Making while brown: Texas schoolchild arrested for bringing homemade clock to school

I came in here thinking this as well, but upon thinking about it more - this is Texas. They see “Brown kid paraded through the school by the police” and think “That kid’s DEFINITELY a terrorist, if we ever see him again we better beat the shit out of him”.

My question is - why didn’t the engineering teacher come to this kid’s defence?

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Isn’t the next logical action - in this litany of non-logical responses - to waterboard the kid?

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Texas: Florida’s best hope.

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Yeah, don’t mess with Texas! Quite messed up enough on its own (de)merits. I have a few Texan friends…and they want to put paper bags on their heads when stuff like this hits the news. Sooner or later the yahoos, rednecks, bigots, faux patriots, and other morons will be in the minority. Can’t happen soon enough.

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Remember when the Mooninite signs were spotted and taken down because someone thought they were bombs? I swear to god, people are so fucking ignorant.

Why didn’t the science/engineering teach stand up and say, “The kid built a clock with basic electronic components. There is nothing to see here, let him get back to class and the rest of you get to work on figuring out how much to settle for if his parents sue.”

ZOMG - wires! It must be a bomb!

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Look on the bright side: they didn’t shoot him. Edukatin while black or brown can be a death sentence. Someone ship these people someplace they would be welcome, like a blue state. I hear Stanford really likes folks who are inventive and make stuff, you know, for kids!

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Where can we donate?

Jesus wept, these people are fools.
If you want to voice your displeasure directly (in a constructive manner blah blah blah…)
Irving, TX Chief of police is Larry Boyd lboyd@cityofirving.org (972) 721-2598.
The Irving MacArthur High School Principle is Daniel Cummings dacummings@irvingisd.net (972)600-7370.

This is probably the least egregious thing the Irving PD did that day.

You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.

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Fuck you Texas

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[quote=“enkidoodler, post:26, topic:65732”]
you know, for kids!
[/quote]

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What is astounding to me is this…Why is it Americans have lost the ability to reason and use rational common sense any more?!

Student bring s in homemade clock device that admittedly potentially looks suspicious under specific circumstances.
teacher tells him not to take it out and says “show me after class.”
Student shows teacher explains the workings, and what he has done.
Teacher then realizes it is exactly as the student has said it is, and says “Let’s go to the principal’s office and explain this so I am assured you don’t get in any trouble.”
Principal is then explained to by said teacher with demonstration from said student.
Principal and teacher commend student for their work and ingenuity and talk to parents about what genuine concerns could be present due to small minded and xenophobic morons.
Parents concur and understand and thank the educators for not being one of those types of people.

BUT NO! doesn’t happen because the educators ARE those kind of people. DAMMIT!!!

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This is why I was asking where the hell the engineering teacher was to defend this kid.

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Is it legal for the police to question the kid without a guardian present?

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I’m very glad I grew up when I did, and very sad for the kids of today. We used to do all kinds of stuff that would be a one-way ticket to the criminal justice system now.

Across the street from my school, there was a park with a fire-pit and picnic area which we’d go to over lunch about once a week or so. We’d start a fire, then break out the home-made pyrotechnics we’d made. Smoke bombs, home-made black powder rockets/firecrackers. Hell, even cans of WD-40 thrown into the fire. We did this for about 2 months before anything happened. Then one day after the fire was lit, the principal and a fire truck rolled up. We got a good stern talking to about safety and that was that. We moved our pyro gatherings to remote locations after school and no one was arrested or even disciplined in any way.

The fact society has regressed to the point where taking a home-made electronic project to a school to show off is now cause for arrest makes me very sad. I hope any kids who want to explore and build won’t be put off doing that, but I fear stories like this will cause that to happen.

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Try Travis County.

I grew up in Arlington, not far from Irving. Both places are more diverse now than when I was growing up, but, uh, Arlington’s a great place to be from.

I’m now reminded of a guy with whom I went to school (in Arlington) who deliberately did things like hoax threats. During jr. high he left fake explosives in a Safeway and called in the threat, then a few years later in high school, moved on to real explosives and blew a chunk out of the athletics field house (EDIT: and another kid’s mailbox – I was out jogging when it went off). He also broke into a classroom to purloin a VCR, and was caught literally red-handed as he had busted through the reinforced glass to get in. I don’t recall if he was suspended or expelled, I’m certain he was visited by the police, but I’m also sure that he didn’t do any time (or wasn’t sentenced any, anyway). He was neither brown nor Muslim…

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Dear Ahmed (and family):

Please come to California. I’m sure there must be a school or two out here that would be proud to help further your education and encourage your continuing scientific explorations. I bet there are also some tech companies that would love to recruit you when you’re ready for it!

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I’m certain they are all for STEM education – thinking with the STEM of the brain, that is!

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What principles?

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