Irving, Texas: Police detained a 14-year-old Muslim boy after a teacher at his North Texas high school decided that a homemade clock he proudly brought to class looked like a bomb, according to school and police officials.
The family of Ahmed Mohamed said the boy was suspended for three days from MacArthur High School in the Dallas suburb of Irving after taking the clock to class on Monday.
The boy makes his own radios, repairs his own go-kart and on Sunday spent about 20 minutes before bedtime assembling a clock using a circuit board, power supply wired to a digital display and other items, The Dallas Morning News reported.
On Monday, Ahmed showed the clock to his engineering teacher and then another teacher after the clock, which was in his backpack, beeped during class.
That teacher told him that it looked like a bomb, the newspaper reported.
Ahmed was later pulled from class and brought before the principal and Irving police officers for questioning.
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The incident has turned Ahmed into an overnight social media sensation, with the hashtag #IstandwithAhmad now trending on Twitter. Ahmed has even received an invite from US President Barack Obama (@POTUS) to show his work at 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 (@POTUS) September 16, 2015
US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also chimed in, sending out words of sympathy for Ahmed, asking him to "stay curious and keep building".
Assumptions and fear don't keep us safe—they hold us back. Ahmed, stay curious and keep building. https://t.co/ywrlHUw3g1— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 16, 2015
Disgusting how a kid gets accused of 'terrorism' for making a clock but you see some kids like this #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/GyHlounDJh— Nadia (@LOMBARDIGNITY) September 16, 2015
Acknowledge Creativity #PBP #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/dxEGvUxLqX— Gump✈️ (@floresgump11) September 16, 2015
#IStandWithAhmad https://t.co/BRCfecJV5k
— Tyra Hanim (@TheTyra) September 16, 2015
The school district said in a statement that Ahmed was detained by police. Irving police spokesman James McLellan told the Morning News that police are determining whether to file a charge of making a hoax bomb.
"He just wants to invent good things for mankind," Ahmed's father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, told the newspaper.
"But because his name is Mohamed and because of Sept. 11, I think my son got mistreated."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations is reviewing the matter.
"This all raises a red flag for us: how Irving's government entities are operating in the current climate," said Alia Salem, executive director of the council's North Texas chapter.
A spokeswoman for the Irving school district did not respond to a phone message seeking comment.
And more tweets are coming still, like these:
#IStandWithAhmed. @IStandWithAhmed #sciencerules! pic.twitter.com/uz0q1hhleX— Elle (@beaurue) September 16, 2015
In solidarity with @IStandWithAhmed CAIR-Chicago staff brought our clocks to work too. #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/NK9CWhyfru— CAIR-Chicago (@cairchicago) September 16, 2015
@IStandWithAhmed - Also, never stop creating - and never stop showing off what you've made. Don't let idiots slow you down.— A Story in Cloth (@AStoryinCloth) September 16, 2015
