I recently posted about the plight of a teenager in Florida, Kiera Wilmot, who performed a science experiment which went badly. No one was hurt and no property was damaged, but she’s been expelled and she’s facing felony charges.

The case has been getting a lot of media attention, which is a really good thing, I think. Here’s some more reading material if you’re interested.

• DNLee has posted twice on the issue on her Scientific American blog. Both posts are eloquent, enraged, and worth reading. You can find them here and here.
• There’s also some discussion about what caused the expulsion. Some cite zero-tolerance policies and some cite racism. Both are probably factors.

I’ve been trying to figure out what we can do to help Wilmot. Here are the suggestions I’ve seen around. I got all of these from DNLee’s article.

• If you’re a scientist, tweet about the things you’ve blown up or broken in the name of progress using the, #ScienceIsNotCrime, #KieraWilmot or #Solidarity4Wilmot hashtags.
• Personally contact the local authorities. Here’s the information
  

  Polk County Superintendent, Dr John Stewart. Phone: 863-534-0521 Fax: 863-519-8231
  Bartow High School Principal, Mr Ronald Pritchard. Phone: 863-534-7400
  Contact the Bartow Police Department
  Phone: 863 534-5034 Fax: 863-534-5030 Email: lbryan.pd@cityofbartow

• Sign the petition to drop charges, if you haven’t already.
• Join the facebook page or the non-facebook support page.
• There’s not much else to do at the moment. But you can sign offer to help by filling out this form, organized by DNLee. As soon as she knows more about the situation, like how to contact the family, she’ll use the names here to figure out who to ask for help.

Thanks for all you’re doing to help!