Student Arrested for Clock 'Bomb'

[mirth]

i will add i wholeheartedly believe this kid wasnt arrested because hes a muslim, he was arrested because some idiots thought he made a bomb - regardless of his colour or religion

Complete agreement with this.

[Jarhead0331]

I was pointing out that the television news (specifically, my shitty local news) is being remiss in keeping it out of coverage. Sure, you can find it everywhere online, but the television portion of media is being its usual lets-not-share-all-the-facts selves.

It's sad that I can sit here and think, if this were an Anglo kid, how they'd be clamoring to send him to San Quentin. Meanwhile, this kid gets an invite to the White House.

Conversely if it were an Anglo kid, it's entirely possible he wouldn't have been questioned by the police or arrested, cuffed and dragged to juvy.

I don't care about the kid's religion or ethnicity, it was a heavy-handed overreaction regardless.

Bullshit. It is this line of thinking that is leading to the doom of American culture. This kid knew exactly what he made, and exactly what it looked like. Now he is being rewarded for it. Pathetic.

[mirth]

I was pointing out that the television news (specifically, my shitty local news) is being remiss in keeping it out of coverage. Sure, you can find it everywhere online, but the television portion of media is being its usual lets-not-share-all-the-facts selves.

It's sad that I can sit here and think, if this were an Anglo kid, how they'd be clamoring to send him to San Quentin. Meanwhile, this kid gets an invite to the White House.

Conversely if it were an Anglo kid, it's entirely possible he wouldn't have been questioned by the police or arrested, cuffed and dragged to juvy.

I don't care about the kid's religion or ethnicity, it was a heavy-handed overreaction regardless.

Bullshit. It is this line of thinking that is leading to the doom of American culture.

What line of thinking is that?

[Jarhead0331]

Obviously that if he was white, it wouldn't have been an issue. The only difference here is that if he was white, he wouldn't get a red carpet invite to the White House, Obama wouldn't have mentioned it and the kid wouldn't have 20 job offers.

[mirth]

Obviously that if he was white, it wouldn't have been an issue.

That isn't my line of thinking. Hasn't been for one second.

I'll say it again for the 3 or 4th time, I don't think this kid was targeted because of his race, ethnicity or religion.

I also think that a white kid or any other kid would have also encountered the same or similar response. It would have still been an overreaction, imo.

[Jarhead0331]

Obviously that if he was white, it wouldn't have been an issue.

That isn't my line of thinking. Hasn't been for one second.

I'll say it again for the 3 or 4th time, I don't think this kid was targeted because of his race, ethnicity or religion.

I also think that a white kid or any other kid would have also encountered the same or similar response. It would have still been an overreaction, imo.

Ok, I'm just going off of what you said in the quoted portion above. Furthermore, the problem I'm raising is not in the response to the incident, rather, it's the outpouring of support, favor and congratulation after the fact. If this kid wasn't a Muslim with brown skin, it never would have made national news and the president wouldn't have given a single  f__k.

[bayonetbrant]

Without trying to pick a fight, I am genuinely curious how many of y'all have ever had your school evacuated because of a bomb threat that was deemed credible.

[BanzaiCat]

Only once for me, and that was in college during finals week. Absolutely nobody among us (the students) took it seriously at the time...we were certain it was someone that didn't want to take a final that day. No bomb was found.

[mirth]

Obviously that if he was white, it wouldn't have been an issue.

That isn't my line of thinking. Hasn't been for one second.

I'll say it again for the 3 or 4th time, I don't think this kid was targeted because of his race, ethnicity or religion.

I also think that a white kid or any other kid would have also encountered the same or similar response. It would have still been an overreaction, imo.

Ok, I'm just going off of what you said in the quoted portion above. Furthermore, the problem I'm raising is not in the response to the incident, rather, it's the outpouring of support, favor and congratulation after the fact. If this kid wasn't a Muslim with brown skin, it never would have made national news and the president wouldn't have given a single  f__k.

My statement was in response to BC's comment that if it were an Anglo kid the response would be even more harsh. I don't think that is anymore accurate than saying this kid only got in trouble because he was Muslim.

As far as the White House invite and the other support from prominent public entities, I agree that is agenda driven. That is hardly a surprise. I don't subscribe to that agenda either.

I think this was a heavy handed school/police response to a skinny nerd kid who honestly thought he was making a cool clock and wanted to show it off to his science teacher. That's the totality of my position on this matter.

[undercovergeek]

Obviously that if he was white, it wouldn't have been an issue.

That isn't my line of thinking. Hasn't been for one second.

I'll say it again for the 3 or 4th time, I don't think this kid was targeted because of his race, ethnicity or religion.

I also think that a white kid or any other kid would have also encountered the same or similar response. It would have still been an overreaction, imo.

Ok, I'm just going off of what you said in the quoted portion above. Furthermore, the problem I'm raising is not in the response to the incident, rather, it's the outpouring of support, favor and congratulation after the fact. If this kid wasn't a Muslim with brown skin, it never would have made national news and the president wouldn't have given a single  f__k.

My statement was in response to BC's comment that if it were an Anglo kid the response would be even more harsh. I don't think that is anymore accurate than saying this kid only got in trouble because he was Muslim.

As far as the White House invite and the other support from prominent public entities, I agree that is agenda driven. That is hardly a surprise. I don't subscribe to that agenda either.

I think this was a heavy handed school/police response to a skinny nerd kid who honestly thought he was making a cool clock and wanted to show it off to his science teacher. That's the totality of my position on this matter.

all of this  O0

[BanzaiCat]

When I said that, it was incredibly cynical of me. Though in my defense, the news has made me question their motivation for anything they report, and nowadays I completely expect some kind of hidden agenda or angle so they can manipulate public opinion into the camp they want it in. It may be just as simple as wanting to sensationalize everything so they can get people to watch their broadcast (and stick around to see their useless commercials), or get online to give them the clicks they crave (and the ad time they so crave, too). Or it might be a big conspiracy. Perhaps something in between. I don't know.

I'd like to think any kid that does this would be treated the same way. The media has taken something of a view on this that, at least to me, feels like they're trying to say 'look at this poor kid being mistreated by the police - feel outrage, peasants!' His race was never mentioned by the local news (they never ever mention that, of course), but his religion was, quite frequently, as if they were indeed trying to make one feel that the police were just harassing some poor Muslim kid.

It pisses me off to no end. I studied journalism in college and it was hammered home that the facts are what you focus on - who, what, when, where, why, and how. You report, you don't tint, you don't omit, you don't lead opinion. Of course, it's nothing like that today; it's like the National Enquirer with 10% content and 90% advertisements.

So I question everything and anything that the news decides to air. Like I said, it makes me feel angry that I would even think "I wonder if an Anglo kid did this, if he'd go to the White House too?"

I would like to give the benefit of the doubt, too. The image Brant posted that detailed if this were perceived to be a bomb, it would have been treated as such and people would have been evacuated, etcetera, was a rather telling statement.

Schools definitely have a 'make an example of them' mentality. They are VERY afraid of litigation, especially in this day and age of cutbacks, low budgets, and little money, so they go way the hell overboard to avoid ANY kind of possible problem or perception of a problem...and so, this happens.

[mirth]

I hope you don't expect me to try to defend the media :P

[Barthheart]

[Bison]

Everyone likes to dismiss violent possibilities as improbably or impossible until they happen and then wonder why no one saw the signs and did anything to stop it.

[mirth]

Everyone likes to dismiss violent possibilities as improbably or impossible until they happen and then wonder why no one saw the signs and did anything to stop it.

Common sense still needs to be applied somewhere along the line, otherwise we end up with nonsense like this

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/laura-timoney-fumes-son-patrick-9-busted-bringing-2-inch-long-toy-gun-ps-52-article-1.193508