5 ms·

Ahmed Mohamed Clock Incident

40 points by carabiner 2y ago

mrs6969 2y ago
The fact that they moved is even more sad. Discrimination is at its peak. I wonder if an american kid puts a nuclear sticker to its laptop, would people react the same way.
- card_zero 2y ago
  I assume he was born in Texas, where his dad lived. (And was thus American.)
  - mrs6969 2y ago
    Correction; a kid named Truman
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- searealist 2y ago
  It looked like a bomb and he was told by teachers to keep it put away. He even made the alarm go off in class. His father, a politician, turned it into an incident.
  - thomasmg 2y ago
    It could be this, or it could be: He experimenting hours and was proud of what he did. He wanted to show it to as many as possible, so he ignored what the teacher said. He was interrogated. Why more than one hour? It could have taken less then 10 minutes if you ask the teacher. Why was he handcuffed later? The police clearly wanted to make a statement or show.
    - zxcvbnm69 2y ago
      [dead]
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- lodovic 2y ago
  To be the devil's advocate, wouldn't this be the same if a white kid from the Bronx dresses up as a ghost to school, only to be arrested for coming to school in a Klan uniform? To me it seems to be a huge misunderstanding on all sides.
  - mrs6969 2y ago
    No it wouldnt. İf I leave a mustache like hitler, no one believes that I am hitler, but instead this would be advertasing it. Which is still wrong, but this would be wrong regardless of my background. İn this instance, they actually believed the kid would make a bomb, just because of his name. I wonder any kid with different name would go through the same.
  - KingMob 2y ago
    Can you dig up any instances of that happening? Because if not, you've accidentally proved the racism in this incident, because we can already turn up news reports of misunderstood nerdy islamic kids, but find no arrests of caucasian supernatural enthusiasts. A nonexistent, hypothetical strawman doesn't bolster your argument.
    - jadamson 2y ago
      Or maybe, just maybe, no white kid has been stupid enough to do that? Not understanding what "proof" means doesn't bolster your argument. Rather, it just makes you another datapoint when it comes to picking a team. I really wish certain segments of the left would learn to take an L and grow from it.
      - KingMob 2y ago
        > ... no white kid has been stupid enough to do that? So you're saying only non-white kids are that stupid. Got it.
        jadamson 2y ago
        Stupid enough to dress up as something mistakable for a KKK outfit, in the Bronx, and not take it off after being warned? I rather doubt that.
- AyyEye 2y ago
  > Discrimination is at its peak. It could just as easily be comically inept authority figures. I got suspended for less than this (in violation of state law).
nyolfen 2y ago
this story never made sense to me. he disassembled a digital clock then put the pieces in a pencil case? he didn't fabricate it or design any of the electronic components; what was he supposed to be demonstrating, that you can put a digital clock in new case? also his dad was a sudanese opposition politician??
- crummy 2y ago
  What's your explanation?
  - nyolfen 2y ago
    i don't have one because it makes no sense! but frankly if it were me at that age i probably would have been showing it to my friends because it looked like a bomb
  - red016 2y ago
    [dead]
- mongol 2y ago
  To me it seems like a prank. He made something that looked like a bomb from movies, basically.
- erklik 2y ago
  It's a 14 year old kid. He wasn't demonstrating anything. He took apart a clock, stuck in back in a different case, wanted to show his teacher that in a, I am guessing : "Hey look, I took all this apart, and managed not to destroy it".. Honestly, this entire event shows me two things: 1. The jumps people make to crazy assumptions when faced with someone they don't like because of ideological reasons. 2. The low level of technological acumen/knowledge to assume that this is even similar to a dangerous device.
  - jaxelr 2y ago
    This, a hundred times this, I used to do this quite often since I was 5-6 years old with all the hardware that I was tired of using (games, toys, etc...)
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
elashri 2y ago
[flagged]
- KingMob 2y ago
  > I think people on HN can be better than to spread conspiracy theories and avoid racism. HN users tend to think they are more logical and thus, somehow more immune to racism, while failing to understand that's simply not how racist attitudes develop.
  - jadamson 2y ago
    [dead]
- csomar 2y ago
  It's 2024 and not 2014. 5 years from here, critical race theory could be about "removing" certain races because of their inferiority. The reality is that society has no safe-guards against such derailing and the worst part is that government will just "buy-in" into whatever popular theory is going on today.
- 55555 2y ago
  I read the Wikipedia article and my best guess is that Ahmed was intentionally attempting to get a reaction out of those around him by showing off a clock he built intentionally to look like a bomb… I’m a white male but actually had a similar thing happen to me during school. (I brought a water gun to school and people expressed that even bringing a toy gun to school could get you into trouble and to hide it for the rest of the day). So I don’t know how much race was truly a factor. In my opinion you are being closed-minded to other possibilities.
  - elashri 2y ago
    > In my opinion you are being closed-minded to other possibilities. Maybe I'm a little bit closed to other possibilities (the same way a lot of people trying to advocate that this wasn't actually racist incident). Occam's razor plays a factor for me too. > I’m a white male but actually had a similar thing happen to me during school But lets compare your experience as a white kid. you did not get you English teacher calling the police on you after taking your stuff. You did not get arrested by the police who not only question you but took you to a detention center and did not make Mug shot for you. You did not got into much troubles because of maybe you were lucky. You did not got to leave the country because a lot of conservative shows and figures spreading conspiracy theories and attacking you. You can say that you believe that this 14 years old kid was trying to to get reaction but this is a claim that you can support because you don't have a way to get back in 2015 neither do you have a way of reading people's mind. I believe this is even irrelevant. After police was called and things clarified ,the redirection to detention facility and the suspension of school (after everything cleared) and the conspiracy theories are what makes this racist incident. If the school just called cops and they dealt with it differently, there is a good chance that we weren't going to hear about that. So comparing your experience and white male (non-Muslim I guess and sorry if this was not true) against a black Muslim kid yielded two different outcomes.
fluorinerocket 2y ago
Dallas area schools are really big on the "zero tolerance". My experience was that they care very little about nuance or judgement, just following the rules strictly
egeozcan 2y ago
Nearly 30 years ago, as a kid with way too much free time and a budding interest in questionable DIY projects, I decided to stroll into a hardware store and try to buy some very suspicious items I'd read about in an online forum. The saleswoman, bless her soul, looked genuinely concerned as she told me she couldn't sell me what I asked for. Then came the inevitable: "So... what exactly are you planning to do with this stuff?" Without missing a beat, I launched into an impassioned explanation about how absolutely epic it would be to blow up this colossal ant nest I'd discovered in our neighborhood. What followed wasn't the cool supplies or cheers I imagined but a long-winded lecture about how ants are living beings too, and how it's "definitely not okay" to blow them up. No cops. No parental intervention. Honestly, that lady could've reported me to my parents or even the authorities, but nope! This was Istanbul, and I happened to be a "local" (Funny because there are no locals in Istanbul) kid with lighter skin and blue eyes. So, all good! But as I got older, I realized how lucky I was. If I'd been darker-skinned or Kurdish (which, back then, was basically a surefire way to get labeled a "terrorist" in the media), things could've gone very differently. Today, it's Syrians who face the brunt of the suspicion. Tomorrow? Who knows! What I've come to understand is that this kind of dumb, knee-jerk profiling based on race and appearance is everywhere. Humans are exceptionally good at spotting patterns (real or imaginary) and we'll keep doing it as long as we're fed bad (or any, really) information. Even now, living as a migrant in Europe, I get my fair share of this nonsense. Some things, unfortunately, never change.
dudeinjapan 2y ago
Discrimination against time-bomb makers everywhere is alive and well. Hans Gruber is rolling in his grave.

40 points by carabiner 2y ago

The fact that they moved is even more sad. Discrimination is at its peak. I wonder if an american kid puts a nuclear sticker to its laptop, would people react the same way.

card_zero 2y ago
I assume he was born in Texas, where his dad lived. (And was thus American.)
- mrs6969 2y ago
  Correction; a kid named Truman
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
searealist 2y ago
It looked like a bomb and he was told by teachers to keep it put away. He even made the alarm go off in class. His father, a politician, turned it into an incident.
- thomasmg 2y ago
  It could be this, or it could be: He experimenting hours and was proud of what he did. He wanted to show it to as many as possible, so he ignored what the teacher said. He was interrogated. Why more than one hour? It could have taken less then 10 minutes if you ask the teacher. Why was he handcuffed later? The police clearly wanted to make a statement or show.
  - zxcvbnm69 2y ago
    [dead]
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
lodovic 2y ago
To be the devil's advocate, wouldn't this be the same if a white kid from the Bronx dresses up as a ghost to school, only to be arrested for coming to school in a Klan uniform? To me it seems to be a huge misunderstanding on all sides.
- mrs6969 2y ago
  No it wouldnt. İf I leave a mustache like hitler, no one believes that I am hitler, but instead this would be advertasing it. Which is still wrong, but this would be wrong regardless of my background. İn this instance, they actually believed the kid would make a bomb, just because of his name. I wonder any kid with different name would go through the same.
- KingMob 2y ago
  Can you dig up any instances of that happening? Because if not, you've accidentally proved the racism in this incident, because we can already turn up news reports of misunderstood nerdy islamic kids, but find no arrests of caucasian supernatural enthusiasts. A nonexistent, hypothetical strawman doesn't bolster your argument.
  - jadamson 2y ago
    Or maybe, just maybe, no white kid has been stupid enough to do that? Not understanding what "proof" means doesn't bolster your argument. Rather, it just makes you another datapoint when it comes to picking a team. I really wish certain segments of the left would learn to take an L and grow from it.
    - KingMob 2y ago
      > ... no white kid has been stupid enough to do that? So you're saying only non-white kids are that stupid. Got it.
      - jadamson 2y ago
        Stupid enough to dress up as something mistakable for a KKK outfit, in the Bronx, and not take it off after being warned? I rather doubt that.
AyyEye 2y ago
> Discrimination is at its peak. It could just as easily be comically inept authority figures. I got suspended for less than this (in violation of state law).

nyolfen 2y ago

this story never made sense to me. he disassembled a digital clock then put the pieces in a pencil case? he didn't fabricate it or design any of the electronic components; what was he supposed to be demonstrating, that you can put a digital clock in new case? also his dad was a sudanese opposition politician??

crummy 2y ago
What's your explanation?
- nyolfen 2y ago
  i don't have one because it makes no sense! but frankly if it were me at that age i probably would have been showing it to my friends because it looked like a bomb
- red016 2y ago
  [dead]
mongol 2y ago
To me it seems like a prank. He made something that looked like a bomb from movies, basically.
erklik 2y ago
It's a 14 year old kid. He wasn't demonstrating anything. He took apart a clock, stuck in back in a different case, wanted to show his teacher that in a, I am guessing : "Hey look, I took all this apart, and managed not to destroy it".. Honestly, this entire event shows me two things: 1. The jumps people make to crazy assumptions when faced with someone they don't like because of ideological reasons. 2. The low level of technological acumen/knowledge to assume that this is even similar to a dangerous device.
- jaxelr 2y ago
  This, a hundred times this, I used to do this quite often since I was 5-6 years old with all the hardware that I was tired of using (games, toys, etc...)

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

elashri 2y ago

[flagged]

KingMob 2y ago
> I think people on HN can be better than to spread conspiracy theories and avoid racism. HN users tend to think they are more logical and thus, somehow more immune to racism, while failing to understand that's simply not how racist attitudes develop.
- jadamson 2y ago
  [dead]
csomar 2y ago
It's 2024 and not 2014. 5 years from here, critical race theory could be about "removing" certain races because of their inferiority. The reality is that society has no safe-guards against such derailing and the worst part is that government will just "buy-in" into whatever popular theory is going on today.
55555 2y ago
I read the Wikipedia article and my best guess is that Ahmed was intentionally attempting to get a reaction out of those around him by showing off a clock he built intentionally to look like a bomb… I’m a white male but actually had a similar thing happen to me during school. (I brought a water gun to school and people expressed that even bringing a toy gun to school could get you into trouble and to hide it for the rest of the day). So I don’t know how much race was truly a factor. In my opinion you are being closed-minded to other possibilities.
- elashri 2y ago
  > In my opinion you are being closed-minded to other possibilities. Maybe I'm a little bit closed to other possibilities (the same way a lot of people trying to advocate that this wasn't actually racist incident). Occam's razor plays a factor for me too. > I’m a white male but actually had a similar thing happen to me during school But lets compare your experience as a white kid. you did not get you English teacher calling the police on you after taking your stuff. You did not get arrested by the police who not only question you but took you to a detention center and did not make Mug shot for you. You did not got into much troubles because of maybe you were lucky. You did not got to leave the country because a lot of conservative shows and figures spreading conspiracy theories and attacking you. You can say that you believe that this 14 years old kid was trying to to get reaction but this is a claim that you can support because you don't have a way to get back in 2015 neither do you have a way of reading people's mind. I believe this is even irrelevant. After police was called and things clarified ,the redirection to detention facility and the suspension of school (after everything cleared) and the conspiracy theories are what makes this racist incident. If the school just called cops and they dealt with it differently, there is a good chance that we weren't going to hear about that. So comparing your experience and white male (non-Muslim I guess and sorry if this was not true) against a black Muslim kid yielded two different outcomes.

fluorinerocket 2y ago

Dallas area schools are really big on the "zero tolerance". My experience was that they care very little about nuance or judgement, just following the rules strictly

egeozcan 2y ago

Nearly 30 years ago, as a kid with way too much free time and a budding interest in questionable DIY projects, I decided to stroll into a hardware store and try to buy some very suspicious items I'd read about in an online forum. The saleswoman, bless her soul, looked genuinely concerned as she told me she couldn't sell me what I asked for. Then came the inevitable: "So... what exactly are you planning to do with this stuff?" Without missing a beat, I launched into an impassioned explanation about how absolutely epic it would be to blow up this colossal ant nest I'd discovered in our neighborhood. What followed wasn't the cool supplies or cheers I imagined but a long-winded lecture about how ants are living beings too, and how it's "definitely not okay" to blow them up. No cops. No parental intervention. Honestly, that lady could've reported me to my parents or even the authorities, but nope! This was Istanbul, and I happened to be a "local" (Funny because there are no locals in Istanbul) kid with lighter skin and blue eyes. So, all good! But as I got older, I realized how lucky I was. If I'd been darker-skinned or Kurdish (which, back then, was basically a surefire way to get labeled a "terrorist" in the media), things could've gone very differently. Today, it's Syrians who face the brunt of the suspicion. Tomorrow? Who knows! What I've come to understand is that this kind of dumb, knee-jerk profiling based on race and appearance is everywhere. Humans are exceptionally good at spotting patterns (real or imaginary) and we'll keep doing it as long as we're fed bad (or any, really) information. Even now, living as a migrant in Europe, I get my fair share of this nonsense. Some things, unfortunately, never change.

dudeinjapan 2y ago

Discrimination against time-bomb makers everywhere is alive and well. Hans Gruber is rolling in his grave.