According to the police, it’s not so much that it could have been thought to be a bomb, but that there was no “broader explination”. I mean, they simply could not understand why someone would do something so unusual, so they distrusted his motives. You can BUY clocks, right? No decent person would want to make one, right? Had nothing to do with his last name, apparently.
It couldn’t be that he simply wanted to make one so he could learn how it works. Inconcievable! Or that he brought it to school to share his enthusiasm for learning with people he naively believed would be receptive to his enthusiasm (he’s just a kid, after all). Absurd!
You know, I was that kid once- taking things apart, building things, exploring. Now I am a 40 year old man who re-wires kid’s toys to make my own unique musical instruments (it’s called circuit bending, and it’s a hill of fun). I don’t happen to give a rat’s ass what anyone thinks about why I would do such a thing, but I’m not a ward of the state. I wonder what the authorities would think of my hobby? Would they require a “broader explination”, or is it enough just to submit that I’m wierd like that? Would my English surname place me above suspicion?