But it looked like … a bomb!
But it looked like … schematics of sophisticated laboratory equipment!
But it looked like … she was a spy in training!
These three cases — one local, two federal — suggest that at least some law enforcement officials in the United States need a heavy dose of common sense.
In all three cases, prosecutorial overreach could be characterized as a great big “oops”.
All three center on science and technology, which suggests a little scientific literacy couldn’t hurt. The feds could have afforded experts, the locals could have talked to the engineering teacher.
You’re probably familiar with number one, the digital-clock-that-was-not-a-bomb.
On Monday, Ahmed Mohamed, 14, was arrested at his new high school, handcuffed, and given the perp walk through the halls of the building in front of classmates and teachers. Then fingerprinted and charged with building a hoax bomb.
What exactly is a “hoax bomb”? No one knows but the Irving, Texas law enforcement officers who used the term.
Police say they may yet charge him with making a hoax bomb — though they acknowledge he told everyone who would listen that it’s a clock.
A bomb hoax (aka bomb threat) is when someone falsely cries “bomb” in a crowded room (so to speak). It’s a felony. A key factor: intent. And it’s a big ticket item: up to 10 years in prison.
A bomb hoax would have happened if Ahmed had waved his case with the tiger hologram on the front and said “I’ve got a bomb.” That’s not what happened.
What happened was scientifically illiterate people got scared and called the cops, who used even less investigative reasoning than those at the school.
Imagine what his Friday might be like if the Dallas paper hadn’t told us his story.
I keep thinking about Aaron Swartz, who was 14 when he helped develop RSS, the technology that underpins the web’s information subscription system.
On to number two.
On Friday before Ahmed was arrested on Monday, the Justice Department (seemingly misnamed) dropped its espionage charges against Temple University professor Xi Xiaoxing.
Like Ahmed, Xi has brown skin.
Like Ahmed, Xi was victimized by law enforcement agents who looked at one thing and saw another.
Like Ahmed, Xi was arrested, put in handcuffs, and marched off to jail.
In May, federal prosecutors charged Xi, 57, with four counts of wire fraud. In June, the former Temple University physics department chairman pleaded not guilty. In August, his defense team presented “affidavits from world-renowned physicists who said the evidence against Mr. Xi had been misunderstood.”
And then the charges were dropped. After the defense team, on Xi’s nickel, did the DOJ’s work for it.
“I don’t expect them to understand everything I do,” Dr. Xi, 57, said in a telephone interview [with the NY Times]. “But the fact that they don’t consult with experts and then charge me? Put my family through all this? Damage my reputation? They shouldn’t do this. This is not a joke. This is not a game.”
He could have been sentenced to 80 years in prison and fined $1 million if convicted.
Now case number three.
Flash back one more week, to the Friday of Labor Day weekend.
More brown skin. (Surprised? Thought not.)
That’s when our federal government told Sherry Chen she was fired, despite the fact that the Justice Department dropped its charges in March, six months ago.
Last fall, Chen, 59, a National Weather Service employee, was accosted by six FBI agents when she arrived at work.
Like Ahmed and Xi, Chen was handcuffed and marched past her peers.
Ahmed’s problems started with his female English teacher. Chen was turned in by a female coworker, a coworker who had told Chen to have her friend if he had more questions.
Copies of emails included in court documents show that Ms. Lee directed Mrs. Chen to her agency’s website and told her that if her former classmate had further questions, he could contact her directly. Mrs. Chen then sent a second, final email to Mr. Jiao instructing him to call Ms. Lee directly with any additional questions.
Shortly after her email exchange with Mrs. Chen, Ms. Lee reported their correspondence to security staff at the Department of Commerce, the agency over the National Weather Service. “I’m concerned that an effort is being made to collect a comprehensive collection of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water control manuals on behalf of a foreign interest,” Ms. Lee wrote.
Her (alleged) crimes? Downgraded from spying to using a “stolen” password to access government-employee-only data on hydrology on behalf of China. Penalty? Up to 25 years in prison and $1 million in fines.
She pleaded not guilty in February and the charges were dropped in March.
Regarding the NWS termination letter:
“Their allegations against her do not rise to the level of a termination,” [Rep. Ted W. Lieu (D-CA) said], adding that Mrs. Chen had no previous disciplinary record and had in fact received top reviews and awards for her government service. “If she was not a Chinese-American, she would not have been arrested, indicted and would not now be in the process of being fired.”
[…]
[T]he investigation found that Mrs. Chen had only shared information from publicly available websites with a former college classmate, now China’s vice water minister, who asked her how reservoir projects are funded in the United States.
[…]
The other reasons for the dismissal repeated earlier claims regarding use of the co-worker’s password, which the co-worker had made available to everyone in the office, and even emailed to Mrs. Chen in this case.
As 22 members of Congress wrote in May (pdf), this Administration has a track record of alleging that Asian Pacific Americans are spies and then dropping the charges months later, after damaging reputation, pocketbook (lawyers) and employment.
Prof. Xi: (To Sherry Chen) "The charges can be dropped but this will never go away. This is the human cost." pic.twitter.com/m7XO2MYMWf
— NAPABA (@NAPABA) September 15, 2015
It is unlikely that the social media outcry that nipped Ahmed’s legal problems in the bud would have worked for Xi or Chen. Both are older scientists. Their alleged crimes were gift wrapped in sparkling fear-mongering language without the benefit of a common item we can all grasp — a clock — or the common memory of high school science projects.
Neither the Justice Department nor local agencies are liable for attorney fees incurred by the victims of heavy-handed and ill-informed tactics. An NPR analysis last year “found that the costs of the criminal justice system in the United States are paid increasingly by the defendants and offenders.”
Oh that common sense were sufficient to reverse this tide.
We must point out that the emperor has no clothes. Urge our local media to highlight every story like Ahmed’s, Xi’s and Chen’s; use publicity as deterrent.
Finally, we must cultivate a healthy skepticism about government charges and media headlines. My skepticism was kicked into overdrive with the Aaron Swartz case. I write this fully aware that abandoning our trust in institutions of law does not bode well for democratic health and well-being.
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com