14 year old american kid arrested for taking homemade clock to school

[tonysingh]

I was amazed I'd never heard of it.
But I was otherwise distracted in 1985.

move philadelphia - Google Search

MOVE Bombing at 30: "Barbaric" 1985 Philadelphia Police Attack Killed 11 & Burned a Neighborhood | Democracy Now!

Here's the wiki on MOVE:

MOVE - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This contemporaneous NYT summary of the MOVE Commission report - which is hardly sympathetic to members of the MOVE community - shows how scathing that report was of City Hall and the Police Department:

EXCERPTS FROM COMMISSION'S REPORT ON BOMBING

ETA: Am at work so rushed the above.

Basically MOVE was an African-American green anarchist/anarcho-primitivist (i.e. anti-technology/civilisation) group/community which developed in the 70s and into the 80s in Philly.

Their beliefs put them at odds with many people, not least the police and city officials, but also their neighbours, thanks to eccentric behaviour. A police siege of their original community house (in pursuit of their eviction) in 1978 ended with a dead cop, several wounded and nine MOVE members gaoled for life.

They then moved to another house, with similar tension between themselves, the police/city officials and neighbours.

Finally the Mayor decided to have them removed from that house, with a three-man police team concocting a ludicrous plan of DROPPING A BOMB ON A CITY NEIGHBOURHOOD HOUSE as a means of persuading the occupants to leave. The bomb was dropped by helicopter, and almost immediately caused a dangerous fire which threatened to spread to the whole row of houses on the street. Police and Fire Department bosses colluded to prevent firefighters from tackling the fire. Five children and six adults (all MOVE members) perished in the fire. Only two people survived. Dozens of neighbouring houses were also destroyed by the fire, with hundreds made homeless.

Here's a report and a photo gallery of the aftermath of the bombing

USATODAY.com - 1985 bombing in Philadelphia still unsettled
USATODAY.com - The 20th anniversary of the MOVE bombing

MOVE on the bombing, 30 years on:

"Thirty Years After MOVE Bombing: What Has Law Enforcement Learned?" an article by reporter Linn Washington. – On a Move

Let the fire burn is a really good documentary on the event. Well worth watching, though pretty depressing

Watch Let the Fire Burn Online Free Putlocker | Putlocker - Watch Movies Online Free

I have mates in the USA, I've spent time there and am generally a big fan of American .... well anything really (Kool Aid may just be mankind's greatest achievement) and I'd read a fair chunk of history but to my shame I was unaware of the MOVE bombing.

Fucking hell.

Zuckerberg posted on his facebook that the kid should have been rewarded for showing ingineuity and offered him a day at facebook towers. Which i thought was a nice thing to do.

You know what? When I read that, all I could think of was Hank Scorpio inviting Homer to his secret base.

 

[Orang Utan]

I have mates in the USA, I've spent time there and am generally a big fan of American .... well anything really (Kool Aid may just be mankind's greatest achievement) and I'd read a fair chunk of history but to my shame I was unaware of the MOVE bombing.

Fucking hell.




You know what? When I read that, all I could think of was Hank Scorpio inviting Homer to his secret base.

i only found about that in the past few years, but it's hardly surprising, surely?

 

[tonysingh]

i only found about that in the past few years, but it's hardly surprising, surely?

Surprising? No

Depressing? Fuck me, yes.

I'm annoyed with myself for not knowing about it tbh.

 

[Casually Red]

Could have been worse . Lucky he never had a chair leg and a suspected Irish accent .

 

[likesfish]

the move bombing came after they'd already fired 10'000 rounds at the bunker! and had been shot at in return anybody with slightly more brains may have called for a rethink after the first 1000 rounds had gone down range to zero effect and settled in for a long siege.
that's official fbi policy these days.
but brains had gone down range along with rounds that day the bombs or "entry" devices didn't even breach the bunker

 

[Yuwipi Woman]

Well, yes, they do think just that

I admit I'm no expert on bombs, but from what the news reports I expect they look more like this:

 

[Dowie]

Zuckerberg posted on his facebook that the kid should have been rewarded for showing ingineuity and offered him a day at facebook towers. Which i thought was a nice thing to do.

I thought that too when I first read the story... But now, having seen the pictures, I think the kid is an idiot.

I'd assumed we'd see some sort of hobby/project board from radio shack with a bunch of messy wires, some dodgy soldering etc.. the sort of thing a smart kid with an actual interest in electronics would produce.

Instead the pictures show a printed circuit board attached to an LED display - he's not actually made anything, he's just taken a clock out of its case and put it in a briefcase for no apparent reason and brought it into school with him.

 

[Orang Utan]

I admit I'm no expert on bombs, but from what the news reports I expect they look more like this:

Or else a Nokia 3310 strapped to a big candle

 

[Mation]

the reports seem a little confused, but i have an impression that the police didn't think it was a bomb, but since someone in the school had raised concerns they arrested him because it looked enough like a bomb to have worried people and was therefore a bomb hoax.

oh, and this is a town where the mayor has been trying to gain attention for 'taking on Islam' which is an easier way for her to get lots and lots of attention and keep her job than actual local achievement.

Dispute over Islam lands Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne on national stage

It could only have been a hoax if he'd told them it was a bomb, or let them think it was. He told them it was a clock. It was a clock. Not a hoax.

And nor did they think it was a bomb or they'd have evacuated and treated it like a bomb. They didn't. It wasn't. They're nasty fuckers.

 

[SpineyNorman]

I thought that too when I first read the story... But now, having seen the pictures, I think the kid is an idiot.

I'd assumed we'd see some sort of hobby/project board from radio shack with a bunch of messy wires, some dodgy soldering etc.. the sort of thing a smart kid with an actual interest in electronics would produce.

Instead the pictures show a printed circuit board attached to an LED display - he's not actually made anything, he's just taken a clock out of its case and put it in a briefcase for no apparent reason and brought it into school with him.

He is 14 years old ffs

 

[NoXion]

I thought that too when I first read the story... But now, having seen the pictures, I think the kid is an idiot.

I'd assumed we'd see some sort of hobby/project board from radio shack with a bunch of messy wires, some dodgy soldering etc.. the sort of thing a smart kid with an actual interest in electronics would produce.

Instead the pictures show a printed circuit board attached to an LED display - he's not actually made anything, he's just taken a clock out of its case and put it in a briefcase for no apparent reason and brought it into school with him.

The kid is an idiot because the school overreacted? Fuck off twat.

 

[Dowie]

The kid is an idiot because the school overreacted? Fuck off twat.

that wasn't what I said you stupid cunt....

 

[Dowie]

He is 14 years old ffs

so what? - plenty of teenagers play with electronics... All this one seems to have done was take a clock out of its case and stick it in another one

 

[SpineyNorman]

so what? - plenty of teenagers play with electronics... All this one seems to have done was take a clock out of its case and stick it in another one

At least you're focusing on what's important about this story.

 

[Dowie]

At least you're focusing on what's important about this story.

police overreaction then media overreaction then various companies/politicians falling over themselves to get some PR by inviting the boy wonder (who took a clock out of its case) over to their respective organisations to show them the clock 'he made'

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

so what? - plenty of teenagers play with electronics... All this one seems to have done was take a clock out of its case and stick it in another one

He appears to have wired in a transformer to take a mains input and convert it to 9v DC for a start. That's a soldering job right there.

He may well have purchased the LCD and the control board separately hence the need for the case to mount them in.

 

[SpineyNorman]

police overreaction then media overreaction then various companies/politicians falling over themselves to get some PR by inviting the boy wonder (who took a clock out of its case) over to their respective organisations to show them the clock 'he made'

In what way did the media over react in this case?

 

[Belushi]

 

[Dowie]

He appears to have wired in a transformer to take a mains input and convert it to 9v DC for a start. That's a soldering job right there.

He may well have purchased the LCD and the control board separately hence the need for the case to mount them in.

he's not done anything of the sort - he's simply taken a clock out of its case and put it in another case, which wouldn't seem to be particularly suitable for a clock:

Reverse Engineering Ahmed Mohamed's Clock... and Ourselves.

(the clock in question takes a mains input and has a battery backup)

 

[Santino]

he's not done anything of the sort - he's simply taken a clock out of its case and put it in another case, which wouldn't seem to be particularly suitable for a clock:

Reverse Engineering Ahmed Mohamed's Clock... and Ourselves.

(the clock in question takes a mains input and has a battery backup)

The point is that this teenager needs taking down a peg or two by internet users.

 

[Dowie]

point is no one can say for sure what he was playing at - he's not invented/created anything, there was little reason to take the dubious looking clock in a case into school and it was quite plausible he did want to wind up his English teacher

sure the police overreacted and now the media have gone a bit crazy over it too - but it actually seems quite plausible that he did want the thing to look rather dodgy... he wasn't arrested under suspicion that he'd made a bomb he was arrested under the suspicion that he'd made a hoax bomb

 

[SpineyNorman]

I get what dowie is on about though.

People go on about how great stuff kids do is but really they're shit. I had a game of pool with my 9 year old nephew yesterday and I absolutely smashed him. He was rubbish.

Also, kids have produced no major or even significant scientific or technological breakthroughs. They've offered nothing in the way of fine art or literature either.

 

[SpineyNorman]

point is no one can say for sure what he was playing at - he's not invented/created anything, there was little reason to take the dubious looking clock in a case into school and it was quite plausible he did want to wind up his English teacher

sure the police overreacted and now the media have gone a bit crazy over it too - but it actually seems quite plausible that he did want the thing to look rather dodgy... he wasn't arrested under suspicion that he'd made a bomb he was arrested under the suspicion that he'd made a hoax bomb

Well we know for absolute certain he wasn't making a bomb - we know that because he didn't make a bomb. Surely the most likely explanation is that he made a clock (one that you're not that impressed with but we've established that you're a bit of a bell end so we won't worry about that for now) and took it to school to show off.

I remember who you are now. You've got form for this kind of bullshit.

 

[Santino]

point is no one can say for sure what he was playing at - he's not invented/created anything, there was little reason to take the dubious looking clock in a case into school and it was quite plausible he did want to wind up his English teacher

sure the police overreacted and now the media have gone a bit crazy over it too - but it actually seems quite plausible that he did want the thing to look rather dodgy... he wasn't arrested under suspicion that he'd made a bomb he was arrested under the suspicion that he'd made a hoax bomb

He probably WANTED to be arrested. They're very cunning.

 

[Dowie]

I get what dowie is on about though.

People go on about how great stuff kids do is but really they're shit. I had a game of pool with my 9 year old nephew yesterday and I absolutely smashed him. He was rubbish.

Also, kids have produced no major or even significant scientific or technological breakthroughs. They've offered nothing in the way of fine art or literature either.

Maybe you were a bit slow as a kid?

There are plenty of bright 14 year olds out there who can actually make/create things. I'm just pointing out that Ahmed hasn't actually made anything in this instance, contrary to how the story was initially portrayed in the media.

 

[Dowie]

He probably WANTED to be arrested. They're very cunning.

he might well have wanted to wind up a teacher

 

[SpineyNorman]

Maybe you were a bit slow as a kid?

There are plenty of bright 14 year olds out there who can actually make/create things. I'm just pointing out that Ahmed hasn't actually made anything in this instance, contrary to how the story was initially portrayed in the media.

I'm not really convinced that this was the part of the story that most appealed to peoples' moral sensitivities to be honest.

And you're definitely a bit slow as an adult.

 

[Dowie]

Well we know for absolute certain he wasn't making a bomb - we know that because he didn't make a bomb. Surely the most likely explanation is that he made a clock (one that you're not that impressed with but we've established that you're a bit of a bell end so we won't worry about that for now) and took it to school to show off.

No one has claimed he's made a bomb. And he didn't make a clock either - it isn't that I'm not impressed with it - it is just that he didn't actually make anything... he took it out of its case and put it into another one for some inexplicable reason. What exactly was he supposed to be showing off - the fact he can unscrew a plastic case? The first teacher he showed it too told him to keep it in his bag....

I remember who you are now. You've got form for this kind of bullshit.

Just pointing out that part of the story, as reported, is rather dubious

 

[Dowie]

I'm not really convinced that this was the part of the story that most appealed to peoples' moral sensitivities to be honest.

I'm sure it wasn't.... the story we want to hear is the dumb cops in Texas profiling a poor kid who merely wanted to bring in his 'project' to show off at school

 

[SpineyNorman]

No one has claimed he's made a bomb. And he didn't make a clock either - it isn't that I'm not impressed with it - it is just that he didn't actually make anything... he took it out of its case and put it into another one for some inexplicable reason. What exactly was he supposed to be showing off - the fact he can unscrew a plastic case? The first teacher he showed it too told him to keep it in his bag....

You realise that nobody except you actually cares how skilled he is when it comes to electronics don't you?

Just pointing out that part of the story, as reported, is rather dubious

Thanks for that - I'll be able to sleep tonight now.