View Full Version : Family of Muslim teen arrested for homemade clock files federal lawsuit
The family of a Muslim boy who was arrested after bringing a homemade clock to his Texas school filed a federal lawsuit Monday against school officials and others, saying the incident violated the 14-year-old's civil rights, prompted death threats and forced the family to leave the United States.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Ahmed Mohamed, who was arrested at his suburban Dallas high school in September and charged with having a hoax bomb. He says he brought the homemade digital clock to school to show his English teacher.
To manufacture a bomb is easy today and it's been a relatively long time, partly with the Internet as a database for drawings.But I hope that your future will be better Ahmed, and that you do not end up in so-called "gladiator schools".
http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-muslim-student-clock-lawsuit-20160808-snap-story.html
Note: Reporting 2016.08.08 Dallas
Admiral Halsey
08-08-16, 09:09 PM
I honestly think the school overreacted badly. However they didn't "flee" to Qatar. After this went down he got a scholarship offer from a school in Qatar and his family decided to move there. However even though it was for a scholarship I still found it so hypocritical of them talking about how this was a huge abomination of civil rights and then they move to a country where stoning is still legal, drinking a beer can get you flogged and being gay can get you five years in jail.
Gargamel
08-09-16, 12:28 AM
Hopefully this doesn't end up merged in the terrorism thread, as it has nothing to do with terrorism, but what to what I am now calling "trumpism", which is basically a perverse version of xenophobia.
This kid may have loved the US at one time, but not anymore.
Hopefully this doesn't end up merged in the terrorism thread
:haha: That's a good one. :up:
Skybird
08-09-16, 05:50 AM
When one certain group/culture notoriously creates people making troubles and waves for long enough time, then one should not be surprised if "troubles" gets associated with this group or culture by a wide public , even if the individual case in question may (or may not, who knows) have nothing to do with making troubles. Some time ago, all Germans were associated with being Nazis, no matter whether this or that individual German was a Nazi-minded one indeed or not.
Get stung often enough by a flying, yellow-black coloured tiny creature, and you sooner or later understand that wasps can sting, even if not every wasp stings you. And so you start to avoid them. Just natural.
Catfish
08-09-16, 07:09 AM
When one certain group/culture notoriously ... making troubles ... then one should not be surprised if "troubles" gets associated with this group or culture by a wide public
You mean male under thirty with high testosterone levels? Kill them all ;)
Ok i know what you mean, and there's some truth in it.
Get stung often enough by a flying, yellow-black coloured tiny creature, and you sooner or later understand that wasps can sting, even if not every wasp stings you. And so you start to avoid them. Just natural.Good comparison: you need this honey so badly, so you just have to destroy their nests and their inhabitants, to get it. And then you wonder why you are stung. Avoid the nests (read: oil, other resources and political influence).
It is not about dumb "Untermenschen" anymore who can't fight back. Read Churchill and you know what most of "the west" still thinks about Africans, and the Middle East.
Skybird
08-09-16, 07:28 AM
I did not mention bees, but wasps. Very different behaviour, very different food needs at the end of summer.
Betonov
08-09-16, 08:08 AM
Nah, I like Catfishes analogy better.
AVGWarhawk
08-09-16, 08:17 AM
It looks like a clock to me. A gutted digital clock in a case. He did not make a clock IMO. He gutted one and placed it in the case. So tell me again why a case and gutted digital clock? Science project? He should admitted to MIT free of charge IMO.
http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/bristolpalin/files/2015/09/clock-bomb-640x480-e1442600387167.jpg
Muslims are like insects, folks, always remember that. :yeah:
Muslims are like insects, folks, always remember that. :yeah:
What a racist thing to say.
Betonov
08-09-16, 02:10 PM
What a racist thing to say.
That was his point
he was sarcastic
That was his point
he was sarcastic
I don't think so. We all know how he is...
I don't think so. We all know how he is...
You know me, I'm all about that mix-master race:
http://i.imgur.com/zQoKwOO.jpg
Betonov
08-09-16, 03:38 PM
I don't think so. We all know how he is...
...sarcastic
Cybermat47
08-09-16, 04:27 PM
http://i.makeagif.com/media/5-31-2015/C6yTZD.gif
Gargamel
08-10-16, 01:20 AM
It looks like a clock to me. A gutted digital clock in a case. He did not make a clock IMO. He gutted one and placed it in the case. So tell me again why a case and gutted digital clock? Science project? He should admitted to MIT free of charge IMO.
http://wp.production.patheos.com/blogs/bristolpalin/files/2015/09/clock-bomb-640x480-e1442600387167.jpg
It appears to me he took the controlling PCB from a digital clock, and connected it to a much larger after market 7 Seg display module. The transformer may or may not be from the original clock. 7 seg displays are fairly standardized, and can be fairly easily swapped out, as long as the power demands are met.
But hey, it's a kid, and I give him credit for exploring parts of the world that interest him. His next step would have been to learn how to get an arduino board in there and write the (very simple) code to make his own clock. It's just a stepping stone to more inventive things. When your 4 year old brings you a hand drawn picture of what looks like an avocado half way to becoming guacamole, you don't deride them for the errors, you encourage the good parts.
Go check out www.makezine.com, it's full of rebuilds similar to this, where other items are "upcycled" into new and different things. Maybe he wanted a portable clock? :rotfl2:
Go check out www.makezine.com (http://www.makezine.com), it's full of rebuilds similar to this, where other items are "upcycled" into new and different things. Maybe he wanted a portable clock? :rotfl2:
Yeah because suitcase clocks are all the rage. :)
Betonov
08-10-16, 07:25 AM
C'mon, give the kid a break.
Maybe he doesn't have the accuracy in his fingers to fiddle around with small components so he made a big clock to show he can think.
I build luxury boats and I can't cut a plank straight, but I know how to think.
Platapus
08-10-16, 04:51 PM
Assuming that this source is correct, I am not happy that the family tried to extort $15 million dollars under the threat of a lawsuit.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/ahmed-mohamed-demands-15m-compensation-for-homemade-clock-arrest-a6745706.html
It is possible this was all a set up by the family. If so, they did a pretty good job.
...
I build luxury boats and I can't cut a plank straight, ...
I'm cancelling my custom boat order right now!... :haha:
<O>
em2nought
08-10-16, 07:35 PM
It is possible this was all a set up by the family. If so, they did a pretty good job.
Their timing was perfect. :03:
AVGWarhawk
08-11-16, 12:38 PM
It appears to me he took the controlling PCB from a digital clock, and connected it to a much larger after market 7 Seg display module. The transformer may or may not be from the original clock. 7 seg displays are fairly standardized, and can be fairly easily swapped out, as long as the power demands are met.
But hey, it's a kid, and I give him credit for exploring parts of the world that interest him. His next step would have been to learn how to get an arduino board in there and write the (very simple) code to make his own clock. It's just a stepping stone to more inventive things. When your 4 year old brings you a hand drawn picture of what looks like an avocado half way to becoming guacamole, you don't deride them for the errors, you encourage the good parts.
Go check out www.makezine.com, it's full of rebuilds similar to this, where other items are "upcycled" into new and different things. Maybe he wanted a portable clock? :rotfl2:
Clocks are wall displayed or on a desk/dresser/nightstand. Not suitcases.
Yeah because suitcase clocks are all the rage. :)
Depends on the country. :D
C'mon, give the kid a break.
Maybe he doesn't have the accuracy in his fingers to fiddle around with small components so he made a big clock to show he can think.
I build luxury boats and I can't cut a plank straight, but I know how to think.
Such a big clock in a small suitcase, no? Why a suitcase?
Betonov
08-11-16, 12:51 PM
Such a big clock in a small suitcase, no? Why a suitcase?
Why not ??
It was available. It has a handle. It has convenient locking mechanism to prevent the thing from falling out and still be able to open it to show the insides.
He could put it into a pizza box but those arent durable and don't have convenient locking mechanisms.
Maybe a butter buiscit box, but his mother already put sowing gear inside.
Maybe his father bought himself a new Samsonite and gave it to his son instead of throwing it to the trash.
He had options and went with a suitcase.
Betonov
08-11-16, 12:54 PM
Clocks are wall displayed or on a desk/dresser/nightstand. Not suitcases.
He brought it to school to show off his skills in wiring together electronic components.
If he wanted it to tell time on a nightstand he'd be peddling it on a market.
Platapus
08-11-16, 12:59 PM
From the articles and reporting, it was a pencil box that looked like a very small suitcase.
AVGWarhawk
08-11-16, 01:23 PM
Why not ??
It was available. It has a handle. It has convenient locking mechanism to prevent the thing from falling out and still be able to open it to show the insides.
He could put it into a pizza box but those arent durable and don't have convenient locking mechanisms.
Maybe a butter buiscit box, but his mother already put sowing gear inside.
Maybe his father bought himself a new Samsonite and gave it to his son instead of throwing it to the trash.
He had options and went with a suitcase.
He brought it to school to show off his skills in wiring together electronic components.
If he wanted it to tell time on a nightstand he'd be peddling it on a market.
From the articles and reporting, it was a pencil box that looked like a very small suitcase.
Sorry. I don't buy any of this was innocent. There are hundreds of choices in presentation material so one can show off skills in electronics that do not look like suitcases. Pencil box or not. The narrative of the school being irresponsible in the handling of this incident and getting the invite to the White House allows the kids old man to ran with that narrative. Now they are looking to sue. Perhaps his old man should be a part of Jr's mad skills in electronics but crappy choice of presentation. I'm betting a suitcase looking pencil box would not have been chosen.
Gargamel
08-12-16, 12:18 PM
Yeah because suitcase clocks are all the rage. :)
So you expect every kid to have a complete, finished, and marketable product from day 1? C'mon, don't be ignorant. You should see my should see my shop. I have dozens of half baked, half finished projects laying around, and only a few complete ones, as most of my finished projects have been deployed or given away.
I have a multi color light desk lamp that was 3d printed, but it's lying in pieces cause the one joint needs redesigned.
I have a mini drill press that's not finished. No reason why, just haven't.
I have a bunch of prototype multi colored night lights laying around, as they are prototypes. There's a few that are complete, but they have been given away as gifts.
There's a currently non functional animatronic eyeball staring right at me.
A home built oscilloscope sitting on a rack, but it's non functioning as there is a blown circuit somewhere and the handbook is in chinese.
A motion activated Thermostat is laying here, 95% complete, but never installed as I've been planning to move for 2 years, and will finally do so in the next couple weeks.
Toys, lots of toys. A couple prototype pieces for a Marble Run; Giant Legos; A multi rocket launch pad and controller; RC boats.
There's another dozen stupid random projects sitting around.
This project wasn't about a finished product, it was about a gifted student taking the first steps down the path of learning and exploring. Hell, Edison had how many lightbulbs before one worked? Steve Jobs had how many products before he released the Ipod?
And yes, there is a market for suitcase style clocks. This would be a great thing for having race timing at things like boat races, cross country races, etc. Places where there is no fixed hardware, and portability with a large view able area is needed.
I'm betting a suitcase looking pencil box would not have been chosen.
When that's all you have laying around, and it's a good fit for your project, then that's what you use. Why go out and spend $10 on a new enclosure when you have one sitting around? Especially one that opens up easily to display your craftsmanship? I use small mason jars for my night lights, as I happened to have a crate of them sitting here. In today's single use world, it's good to see people reusing old stuff.
Platapus
08-12-16, 04:17 PM
From the articles and reporting, it was a pencil box that looked like a very small suitcase.
Sorry. I don't buy any of this was innocent.
No disagreement from me.
I think the school and the police were played like a trout and they bit hard on the bait.
AVGWarhawk
08-15-16, 02:29 PM
When that's all you have laying around, and it's a good fit for your project, then that's what you use. Why go out and spend $10 on a new enclosure when you have one sitting around? Especially one that opens up easily to display your craftsmanship? I use small mason jars for my night lights, as I happened to have a crate of them sitting here. In today's single use world, it's good to see people reusing old stuff.
Does not matter if the box was gold lined and fit just right. The box looked like a suit case. It was a crappy choice on the kids part and I believe intentional.
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