ReutersAhmed Mohamed, the young Muslim inventor who was arrested for bringing a clock to school in Texas, has received an absolute torrent of support online since his story went global.
And from some pretty big names as well.
President Obama even tweeted him after hearing about his situation, inviting him to visit the White House.
Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.
— President Obama (@POTUS44) September 16, 2015
The 14-year-old engineering whizz took his homemade clock into school to show his teachers, but he was arrested when it was mistaken for a bomb. Now the school and police have been accused of stereotyping Ahmed because he’s Muslim.
anildash/TwitterAfter his story went viral, Mark Zuckerberg even weighed in on the support, praising Ahmed for his creativity and ambition, inviting him to come and see him at Facebook HQ.
You’ve probably seen the story about Ahmed, the 14 year old student in Texas who built a clock and was arrested when he…
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, 16 September 2015
As well as big name supporters, he also received support from Twitter, with the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed quickly trending. People posted pictures of themselves posing with their clocks in solidarity.
https://twitter.com/SimranColumbia/status/644154336038158338/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/BonzoBeckett/status/644206252336156672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Watch out, it's a brown guy with a clock! #IStandWithAhmed @IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/8lzzrEakoi
— Tariq Khokhar (@tkb) September 16, 2015
#IStandWithAhmed #NotABomb pic.twitter.com/5UFgOGm7vZ
— Thorvald (@STManson) September 16, 2015
https://twitter.com/technogust/status/644128295219527680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
In solidarity with @IStandWithAhmed CAIR-Chicago staff brought our clocks to work too. #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/NK9CWhyfru
— CAIR-Chicago (@cairchicago) September 16, 2015
But the Mayor of Irving, where the incident happened, Beth Van Duyne, said she doesn’t think the school and police did anything wrong.
She said:
I do not fault the school or the police for looking into what they saw as a potential threat. They have procedures to run when a possible threat or criminal act is discovered.
They follow these procedures in the sole interest of protecting our children and school personnel. To the best of my knowledge, they followed protocol for investigating whether this was an attempt to bring a Hoax Bomb to a school campus.
Vernon Bryant/Dallas Morning NewsFortunately, Irving Police Department have now stated that Ahmed will not face charges, as yesterday it was still uncertain whether or not he would be charged with making a hoax bomb.
Throughout the day the offers kept on coming in for Ahmed, and he was also invited to the Google Science Fair and the 3M science lab.
Hey Ahmed, want to visit our #science lab? We are always looking for smart minds like yours. #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/Ylbex7WD5H
— 3M (@3M) September 16, 2015
Hey Ahmed- we're saving a seat for you at this weekend's Google Science Fair…want to come? Bring your clock! #IStandwithAhmed
— Google Science Fair (@googlescifair) September 16, 2015
Well done Internet, faith in humanity restored!
