[–] Gamio 0 points 19 points 19 points (+19|-0) ago (edited ago)
I had the same opinion as you, at first it looked like stupid fear mongering but the more I'm learning about it the more I suspect someone coached the child into doing this either for attention, political reasons, or good old fashioned lawsuit bait. Either way that family stands to get a lot of money from this.
[–] indiglo_girls 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago (edited ago)
I've been pretty neutral on this situation, but when I read this kid's quotes it's obvious he is being coached towards a very specific narrative.
βI felt like I was a criminal, I felt like I was a terrorist. I felt like all the names I was called.β He added: βIn middle school I was called a terrorist, called a bomb maker, just because of my race.β
Not to mention, the metal briefcase he used does in all honesty look quite bomb-ish.. It's hard not to feel like their is strategic manipulation going on.
[–] didntsayeeeee 3 points 18 points 21 points (+21|-3) ago
Or it could just be a dumb kid doing something dumb and then lying to the media afterwards.
It's one of those stories where everybody is stupid. The kid is stupid, the teachers who called the cops were stupid, the cops were stupid, the media was stupid, and everyone who creamed their pants over a minor disciplinary issue in a school they've never heard of is stupid.
[–] Gamio 1 point -1 points 0 points (+0|-1) ago
I don't think the cops or the teachers were being stupid, that was a real bomb or in some way a genuinely harmful device I don't think you could argue they did anything wrong. The kid lost a few hours of his time while the school tried to do the right thing the wrong way.
[–] GrislyAtoms 0 points 3 points 3 points (+3|-0) ago
I'd like to believe that the kid just did a dumb thing, like kids sometimes do, but like @Gamio, I am starting to wonder if there is a little more to this story. It just doesn't quite add up.
These days I wouldn't be surprised if the kid was encouraged by his parents to make this thing look suspicious, and to bring it to school, knowing the media would jump on it. But I also wouldn't be surprised if he just did a dumb kid thing, and didn't fully think things through. That's pretty normal for a kid. Hell, that's -- sadly -- normal for many adults.
[–] [deleted] 2 points 29 points 31 points (+31|-2) ago (edited ago)
[–] pepepepepe 0 points 1 point 1 point (+1|-0) ago
If there's a silver lining to him getting free shit for being a "victim", it's that the free Microsoft products will be used by the NSA to spy on him (and believe me, he'll get special treatment from them) and any free ride to a prestigious STEM school he will inevitably get (MIT's already salivating) will end in him flunking out because he was enrolled for good PR.
[–] The_Evidence 1 point 4 points 5 points (+5|-1) ago (edited ago)
Apparently, Obama thinks calling the kid
isa scientist will score him points in the press and Microsoft thinks calling the kidhesa computer programmer will score them points in the press.This whole thing fucking reeks of bullshit.
FTFY.
So far they've been right, too.
[–] sreggin_llik 1 point 12 points 13 points (+13|-1) ago (edited ago)
http://i.imgur.com/WNhZge8.jpg
Why the hell else would someone disassemble a clock and, of all the alternative housings available, decide to put it into a briefcase if not for the purpose of making it look like a movie bomb?
I've also seen where the school & police are on one hand being mocked for thinking it was a real bomb while on the other being criticized for not acting like it was. Once I saw the goddamned thing, their actions made total sense. They knew it was fake but also knew it was created to look scary.
[–] flimflamedthezimzam 2 points -2 points 0 points (+0|-2) ago
If that frightens you because you think it looks like a bomb you're either an idiot or a coward. Society has no business catering to people that ignorant about basic electronics. Go drive your minivan back home to watch daytime TV and please continue being irrelevant.
[–] sreggin_llik 1 point 1 point 2 points (+2|-1) ago (edited ago)
How convincing it is is irrelevant. What matters is intent. If I wrap hotdogs around my torso and walk around in public with them under my shirt, it's pretty clear that I'm trying to act like I have a bomb. When people call in bomb threats, there usually isn't even any fake device yet it's still a criminal act.
When I was a kid making incendiary devices, I had to learn that once something resembles an explosive, people understandably lose their shit and no amount of explaining the differences between black powder and modern gunpowder or the necessity of an effective pressure vessel for a bomb were going to matter a bit to the people responsible for ensuring public safety who had discovered my work. And they were right, I was being a dick with no concern for how others might perceive things and deserved what I got.
Maybe if you shaved the neckbeard and left your mother's basement every once in a while, you would develop some kind of understanding about how to act in public.
[–] skippy_the_kangaroo ago
Why not.? If you think a movie prop is a real bomb then I believe you're more stupid than I thought.
[–] sreggin_llik 1 point -1 points 0 points (+0|-1) ago
Says the guy who can't even fucking read.
[–] magnora ago
I really hate this reasoning because some people are actually in to electronics and love taking them apart and deconstructing them to make them work in new ways. Tons of people do that sort of thing. There are tons of problems with this fishy and largely manufactured story, but that is not one of them.
[–] sreggin_llik ago
But that's the thing.... this isn't even interesting. It's a fucking clock in a pencil case. What kid would think that's fun except for the connotations attached to such devices?
[–] pjhile ago
Have you ever seen a briefcase? A briefcase doesn't fit in the palm of an adults hand, and a 'movie bomb' has at least some semblance of an explosive.
They should be. If you're in law enforcement, you need to be able to tell the difference between an explosive and some wires, a transistor and a circuit board. The teacher's should be fired for not immediately contacting the child's parents.
[–] sreggin_llik ago
Context matters. My statement was a summation of what others are claiming the police thought. They clearly didn't think it was a bomb, which is why they charged the guy with basically being an idiot and trying to scare people.