[WTF?!] Kid arrested for showing off built clock in school

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 1:49 pm

I heard a clip of the cops news conference about this on the radio about an hour ago. The cops are now claiming they were not told everything about the "incident" by the school and regret what happened. Even so, why was the kid arrested?

YellowKing · Post by **YellowKing** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 2:20 pm

GreenGoo wrote:Right. But for it to be a hoax bomb, the kid would have had to say "Hey! I've got a bomb here" when it wasn't really one. Instead, the kid said "Hey, I've got this homemade clock here" and people were like "is it a bomb? No. Is it a hoax bomb? It could be. I mean, it's not a bomb but it looks like a bomb to me, so even though it's not a bomb and the kid never claimed it was a bomb, let's handle it as if it's a hoax bomb and arrest him".

Does any of that make sense to you YK?

I'm not defending their actions, just stating what it sounds like happened. They obviously weren't convinced that it was a bomb enough to evacuate the school and take bomb procedures, but the kid wasn't detained because everyone thought it was a clock either.

gameoverman · Post by **gameoverman** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 2:58 pm

YellowKing wrote:
GreenGoo wrote:Right. But for it to be a hoax bomb, the kid would have had to say "Hey! I've got a bomb here" when it wasn't really one. Instead, the kid said "Hey, I've got this homemade clock here" and people were like "is it a bomb? No. Is it a hoax bomb? It could be. I mean, it's not a bomb but it looks like a bomb to me, so even though it's not a bomb and the kid never claimed it was a bomb, let's handle it as if it's a hoax bomb and arrest him".

Does any of that make sense to you YK?
I'm not defending their actions, just stating what it sounds like happened. They obviously weren't convinced that it was a bomb enough to evacuate the school and take bomb procedures, but the kid wasn't detained because everyone thought it was a clock either.

Schools have lockdowns if there's even a hint of something sketchy going on, I find it hard to believe if there was the possibility of there being a bomb on the grounds that everyone's attitude was "Meh, business as usual".

To me that is clear indication that no one thought it was a bomb. The 'bomb hoax' thing is like when the cops pull someone over for not signaling a lane change correctly or not coming to a complete stop. It's a lie, it's only purpose is to provide the cover of probable cause. They wanted to mess with this kid, claiming he was building some kind of fake bomb is the perfect cover for doing what they did. Well, it's the perfect cover for like minded people, everyone else can see how stupid it was.

That first teacher, I could attribute his advice to the kid to reflect that teacher's knowledge of how stupid his colleagues are as much as it might be him thinking the clock looked like a bomb. Teachers and administrators talk, that teacher would know what his colleagues thought of this kid and how he might be treated if he showed that clock to people.

GargoyleBoy · Post by **GargoyleBoy** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 3:02 pm

Only one thing here is for certain, and that's that they clearly didn't think the eyes of the nation would be on them. Now they have a lot of awkward explaining to do, and they still haven't even apologized to the kid or lifted his 3-day suspension.

raydude · Post by **raydude** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 8:32 pm

The thing I don't get is - how is it possible that none of the faculty consulted the science teacher? I get that an English teacher maybe couldn't tell if it was a bomb or not. I get even more that maybe the Principal couldn't tell - because hey, if anything is true, it's that incompetence gets promoted. But so if Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum couldn't tell, wouldn't they at least be smart enough to say - "Let's see if Mr. Science Teacher can figure it out".

The corollary to that is - How clueless can Mr. Science Teacher be when the faculty is sitting there wondering whether or not the thing is a bomb and not give his two cents that it in fact, is not?

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 8:47 pm

raydude wrote:The thing I don't get is - how is it possible that none of the faculty consulted the science teacher? I get that an English teacher maybe couldn't tell if it was a bomb or not. I get even more that maybe the Principal couldn't tell - because hey, if anything is true, it's that incompetence gets promoted. But so if Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum couldn't tell, wouldn't they at least be smart enough to say - "Let's see if Mr. Science Teacher can figure it out".

The corollary to that is - How clueless can Mr. Science Teacher be when the faculty is sitting there wondering whether or not the thing is a bomb and not give his two cents that it in fact, is not?

They figured out it wasn't a bomb pretty quick. Apparently the fact that it wasn't a bomb couldn't stop the juggernaut of disciplinary action however.

To answer your question, everyone knew it wasn't a bomb within minutes of someone thinking it might be a bomb.

Canuck · Post by **Canuck** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 8:50 pm

This whole incident only confirms to me that most people are just fucking stupid. You can have specialized skills or knowledge but that doesn't mean you (the Royal you) aren't dumb as fuck.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 10:55 pm

It's called pass the buck. Someone caught the kid's clock because it made noise.

They kicked it over to administration as a disciplinary problem. Administration didn't want to deal with it, so made it a police issue. The police weren't told everything, just that the kid had something suspiciously like a bomb and it was disruptive. No one listens to the kid, because you can't trust some smartass who says "it's just a clock." Because, seriously, who the fuck brings a clock like that to school without thinking about other people's likely reactions? Especially one that's going to alarm in the middle of the school day? An immature kid, that's who.

It's gross incompetence and stupid overreaction all around, not malice.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 11:39 pm

To put things in perspective, At 14 I still thought that muscle shirts that exposed the midriff made me look hot.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 12:14 am

So, nothing has really changed?

Kasey Chang · Post by **Kasey Chang** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 1:57 am

Zarathud wrote: It's gross incompetence and stupid overreaction all around, not malice.

It's also "zero tolerance".

Pyperkub · Post by **Pyperkub** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 2:37 am

GreenGoo wrote:
Scuzz wrote:And yea, it was a different time. The only bombers then were disgruntled hippies, or were the Weathermen a thing of the past by then.
There are no bombers TODAY. At least not in America. It really wasn't a different time.

Bingo! Exactly how many bombs have gone off at American Schools in, say, the past 20 years (post Vietnam/School integration)?

That number appears to be zero - even the Columbine killers' bombs didn't go off.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 5:21 pm

So does it change anything if experts who are looking at the kids clock decide it is merely the guts of a commercially available clock put into a pencil box? And that the kid didn't make it, he merely dismantled it and put it in another container. And so he lied about making said clock?

That is what experts on CNN and other news programs are starting to say.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 5:43 pm

Scuzz wrote:So does it change anything if experts who are looking at the kids clock decide it is merely the guts of a commercially available clock put into a pencil box? And that the kid didn't make it, he merely dismantled it and put it in another container. And so he lied about making said clock?

That is what experts on CNN and other news programs are starting to say.

Unless he's printing the PCBs himself, he's going to be buying off-the shelf components. If he took a clock apart and reassembled it in the box and it works? He's no genius but it doesn't really change the fact that it's a homemade clock.

If he re-assembled a PC in a Millennium Falcon

or built an amp in a cigar box

No on would accuse him of cheating by using pre-existing parts. I don't see it as any different to making a kit radio when I was a kid. You're not making anything new or particularly special but you're learning how to build stuff. You have to start somewhere.

Incidentally, both of those examples above are just random ones I grabbed, he didn't do those or anything. But they do look like bombs, no?

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 6:31 pm

Scuzz wrote:So does it change anything if experts who are looking at the kids clock decide it is merely the guts of a commercially available clock put into a pencil box? And that the kid didn't make it, he merely dismantled it and put it in another container. And so he lied about making said clock?

It makes him a terrorist, obviously.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:39 pm

Another media darling bites the dust http://blogs.artvoice.com/techvoice/201 ... ourselves/ It's not a homemade clock if he just took all the parts out of their shell and put them in a different shell.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:49 pm

Well, that's one way to make everyone forget the real issue, I guess. I'm betting Sarah Palin and Fox News commissioned that study.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:53 pm

gbasden wrote:
YellowKing wrote:I still say that looks ominous. Large display, check. Wires coming out everywhere, check. Case-like enclosure, check.
How about lack of anything that looks like explosives? It looks very much like the heathkit digital clock kit I built as a child.

Almost a week ago it was suggested that it was a clock kit.

This literally changes nothing.

At no point did I think this 14 year old rummaged through a junkyard and pulled random circuit boards, wires, batteries and displays until he found the parts he needed to make a clock.

The idea that this was misrepresented is hilarious.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 9:54 pm

hepcat wrote:Well, that's one way to make everyone forget the real issue, I guess. I'm betting Sarah Palin and Fox News commissioned that study.

Yep, hilarious. Now he's a dirty muslim who tried to pull the wool over everyone's eyes, but America will have none of it. We're on to you, future terrorist.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 10:23 pm

Hell, he might as well go out driving and rear end a little old lady sending her into a fatal collision. It won't stick to him, he's
Teflon just like Caitlyn.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 10:31 pm

You're trying too hard again.

Exodor · Post by **Exodor** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 11:05 pm

This could possibly the the dumbest controversy ever.

A 14 year old kid was put into handcuffs and detained because he brought a clock to school - and some are actually defending that decision?

It's because Obama weighed in, isn't it? That brought out the Palins which brought out the stupids.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 11:09 pm

Kid knew what he was doing, being a smart ass. Authorities over reacted. Obama looks for political gain. End of story.

gbasden · Post by **gbasden** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 11:10 pm

Exodor wrote:This could possibly the the dumbest controversy ever.

+100.

It's stupid to the extreme that otherwise rational people are accusing this kid of anything. It's yet another example of the irrational fear of brown people that certain segments of American society seems to have in spades right now.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 11:23 pm

Just wanted to poke my head in and note I'm not defending it.

Anyone who looked at that and gave bomb a second thought is an absolute moron.

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 2:03 am

Yep, everybody on the right is racist, and everybody on the left hates America. That pretty much sums up every discussion here.

Canuck · Post by **Canuck** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 3:04 am

em2nought wrote:Yep, everybody on the right is racist, and everybody on the left hates America. That pretty much sums up every discussion here.

Fortunately we've got you to dispel that stereotype.
I'm not sure Obama did what he did for political gain. I like to think he did it to see how many conservative talking heads he could make explode. I definitely agree though that this has turned into "Everything Obama says or does must be bad".

em2nought · Post by **em2nought** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 4:47 am

Canuck wrote:
em2nought wrote:I definitely agree though that this has turned into "Everything Obama says or does must be bad".

Don't worry, you'll have years to say the same thing about "The Donald" if the right doesn't find a way to torpedo him somehow.

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 10:34 am

em2nought wrote:Yep, everybody on the right is racist, and everybody on the left hates America. That pretty much sums up every discussion here.

Excellent use of hyperbole and gross exaggeration to not only diminish the level of your own bigotry but to also throw a backhanded slap at liberals at the same time. You have clearly passed remedial troll school and should talk to your instructors regarding advanced placement.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 11:37 am

dbt1949 wrote:Kid knew what he was doing, being a smart ass. Authorities over reacted. Obama looks for political gain. End of story.

This is pretty much the argument I am seeing by those on a certain "side" on other sites. While most don't think the arrest was necessary there is a general attitude that the media jumped on the bandwagon of a kid who maybe wasn't what he portrayed himself to be. Of course his father being a "radical Muslim" is usually thrown into the argument.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 11:45 am

Remember when a lot of folks were complaining about the epidemic of police militarization and "over criminalization"?

Yeah, that uproar kind of dried up when minorities entered the equation.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 12:50 pm

hepcat wrote:Remember when a lot of folks were complaining about the epidemic of police militarization and "over criminalization"?

Yeah, that uproar kind of dried up when minorities entered the equation.

I thought it was recent minority killings by police that helped lead the talk about police militarization. But maybe I was just late to that party myself.

The discussion seems to be turning to the over use of prisons. I have seen arguments that prison populations versus crime don't relate but I do know that here in California crime has shot up after the state decided not to lock up guys for certain crimes. Basically anyone busted for car theft and minor burglaries is now out on the street again in 24 hours due to the counties being forced to carry more of the prisoner burden.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 12:59 pm

I hope you didn't take my comment as directed at you personally. That was certainly not my intent.

I was just saying that there was a narrative for a while here (and in real life) that cops were becoming a military force and they were abusing their power more and more. But it just seems that since minorities entered the picture, many of the people who claimed such things are now claiming there's a war on cops.

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 1:20 pm

Scuzz wrote:
hepcat wrote:Remember when a lot of folks were complaining about the epidemic of police militarization and "over criminalization"?

Yeah, that uproar kind of dried up when minorities entered the equation.
I thought it was recent minority killings by police that helped lead the talk about police militarization. But maybe I was just late to that party myself.

The discussion seems to be turning to the over use of prisons. I have seen arguments that prison populations versus crime don't relate but I do know that here in California crime has shot up after the state decided not to lock up guys for certain crimes. Basically anyone busted for car theft and minor burglaries is now out on the street again in 24 hours due to the counties being forced to carry more of the prisoner burden.

People have insurance to cover for car theft and bugluries, so screw that shit. Its far easier and more lucrative to fill the prisons with people arrested on drug related offenses. You get the bonus of taking their possessions if there's even a small hint of possible intent to distribute charges.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 3:09 pm

hepcat wrote:I hope you didn't take my comment as directed at you personally. That was certainly not my intent.

I was just saying that there was a narrative for a while here (and in real life) that cops were becoming a military force and they were abusing their power more and more. But it just seems that since minorities entered the picture, many of the people who claimed such things are now claiming there's a war on cops.

No, I didn't take it personally. I think that like so many things in todays news something is "hot" for a week, maybe a month, and then something else comes along and replaces it in the hive mind, if you will.

I know on sites like Broken Forum, the militarization of cops and cop violence towards minorities is till a main topic, while on more right leaning sites the trend has turned back to the "war" on cops.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 3:11 pm

rshetts2 wrote:
Scuzz wrote:
hepcat wrote:Remember when a lot of folks were complaining about the epidemic of police militarization and "over criminalization"?

Yeah, that uproar kind of dried up when minorities entered the equation.
I thought it was recent minority killings by police that helped lead the talk about police militarization. But maybe I was just late to that party myself.

The discussion seems to be turning to the over use of prisons. I have seen arguments that prison populations versus crime don't relate but I do know that here in California crime has shot up after the state decided not to lock up guys for certain crimes. Basically anyone busted for car theft and minor burglaries is now out on the street again in 24 hours due to the counties being forced to carry more of the prisoner burden.
People have insurance to cover for car theft and bugluries, so screw that shit. Its far easier and more lucrative to fill the prisons with people arrested on drug related offenses. You get the bonus of taking their possessions if there's even a small hint of possible intent to distribute charges.

Well when you consider they are often the same people you would think they would end up in jail. And I think the common citizen cares more about his car or house than if John down the street spends time in jail for selling weed or meth.

Also, nothing personalizes crime like having your house burglarized. I say that from experience. Just because insurance pays for stuff (after the deductible) you just don't suddenly feel fine about it.

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 4:43 pm

Scuzz wrote:
rshetts2 wrote:
Scuzz wrote:
hepcat wrote:Remember when a lot of folks were complaining about the epidemic of police militarization and "over criminalization"?

Yeah, that uproar kind of dried up when minorities entered the equation.
I thought it was recent minority killings by police that helped lead the talk about police militarization. But maybe I was just late to that party myself.

The discussion seems to be turning to the over use of prisons. I have seen arguments that prison populations versus crime don't relate but I do know that here in California crime has shot up after the state decided not to lock up guys for certain crimes. Basically anyone busted for car theft and minor burglaries is now out on the street again in 24 hours due to the counties being forced to carry more of the prisoner burden.
People have insurance to cover for car theft and bugluries, so screw that shit. Its far easier and more lucrative to fill the prisons with people arrested on drug related offenses. You get the bonus of taking their possessions if there's even a small hint of possible intent to distribute charges.
Well when you consider they are often the same people you would think they would end up in jail. And I think the common citizen cares more about his car or house than if John down the street spends time in jail for selling weed or meth.

Also, nothing personalizes crime like having your house burglarized. I say that from experience. Just because insurance pays for stuff (after the deductible) you just don't suddenly feel fine about it.

Believe me I know, from personal experience, as well. I had my home broken into an a lot of stuff was stolen. There was evidence all over the place including clearly visible fingerprints on the back door window and a hat one of the intruders left, which I recognized and likely belonged to one of my neighbors. When I asked the officers how the investigation would proceed they laughed at me and said, "It goes like this, you get a copy of the report and file it with your insurance. End of investigation" The house was a rental and I moved shortly after. If you think the police act based on the desires of the common citizen, I think you're fooling yourself. Policing has become a revenue stream and form of minority control.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 5:01 pm

rshetts2 wrote: Believe me I know, from personal experience, as well. I had my home broken into an a lot of stuff was stolen. There was evidence all over the place including clearly visible fingerprints on the back door window and a hat one of the intruders left, which I recognized and likely belonged to one of my neighbors. When I asked the officers how the investigation would proceed they laughed at me and said, "It goes like this, you get a copy of the report and file it with your insurance. End of investigation" The house was a rental and I moved shortly after. If you think the police act based on the desires of the common citizen, I think you're fooling yourself. Policing has become a revenue stream and form of minority control.

It's about allocation of resources. They can't spend time and resources investigating every burglary.

Wait until they assign a burglary task force. We got the same response as you did when we had a bike stolen. But a year later, we had another break-in in our building and got the burglary task force. One of the intruders cut his arm on a glass door (yay!) and left blood all over. They found a blood match a few months later (DNA test I assume?). The guy was already in jail by then though. When we had another break-in they had an evidence tech come out to take fingerprints from several doors. He didn't bother to clean up after himself though.

Scuzz · Post by **Scuzz** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 5:29 pm

rshetts2 wrote:
Scuzz wrote:
rshetts2 wrote:
Scuzz wrote:
hepcat wrote:Remember when a lot of folks were complaining about the epidemic of police militarization and "over criminalization"?

Yeah, that uproar kind of dried up when minorities entered the equation.
I thought it was recent minority killings by police that helped lead the talk about police militarization. But maybe I was just late to that party myself.

The discussion seems to be turning to the over use of prisons. I have seen arguments that prison populations versus crime don't relate but I do know that here in California crime has shot up after the state decided not to lock up guys for certain crimes. Basically anyone busted for car theft and minor burglaries is now out on the street again in 24 hours due to the counties being forced to carry more of the prisoner burden.
People have insurance to cover for car theft and bugluries, so screw that shit. Its far easier and more lucrative to fill the prisons with people arrested on drug related offenses. You get the bonus of taking their possessions if there's even a small hint of possible intent to distribute charges.
Well when you consider they are often the same people you would think they would end up in jail. And I think the common citizen cares more about his car or house than if John down the street spends time in jail for selling weed or meth.

Also, nothing personalizes crime like having your house burglarized. I say that from experience. Just because insurance pays for stuff (after the deductible) you just don't suddenly feel fine about it.
Believe me I know, from personal experience, as well. I had my home broken into an a lot of stuff was stolen. There was evidence all over the place including clearly visible fingerprints on the back door window and a hat one of the intruders left, which I recognized and likely belonged to one of my neighbors. When I asked the officers how the investigation would proceed they laughed at me and said, "It goes like this, you get a copy of the report and file it with your insurance. End of investigation" The house was a rental and I moved shortly after. If you think the police act based on the desires of the common citizen, I think you're fooling yourself. Policing has become a revenue stream and form of minority control.

The cops were nice enough about mine but I was told pretty much straight out that they probably wouldn't catch the guys, although they did have good idea who it might be. Years later, out of the blue I got a phone call from a detective who told me that he thought I might be interested to know that they had busted some young kids and were pretty sure they were the ones who broke into my house. I didn't get nothing back but it was nice to know. By then we had installed a burglar alarm and were thinking about moving.

But I think you underestimate cops, or at least some of them. Fresno at one time led the country in auto theft. The cops worked at it. When they busted someone for car theft they kept him locked up. It turned out a huge percentage of thefts were being done by a relatively small number of people. They actually cut theft rates way down. But now, since auto theft is a non-violent crime those are the guys who get let out when things get crowded, or when the state doesn't want them. So auto theft is now epidemic again.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Tue Sep 22, 2015 6:00 pm

With burglary, often all they can do is take fingerprints and keep them on file. When the thief is busted months later for something else, they can match the prints from your house and add the break-in to the rap sheet.