Hoax Bomb Threat at Washington Latin

[Anonymous]

Another Latin parent here. Like everyone else here, I don't know all the circumstances. But unless these kids had a prior history, expulsion seems excessive and wrong. Kids do dumb things every now and then - dumb, hurtful things. But they are kids, and one dumb, hurtful - even dangerous - thing ought not to be cause for a permanent stain on their future.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sweet Jesus. brain studies have said kids are SO stupid until about age 25, but we expect the MOST of them at this time in their lives. There is a difference between physceally assaulting someone and a quick, dashed off dumb ass prank. Did these two kids have a history of bullying? Did they do harm throughout HS? Was this the final straw? Whatever, we will never know. I hope the punishment fits the crime and the arrival of CAIR just makes me laugh. They have NO validity with me. None.

It doesn't appear that CAIR "arrived". The guy just got quoted in the article. You don't believe that CAIR had anything to do with the punishment do you? There is no indication of that at all.

So this comment is not apropos of this incident? Good. Artful interweaving on the part of journalist Emma Brown in that case. I do like the caption on Latin as one of "the most admired schools in the city". Who would have thunk a few years back? What surprises me is the no second chance. That is not the norm at WL, at all.


Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said CAIR has seen an increase in bullying of Muslim students in recent years. He said the email should be considered anti-Muslim bullying and a hate crime.

“It’s based on the overall atmosphere of Islamophobia in our society,” Hooper said. If the students weren’t “hearing and seeing this kind of anti-Muslim sentiment in their daily lives, they wouldn’t have even thought to use a Muslim student’s email account to send a bomb threat.”

He said anti-Muslim incidents have spiked since the Paris and San Bernardino attacks. He blamed the anti-Muslim rhetoric of Donald Trump and other politicians that he said have helped make Islamophobia part of mainstream culture.

“It’s been a really bad few months,” he said.

[Schoolwork about Islam triggers backlash in Virginia county]

[Anonymous]

Sorry:
So this comment is not apropos of this incident? Good. Artful interweaving on the part of journalist Emma Brown in that case. I do like the caption on Latin as one of "the most admired schools in the city". Who would have thunk a few years back? What surprises me is the no second chance. That is not the norm at WL, at all.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sweet Jesus. brain studies have said kids are SO stupid until about age 25, but we expect the MOST of them at this time in their lives. There is a difference between physceally assaulting someone and a quick, dashed off dumb ass prank. Did these two kids have a history of bullying? Did they do harm throughout HS? Was this the final straw? Whatever, we will never know. I hope the punishment fits the crime and the arrival of CAIR just makes me laugh. They have NO validity with me. None.

It doesn't appear that CAIR "arrived". The guy just got quoted in the article. You don't believe that CAIR had anything to do with the punishment do you? There is no indication of that at all.

So this comment is not apropos of this incident? Good. Artful interweaving on the part of journalist Emma Brown in that case. I do like the caption on Latin as one of "the most admired schools in the city". Who would have thunk a few years back? What surprises me is the no second chance. That is not the norm at WL, at all.


Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said CAIR has seen an increase in bullying of Muslim students in recent years. He said the email should be considered anti-Muslim bullying and a hate crime.

“It’s based on the overall atmosphere of Islamophobia in our society,” Hooper said. If the students weren’t “hearing and seeing this kind of anti-Muslim sentiment in their daily lives, they wouldn’t have even thought to use a Muslim student’s email account to send a bomb threat.”

He said anti-Muslim incidents have spiked since the Paris and San Bernardino attacks. He blamed the anti-Muslim rhetoric of Donald Trump and other politicians that he said have helped make Islamophobia part of mainstream culture.

“It’s been a really bad few months,” he said.

[Schoolwork about Islam triggers backlash in Virginia county]

I don't understand your question. It looks to me like CAIR was contacted for a comment on a story that involved creating the appearance that a Muslim student had made a bomb threat. What you quote is the comment. CAIR probably didn't know anything about the incident until the Post contacted them.

[Anonymous]

Oh man. When I was 11 I and another girl faked a love letter to someone and said it was from someone else. Kind of reminds me of this. I realize this is far more heavy, but I remember immediately realizing how stupid it was and then finally realizing how I hurt the girl it was to. I think the framing a muslim part is pretty bad, but I also see the other side here that ruining kids' lives is pretty drastic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sweet Jesus. brain studies have said kids are SO stupid until about age 25, but we expect the MOST of them at this time in their lives. There is a difference between physceally assaulting someone and a quick, dashed off dumb ass prank. Did these two kids have a history of bullying? Did they do harm throughout HS? Was this the final straw? Whatever, we will never know. I hope the punishment fits the crime and the arrival of CAIR just makes me laugh. They have NO validity with me. None.

Meanwhile we're actually incarcerating a ton of youth for things that are frankly less problematic than what really adds up to a hate crime. We incarcerate them for smoking a joint or stealing something from a store, or snatching someone's phone out of their hands. Those, too, are "dumb things". Why should we be more forgiving here. In fact we are; expulsion is clearly less problematic that being booked for something.

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure sending a bomb threat would get a kid expelled from almost any school. No?

The fact that they did it from a Muslim kid's email makes it even more despicable. I'm sure they thought it was really funny. Bet they're not laughing now.

I feel terrible for the kid who they impersonated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That punishment seems excessive. No wonder our children are so afraid of failure - one slip and the course of your life is literally changed forever. Suspension, community service, public apologies, there were lots of other ways to handle this.

It was a hate crime are the old enough to be charged?

Juveniles can absolutely be charged with hate crimes.

How is this a "hate crime" (a concept of dubious constitutionality, in any event)? This was apparently a bad prank. Mind you, prank or not, I think that expulsion was the appropriate punishment. They thought it would be humorous to frame a Muslim student, but I fail to see how that constitutes a hate crime.

From the FBI's website
Congress has defined a hate crime as a “criminal offense against a person or property motivated in whole or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sweet Jesus. brain studies have said kids are SO stupid until about age 25, but we expect the MOST of them at this time in their lives. There is a difference between physceally assaulting someone and a quick, dashed off dumb ass prank. Did these two kids have a history of bullying? Did they do harm throughout HS? Was this the final straw? Whatever, we will never know. I hope the punishment fits the crime and the arrival of CAIR just makes me laugh. They have NO validity with me. None.

Meanwhile we're actually incarcerating a ton of youth for things that are frankly less problematic than what really adds up to a hate crime. We incarcerate them for smoking a joint or stealing something from a store, or snatching someone's phone out of their hands. Those, too, are "dumb things". Why should we be more forgiving here. In fact we are; expulsion is clearly less problematic that being booked for something.

We should indeed be more forgiving to the children you described above.

[Anonymous]

These kids did something for which they could be charged with a federal crime - made a bomb threat. They falsely implicated a classmate whom they had known for at least 4 years. And his religion did play a factor.

Being expelled from school feels right to me. It was colossally stupid and very far over the line of decency. It also violating everything WL says they stand for.

Kudos to Ms Cutts for acting swiftly and decisively.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sweet Jesus. brain studies have said kids are SO stupid until about age 25, but we expect the MOST of them at this time in their lives. There is a difference between physceally assaulting someone and a quick, dashed off dumb ass prank. Did these two kids have a history of bullying? Did they do harm throughout HS? Was this the final straw? Whatever, we will never know. I hope the punishment fits the crime and the arrival of CAIR just makes me laugh. They have NO validity with me. None.

Meanwhile we're actually incarcerating a ton of youth for things that are frankly less problematic than what really adds up to a hate crime. We incarcerate them for smoking a joint or stealing something from a store, or snatching someone's phone out of their hands. Those, too, are "dumb things". Why should we be more forgiving here. In fact we are; expulsion is clearly less problematic that being booked for something.

Uh no. What kid in DC has been incarcerated for smoking a joint? Unless they were serial harrassing this kid this was a prank. I went to a school where the entire senior class was punished, not expelled, for a dumb property crime prank. The fact that they happen so often, generation after generation, probably mean that pranks are part of adolescent development. Was it wrong? Yes. Firing squad offense? Not enough info.

[Anonymous]

Nothing in the article suggest that the perps knew the victim was Muslim. That is an essential element of a hate crime, no?

[Anonymous]

They're lucky it was just expulsion. Don't people usually get arrested for making bomb threats?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing in the article suggest that the perps knew the victim was Muslim. That is an essential element of a hate crime, no?

Then why did they use stereotypically bad grammar in the email? They knew exacyly whose email account it was.

[Anonymous]

It's stereotypical dumb grammar. Tons of people make dumb bomb jokes at the airport. They could get arrested, but actually get taken to the side counseled and sent on their way.