!
Martin Sanders ...LOL! Nope, I'm not a bomb expert. I just understand the basics of science. Electronics don't explode, explosives explode... I expect people who have graduated college and are teaching children to understand basic science...
I can see why the school took precaution, but in the very end he was just a kid! I mean c'mon, that's just ridiculous they didn't need to arrest him and put him in cuffs. Completely unnecessary!
+Chris Watenpool And that ... has what to do with a kid who brought in a project, said it was something other than a bomb, made no threats, had no threatening demeanor? How do you make any logical sense bringing in tragedies, and differing circumstances from this, into the picture?
I really like what Chris Matthews said about the "willingness to take sides", everybody jumps to their battleships before finding out all the facts in this story, and once they hop in that battleship they shoot away any facts that contradict their opinion. It's severe confirmation bias.
+Garrett1240 Nah, conservatives and liberals both have confirmation bias pretty bad. Maher did make a good point about the kid deserving an apology but the schools initial reaction being appropriate. I don't agree but it is a point worth considering. Interesting that no apology from the school is forthcoming though. Like most things, reason likely is sitting in between the extremes.
Vontux Have you been on social media? Talked to any opinionated, outspoken people under the age of 30? They are all the same people who want someones head on a spike if a tragedy occurs. Their view of justice is to ruin someones life/career if they dare do something wrong or even not so politically correct. It is the young liberals who are multiplying that have no sense of morality or reason. They just want the joy of stepping on others who disagree with them when a social issue happens.
Yeah I have, and I am a liberal under 30 actually. You see irrational outrage among conservatives too. Political correctness obsession is a definite problem among liberals, no doubt. Conservatives have their problems too, social media bad behavior is not a left or right only thing. Its easy to demonize people you disagree with. Liberals and Conservatives both need to be mindful of this chill out and find some common ground on stuff and realize people who share your label can still sometimes be wrong, and people who don't share your label can sometimes be correct.
[Conversation between Ahmed and his father] Ahmed: "But Dad, they'll never fall for this. I'm only 14, but grown-ups would have to be literally dumber than dirt to buy this. Take it from class to class, plug it into an outlet and set the alarm to go off in English class in this suspicious-looking case the week of the 9/11 anniversary? Dad, this WON'T work..." Ahmed's Father: "It WILL work, my son. Humanity is dumber than you can imagine. You will be seen as the talented and innocent Muslim child mistaken for a terrorist." Ahmed: "But DAD...!" Ahmed's Father: "GO, Ahmed!" [Days later] Ahmed: "It WORKED, father! I was offered scholarships to MIT, a job at Google and Facebook, shout outs from Hillary Clinton, a legion of supporters, and an invitation to the WHITE HOUSE!! Grown-ups really are dumb!" Ahmed's Father: "Allahu Akbar, my son."
+Dustin Zilbauer In which case whatever learning he gets from higher education will be used to build a bigger and more devastating bomb. You are a fool, America and naïve to the ways of the world. That is why it is scary to think about the future if people place their trust in you.
GirlFromIpanema Nope. His father was "smart" enough to know exactly how the regressive pseudo-liberal media works. He didn't do a very good job in coaching his son to keep his story straight, however.
Every school has a policy that toys that resemble weapons are not permitted on property. It is the school's discretion as to what "looks like a weapon". Schools do not even allow children to use hand gestures that mimic weapons or gang signs. It is expected that schools will err on the side of caution when it comes to safety.
+zugzwang420 caution = handcuffed+fingerprint procedure? No sources revealed the kid was trying to run? or was a threat? for young children this leaves a lasting impression - the least we could do is not justify the irrational steps taken in the name of "Caution"
+a2b2c200 I am not a police officer. I can't answer any questions as to how the Police evaluted this situation; nor am I aware of what their procedure is for dealing with a threat to a school. I do believe that the Police are trained. If you do not trust Police or their training to deal with these situations that is an entirely different issue. But it is not irrational to expect the safety of all students to be the biggest priority.
Your point about its not "irrational to expect safety" is completely right! not only EXPECT but also ENSURE, but do you draw any boundaries in your opinions as to when ACTIONS and STEPS taken by adults "Officers/School staff" to ensure safety become IRRATIONAL? I have such a hard time understanding why some people fail to see how many incidents by law authorities this year alone have led to grave mistakes on their parts at which regular people suffer and we continue to justify it all in the name of "Safety" how is it SAFE when people who are armed and in position of power are making their jobs easier by making broad judgements and arresting everyone they think "is suspicious" rather then doing due diligence to figure out if this situation is really a threat. No 14 year old should ever go through what Ahmed went through, It is such a terrible thing.
Child abuse. The father is the problem. Father already has the daughter mentally enslaved and wrapped. Son must have been “nicer” and resisted a little so father figures out a way to radicalize him.... child abuse.
No kidding? The kid was mentioned recently by Clickhole and I thought, oh yeah, clock boy! Wonder what the story was there? I went to Wikipedia to read and within 3 minutes I decided the kid was trying to get caught. He keeps bringing it out after he was told it looks like a bomb, he knows what he's doing. (I didn't figure his dad told him to do it so they could get something out of it, though, I just though he was being a dickhead. I once flipped off a kid much bigger than me - with my ring finger, from a distance - and if he had told on me or threatened to hit me, I was going to tell them, 'Nooooo, it wasn't my middle finger, it was my ring finger!' As if that would make the consequences go away. Kids love doing that bait and switch shit. 'Nooooo, it's not a bomb, it's a clock!' Thankfully he only flipped me off, back...with his middle finger. Sounds like the kid's father got a middle finger back, too: The middle finger of justice!
Well, Bill Maher is funny sometimes, and I agree with him on a lot of things, but hearing him talk about Islam is painful. The whole "we should assume muslim kids might be terrorists" thing is fucked up. It doesn't look like a bomb (where's the explosives, genius? It's all electronics, which don't really go "boom." At most, they sizzle a bit). A kid wearing a fucking NASA shirt who's interested in science and wants to show off his budding engineering skills is not a terrorist. Treating muslims like they're all suspected terrorists is bigoted and otherizes a group of people that are just people, even if they have a religion that I don't subscribe to.
+DontMockMySmock There are bomb analysts who have said it resembles a bomb. Are you a bomb expert? Some bombs are built using electronics--with a countdown timer like this clock had! No one suspected this kid until he brought something in that resembles a bomb. FYI, the school is made up of mostly minorities--only 6% of the kids are white. So you know who loses? All the kids at schools who now have teachers who are afraid to speak up if they see anything suspicious b/c they are afraid of speaking up and being accused of racism or bigotry. Do you remember the Boston bombers? teenagers...many (no not all) Muslim kids are brainwashed into this way of thinking. The next time someone hesitates, it could be another Boston Bombing. But at least we didn't upset anyone...
stephaniejane81 What a hilariously misinformed person. No bomb is built using only electronics. The thing that makes a bomb a bomb is the *explosives*. You know, TNT, C4, whatever. You can't make a bomb by putting wires and circuit boards together, regardless of whether it has a time display. A "time bomb" is called a time bomb because it has 1. a timer 2. explosives. A thing that has just a timer, like Ahmed Mohamed's, is called a fucking CLOCK. "Many" Muslim kids are brainwashed into building bombs and killing people? No. The vast majority (like, 99.9% or more) are ordinary people that are no more brainwashed than the average Christian. If you really think that any Muslim group in America is training terrorist children, you're fucking delusional. Muslim extremist terrorists hate America precisely because they don't live in America, and resent the way America treats the Middle East. And YOU, with your bigotry and misinformation, are part of the problem. YOU and your shitty attitude are responsible for helping to create terrorists. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims (ordinary ones, not extremists) are going to watch the news and think, "they arrested him for building a clock? Jeez, America sure is the land of bigoted assholes." And in small ways, bit by bit, people like you with your shitty attitude push Muslims away and make them into enemies.
You clearly don't understand the religion of Islam and you've never read the Koran. Have you ever heard the testimony of those who have escaped Islam? Women are treated like garbage in the Middle East under an Islamic theocracy. Like Bill says, Muslims are being killed by other Muslims for not following the Koran closely enough or for breaking Islamic law. A girl was recently killed--for kissing a boy! I am not making that up. Have you heard about the Afgan soldiers who we are supposed to be training over there, who were raping little boys and girls, and then our soldiers being told to ignore it b/c that is their culture? Have you heard of Sharia law, honor killings, an Islamic caliphate, Jihad...Where did you get that 99.9% figure? You made it up. I actually research and find facts before I spout them off. There are about 1 billion Muslims worldwide and at least 25% believe completely in a caliphate and forcing people to convert to Islam or die. that is 250 million, not a small number. It has NOTHING to do with the U.S. It has everything to do with their ideology. I know people who live in Pakistan who are constantly having to be careful not to be open about their Christianity b/c they risk being killed or their homes destroyed. Do you know what happens if you renounce Islam in the middle east? Your family disowns you at best--at worst you are crucified. This is reality. I have read account after account of what life really is like in the Middle East for those who don't follow the Koran to the letter. It is so oppressive, but you don't care. You care about hating America and being politically correct. You want to ignore it and pretend that its all America's fault. You have bought into the lie the Iranians and all the other Islamic terrorists have sold. I have read the history of Islam and it started long before the U.S. became a country. Do you even know anything about the Prophet Muhammed? He treated woman horribly and went after and killed those who did not conform to Islam--the religion he created. I am not saying all Muslims are bad. I am saying that there are a great number who strictly follow the Koran and all the laws that come with it. There are those who want to live a peaceful life, and I'm glad for that. But lets not be naive and think that there aren't some who want to seriously harm us.
+DontMockMySmock Also, I did not say a bomb is made by using only electronics--but it makes up part of a bomb and at first glance some people might be a tad nervous. Its really not that hard to believe why there was concern.
+John Doe , you're just too overreacted. all what you know about is the kinds of Muslims sampled by those who attacked the world trade center[9/11] . I mean, you never read about true islam and Muslims or asked the right people about what Islam is and what Islam is all about. only a handful of Muslims can do harm to others and true muslims consider them as idiot,ignorant and bloody. "WHOEVER KILLS A HUMAN-BEING IS JUST AS IF HAD KILLED ALL MANKIND", this is what Qur'an tells real muslims to believe. you know what the consequence is if you kill an innocent man irrespective of his belief or color or whatever criteria you have in mind? you go to hell-fire , so that is a belief and observing it is a sort of worshiping not just a matter of saying something out of tongues and minds. my advice to you all who hate islam and muslims , try and read more about islam and find out what islam is and who true muslims are ; because some non-muslims know about that and they laugh at your ignorance whren you judge what you do not know!!!
None of the school staff thought it was a bomb but an obvious prank, since this kid had been previously suspended for pranks. But the teacher who sent him to the principal because she would get fired due to zero tolerance. When sent to the principal's office, the principal had to call the police due to zero tolerance. Clock boy was arrested for the zero tolerance policy. Then the media decided to spin the story around. He got a lot out of a hoax.
Although I admire Bill in most things, he is dead wrong about this, and I'll tell you why... First of all, it's the Teacher's duty to educate the child - I know this because I'm an English Teacher. It's not the child's duty to educate the teacher... ONLY in the movies will you see a bomb with a giant red glowing numeric display on the side. ONLY in the movies... Use your brain. If you look at the picture of the actual device in it's view showing the parts inside - NEW RULES; (to borrow a phrase) You are NOT permitted to say it looks exactly like a bomb. A bomb has an explosive component and there is none. A bomb doesn't have a giant glowing red display on the front, and even if it did, it would be counting down. The picture shows ONLY electronics - electronics do not a bomb make. NEW RULE; You can't ask who is blowing up all the shit in the world with bombs trying to insinuate that it's the Muslims, when it was the USA that dropped GIANT bombs on Japan, invaded other countries for war, etc... As a last point, if you actually look at the picture here; puu.sh/kl3uJ/49a8006a14.jpg If you look at the picture and filter it thru past experience and common sense - How many bombs have you seen that need to be plugged in??? You can clearly see that the red display module, that produces the large glowing red numbers, is almost the exact same size as the case itself... So unless the clock was counting backwards, or you see some explosive material in the case, why would you display your ignorance is this manner for the whole world to see while guessing it's a bomb??? Additionally, do I have that correct? Is Bill Maher actually advocating racial profiling as a viable solution to this? My offered alternative is using your brain... As far as the ability of the 14 year old boy goes, only a minority of kids at that age possess verbal skills to counter adult interrogation.
+Cybr Knyf You don't know that. He was arrested for having a hoax bomb, and because he wouldn't talk to teachers and investigators. He didn't say "Oh, it's a science project just talk to my science teacher who knows what this is."
+charlesvan13 Please try to respond directly to my comments. I said that only bombs in movies had a giant timer on the front. More to the point, I also said that unless the clock was counting backward, I'm gonna say it's a clock. Lets get some scale on the size of this thing. Is it closer to the size of a clock or to a briefcase? Considering that the case shown doesn't even sport a handle, and that the display takes up nearly the entire length of the case itself - I'm gonna use my brain a bit and call it a clock. Just to be safe, I'm gonna look inside and check for any explosive material... Ayep, must be a clock.... And that doesn't even mention that it was an alleged bomb that needed to be plugged in? COME ON!..... USE them brain cells... make 'em work on this... ;) Finally, the right to remain silent is a constitutional right... Plus they held him for over an hour without probably cause, check the 14th amendment...
+Cybr Knyf Are you for real? The kid had a fucking metal briefcase which started ticking off during english classes with some mechanism thrown inside. You're going rounds and rounds to explain that the kid is innocent and didn't do anything wrong. Well, he fucking did and it was his and his parents fault that they allowed him to get this "clock" to school.
+Marche F Did you miss the part where I, in great detail, explained it wasn't a briefcase - A-Because it doesn't have a handle - B-Needs to be plugged into the wall - C-has a display almost the exact length of the case itself? You ever see a bomb that matches that description, rather than in a movie???? Come on, bud - use them brain cells...
+Marche F Actually, you really need to do a little research of your own before you start spouting conspiracy theories around. Let me refer you to the actual Texas Law article here; codes.lp.findlaw.com/txstatutes/PE/10/46/46.08 That code was NOT broken by the facts of this story as told so far... Get a freaking grip.
The biggest issue to me here is how media cover (social media included) wrote this whole story before the facts were laid out (again). I'm not too proud to say I jumped on the bandwagon way too early and declared someone should've been fired. But when I actually saw the device that Ahmed constructed... well, I felt like I'd been lied to. The thing was in a suitcase. In initial media reports (again, social media included), no mention of a suitcase. The closest I can recall was "pencil case." That device was inside the biggest darned pencil case I'd ever seen. While I wouldn't expect any reasonable person to immediately assume the device was a bomb, not knowing that the actual device was nothing like "any old digital clock" certainly distorted perception of the incident. And once it was revealed what the device actually looked like, it put the story in a whole different light. Not saying the school was justified in its actions, but when important pieces of information are left out initially, only to be disclosed later, the story never feels the same afterward. It also turns out the boy's father isn't exactly a camera-shy individual. He ran for president of Sudan back in the '80s or '90s and is a political activist. There isn't anything wrong with any of this and none of it may have any relevance to the incident involving his son. But, again, it does cast the story and its participants in an entirely different light. Given the amount of attention, furor, and outrage this incident has generated, topped off by the behavior of the victim and his family, you have to ask yourself - who now has the most to gain from all of this? Certainly not the school or the city; they're completely on the defensive now. For me, this was a humbling reminder of the importance of skepticism (not suspicion). The media and keyboard warriors will always designate heroes, villains, and victims from the outset without consent, but we have to be smart enough to not believe the hype and search for the truth, not the narrative. It's going to be interesting seeing how this story will be remembered ten years from now, if it's remembered at all.
+E Drew How is your statement any better? (paraphrasing) "He had a brief case...His father ran for president of the Sudan...Eh, it's a wash". I think the 50/50 people are the worst kinds of cowards. They come in after some hubbub on their white horse, claim a pox on everyone's house, and pretend the issue is settled. There's a key difference between the school and police acting poorly and a bunch of bloggers and media personalities. You can turn off the media, you can't ignore authority figures with the power to suspend and imprison. The facts of the case do matter and it's clear the school and the police were a larger part of the problem.
+E Drew You're comment should be higher. That's pretty much how I felt about it too. I also felt lied to when I found out that it appeared he took a store bought clock, took it apart, and stuck it inside a case. I initially thought he was an "inventor". Also the idea of Ahmed's sister sitting next to him potentially giving him answers seems fishy too. Wouldn't surprise me at all if his parents and family put him up to it. Ahmed not putting the clock away when asked, to me, shows he was trying to provoke something.
+Hawkeye Bear Yeah, some kind of inventor, huh? As for his sister "coaching" him, it comes as little surprise. They want to protect him, but at the same time, it does make things sound different. Anyway, I don't necessarily believe there's any conspiracy here, I just think the victims aren't as innocent as they say they are and the villains are as evil as we think they are.
1. The clock did look like a bomb, the parents should have known that. That is first thing I told my wife was it looked like a bomb. 2. The teacher and school was justified to investigate the matter for safety of other students. 3. I don't agree with Maher's leap in logic of the clock looking like a bomb to since the kid is arab looking maybe he is going to join Isis (which is totally a US concoction by the way). 4. The police was the ones that were wrong they shouldn't have destined him like that. 5. Off this incident alone I don't know why the parents are condemning school they acted appropriately. The parents should have had more common sense on other hand for letting their child take that device to school without any specific instructions for him or any notice to the school administration.
+Tiger Jackson ISIS is made up? You just lost all credibility. The teachers were wrong too: The first thing they should have done after calling police is call the parents. The parents had plenty of sense. They gave him very specific instructions, which he followed to a *T* to maximize suspicion.
Bill hits the nail on the head when he mentions how silly the media attention is on this story is, and how it should be on important things like kids being crucified for "being at a rally.'
@@Volmire1 Well he didn’t so there’s 1 thing No lawyer no parents. He’s a minor. No legal representation or protections. Arrest without cause or warrant. This isn’t about the clock or his race. This in and of itself is bad
Take a clock down, and rebuild it in a alu case, and stirup an agitation. Letting the alarm go off in public, for instance. What would jolly well happen ?
If I was Ahmed (an intelligent tech inclined kid), I'd feel mighty embarrassed to pass this repurposed Micronta brand alarm clock off as my "homemade clock invention". I'd be even more embarrassed to be any of the powerful people and institutions giving him scholarships and other gifts based on this hoax. Given that, there will be plenty of motivation to keep this story from coming fully to light.
Bill Maher's clarity on this issue is both intelligent and thoughtful. I think he has such a passionate plea towards his fellow liberals and Progressives. I applaud him for being 100% genuine and balancing his opinions with a logical thought progression. Even though i personally disagree with him probably about 88% of the time he at least likes to invite others with differing points of views on his show and have debates. (The kind we used to have in this country). Wonder how many of his fellow Liberals/Progressives will listen to what he is saying.
I remember when this story came out and felt really badly for the teacher. I don’t know what subject she taught, but I guarantee her professional expertise didn’t include bomb squad training. If she didn’t report it and it WAS a bomb, she would have been partially guilty for any injuries or deaths or destruction that occurred. If she did report it and it WASN’T a bomb, suddenly she is an idiotic racist who can’t tell the difference between a bomb and a clock. She honestly deserved an apology for the lashing she took in the court of public opinion.
I cant believe i am saying this, I really cant...., but I agree with Bill Maher here, check one on the box that says we are more alike than we are different.
BUBBA SLIM LOL! Do you want me to quote some local police reports in your town? Obviously that makes you a criminal? You can go around to any uncivilized country where theocracy rules and find that kind of religious law... India has similar problems. Much of Africa and South America has similar problems. America has those problems with Christians hatred of gay marriage and abortions. Then you strawman me into believing theocratic leaders? LOL! I don't even believe own political leaders, let alone religious ones... Combine the two... LOL! No...
You are the one fantasy land with no argument. I am not talking about some desert with 10 people living there annually. I am talking about Muslims here in America. The mere fact that you don't even know that many Imams here in America are calling for death to America and calling for sharia law to be used instead of the US constitution is ridiculous. You simply are uneducated in the subject and do not have a basis for a rational discussion. You don't here the pope calling for death to a nation or that all Gay people should be tortured and then beheaded publicly. You have this naive mentality that their religion is just as friendly and accepting as your neighborhood Christian church. I guess all of the hundreds of bombings didn't happen, or the thousands of plots stopped didn't exist.
BUBBA SLIM There are plenty of dumb white people calling for white supremacy, dumb black people calling for black supremacy, dumb christians calling for christian supremacy, etc... Freedom of speech is allowed so some idiot Imam can say death to America and call for Sharia law, doesn't mean either will happen... The pope advocates not using contraception. Do you know how much misery is caused by catholic overpopulation and STI rates? A lot, so religious leaders are stupid because religion is garbage... Then you kick the ass of that strawman you built of me. Religion is garbage to trick idiots into following leaders. That doesn't mean someone who claims a label of religion are violent, just openly deluded... Usually religion is forced upon people in their childhood, so it's hardly their choice to believe bullshit.
Bill, i can't believe you just said that. "arresting a kid without knowing for a fact if he is in the wrong". If the school is on a high tourism alert then evacuate the school.
Ahmed's family is suing the city for 15 millions. Although i was siding with him at first, he slapped the generous offers that were given by prestigious schools in the US and went instead to Quatar (a land of slavery and where people are much more sexist and racist) and now he's suing the city. So if Ahmed really blew up the school, it would have cost 15 millions to rebuild it. Either way the tax payer got swindled.
"the people at the school thought it might be a bomb ... perhaps because it looks exactly like a fucking bomb." This sentence sums up the whole thing really.
No Bill, the kid doesn't "clearly deserved an apology". What he needs to understand that he will forever be under the scrutiny of the government's prying eyes. UPDATE: One week later after this episode of REAL TIME, Bill does a 180 and denounces Ahhmed.
7:33 wtf are muslims in general supposed to take responsibility for this. Do i have to apologise for all these events all the time. Thats like making a german dude apologize to jews for the atrocities the german state committed towards them.
+J Singleton Because they could tell it wasn't a bomb. The kid wasn't being engaging or responsive so they were trying to figure out his motives. Still a very serious issue if it was a hoax and until they figured out what was going on they detained him
Awesome buddy, just dont do any of that Honor killing shit like the dude who started a Muslim are peaceful channel in Canada and then Beheaded his wife.
He was told not to bring it to other classes. He did. He plugged the clock in so the alarm would go off in class. Twice. He was being passive agressive with the cops. That's why he was cuffed. He didn't build the clock at all. He took apart a commercial clock and put it in a briefcase. He admitted that it looks suspicious so he "wrapped it in a wire." He wanted to make people think it was a bomb. He is entirely responsible. He's not a victim.
I love how everyone on this panel except for Jorge Ramos basically admits that they're too stupid to be able to tell what a clock is and need to have it explained to them by a fourteen-year-old. Bombs don't have giant fucking clock faces on them that count UP in HOURS AND MINUTES. It doesn't take an electrical engineer to point that out.
I agree with a lot of things bill says but tell someone to explain to their kid that "our religion is responsible for xyz" is totally wrong. I have never heard one say explain to your kid that whites had oppressed blacks for hundreds of years so you have to be careful around black people.
Ahmed's sister was suspended for bomb threat years earlier. Now his whole family wants to sue PD and school district. I hope they try so all the shady stuff gets blown up, so to speak
