Backlash Continues Over Irving Teen's Homemade Clock Arrest
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IRVING (CBS11) - In Irving, the backlash and hindsight are still in high gear. Critics have taken to social media to blast both the school district and police over the arrest of a 14-year-old Muslim student whose homemade clock touched off a security concern. The charges have since been dropped.
"I'd want them to ask more questions," says Monica Wiesel, an Irving mother of two teenage boys and a former teacher. She says the responsibility of protecting the lives of children is tremendous. And as she has watched the controversy unfold, she has been particularly troubled by the hostility unleashed online.
"I think the public is jumping to conclusions—there's protocol that everyone has to go through--whether it was the police or school district. They were doing their jobs. There might have been a little overreaction; but, the public backlash has gone too far."
Online critics have called for the teacher who initially seized the device to be fired—and those fall among the more tame comments. But, Irving school officials are coming to her defense.
"What she saw was a case, with exposed wires and a timer attached to it," says Irving ISD district spokesperson, Lesley Weaver. "She did the right thing and she involved our school resource officer and administrators." Weaver insists that the teacher was "not reacting to the student, she was reacting to the item."
Still, many in the Muslim community insist that 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed was profiled.
"The kid is known in school for making crazy stuff, he made a radio… he made a bunch of stuff," says Kai Marzouq, a Sophomore at MacArthur High. "Everyone knows that's what he does."
But, Marzouq, a former classmate and fellow Muslim, admits that an English teacher just weeks into the new school year might not have known.
"That's true," he concedes. "I see where you're coming from. Yeah. It's complicated…it's a complicated thing to talk about."
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