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12-Year-Old Sikh Boy Arrested In Texas After Bringing a Power Bag To School (salon.com)
AaronW writes: A 12-year-old Sikh boy in Dallas, Texas was accused by another student of bringing a bomb to school. Apparently he had a powerbag; a backpack with a built-in phone charger. Rather than send him to the principal's office or ask for an explanation, the teacher instead called the police, who promptly arrested him and threw him into a juvenile detention center for three days. The school promptly suspended Armaan, and the police released him after three days but required that he wear an ankle bracelet.
Verifiable details are scant, for this case — probably because the whole thing seems to revolve around some 12-year-old kids talking to each other. Armaan's story is that another student said his bag looked like it had a bomb in it, and that he would report it. Believing it to be a joke, Armaan laughed. The police say he "admitted" to joking about a bomb, and they insist their actions were justified. A school district spokesman says the family was notified, but the parents say they had to dial 911 to find somebody who could tell them where their son was being held.
The south has a long way to go before they'll be ready to join us in the 21st century.
I'd be happy if they just started acting like it was the 20th century...
I know, right? A charge that serious is liable to wind up on his permanent record.
Well, possibly it was within their roles if they believed it was really a bomb or there was a bomb threat. It is legal to detain juveniles. However, there is no right for police to lock up a minor without notifying the parents. Doesn't matter if the school claims they were going to notify the parents, because the school failed to provide all the necessary information.
However the details in the story are extremely vague and the reports contradict each other. So maybe they were notified. Even if they were, it doesn't take a genius to recognize the public relations nightmare such a case would be and to make sure everything is above board and by the book.
In light of recent events the school and police acted appropriately. I might have shot the kid in the head while he was still holding the backpack. Although he might have a deadman's trigger so shooting him would not be viable unless he was isolated far from buildings and other persons. You cannot be too careful.
{Laughter}"Yeah, dude. I totalllly have a bomb in there. Of course I do."
At which point, the perfect finisher would have been to open the pack and pull out the DVD release of something like Night Patrol, or Arthur II, or Highlander II, etc.
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