‘Clock kid’ Ahmed Mohamed and his family will move to Qatar

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/clock-kid-ahmed-mohamed-and-his-family-will-move-to-qatar/2015/10/20/a95ed296-7762-11e5-b9c1-f03c48c96ac2_story.html

by molecule • 11 years ago

74 138 11 years ago

washingtonpost.com

cup2• 11 years ago

Watching this unfold outside of America was really a masterclass in how racism and discrimination continues to thrive in America.

Which isn't to say It's unique to America, only from my experience a lot of Americans think their country has moved on from those days when in actual fact, racism is alive and kicking.

The fact that you had news reporters and even Dawkins going after him was embarrassing and sad.

When I was 14 I hung out with (Caucasian) kids that lit things on fire in the park.

donatj2• 11 years ago

I feel like it had more to do with how controlling and oppressive our school system has become than race.

TazeTSchnitzel6• 11 years ago

It had very little to do with the school system. If the kid was white it wouldn't have happened.

TazeTSchnitzel6• 11 years ago

America is so obsessed with race that it boggles the mind any American would think racism is a non-issue.

venomsnake• 11 years ago

On the global scale of the shitstorms that unfold - I have a feeling the whole world is burning, racism in the US is a foot note.

What you have right now is the buzzfidization of the internet discourse - identity politics is easy traffic and money, so everyone is doing it.

Karunamon9• 11 years ago

"Going after him?"

AFAIK, all Dawkins said was that he didn't build a clock. Which he didn't, he took a circa 1980s Radio Shack clock out of its case and mounted it in a pencil box.

Apparently trivially verifiable facts are discriminatory now?

This whole thing stinks. I've seen nothing in either the police reports, the words of the involved people, or any hard, objective facts that indicate that this is a matter of anything other than garden variety school administrative stupidity.

cup2• 11 years ago

Well the question is why an internationally recognized biologist with millions of followers though the need to wade into the controversy. Also you're forgetting the tweets where he called the kid a fraud, and insinuated he might have wanted to be arrested for the attention.

mozumder3• 11 years ago

I don't get why Dawkins is so against case-modding?

It's a valid design/art form.

GuiA• 11 years ago

Dawkins was being an ass for the sake of having the last word. Sure, nothing he did was impressive to the internet geniuses who have 10 years of experience and a college degree more than him. And so what? The kid was curious, that kind of initiative shouldn't be stifled. Because anyone who has worked with kids/teenagers in any capacity knows quite well how easy it is to kill that kind of thing in the bud. It takes a seed to grow a tree.

I would absolutely say that Dawkins was in fact "going after him" and being an asshole, even if he probably didn't fully understand why (but that makes the whole situation even sadder, that a scientist so visible to the public would be clueless about how to engage kids about science and engineering).

caminante• 11 years ago

Watching this unfold outside of America was really a masterclass in how racism and discrimination continues to thrive in America.

Kids get suspended for less in schools, now -- racism or not. It's easier (and more likely) to explain these outcomes through hardened, zero-tolerance policies.

When I was 14 I hung out with (Caucasian) kids that lit things on fire in the park.

And...I'm assuming you didn't get caught because you used discretion and weren't doing things in a controlled setting (e.g. classroom) or putting others at risk.

dragonwriter9• 11 years ago

It's easier (and more likely) to explain these outcomes through hardened, zero-tolerance policies.

IME, zero-tolerance policies are highly-selectively enforced; they are quite convenient for administrators who want to act arbitrarily, because lack of action is less likely to be challenged if it doesn't lead to someone else getting injured, but any time action is taken (however flimsy the justification) the nest of zero-tolerance policies for (for drugs, including anything that could loosely be interpreted as associated with drug paraphernalia or drug culture; for weapons and violence, including anything that could loosely be interpreted as being suggestive of, related to, a simulation of, etc., a weapon or violent act; etc.) provide a convenient excuse for any response disproportionate to the substance of the act.

Zero-tolerance policies aren't an alternative explanation to administrators acting arbitrarily including based on racial, religious, or other prejudiced animus, they are an enabling mechanism for that arbitrary action.

Karunamon9• 11 years ago

I hate to tell you this but that last bit doesn't have jack to do with race. I did things with fire and explosives when I was that age that would be grounds for prison time in the current oversensitive climate.

larakerns• 11 years ago

This is a depressing consequence of media-fueled racism/discrimination that will further drive the disintegration of the US as a strong competitor in STEM fields on the global stage.

TazeTSchnitzel6• 11 years ago

For sure. If authorities treat Muslim people with such suspicion in the US, why would any talented Muslim engineers come over?

Doesn't send a positive message to US kids either, does it?

anon1mous2• 11 years ago

Don't be silly. Qatar won't overtake US. Neither will BRICS or Japan or Nigeria, etc. They lack innovative culture, disrespect for authority, etc. West Europe, the only real competitor, is almost forever bound to US.

TallGuyShort3• 11 years ago

Much of the online commentary I've seen of the aftermath seems to be along the lines of, "See? It was all a stunt!" I expect this will be met with, "See? He IS a terrorist!" Personally, I think the overreaction and resulting media storm have just ruined the kids life. Where can he go and be a normal, if perhaps unusually inclined to STEM, kid? Nowhere in the US, that's for sure.

xlm1717• 11 years ago

He has met with leaders all around the world and gotten the attention of major tech companies. His life is nowhere close to ruined.

thieving_magpie6• 11 years ago

There's no where in the US this kid can go and pursue an education in a STEM field? You really believe that? Good lord HN is a pool of overreaction.

TallGuyShort3• 11 years ago

There's a difference between pursuing an education and being treated normally socially. I mean "ruined his life" is an exaggeration, I'll admit, but it's pretty tough to get this much attention in a controversy and then just leave that all behind. A significant portion of my friends think he's a terrorist, for goodness sakes...

Splines• 11 years ago

Just wait a year - the news cycle turns, and this kid will be forgotten.

In 3-4 years when he applies to college, unless the administrators explicitly look his name up, I doubt they would care.

zeteo2• 11 years ago

Eyman was referring to a number of conspiracy theories that appeared on the Internet about his arrest. Most attest that the incident was a pre-planned plot [...]. Some of that skepticism stems from claims against Ahmed’s father [...] who has run for president of Sudan

I was completely outraged when I first heard this story, but then I read some of the legitimate criticism that the article glosses over. Basically it looks like he didn't build a clock, but repackaged an existing clock into a pencil box and had it go off during class. Here's the take from someone who went the full length with looking up the parts:

http://blogs.artvoice.com/techvoice/2015/09/17/reverse-engin...

blakeyrat4• 11 years ago

I don't see how that changes the story at all.

Whether or not he built the clock, the important thing is that he didn't build a bomb and was arrested by police officers who (then and now) fully admitted that he had committed no crime whatsoever.

yelnatz• 11 years ago

Yea, but I can see through how much of a poser he is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFvB1I7uMGg

zeteo2• 11 years ago

the important thing is that he didn't build a bomb and was arrested by police officers

He was arrested on suspicion of perpetrating a bomb hoax. There may be a legitimate purpose for putting an existing clock inside a box where it can't be seen, and having it go off during class. But I'm less outraged if it turns out that law enforcement's only failure was missing out on that legitimate purpose when called to make a judgment on the spot.

beeboop5• 11 years ago

It changes it dramatically. People are saying he got in trouble because of racist school administration being overzealous. The reality, according to the best information we have, is that he was intentionally antagonizing his teachers for attention. What he made is a few blocks of play-doh away from looking like a bomb. A teacher sent him to the office for making what undeniably looks like a hoax bomb. Zero effort went into this - it wasn't a science project, it wasn't inventive, it wasn't something worth showing off other than "hehe this looks like a bomb!".

The way he was treated by officers was absolutely shitty, but it wasn't any different than how officers treat people all day, every day, at schools all across America.

bdcravens2• 11 years ago

If a kid was waving around a plastic gun that was painted black, would it be the same social justice concern?

rhino3692• 11 years ago

He wasn't arrested for building a bomb, but for building a fake bomb. I don't think you should arrest a kid for that even if it did, it's not worth it.

However, it's not insane to think he was trying to cause an incident. The hypothesis goes: he wanted to get a teacher to believe he had a bomb so that he could claim religious profiling and racism. If that is what happened, that technically is a crime because the bomb was a hoax bomb.

Why would someone think he was trying to trick a teacher into thinking it was a bomb. It's a weird thing to bring to school. It's not like he actually make a clock on his own. Clocks are not super impressive, but it's a good beginner amateur electronics project. But he didn't even do that. His comments in the media don't really show any understanding of electronics.

Why was he so proud of pulling apart an off the shelf alarm clock and nailing it into a pencil case? He brought it out in each class of the day for no reason. He set it to go off in class for some reason.

And then when he was questioned about it, he was reportedly very tight lipped. He could have been nervous being in trouble. Or he could have been trying to create a scandal.

Mark Cuban said when he called the kid that someone else was feeding him answers. His sister got in trouble in a bomb scare situation at the same school district.

And then the family goes on a media tour meeting with mass murdering Islamic leaders--al-Bashir. And suddenly the family is moving to Qatar.

His Father was also involved in a high profile media circus regarding a Koran burning.

It's not clear that it was a purposeful stunt. But I don't think it requires conspiracy level thinking to believe it was.

TazeTSchnitzel6• 11 years ago

He assembled two broken clocks together into a $20 box he bought. He didn't make a clock, exactly, but he didn't claim to.

And it changes nothing. To claim that he was trying to make it look like a bomb for attention is absurd.

nikolay2• 11 years ago

It does change things as the media (including the social media) has presented things much differently.

hugh42• 11 years ago

Why is it absurd?

Whether it's true or false is another issue (I don't claim to know his motivations) but absurd?

rayiner4• 11 years ago

And it changes nothing. To claim that he was trying to make it look like a bomb for attention is absurd.

What is more absurd: that a teenager violated a school rule to get attention, or that a whole bunch of school administrators and police officers couldn't tell an alarm clock apart from a bomb?

qyv• 11 years ago

Why is it so absurd? Because young people never do stupid things for attention? Was the school/police reaction over the top? Yes, for sure. Is the counter-reaction given to this kid in an effort to appear to appear to be on the side of goodness and rationality equally silly? Absolutely.

Consultant32452• 11 years ago

Can we at least admit to ourselves that what he built would have passed for a bomb in a movie? Because while I agree the whole thing was handled poorly, it's not completely implausible to think that was a bomb.

notahacker2• 11 years ago

To be fair, it changes the narrative from "smart kid builds ingenious working electronic clock" to "tinkering kid disassembles clocks to make them (coincidentally or otherwise) look like Hollywood depictions of a bomb". The background context has the kid messing about with plenty of other electronic devices for fun, but it also has a politically-active father turning up at well-publicised Quran-burning events and claiming shock that the Quran was burned. It's not exactly beyond the realms of possibility that he might have seen the potential for his son's electronic experimentation to end in a suspension and similar barrage of publicity, even if the son himself is merely an innocuous hacker type with a fondness for electronics.

Obviously any suggestion of intent still doesn't excuse the way the police reportedly handled things, or make Dawkins' attitude any less ridiculous.

mozumder3• 11 years ago

So, case-modding.

That's an art form as well.

CaptSpify• 11 years ago

Especially for high-school kids who are getting started in tech

anon1mous2• 11 years ago

"Conspiracy theory" most of the time means exactly "legitimate criticism that the article/TV/politician wants to gloss over".

cbd1984• 11 years ago

Uh, no, it mostly means "insane hypothesis which no amount of evidence can disprove but which some people will believe in regardless", such as the conspiracy theory that Jews perpetrated 9/11 or that vaccines cause autism or that Obama was born in Kenya.

abritinthebay6• 11 years ago

No, usually it means "something with no shred of legitimacy or basis in facts that supporters will nonetheless defend with vitriol".

But nice try.

rayiner4• 11 years ago

This is pretty much my takeaway too:

Ahmed wasn’t accused of making a bomb – he was accused of making a look-alike, a hoax. And be honest with yourself, a big red digital display with a bunch of loose wires in a brief-case looking box is awful like a Hollywood-style representation of a bomb. Everyone jumped to play the race and religion cards and try and paint the teachers and police as idiots and bigots, but in my mind, they were probably acting responsibly and erring on the side of caution to protect the rest of their students, just in case. “This wouldn’t have happened if Ahmed were white,” they say. We’re supposed to be sensitive to school violence, but apparently religious and racial sensitivity trumps that. At least we have another clue about how the sensitivity and moral outrage pecking order lies.

What happened here is really clear, and it has nothing to do with this kid being named "Ahmed." He got in trouble because he made a look-alike bomb. Nobody thought it was a real bomb, but that's besides the point. Plenty of white kids get suspended from school for bringing in toy guns that are clearly, without debate, toys. Maybe "zero tolerance" for weapon look-alikes is a stupid policy, but it's a different sort of stupid policy than what people are attacking in this case.

tedks7• 11 years ago

For anyone who doubts this interpretation, here are the relevant district policy documents outlining the classification[1] of "weapons" (which includes "look-alike weapons" in the terminology of the district) and the penalty[2] (mandatory expulsion, as required by Texas state law).

[1] http://www.irvingisd.net/cms/lib010/TX01917973/Centricity/Do...

[2] http://pol.tasb.org/Policy/Download/367?filename=FOD(LEGAL)....

Does anyone think that the American media is some unbiased, objective actor that brings stories to the national attention on nothing more than journalistic merit?

Because if you do, you're either stoned or stupid. Remember that this happened in the middle of a news cycle about Donald Trump and other Republicans being islamophobic.

I'm willing to think that the kid and his father aren't deliberately gaming the media machine, but obviously nobody above that level is acting out of anything but self-interest.

SilasX2• 11 years ago

He was arrested, not just suspended. It's fair to ask whether they would have avoided escalating that far for a white kid.

It's likewise reasonable to err on the side of caution when it comes to bomb threats, but the story didn't end there.

flycaliguy• 11 years ago

The one thing I don't understand is how it went off in class. Did he plug it in? Do classrooms all have plugs for laptops now or did he have to situate himself near one? Alternatively, did he use the battery backup? Wouldn't that mean he set the alarm for during class when it was plugged in and then unplugged it?

zoidb• 11 years ago

From the pictures this type of clock has a 9v battery for when the power goes off, not enough power to drive the display but enough to trigger the alarm. This would also explain why (maybe) he didn't realize it would go off during class.

akiselev3• 11 years ago

》After withdrawing from school in Texas, the boy’s family embraced the opportunities that came from his brush with the law. He visited the Google Science Fair, met with Sudan’s President Omar al Bashir, posed with the queen of Jordan at a United Nations Summit, appeared on the “Doctor Oz” show and last night, made it to the White House.

Great for him and his family. I hope that he finds someone who kindles his curiosity and turns it into a force for human progress in the future.

For those of us who remain in the United States: I think it's a sad state of affairs when "embracing opportunities" that result from horrendous discrimination in Texas means associating with a country best known for one of the worst genocides in recent memory (yes I know that the situation has changed in the last decade, but most people probably dont) and moving to a country widely known for effectively enslaving thousands for the sake of a sports tournament.

[Edit] horrendous smartphone copy paste

thieving_magpie6• 11 years ago

For those of us who remain in the United States: I think it's a sad state of affairs when "embracing opportunities" that result from horrendous discrimination in Texas means associating with a country best known for one of the worst genocides in recent memory

Yeah I'm sure the only option was to move to Oman. Come on, this is one of many opportunities offered and they decided to go to Oman. You're aware this kid just got his picture with al-Bashir - a man facing ICC charges for genocide in Darfur. I hope this kid's family has his best interests at heart.

akiselev3• 11 years ago

If you had spent most of your life integrating with Western culture, only to have your very identity targeted and put into the [inter]national spotlight, I wouldn't be surprised or disappointed if your first reaction was to go to the polar opposite (in this case, other nations whose government and population are heavily influenced by Islam). We're not even talking about basic discrimination but a situation where the victim was put on a stage many years before he could be prepared for it, if such a thing is even possible for an unwilling participant. Imagine the horror his parents went through when their child was subject to such an ordeal and it's hard to blame them for throwing their hands up and saying "fuck western nations", especially given the response of many European nations to the Syrian refugee crisis and the mass migration of Muslims to the EU overy recent decades.

My comment was rather flippant because in reality he can have a much better life in poorer parts of the world where he is in the overwhelming majority (and educated) instead of in a nation where he is overwhelmingly a minority. Regardless, going from the United States, a country built on the idea of a cultural melting pot, to Qatar or Sudan makes me very sad.

kraig9112• 11 years ago

The only thing the clock this kid made is telling is that we're still in a time where racism and xenophobia is rampant still in America.

The comments on that article are abhorrent. Even if it was pre-planned or not they definitely exposed the real problem we have in America. Not terrorists, but ourselves.

aikah• 11 years ago

Funny because in this very discussion

This kid stuck a Radio Shack clock in a pencil case, and deliberately disrupted a class with it after he was asked to put it away -- he plugged it into the wall and left it beeping until he was kick out of class and arrested for having a hoax bomb.
The only thing the clock this kid made is telling is that we're still in a time where racism and xenophobia is rampant still in America.

Sure ,but is it about racism ? or is this about the media making stuff up ?

Was he arrested because he was "brown" ? or because he behaved like a moron in class ? I don't have the answers, but let's choose our champions carefully here.

The media often make up their own stories just for the sake of milking them ad nauseam. It wouldn't be the first time.

kraig9112• 11 years ago

I think my point is there is no champion at all in this. Whether his story was true or he deliberately did it. In the end both scenarios playing out we as USA still lose. Only one scenario makes us look less bad but bad is still bad.

ck2• 11 years ago

Great for him but I think it will suck for his sister and mom's freedom.

nikolay2• 11 years ago

It could suck for him, too, if he turns out to be gay, for example.

azth2• 11 years ago

He won't, don't bother yourself with such issues.

azth2• 11 years ago

Don't talk about what you don't know.

Overtonwindow• 11 years ago

Like others, I was at first really pissed off at this saga, but the more I've read, the more I feel like it's a hoax. This whole thing has just been one scam on the media.

abritinthebay6• 11 years ago

So the media were the ones that made the school and police over-react completely? Riiiight.

Pinatubo4• 11 years ago

The school and the police didn't over-react. The media simply glossed over what the kid actually did.

bdcravens2• 11 years ago

No, but the media has shaped the narrative to instruct the public as to what the intent was. If a kid brings a fake gun to school, they'd be arrested too (wrong or right)

JackFr2• 11 years ago

What's the story here?

He visited the Google Science Fair, met with Sudan’s President Omar al Bashir, posed with the queen of Jordan at a United Nations Summit, appeared on the “Doctor Oz” show and last night, made it to the White House.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omar_al-Bashir

In March 2009, al-Bashir became the first sitting president to be indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), for allegedly directing a campaign of mass killing, rape, and pillage against civilians in Darfur.

In October 2005, al-Bashir's government negotiated an end to the Second Sudanese Civil War, leading to a referendum in the South, resulting in the separation of the south into the separate country of South Sudan. In the Darfur region, he oversaw the War in Darfur that has resulted in death tolls that are about 10,000 according to the Sudanese Government, but most sources suggest between 200,000 and 400,000.

Pinatubo4• 11 years ago

His father has run for president in Sudan and last made headlines for debating a Florida pastor who burned a Quran.

This kid stuck a Radio Shack clock in a pencil case, and deliberately disrupted a class with it after he was asked to put it away -- he plugged it into the wall and left it beeping until he was kicked out of class and arrested for having a hoax bomb.

This whole episode was engineered by a politically active family, who is now running off to Qatar with all the free publicity and stuff gullible Americans gave them.

Al Jazeera is based in Qatar. Watch for the dad to appear on that network as a frequent commentator on anti-Islamic prejudice in America -- this was probably arranged weeks ago, possibly even before the hoax bomb incident.

tedks7• 11 years ago

Al Jazeera is based in Qatar. Watch for the dad to appear on that network as a frequent commentator on anti-Islamic prejudice in America -- this was probably arranged weeks ago, possibly even before the hoax bomb incident.

Care to record this prediction on predictionbook.com or better yet, a betting site?

Edit: Because it's interesting, and I think something like this deserves to be aggregated and quantified.

GPGPU• 11 years ago

I'm surprised that Obama stuck his nose in this. He really should let "local news" be local. Not everything has to be a federal case.

And when I was 14, I was building real digital clocks out of 7400-series TTL chips. And so were many other nerdy kids back in 1976.

dragonwriter9• 11 years ago

I'm surprised that Obama stuck his nose in this. He really should let "local news" be local.

It was already national news getting heavy coverage at the time. So, letting local news be local wasn't relevant to this case at that point.

Mimick• 11 years ago

Al Jazeera is based in Qatar. Watch for the dad to appear on that network as a frequent commentator on anti-Islamic prejudice in America -- this was probably arranged weeks ago, possibly even before the hoax bomb incident.

One of the biggest allies to US doing that? Can you not talk about things you know nothing about please?

ljk• 11 years ago

This whole episode was engineered by a politically active family, who is now running off to Qatar with all the free publicity and stuff gullible Americans gave them.

The more I read into the story the more it seemed like the kid wasn't as innocent as he appeared to be when the story broke out...

slavik81• 11 years ago

he plugged it into the wall and left it beeping until he was kicked out of class

I'm trying to imagine how this would happen and I'm failing. Do you have some sources to back this story up?

Karunamon9• 11 years ago

The clock was AC powered (you can see the cord and transformer in various pics) - it's not going to make any noise without being plugged in to a power source.

blakeyrat4• 11 years ago

This kid stuck a Radio Shack clock in a pencil case, and deliberately disrupted a class with it after he was asked to put it away -- he plugged it into the wall and left it beeping until he was kicked out of class and arrested for having a hoax bomb.

Cite? That's contrary to all the reports I've seen.

Even if he did plug it in in the classroom instead of simply forgetting that the alarm was set, it still doesn't justify the actions of the school employees or police.

This is the second time in this comments section someone has posted a conspiracy-esque "it didn't happen the way the press said!" and the second time that the conspiracy theory has completely missed the point of the incident.

Pinatubo4• 11 years ago

Ahmed himself admits he plugged the clock into the wall and it was beeping:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=801_1443042484

Teachers are required by law to report potential threats to the administration and law enforcement. The police are required by law to investigate potential threats reported in schools. Ahmed was apparently uncooperative with the police, leading to further confusion and suspicion.

This was deliberate.

kzhahou• 11 years ago

One school+police district screws up, the entire nation up to the POTUS and numerous corporations extend their support... and his family then decides to leave the country?? Eh, fuck 'em. Seriously, he has huge opportunities here, both for himself and also as an advocate for other minorities in tech.

This is a pretty bad insult to the USA, no way around that. Very ungrateful.

seivan• 11 years ago

I always assumed Scandinavians were the gullible dhimmis but quite refreshing to see how far Americans are willing to bend their reality distortion field to appease Islamists. The kid is innocent and was used as a pawn. The same can't be said for the impressive list of asshats that tried to capitalize on this as did the boy's jihadi dad and the Muslim Brotherhood - though you know them as CAIR.

While everyone who brought up an ounce of critical thought was instantly dismissed as a "nazi" by the Good Guys™

And you wonder why people are growing increasingly right wing. Stop appeasing Islamists while throwing people like Nawaz and Khan under the buss

sea2summit• 11 years ago

If you look up his father's history, it's pretty clear that this entire "controversy" was likely manufactured at the kid's expense.

‘Clock kid’ Ahmed Mohamed and his family will move to Qatar

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