Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ahmed Mohamed Clock Incident

en.wikipedia.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 55 posts

Re: Ahmed Mohamed Clock Incident

#21

Post by KingMob »

rdtsc wrote: post #15
nyolfen wrote: post #3

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??

I remember the incident in the news. Yeah, I could see if he was 8, taking an electronic component, stripping all the insides and moving it into new box and plugging it in sounds very plausible. But doing it 14, and then using what looks like a suitcase, where more than one adult thought it was a bomb, makes his story that it's just a "clock" a bit hard to believe. Moreover, the first teacher he showed it to, urged h…

Ehh. I'm sure any number of equally awkward HN commenters at 14 might have done the same, and if they weren't muslim, gotten the benefit of the doubt instead of being hauled off to the police dept.

Re: Ahmed Mohamed Clock Incident

#22

Post by KingMob »

elashri wrote: post #20

[flagged]

> 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.

Re: Ahmed Mohamed Clock Incident

#23

Post by mrs6969 »

lodovic wrote: post #17
mrs6969 wrote: post #2

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.

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.

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.

Re: Ahmed Mohamed Clock Incident

#24

Post by mrs6969 »

card_zero wrote: post #10
mrs6969 wrote: post #2

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.

I assume he was born in Texas, where his dad lived. (And was thus American.)

Correction; a kid named Truman

Re: Ahmed Mohamed Clock Incident

#25

Post by KingMob »

lodovic wrote: post #17
mrs6969 wrote: post #2

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.

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.

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.

Re: Ahmed Mohamed Clock Incident

#26

Post by OkayBuddy44 »

KingMob wrote: post #21
rdtsc wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember the incident in the news. Yeah, I could see if he was 8, taking an electronic component, stripping all the insides and moving it into new box and plugging it in sounds very plausible. But doing it 14, and then using what looks like a suitcase, where more than one adult thought it was a bomb, makes his story that it's just a "clock" a bit hard to believe. Moreover, the first teacher he showed it to, urged h…

Ehh. I'm sure any number of equally awkward HN commenters at 14 might have done the same, and if they weren't muslim, gotten the benefit of the doubt instead of being hauled off to the police dept.

[flagged]

Re: Ahmed Mohamed Clock Incident

#27

Post by thomasmg »

searealist wrote: post #14
mrs6969 wrote: post #2

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.

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.

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.

Re: Ahmed Mohamed Clock Incident

#28

Post by csomar »

elashri wrote: post #20

[flagged]

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.

Re: Ahmed Mohamed Clock Incident

#30

Post by 55555 »

elashri wrote: post #20

[flagged]

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.

Post reply on HN