>> A 14-YEAR-OLD STUDENT IN IRVING, TEXAS WAS ARRESTED AFTER
HE SHOWED UP TO SCHOOL AND PROVIDED A CLOCK THAT HE CREATED
TO HIS SCIENCE TEACHERS.
THE SCIENCE TEACHERS ASSUMED THAT
THIS WAS A BOMB, OR COULD BE A BOMB, AND CALLED AUTHORITIES AND
HE WAS PROMPTLY ARRESTED.
THIS IS AHMED MOHAMED, IT IS NO
SURPRISE HE IS A 14-YEAR-OLD MUSLIM STUDENT.
HE GOT
ARRESTED FOR DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG, BUT APPARENTLY
THE CLOCK WAS SOMETHING THAT FRIGHTENED SCIENCE TEACHERS, WHO
SHOULD PROBABLY KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CLOCK AND A
BOMB, SO THEY CALLED THE AUTHORITIES AND HE WAS ARRESTED.
THE CHARGES HAVE SINCE BEEN DROPPED BECAUSE AUTHORITIES
FOUND THAT THERE WAS NO INTENTION OF HIM BUILDING A
BOMB, WHAT HE BUILT WAS NOT A BOMB, AND AS A RESULT HE WAS NOT
A THREAT WHATSOEVER.
HOWEVER THE MAYOR OF THE TOWN, OF IRVING,
TEXAS, RELEASED A STATEMENT, AND SHE IS NOT APOLOGIZING FOR WHAT
HAPPENED WHATSOEVER.
SHE SAYS, I DO NOT FAULT THE SCHOOL OR THE
POLICE FOR LOOKING INTO WHAT THEY SAW AS A POTENTIAL THREAT.
THEY HAVE PROCEDURES TO RUN WHEN A POSSIBLE THREAT OR CRIMINAL
ACT IS DISCOVERED.
THEY FOLLOW THESE PROCEDURES IN THE SOLE
INTEREST OF PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN AND SCHOOL PERSONNEL.
TO THE BEST OF MY KNOWLEDGE, THEY FOLLOWED PROTOCOL FOR
INVESTIGATING WHETHER THIS WAS AN ATTEMPT TO BRING A HOAX BOMB
TO A SCHOOL CAMPUS.
FOLLOWING THIS INVESTIGATION IRVING PD HAS
STATED NO CHARGES WILL BE FILED AGAINST THE STUDENT.
I HOPE THIS
INCIDENT DOES NOT SERVE AS A DETERRENT AGAINST OUR POLICE AND
SCHOOL PERSONNEL FOR MAINTAINING THE SAFETY AND SECURITY OF OUR
SCHOOLS.
SHE ALSO WENT SO FAR AS TO SAY, AS A PARENT I AGREE
THAT IF THIS HAPPENED TO MY CHILD I WOULD BE VERY UPSET.
>>BUT THEN MY CHILD ISN'T A MUSLIM, SHE ADDED.
>>IT IS MY SINCERE DESIRE THAT IRVING ISD STUDENTS ARE
ENCOURAGED TO USE THEIR CREATIVITY, DEVELOP INNOVATIONS
AND EXPLORE THEIR INTERESTS IN A MANNER THAT FOSTERS HIGHER
LEARNING.
HOPEFULLY, WE CAN ALL LEARN FROM THIS WEEK'S EVENTS
AND THE STUDENT, WHO HAS OBVIOUS GIFTS, WILL NOT FEEL AT ALL
DISCOURAGED FROM PURSUING HIS TALENT IN ELECTRONICS AND
ENGINEERING.
>>THE FACT THAT WE MADE ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT HIM BASED ON
HIS ETHNICITY AND HIS RELIGION, I DON'T KNOW WHY THAT WOULD
DISCOURAGE HIM.
I MEAN, I'M SURE HE WILL WANT TO BUILD SOMETHING
ELSE AND BRING IT TO SCHOOL, MAYBE HE CAN GET ARRESTED AGAIN.
NOWHERE IN HER STATEMENT DID SHE APOLOGIZE FOR A GODDAMN
THING, SHE SAID OUR POLICE AND SCHOOLS DID THE RIGHT THING,
THE PROPER PRECAUTIONS.
YOU HAVE A MUSLIM IN THE BUILDING, WATCH
OUT, TAKE PRECAUTIONS.
THAT LAST PARAGRAPH THAT ANA READ YOU WAS
ONLY AFTER SIGNIFICANT CRITICISM.
SHE DIDN'T APOLOGIZE
FOR ANY OF THE ACTIONS, SHE JUST SAID IT WAS MY KID OF COURSE I
WOULD BE PISSED.
BUT IT WASN'T MY KID, IT WASN'T A WHITE KID AT
ALL, SO I DON'T REALLY CARE.
YOU THINK WAIT A MINUTE, SHE IS JUST
TAKING PRECAUTIONS IN THIS CASE AND I WILL GET TO THAT IN A
SECOND, AS TO WHAT THEY SHOULD'VE DONE.
MAYBE WE ARE
MAKING ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT HER JUST BASED ON THIS ONE
STATEMENT.
NO, SHE HAS A HISTORY, AND SHE HAS BEEN RILING UP
ANTI-MUSLIM FERVOR IN THAT PARTICULAR TOWN SO IT IS
NOT LIKE SHE'S NOT CONNECTED TO THIS.
SHE IS PART AND PARCEL OF THE REASON WHY THEY ARRESTED
THE POOR KID IN THE FIRST PLACE.
>>THERE SEEMS TO BE AN ISSUE WITH ISLAMOPHOBEIA IN THIS
AREA OF TEXAS, AND ACCORDING TO RAW STORY, THE MAYOR, BETH VAN
DUYNE, PUSHED ELECTED OFFICIALS TO BACK A STATE BILL BANNING
SHARIA LAW AFTER READING REPORTS ABOUT AN ISLAMIC TRIBUNAL SET UP
IN HER TOWN TO SETTLE PERSONAL AND BUSINESS DISPUTES BETWEEN
MUSLIMS BASED ON RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES.
SOME OF YOU MIGHT
THINK, TRIBUNAL, THAT SOUNDS SCARY, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
IT
TURNS OUT THERE ARE A NUMBER DIFFERENT RELIGIONS WHO HAVE
SIMILAR THINGS SET UP IN ORDER TO DEAL WITH CERTAIN DISPUTES
AMONG THOSE IN THE COMMUNITY.
ACCORDING TO TAHER EL-BADAWI, HE
EXPLAINED THAT THE ISLAMIC COURT WAS ENTIRELY VOLUNTARY AND
WOULD NOT OVERSEE CRIMINAL CASES, CHILD SUPPORT, CUSTODY ISSUES OR
THE TRANSFER OF ASSETS, BUT WOULD INSTEAD SETTLE DIVORCES,
WORKPLACE DISPUTES AND SMALL CLAIMS.
IT IS A NONBINDING
TRIBUNAL THAT ACTS AS ESSENTIALLY A MEDIATOR OR
ARBITER OF MINOR DISPUTES TO KEEP THEM OUT OF COURT -- AND
CHRISTIANS AND JEWS HAVE LONG OPERATED SIMILAR RELIGIOUS
COURTS.
BUT ACCORDING TO THIS MAYOR IT IS UNACCEPTABLE IF IT
INVOLVES MUSLIMS.
>>BUT UNDERSTAND A BUNCH OF THINGS.
FIRST OF ALL, I'M NOT IN
FAVOR OF ANY OF THE RELIGIOUS TRIBUNALS, THAT IS BECAUSE I AM
NOT RELIGIOUS, I'M AGNOSTIC.
AND WE BUILT A WHOLE GOVERNMENT
CENTERED AROUND THE IDEA OF SETTLING DISPUTES, I WOULD TAKE
IT TO THE GOVERNMENT, TO THE REGULAR COURTS.
BUT THIS IS
VOLUNTARY STUFF, SO IF TWO JEWISH PEOPLE WANT TO GO SETTLE
A SMALL CLAIM OR THEIR MARITAL ISSUES WITH A RABBI, I'M NOT
GOING TO GET IN THEIR BUSINESS.
THAT'S WHAT THEY HAVE
VOLUNTARILY DECIDED TO DO.
IF TWO CHRISTIANS WANT TO DO THAT
AT CHURCH WITH A PRIEST, GREAT.
IF MUSLIMS WANT TO DO THAT AT A
MOSQUE, IT IS OVER SMALL CLAIMS AND THEY DON'T BOTHER ANYBODY
ELSE, I DON'T LOVE IT, BUT IT IS THEIR ISSUE, NOT MY ISSUE.
AM I
GOING TO BUST INTO THEIR TEMPLE OR CHURCH OR MOSQUE AND SAY, YOU
FOLLOW MY RULES?
IF THEY AREN'T INTERFERING WITH ANYTHING ELSE
INCLUDING STATE BUSINESS, THAT WOULD BE A DIFFERENT MATTER.
BUT
THEY ARE NOT, THEY ARE VOLUNTARILY AGREEING TO GO
BEFORE AN ARBITER, HAPPENS TO BE A RELIGIOUS ARBITER, BUT I AM
NOT FROM THE COMMUNITY SO I WILL NOT JUDGE THEM.
THAT IS NOT THE
MAYOR'S INTENTION ANYWAY.
SHE WANTS TO BAN SHARIA LAW.
SHE
CARES ABOUT SMALL CLAIMS, WHETHER ONE GUY TOOK 50 BUCKS
FROM ANOTHER GUY, OR SOMEBODY'S MARRIAGE?
SHE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT
THAT, SHE WANTS TO SCARE THE CRAP OUT OF HER RESIDENTS AND
PRETEND TO BE THEIR DEFENDER AND PROTECTOR.
SHE PUSHED FOR
THESE THINGS, SHE SCARED PEOPLE ENOUGH SO THAT WHEN A
14-YEAR-OLD KID, IF YOU NOTICED, WEARING A NASA T-SHIRT, COMES IN
WITH A SCIENCE PROJECT, THEY ALL FLIP OUT TOO AND THEY GO,
OH MY GOD.
>> LET'S SETTLE TWO IMPORTANT THINGS.
AMERICA DIDN'T
USED TO BE LIKE THIS.
THE FEARMONGERING HAS AN ENORMOUS
IMPACT.
I GREW UP IN A FAMILY THAT IS MUSLIM, I RENOUNCED
THAT, I AM AGAINST RELIGION, I AM AGNOSTIC, TURKS ARE MORE
SECULAR, I WAS NEVER A DEEPLY RELIGIOUS PERSON, BUT DID
EVERYBODY MY SCHOOL KNOW THAT I WAS TURKISH AND DID ALL MY
TEACHERS KNOW THAT, AND THAT I CAME FROM A MUSLIM BACKGROUND?
THEY KNEW THAT.
MRS.
ROSENBERG NEVER WOULD HAVE DONE THAT, MR.
POLISKI, DR.
KIMMEL, NONE OF THEM WOULD HAVE DONE THAT.
AND
WHEN I BROUGHT IN A SCIENCE PROJECT, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN
PROUD OF ME, RIGHT?
THEY WOULD NOT HAVE DONE THIS.
LOOK WHAT
THEY DID TO THIS KID.
THERE IS A HUGE UPSIDE TO THIS THAT WE WILL
GET TO IN A SECOND, THE GREAT RESPONSE BACK, RIGHT?
BUT IF
THAT RESPONSE HADN'T HAPPENED, OKAY, THAT KID -- IF WE HADN'T
GOTTEN THE SPOTLIGHT ON IT AS IT HAPPENED, HE WOULD HAVE THOUGHT
I WON'T DO ANYTHING ANYMORE AND I AM THE ENEMY.
THEY HANDCUFFED THAT KID, AND WALKED HIM OUT.
>>I WANT TO PUT UP THE PICTURE IN THE FIRST GRAPHIC, AND I
DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT IS, BUT LOOKING AT THAT PICTURE OF
HIM IN HANDCUFFS, AND JUST THE LOOK ON HIS FACE, IT MADE ME
REALLY EMOTIONAL.
AND AS SOMEONE WHO DOES NEWS YOU ARE NOT
SUPPOSED TO ADMIT WHEN YOU ARE EMOTIONAL, I DON'T CARE.
IT MADE
ME EMOTIONAL BECAUSE THAT PICTURE REPRESENTS A LOSS OF
INNOCENCE FOR THIS KID, RIGHT?
I THINK IT'S A REALIZATION OF WHAT
THIS COUNTRY HAS TURNED INTO, AND IT IS A TERRIBLE THING AND
HOPEFULLY THE SUPPORTIVE RESPONSE HE HAS GOTTEN AFTER
THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN DOESN'T DETER HIM FROM PURSUING WHATEVER
HE WANTS TO PURSUE, WHETHER IT IS SCIENCE, ENGINEERING,
WHATEVER.
BUT YOU LOOK AT THAT PICTURE AND HE IS A VICTIM OF A
FEAR MONGERING THAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT NOW, CENK.
THE
SAME ATHEISTS WHO SPENT ALL THEIR TIME DEBATING ABOUT WHICH
RELIGION IS THE WORST AND THEN COMING TO THE CONCLUSION THAT
MUSLIMS ARE THE MOST VIOLENT AND SHOULD BE THE MOST FEARED AND WE
SHOULD PUT ALL OUR ATTENTION ON THEM, THAT IS THE KIND OF FEAR
MONGERING THAT LEADS TO AN INNOCENT 14-YEAR-OLD BEING
ARRESTED FOR DOING A SCIENCE PROJECT.
>>ANA, NOT ALL MUSLIMS.
NOT ALL MUSLIMS.
THEY SOUND LIKE DONALD
TRUMP, RIGHT?
JUST SOME MUSLIMS.
SO WATCH OUT FOR THE MUSLIMS,
NOT OTHER PEOPLE.
I DIDN'T SAY ALL MUSLIMS.
OH, YOU INTERPRETED
IT AS A 14-YEAR-OLD KID WITH A NASA T-SHIRT ON?
I COULD NEVER
HAVE SEEN THIS COMING.
THIS ONE SENTENCE BY ONE OF THE OFFICERS
INVOLVED, IT TELLS YOU WHAT THE PROBLEM IS.
THE KID WALKS INTO
THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE AND THE OFFICER SAYS, YEP, THAT'S WHO I
THOUGHT IT WAS.
WHY WOULD YOU THINK IT WAS HIM?
WHY WOULD YOU
THINK IT WAS HIM?
NOW, LET'S KEEP IT REAL.
IF IT IS BOBBY
FROM DOWN THE STREET, YOU THINK THEY WILL SAY, BOBBY, WE THINK
YOU ARE A TERRORIST AND YOU BUILT A BOMB?
THEY WOULD SAY
BOBBY, WHAT IS THIS?
THIS IS HOW IT WILL BE RESOLVED IF IT IS BOBBY FROM DOWN
THE STREET.
>>IT IS A CLOCK?
THAT'S INTERESTING, HOW DOES IT WORK?
IF IT IS AHMED MOHAMED, CALL IN THE COPS.
OF COURSE THERE WILL
BE DOUBTERS AND CONSERVATIVES AND WHOEVER ELSE WHO WILL SAY,
THERE WERE A LOT OF WIRES.
YOU DON'T KNOW, IT COULD HAVE BEEN
DANGEROUS.
A LOT OF DANGEROUS THINGS HAPPEN IN SCHOOLS.
OKAY.
FIRST OF ALL IF YOU ARE A SCIENCE TEACHER, THAT IS YOUR
JOB TO FIGURE IT OUT, CLOCK OR BOMB.
YOU SAY, I DON'T WANT TO
FIGURE IT OUT, I DON'T WANT TO TOUCH IT.
WHY DON'T YOU BE A
HUMAN BEING FOR A SECOND AND SAY LET'S PUT THIS SOMEWHERE
SAFE, WE WANT TO BE SUPER CAUTIOUS BECAUSE THEY WANT TO
PROTECT ALL THE KIDS INCLUDING AHMED MOHAMED, IF YOU WANT TO
USE THOSE EXCUSES, FINE.
HAVE SOMEBODY COME AND LOOK AT IT,
AND HAVE THE 14-YEAR-OLD KID SIT IN THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE.
IT'S
A LITTLE -- AFTERWORDS I WOULD APOLOGIZE IF I WERE THE
PRINCIPAL, BUT I HAD TO CHECK IT OUT.
THERE IS A LOT OF CONCERN,
WE CARE ABOUT SAFETY, SORRY ABOUT THAT, AND GREAT PROJECT,
SORRY WE HAD TO CHECK IT, BUT WE HAD TO OUT OF AN ABUNDANCE OF
CAUTION.
YOU DON'T HANDCUFF THE KID AND ARREST HIM WHEN YOU
DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT IS.
>>EXACTLY.
>>THEY HANDCUFFED HIM AND WALKED HIM OUT OF THERE IN FRONT
OF THE WHOLE SCHOOL AND ARRESTED HIM.
THEY HAD NO IDEA WHAT IT
WAS.
THEY HAD ALREADY MADE THE ASSUMPTION, YEAH, THAT IS THE
ONE I THOUGHT IT WAS.
THAT IS THE AHMED MOHAMED WHO NEEDS TO
BE IN PRISON.
YOU ARE TELLING ME THERE ARE NO ASSUMPTIONS?
YOU
ARE MENTAL IF YOU SAY THAT.
YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY BELIEVE THAT.
NOW, HAVING SAID ALL THAT, THE REACTION AFTERWARDS I THINK
WAS WONDERFUL.
>>YES.
>>THE SCIENCE COMMUNITY, DEFINITELY NOT JUST MUSLIMS, IN
FACT I DIDN'T SEE ANY MUSLIMS IN THE REACTION.
CHRISTIANS, JEWS,
AGNOSTICS, ATHEISTS, EVERYBODY FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY POURING
IN WITH #ISTANDWITHMOHAMED, OFFERING JOBS, INTERNSHIPS,
TOURS OF NASA, THEN THE PRESIDENT.
>>LET'S GO TO GRAPHIC 21,
THE PRESIDENT TWEETED ABOUT THIS AND OF COURSE GOT SOME
CRITICISM FROM CONSERVATIVES WHO LOVE BEING MUSLIM-HATING
BIGOTS, BUT PRESIDENT OBAMA SAID, COOL CLOCK, AHMED.
WANT TO BRING IT TO THE WHITE HOUSE?
WE SHOULD INSPIRE MORE KIDS LIKE YOU TO LIKE SCIENCE.
IT'S WHAT MAKES AMERICA GREAT.
>>I LOVE THAT THE PRESIDENT DID THAT.
OF COURSE THE TRUMPS OF
THE WORLD WILL SAY, SEE, WE TOLD YOU HE WAS MUSLIM.
HE IS
INVITING A KID NAMED MOHAMED WITH ALL HIS WIRES AND CIRCUITS INTO
THE WHITE HOUSE, WE TOLD YOU.
THOSE ARE THE GUYS DOING THE FEAR
MONGERING, THAT IS WHAT IS DRIVING IT IN THE FIRST PLACE.
AS I SAW TWEET AFTER TWEET, 400,000 OR 40,000, SOME ENORMOUS
AMOUNT OF TWEETS WITH THE HASHTAG, PEOPLE TAKING A PICTURE
OF THEMSELVES WITH A CLOCK AND PEOPLE SAYING HEY, DON'T LET
THIS DISCOURAGE YOU, WE ARE HERE TO STAND BEHIND YOU AND WE GOT
YOUR BACK -- THAT IS THE AMERICA THAT I LOVE.
THAT IS THE REASON
WHY I BECAME AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, THAT'S WHAT WE CAME TO
THIS COUNTRY FOR.
IT IS STILL HERE, AND I LOVE THAT PEOPLE
ROARED BACK AND SAID, THAT IS THE AMERICA WE BELIEVE IN TOO.
BUT NOW WE ARE IN A CONFLICT.
IT IS NOT THE ONLY AMERICA, AND
THESE TWO AMERICAS ARE UNFORTUNATELY WARRING WITH EACH
OTHER.
THE GUYS WHO ARE THE BIGOTS AND FEAR MONGERS AND
SPREAD THE HATRED AND THE ASSUMPTIONS AND STEREOTYPES AND
THOSE WHO WANT TO FIGHT BACK.
>>IT IS GOOD TO KNOW THAT THAT PREVIOUS AMERICA STILL EXISTS,
AND THAT IS THE SILVER LINING TO THIS STORY, KNOWING THAT THERE
ARE STILL THOSE WHO ARE OPEN-MINDED, WHO DON'T DRAW
CONCLUSIONS ABOUT AN ENTIRE COMMUNITY BASED ON WHAT
EXTREMISTS DO.
I THINK THAT AT LEAST LETS ME KNOW THERE IS SOME SANITY
IN THE COUNTRY.
>> RANDOM TWITTER HANDLES, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE SCIENCE
COMMUNITY, SAYING WE HAD YOUR BACK BECAUSE THEY STAND FOR
REASON AND LOGIC.
WE ALL HAVE TO UNITE AND BE THERE FOR EACH
OTHER.
ENOUGH OF THE FEAR MONGERING, OKAY?
ENOUGH OF THE
DISCRIMINATION.
THIS IS THE MOST IRONIC THING THERE IS, BUT I
REMEMBER WHEN AMERICA WAS BETTER THAN THIS.
SO WE SHOULD MAKE
AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.
AND BY THAT I MEAN, STAND FOR THE PRINCIPLES
FOR WHICH IT WAS FOUNDED, RIGHT?
AND FOR WHICH WE ALL LOVE, AND
WANT TO FIGHT FOR.
THAT IS WHY SOME OF US CAME TO THIS COUNTRY,
SOME OF US ARE INCREDIBLY PROUD OF BEING BORN IN THIS COUNTRY,
AND WE HAVE TO UNITE AND BRING THAT IDEA OF THE SHINING CITY ON
A HILL THAT ACTUALLY STANDS FOR LIBERTY, EQUALITY, AND JUSTICE,
WE HAVE TO BRING THAT BACK.