Beyond the Bricks 11/8

Teen Found Guilty for Break-In and Attempted School Shooting 

On Monday, November 3, CNN reported a possible planned school attack. On the previous Saturday, there was a break-in reported at a car dealership in Baltimore. A 16-year-old boy was found guilty for the crime. When confronted, he held a handgun on the police officers. According to CNN, this caused officers to call in more help from the county’s hazardous devices team. When the boy was questioned, the police became aware of his plans to enter Baltimore County public schools with ‘explosive devices and a gun.’ The boy, Sash Alexander Nemphos, was originally charged as a juvenile, but that was altered and he was charged with “handgun possession, three counts of theft, possession of a destructive device and possession of a dangerous weapon on school property,’ according to CNN. Nemphos is now being held alone and without bail. Officers are continuing to look into this investigation.

At this time, there appears to be no collaborators involved with Nemphos.

Teen Boys Kidnapped and Beaten by ISIS

While on the way home from middle school exams on May 29, about 100 Syrian Kurdish children were kidnapped by ISIS. For many years in the past, ISIS has been accused of crimes similar to enslaving youth. Four boys escaped and were interviewed by CNN.

The boys told CNN that a few hours after all of the children were taken, ISIS released 100 girls but kept all of the boys, ages 14 to 16. The boys were held hostage at a school in Manbij, forced to live on blankets on the floor and given a bath once every few weeks. In the beginning, the boys were able to eat twice a day and receive calls from their parents. After a while, the treatment got much worse. The boys were ordered to observe videos of “ISIS beheadings, attacks, pray five times daily, and memorize parts of the Quran,” according to CNN’s interview. The boys told CNN that they would have religious lessons, and if they did poorly or if they performed any actions that were considered misbehaving, ISIS beat them with electrical cables and hoses. Sometimes, they would be beaten anyway, for no reason. ISIS scared the boys in every way they could. They demanded the addresses of everyone's families, stating that they were going to find them and “cut them up.” Around September, some boys were released in exchange for ISIS fighters, and some were able to escape and make their way to Turkey. The hometown of those 100 boys, Kobani, is now the site of a battle with U.S.-led airstrikes and fights between ISIS and Iraqi Kurdish fighters.

Senate Forecast Shows Shift Towards Republicans

On November 4, the New York Times came out with updated political statistics around the country. The statistics showed that four states—New Hampshire, Georgia, Kansas and Iowa—now consist of a majority of Republicans. This improved the chances of Republicans “taking the Senate” by 75 percent, according to the New York Times.

The post-election results, according to the New York Times, determined that the Republican Party has control over the Senate and the House. In the Senate, the Republicans have a six-seat lead at 52, compared to 46 Democrats. In the House, Republicans occupy 244 seats, compared to 184 Democrat seats.

The shift in power is extremely important to both parties as it heavily influences what kind of legislation goes into effect.