Readers React: Does investigating the ‘clock kid’ arrest mean the end of ‘see something, say something’?

To the editor: With the most recent terrorist tragedy in San Bernardino, law enforcement has called on the public to alert officials to patterns of strange behavior. “‘See something, say something’ is more than just a slogan,” they say. (“Loretta Lynch defends Muslims and announces investigation in arrest of Texas ‘clock kid,’” Dec. 3)

However, on Sept. 16, someone did notice something. Fourteen-year-old Ahmed Mohamed brought a homemade clock to school in Dallas. School authorities suspected it might be a bomb. The student was arrested but never charged when the police discovered that it was not an explosive device.

Now, U.S. Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch has announced that the Justice Department will investigate the arrest. Recently, the boy’s family threatened a lawsuit and demanded an apology and $15 million.

Apparently, if you “see something” you should only “say something” after you have verified the facts. Otherwise, the federal government will investigate you and you might be sued. This is a no-win situation.

Donald Tractenberg, Glendale

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To the editor: It would have been fair for you to post a picture of the homemade clock along with the one you did of the boy who made it. It was a bunch of wires and did not look like a clock at all.

Look at the detonator the San Bernardino terrorists were reportedly planning to use — it looked like a toy car.

School administrators have a responsibility to protect the students. If the clock had been a bomb and students were hurt, they would be chastised for not doing anything. They would be condemned that they should have known it was a bomb, based on all the wires.

Lea Osborne, Woodland Hills

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