SQUARE ROOT SIGN COMPARISON TO GUN MAKES POLICE RESPOND TO TERROR THREAT
We are seeing a lot of energy and opinion in the wake of the Florida school shooting where 17 people were killed. But that also means some stupid foolishness is happening, too. But what happened in Oberlin, Louisiana a few days ago is really stupid and really foolish. A conversation between students at Oberlin High School about the square root symbol turned into a police investigation that included a search of a student’s home. Why? Because they were talking about the square root symbol looking like a gun. Seriously. Should the police respond like that? Does everything now look like a terror threat? You can say a lot of things on paper resembles a gun.
STUDENTS TALKING SILLY MATH BECOMES CREDIBLE TERROR THREAT
Last week police investigated a report of a terrorist threat at the high school, as reported by the Allen Parish Sheriff’s Office. It involved the fact that a student was working on a math problem that required their drawing the square root sign. In case you don’t remember, the square root sign represents a number. Specifically, a number that when is multiplied by itself is then equal to another number. Students in the group began talking about how it looked like a gun.
POLICE RESPOND, SEARCH TEEN’S HOME, COMPUTER, FIND NOTHING BUT MAYBE PORN COOKIES
So the conversation continued for a bit, with several of the students talking about the gun similarity. But then another student made a comment that the sheriff’s office said could have been a threat “out of context.” This sounds like a police overreaction, doesn’t it? But police searched that’ student’s home regardless. They found no guns. They found nothing to show the student had any access to guns. Police also ended up reporting that they found no evidence that the student intended to commit any harm to anyone. So much for the terror threat.
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POLICE SAY STUDENT MADE POOR JUDGEMENT MAKING COMMENT, WON’T SAY WHAT COMMENT IS
The department wrote, “The student used extremely poor judgment in making the comment, but in light of the actual circumstances, there was clearly no evidence to support criminal charges.” But for some reason there is no reporting on what the student actually said. It would be a lot easier for us to make our own judgment if we knew, wouldn’t it? While this situation happened a week after the Valentine’s Day shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, it’s still hard to judge about this police response. When police respond to a call, should they think a little, first? Maybe use something that resembles common sense, and not a military state response?
BEWARE ADULTS TRYING TO LOOK BUSY, RESPONSIBLE
Obviously, we want to make sure that nothing like this happens ever again. But authorities across the U.S. are on high alert. Idiots threatening schools in Miami jumped from one a week to 50 a day since Valentine’s Day. So stay safe, use sound judgement, and don’t talk about the square root symbol looking like a gun. Math is hard enough. If it resembles a stupid teen conversation, it’s not a terror threat.
