How Ahmed The Clock Boy Conned America

[zeemike]

I myself did not pay a lot of attention to this story because it was a media circus which I usually ignore...but this guy explains what really happened.

[Mass]

1. Cannot bring myself to listen to it.

Two seconds are enough for me. So tell me why we should believe the video guy?

[zeemike]

4. Well you can't believe anything you will not hear.

So ignore it and continue to believe what you are told to believe.

[Mass]

48. I form my opinion by reading and listening to various sources I can evaluate

Right now, to be honest, it is harder and harder as the media are often a bunch of idiots, but a random guy posting a rant on the internet is generally not my cup of tea, even if he is a Sanders supporters (there are a few idiots there as well).

I formed my opinion a long time ago and it was largely that the smart kid was taken in a circus between two sets of adults, the local authorities on one side who jumped the shark and the so-called intellectual authorities/media exploiting him on the other side.

He is entitled to his opinion, and I have the right not to lose 10 minutes listening to him. You are

[FiveGoodMen]

2. Why did you post this idiot's rant?

[zeemike]

6. So you could call him names I guess.

I don't know this guy, first time I ever saw him.
And obviously I did not reach the same conclusion you did.

But I am not surprised that people here find some hard truth uncomfortable.
And no doube some will try to censor it.

[demwing]

27. "truths"

are often mistake by writers and speakers with "opinions" - especially when those opinions are held by the person doing the writing or the speaking!

Not saying that the case with you, zeemike, I'm just sharing a hard truth

[zeemike]

55. I judge the opinion by the facts presented.

And he has a set of facts that I have not confirmed but if true tends to make me think his opinion is correct.
One fact that I know is true is that the clock was not the kids invention but the guts out of a clock put in a box...and the media lied to us I guess because I read it her on DU after it happened. And in the beginning I actually believed that it was his science project until I saw it and knew it was no invention.

So when I find a lie in a story I tend to doubt the whole thing and perhaps more likely to listen to someone who presents a different view of it...and his view is more consistent with the facts I know about.

[niyad]

3. what utter codswallop

[cstanleytech]

58. Perhaps, if a good portion of it is true though it

could really hurt any potential case the parents might have had.

[Chakab]

5. I usually don't comment on articles or videos without reading or watching them, but I find this

particular conspiracy theory to be too absurd to waste my with.

Does anybody honestly believe that this kid knew exactly how to "provoke" his school administrators and the local yokel cops in his town into overreacting in such an absurd manner that his story would go viral and that he'd get international attention?

Ridiculous.

If he's this media savvy at his age, then some corporation should be grooming him so that he can become a PR guru in the near future.

[zeemike]

9. Well like you said you did not hear the evidence.

That they did not overreact like the media said they did
But we will all believe they did because we cannot suffer the thought we have been manipulated by them.

[Chakab]

11. I didn't watch this particular video, but I've heard this shit regurgitated by dozens of other

idiots online and in real life since it happened.

I say again: I find it mind-boggling that anybody believes that this kid was calculating enough to predict how big his story would get.

I also find it bizarre that the people pushing this nonsense claim, on the one hand, that this story has nothing to do with anti-Muslim hysteria, while, conversely, saying with a straight face that any brown-skinned kid with an Arabic name should know damn well that he's going to cause a panic by bringing any kind of mechanical device into a school.

[zeemike]

16. So then you are saying the facts presented in this are lies?

And you know it even though you did not watch this because you have heard of it before and know that it must also be the same lies.

You are saying that this kid did not just take the guts out of a clock and put it in a brief case but actually invented a clock like we were told.
And that he was not told to put it away when he first showed it to a teacher but took it from class to class showing it around and finally set the alarm to go off in class and that is when the teacher took it away from him and told the principle because they have zero tolerance policy.

All of that is a lie by CTers...and you know it.
Well I don't know it is a lie...and I suspect it is not...but that we have been played once again.

[rog]

29. 'Principal' ... not 'principle'.

...and told the principle ...

Jesus ...

.rog.

[zeemike]

30. Ha! You caught me.

Now the whole world will know what an ignorant fool I am.

[rog]

35. Your words, not mine ... thank you!

zeemike wrote:

Now the whole world will know what an ignorant fool I am.

I could not say this better.

.rog.

[zeemike]

37. Yes and I am so ashamed...

I should tuck my tail between my legs and slink off out of sight...it was an unpardonable sin I did.

What a wretch I am, no amazing grace for me...

[Quixote1818]

38. Really? Very smart people make spelling mistakes all the time

and that is what you are keying in on to try and feel like you won the argument, rather than focus on the points he/she made?

[arcane1]

65. I don't think he predicted it would get this big, but I think he was likely pulling a prank n/t

[katsy]

56. Doesn't. Matter.

The idiots who arrested this child have been rightfully sued and a jury will decide.

Not some random u-tuber with an O P I N I O N.

This is the 2nd time this video has been posted here. I said it before and I'll say it again: I hope the school district and community in this case, AND in the case of the young lady who was dragged about by that cop while sitting in her classroom, goes to court, and both pay hefty settlements. This should be the case any time peoples civil rights are infringed upon.

[6chars]

59. The kid is a genius

if he gets $15M out of this.

Do you think it will actually go to a jury?

[katsy]

61. IDK but either way

It's a rightful lawsuit.

Whether beating a child or arresting a child, even a prankster, without a parent present is just wrong, illegal.

If I walk out of my house tomorrow and with malice and forethought, mouth the words "FUCK YOU" to a cop, just to get a shot at suing them... and a cop tramples my civil rights... So be it. It's on them.

You'd think communities would be very careful about educating their employees about civil rights laws. Fuck em. Let the lawsuits begin.

[6chars]

62. don't suggest you try that

you might get a lawsuit, you might get your rights and more trampled and not win a lawsuit. more likely.

[katsy]

64. Just a hypothetical. nt

[TubbersUK]

7. Sigh ................n/t

[MisterP]

8. by that same mislogic Irving's mosque is baiting the Cruz fans in the black outfits and balaclavas

into surrounding the place with semiautos

[zeemike]

10. What?

I fail to see any connection between that and this...not even a tiny bit.

[packman]

12. Yah, Ahmed conned us - but this guy is an ass wipe

I thought he was going to pass out gasping for breath. Wonder if he is going to make a fellow-up video on how Repukes con the American middle class.

Does this guy say towards the end of the video he's a Dem and going to vote for Bernie?

If he is, gives a different spin to the video - he's seems to be warning us (you, me and the other "liberals&quot to not be so gullible. Well, that makes it a little more palatable, but I still think he's too near the edge with his anger and language.

[zeemike]

17. Well I don't know, this is the first time I have seen him

And there are lots of angry people out there on all sides.
And I think perhaps there is lots of good reasons to be angry, and perhaps the most dangerous thing is those who are not angry but complacent and compliant.

[deutsey]

13. I'm not a fan of listening to someone other than Lewis Black ranting at me

so I'm not crazy about this guy's presentation.

I have to say, though, I think he makes a lot of valid points. Even if he's wrong about this story (and I'm not at all sure that he is), I have had experiences where I've jumped aboard the outrage bandwagon over something I read on the Internet only to learn "the rest of the story" later.

Bottom line, for me, anyway, is to always read what you read online with a huge grain of salt until you do more research on it yourself.

[zeemike]

18. Yep, I have jumped that outrage bandwagon too

And hope never to do it again, but know it could happen.

[ejbr]

14. The kid was interviewed and arrested

by cops without his parents being present. Now I know Texas is back assward, but the rest of the country finds this unacceptable. The rest I couldn't care about.

[zeemike]

20. Then it is the cops that did something wrong?

Not the school and all white Texans.
And I care a lot about blanket condemnation.

[ejbr]

25. I am sharing my individual concerns

the rest was not on my radar

[jjewell]

15. I watched the video...

I agree with the OP.

[Quixote1818]

26. Mee too.

His presentation is over the top because that is part of his "entertainment" but the way he lays out the facts is right on. I saw a couple of other videos that came to the same conclusion and laid out the same facts.

[arcane1]

63. That's pretty much what it was, laying out the facts with a "colorful" delivery.

His occasional swipes at "the left" in general might make some instinctively dismiss him on this topic, and that's understandable, but he reaches a logical conclusion based on the known facts, and he even admits that it's all he's doing.

[951-Riverside]

19. The last thread about this got hidden

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7378248

[zeemike]

21. And would not be suprised if this were alerted on.

Information gatekeepers are always with us.

[saturnsring]

31. like the post on racism that got hidden. apparently it wasnt the right kind

[Hulk]

22. Listen to the whole video (rant), and then decide.

I was turned off by the guy's presentation as well, but if any of his facts are correct, we've been duped.

I'm a "Texas basher", and generally "the South basher" as well. I've just heard too many weird stories and had too many personal experiences in my 68 years of existence to be non-judgmental at this stage of my life.

I would give teachers the benefit of the doubt, but if they are from Texas or the South, I have a different perspective. I'm not thrilled by that realization, but this fellow brought light to it.

IF these facts are true, about his sister's history and the fact that he played ALL of his teachers; then something is damned suspicious. If this kid is a prankster at heart, then it adds more fuel to the fire.

I do know that I'm sick and tired of grifters playing on volatile emotions in this confused nation that is being sickened by the media's misinformation 24/7. I do know that I'm sick and tired of being "played" by the media and thoughtless grifters who only make me, and the whole country, dumber and more confused.

If this guy has his facts straight, then this is just one more disgraceful act we have to endure and be embarrassed by.

IF this kid really is using our confusion to attempt to rip off the school district for 15 MILLION $$$'s, than he needs to be exposed and spanked...damn hard and in the open, for everyone to see. (Don't go ape-shit; "figuratively speaking" for those that love to jump on a poster for expressing a point.)

[zeemike]

28. Well I spent 25 or more years in the south

From Texas in 1962 to Mississippi in 1964 to North Florida and Alabama...so I know about those people you bash.
But I try to limit it to individuals and actions not broad brush because it is counter productive.

But that is the point...if these facts are true...and I have seen nothing to say they are not. We never hear the other side of the story from the media, and that should send up red flags.

[Cheviteau]

34. Go Back And Read Your Post, Hulk

IF...IF....IF...IF That's some mighty thin gruel you're serving up there.

[Hulk]

44. It's intentional

The "if's" are put in as disclaimers, because there is so much bull shit being sent off in the airwaves, it's hard to form a firm stand on anything.

Wouldn't it be nice to form an opinion based on facts? The problem is if what we were led to believe wasn't 180 degrees different from what this dude proposes to be fact, we could actually be informed. Instead, we are having to chose from one set of flimsy initial facts to a list of "supposed facts"; and yes, it's thin gruel we are left to swallow.

If, if, if...seems to be all one can say based on poor reporting of facts in our media today. I've gotten bit in the ass too many times to put faith in any news source these days.

[Iggo]

23. Racist bigot.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

33. That's what you got out of it? Wow.

[ChiTownDenny]

43. Did you listen to the end?

He supports Bernie Sanders for president.

[Iggo]

67. I bet he loves dogs, too.

[ChiTownDenny]

74. Does Bernie?

[Quixote1818]

24. There are several other articles and videos that came to the same conclusion

I think Dusty is correct about what happened but he is a bit hard on the kid who is just a 14 year old doing what a lot of kids his age try to do.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

32. Just from the responses I'd say this guy is on to something

I found his rant made a lot of sense. I am especially shocked by the responses of people that didn't even watch the video! We usually call people like that morans.

[zeemike]

36. Not morons, just unable to cope with being had.

The reason why the flim flam man was the safest crime is because people are unwilling to admit they were taken in by it.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

39. You have a good point.

I would still consider them to be morans.

[1monster]

40. Okay, for the purpose of being able to comment on this video, I sat through

three minutes and 32 seconds before I couldn't take any more of this ranting idiot.

Obviously, Ahmed is the modern day, live action version of Lex Luthor or the Joker, or maybe even Moriarty, with a incredibly brilliant criminal mind that is just too highly developed for the likes of us liberals to understand his nefarious plots.

[zeemike]

41. Is that what you got out of 3 minuets of this?

How sad...that hyperbole is all you have to attack with.

But you need not watch any of it to comment...many others have without watching it. And I suspect it would make little difference if they did because the conclusion was reached when they read the title.

[1monster]

47. You accuse me of hyperbole?! Did you watch the video you posted?

[zeemike]

50. "the modern day, live action version of Lex Luthor or the Joker"

You mean that was not? Comparing to comic book villains?

[1monster]

54. No. It was sarcasm, pure and simple.

[CJCRANE]

42. I see the same willingness to believe absurdities

among some on the left, as there was among freepers during the Bush era.

Simple common sense has flown out of the window in some cases.

When you let your own biases cloud your judgment then you are prone to be exploited.

That works just as much on liberals as conservatives.

The DU of the Bush era was curious, skeptical, untrusting of the MSM and willing to delve into places others wouldn't go.

Having said that, there are still a lot of good dissident voices here.

[zeemike]

51. Unfortunately true.

We like to think the club we belong to can never be like that but we are wrong.

[rocktivity]

45. None of which explains, validates, or justifies how the school or police reacted

Last edited Sat Nov 28, 2015, 01:23 AM - Edit history (2)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7180790

And unless he was an eyewitness, he has no idea of what really happened -- his guess is no better anyone else's.


rocktivity

[erpowers]

46. Cannot Have It Both Ways

The guy in the video and others who try to defend his line of thinking cannot have it both ways. They cannot on the one hand claim the clock looked suspicious and then on the other hand say everyone realized it was a hoax bomb, or that everyone knew he was just trying to play a prank. They also cannot say that their was a zero tolerance policy and that that is why the teacher called the principal and then the principal called the police, but at the same time say multiple teachers saw the device and just told the kid to put the device away. If this was just a zero tolerance policy issue than why did the first few teachers just brush the kid aside. Also, it cannot be said that the device looked suspicious, but the kid had to show it to multiple people before someone reported him to the principal and the police.

In addition, it seems the narrative of the story changed after a few days. It seems that once certain people started claiming that the police knew the device was not a bomb before the boy was arrested and began pointing out reason why everyone knew the device was not a bomb the school and the police began to say the boy was arrested for a hoax bomb. It is very possible that the school and the police tried to claim they arrested the boy due to a bomb threat, but then changed the story when some people saw through the story.

[zeemike]

52. I don't want it both ways I want the truth.

Which means the whole story unvarnished...and it is clear we did not get that from the media.
For instance we were told he invented a clock, not that he took the guts out of a clock and put it in a box. And were led to believe it was a science project and not a prank which it clearly was when he set the alarm to go off in class.

And we were also not told that his sister had been suspended for a bomb threat...now that may have influenced what the cops did don't you think?

Sorry but I am tired of being manipulated and want us to stop enabling it.

[byronius]

49. I watched the video. What a fast-talking, loudmouthed idiot.

'Liberal Regressives' -- HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Coupla socks love it, though. Just looooovvvvve it.

I don't believe a word this guy says. 'Look it up', he says.

Classic. Knock knock. Pizzaman! Land shark.

Libertarian Spiderman loves this vid.

[BadGimp]

53. too painful

[Demit]

57. The apoplectic guy is not presenting "evidence." He's making heavy innuendo

with cherry-picked points of fact and then berating the listener if you don't agree with his "logic."

He's very pissed off at the kid with the Muslim name (he mentioned several times that the kid has a Muslim name). He works himself up into a froth at the $15 million suit the kid is bringing, acting as if it's a fait accompli ("He's hurting the CHILDREN!&quot Then he makes an unsubstantiated claim that his "liberal" friends said the kid should get $25 million. Uh huh, I believe that.

I think this is a performance piece, by a guy who wants attention for his videos, so he's appropriated Lewis Black's shtick, but he doesn't have the underlying intelligence. And I don't believe for one minute that he's liberal.

[zeemike]

60. Are points of fact not fact if cherry picked?

The points of fact that we were told (and mind you I don't watch TV and got this story right here at DU) is that the kid "invented" a clock and the implication was that he was a boy genius. And I actually believed it at first.

Well that "fact" turned out to be a big fat lie. But we are still supposed to believe the narrative that this was all about bigotry against Muslims?

But let's hear the facts...all of them, and if this guy made his up I will reject him just like I rejected the former story.

[Demit]

66. No, the kid said he BUILT a clock. Other people turned that into "invented."

“I built a clock to impress my teacher," Mohamed said. 

http://keranews.org/post/ahmed-mohamed-arrested-bringing-homemade-clock-school-social-media-sensation

If you are truly interested in the chain of events, you should go back and read the source material in which the story was first reported. There was enough original reporting so that you don't have to choose between a paraphrasing of the event on DU and an overwrought opinion piece (sans citations) from an online video guy who sounds like he works for Breitbart dot com.

[zeemike]

68. I am sorry but that is not true.

He did not build a clock...if he had built an electronic clock he would have used a breadboard with components not tore the guts out of a clock and put it in a box...anyone could do that and how would that impress a teacher?
And when I first saw a picture of that clock I expected to see a breadboard setup because if you build one that is how it is done.

But some who wanted it to be more sensational changed even the build lie into invent.

So it starts off with a lie and gets worse as it is told...but we are to be outraged at the teachers and the school. So why should I be interested in the rest if it starts with a lie? And why should I blame anyone but the one who told it?

[Demit]

69. Well if you're not interested in reading original reporting I can't help you.

You seem to want to accept the hysterical guy's interpretation of events. Be my guest.

[zeemike]

71. I accept what I see and hear for myself.

And I saw a lie and rejected the story no matter who or how the original report read.

And if you want to believe the story be my guest.

[6chars]

72. A lot of rather knowledgeable and serious people were impressed

Dell, Facebook, Google CEOs, NASA, MIT, the President, and numerous other organizations and leaders looked at what he created and honored him in various ways.

Hard to square that with the video's contention that he was just laying the guts of a digital alarm clock in a briefcase-replica pencil case to get a rise out of people at school by bringing something that looked bomb-like.

[CJCRANE]

73. Some of the original reporting showed that his "clock" was exactly that.

This was a PR stunt.

You need to believe your own eyes rather than what other people say no matter how prestigious.

That technique is called the "appeal to authority".

Also, you need to be aware of the "appeal to emotion". That's another technique used to divert from the truth.

Then, of course, there's "kill the messenger" where people criticize the messenger rather than address the information or opinion presented.

[Duppers]

70. When my son first heard about this

He said it sounds like a blatant PRANK.

And I don't think many Texas officials have 3-digit IQs.

[Darb]

75. One question: Who gives a fuck?

Just curious. For the record, he did not fool anyone who is smart enough to ignore bullshit like that episode.

[BaldHippie]

76. Bernie Sanders Supporter Agrees

Yes I always found this story to be weird. I also believe some of my fellow lefties have created a new "in group" whereby reactions are knee-jerk. Why would you bring a device like this to class and NOT suspect the reaction.

BTW "zero tolerance" policies are things we on the left urge to get created.

For those of you who actually want to investigate the charges the author alleges there is some evidence he is correct about Ahmed's sister being a bomb prankster.

http://politistick.com/sister-of-ahmed-clockbomb-kid-was-suspended-for-making-a-bomb-threat-in-school/

http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/ahmed-mohamed-clock-bomb-sister-suspended-ian-tuttle

http://www.infowars.com/clockmeister-ahmed-mohameds-sister-was-once-suspended-from-school-for-threatening-to-blow-it-up/

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/09/23/ahmeds-sister-admits-school-suspension-alleged-bomb-threat-3-years-earlier/

http://www.ijreview.com/2015/09/429064-ahmeds-sister-got-suspended-from-school-for-a-bomb-scare-adding-another-wrinkle-to-clock-story/


According to the NY Times he and his family are moving to Qutar and sueing for 15 million.

http://nyti.ms/1knNhWh

The nation they are moving to has a record of Human Rights violations in particular for slave like conditions of immirgrant workers.

https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/n-africa/qatar

The other charge made in the video is that the boy has a long history of being a prankster and the school only reacted since it had zero tolerance policies in place. The video alleges the boy DID NOT MAKE A CLOCK but dismanted one and placed it in a Platic pencil box to look like a science project. This needs examination.

Meanwhile whatever the outcome I am sure he will enjoy the FREEDOM of living outside of America in Qatar under the benign sun of Sharia Law!