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[gregory999]

Muslim teen Ahmed Mohamed creates clock, shows teachers, gets arrested:
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/16/us/texas-student-ahmed-muslim-clock-bomb/

Social media reacts
Outrage over the incident -- with many saying the student was profiled because he's Muslim -- spread on social media as #IStandWithAhmed started trending worldwide on Twitter with more than 100,000 tweets Tuesday morning. The school's Facebook page is roiling with sharp criticism of the way the teen was treated, and the hashtag #engineersforahmed is gaining popularity.

"When a white kid builds nuclear fusion reactor it's cool but when a Muslim builds a clock it's not"
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/16/us/texas-student-ahmed-muslim-clock-bomb/

President Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and thousands of others are showing support for Ahmed.

"Cool clock, Ahmed," Obama tweeted. "Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great."

Kevin McKinney posted, "How did a bunch of complete idiots end up accidentally running a school? Were you all yanked out of a zoo and given paychecks? Learning centers are for teaching...not for ruining innocent people's lives with your racism and pathetic stupidity!..."This kid is destined to be something great if the dimwits of Irving don't ruin him first."


And guess what, It was an English teacher who got spooked and reported Ahmed to the principal, the police said. (shame on you English teacher! )

"Shame on your school and its administration for arresting Ahmed Mohamed," wrote Jillian York. "Way to stifle a kid's creativity and energy. I hope you're all replaced with compassionate, non-racist, administrators and teachers."

Is America becoming more Islamophobic?

[Nicky_McG]

Have you seen the clock? It could easily be mistaken for a crude bomb (based on what most people's idea of a bomb is) It was regrettable but the teacher was just being cautious. I'm pretty sure that it would have aroused suspicion whatever the religion (or name) of the maker.

[gregory999]

[Nicky_McG]

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

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[wangdaning]

He said he took it to school to show the teacher. Why would he be showing the English teacher something about science? Like taking a novel you've written to a maths teacher. Kind of odd, unless the teacher was into clocks, but then she would have known better what it was I would think. It is school policy to report anything that could pose a potential risk. They are covering their butts in case something does happen.

[buravirgil]

I think what most people found extreme was the number of police who came to the school and cuffing the kid and telling him his parents couldn't help him.

This is juxtaposed to very troubled kids posting disturbing things to social media, sometimes for years, but more often for months, and even just weeks, but it not getting the attention it "should".

I can see a CYA excuse being made, but it was the immediate and severe response versus, say, calls to parents and social workers following up that led to the viral response.

[johnslat]

"The thing in question was the product of Ahmed’s love of invention. He made the clock out of a metal briefcase-style box, a digital display, wires and a circuit board. It was bigger and bulkier than a typical bedside clock, with cords, screws and electrical components.

He said he took it to school on Monday to show an engineering teacher, who said it was nice but then told him he should not show the invention to other teachers. Later, Ahmed’s clock beeped during an English class, and after he revealed the device to the teacher, school officials notified the police, and Ahmed was interrogated by officers.

“She thought it was a threat to her,” Ahmed told reporters Wednesday. “So it was really sad that she took a wrong impression of it.”

Fingerprints and a mug shot were taken at a juvenile detention center. The clock was confiscated, and Ahmed was suspended from school for three days, until Thursday.

In a letter to parents, the school’s principal, Dan Cummings, informed them that the police had responded to a “suspicious-looking item on campus.” The Irving school district acknowledged in a statement Wednesday that the information released about the incident was “unbalanced,” but officials said they could not comment further because of student privacy laws.

Texas Democrats said Ahmed’s detention was an outgrowth of the anti-Muslim sentiments of Irving officials. The city’s mayor, Beth Van Duyne, has been outspoken in criticizing a Muslim group that mediates disputes between the area’s Muslim residents, accusing it of establishing an anti-American Shariah court of law.

“Ahmed’s arrest is a logical conclusion to Islamophobia in Irving and it’s deplorable,” the chairwoman of the Dallas County Democratic Party, Carol Donovan, said in a statement.

The mayor could not be reached for comment Wednesday night. She wrote on Facebook that she did not fault the school or the police “for looking into what they saw as a potential threat,” but added that as a parent she would be upset if the situation had happened to her child.

“Hopefully, we can all learn from this week’s events and the student, who has obvious gifts, will not feel at all discouraged from pursuing his talent in electronics and engineering,” Ms. Van Duyne wrote.

For his part, Ahmed said the police still had his clock. Before mentioning that he would love to present his inventions to celebrity investors on the “Shark Tank” television show, Ahmed was asked if he had any message for other young gadget-builders.

“Go for it,” he said. “Don’t let people change who you are.”

But right-wing sites see a conspiracy, a clever plot on the part of Ahmed and his parents:

"But on some conservative sites, he was the subject of slurs and vitriol and suggestions that he and his family did not belong here."

Some examples:

"Thank You for your article on this, Of course this young man fits right into Obama narrative about how US Bad people of America just don't understand muslim's but really we do They are out to take over our country now that they have destroyed theirs Thank God that we only have a short time before some one new will be in the white house"

"THE SCHOOLS-COLLEGES ARE DOOMED WITH YOUR CHILDREN IN THEM BUT.......AMERICANS HAVE GONE STUPID NOT TO BELIEVE THAT THE REAL DEATH TO YOUR CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS IS COMING WITH THE EVIL MOSLEMS GOING THERE, FOOLS THAT'S THE JOKE OF THIS THEY WILL DO IT THEY HAVE THREATENED TO DO IT AND THEY WILL #AMERICANS LET THE MOSLEMS IN THEIR SCHOOLS #STUPIDITY DON'T CRY WHEN IT HAPPENS YOU ALLOWED YOUR CHILDREN TO BE SET UP FOR THE KILL# "

Now, come on - how can anyone think there's any Islamophobia here in the USA? I mean, really . . . .???

Regards,
John

[grahamb]

It's funny how there was no Islamophobia prior to the collapse of the Soviet Union. It's almost as if it had been manufactured in order to give us all a new bogeyman to fear. Perhaps I should stop reading George Orwell.

[gregory999]

I think Islamophobia is only in the minds of the 'neoconservatives' - powerful individuals controlling America's policies.

I would say that the majority of the American citizens do not know enough about Islam to form an intellectual opinion about Islam. They get distorted information or representation of Islam from biased media like CNN, Fox news, USA Today, CBS News, etc.

[johnslat]

Dear gregory999,

The problem? Since when did not knowing enough about a topic prevent anyone from forming an opinion - oh, not an "intellectual" opinion, admittedly, but definitely an "emotional" one?

And therein lies the problem.

Regards,
John

[gregory999]

[buravirgil]

[steki47]

Last year a 7-year old white kid was suspended for biting a Pop-Tart into the shape of a gun. Lots of chaos and overreaction all around.
As goofy as these incidents may seem, the system of alerting authorities about potentially dangerous activities is overall beneficial to society.

Also, Ahmed's father has a history of Islamic activism and publicity stunts. I have to wonder if this was staged for some reason.

[buravirgil]