ninth grader arrested for bringing homemade clock to school

According to BBC News, Texas police have decided not to charge a 14-year-old Muslim boy, Ahmed Mohamed, who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school.

Officials at MacArthur High School in Irving alerted police because they thought the device was a “hoax bomb”.

Ahmed Mohamed’s arrest has been  severely criticized across social media as well as mainstream news and the boy has received an outpouring of support including an invite to the White House.

Ahmed told reporters in a recent interview:

“I built a clock to impress my teacher but when I showed it to her she thought it was a threat to her. I’m very sad that she got the wrong impression of it.”

Ahmed’s father Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, who is originally from Sudan, praised his son’s invention and said he fixes everything around the house, including his father’s phone and computer.

“He’s a very smart, brilliant boy and he said he just wanted to show himself to the world,” he said to reporters.

The boy was placed in handcuffs and fingerprinted. He was released after it was determined there was no threat.

Mark Zuckerberg put it best in his Facebook status today: “You’ve probably seen the story about Ahmed, the 14 year old student in Texas who built a clock and was arrested when he took it to school.

Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause, not arrest. The future belongs to people like Ahmed.

Ahmed, if you ever want to come by Facebook, I’d love to meet you. Keep building.”

We agree, Ahmed, keep building!

Reference:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34266389