Texas authorities arrested an American Sikh child over what his family said on social media was a bully’s allegation that he had a bomb.
Arlington police on Friday arrested Armaan Sing Sarai, 12, late last week after a fellow student, who “thought it would be funny”, accused him of having a bomb, his cousin Ginee Haer said in a Facebook post. The prinicipal of Nichols Junior High, where the child went to school, called the authorities “without any questioning, interrogation or notification to his parents,” she said, adding that police held him at a juvenile facility for three days before he was released.
Ms Haer said the boy’s family had moved to Dallas less than a half year ago.
Nichols Junior High School Principal Julie Harcrow and the Arlington County Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent.
The incident comes months after a similar incident in Irving, when Texas 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed’s English teacher thought a homemade clock he’d brought to school was potentially a bomb. Mr Mohamed was arrested and later released, but his case drew the ire of international media over an apparent instance of Islamophobia against the Muslim youth.
Mr Mohamed and his family has since moved to Qatar, where he received a scholarship.
