A Texas ninth grader was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly bringing a homemade bomb in his classroom.
Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year old student from MacArthur High School, was nabbed but not charged by the police for a self-made project clock he brought to school.
The kid's arrest was highly criticized nationwide with the hashtag #IstandWithAhemd becoming the top trending topic on Twitter shortly after the news broke out. His family believes he was arrested because of his roots and Muslim-sounding name.
This is a picture of the "fake bomb". Notice the lack of a fake explosive. #itsaclock #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/3Q8CszDYUI
— Grant Imahara (@grantimahara) September 16, 2015
Ahmed is described by friends and family as a science geek who has high interest on inventing things but his principal and school thought he was onto something more dangerous.
His picture wearing NASA shirt while handcuffed is now all over the internet and he earned sympathy from all parts of the globe, including the world's most influential people.
It didn't take long for US President Barack Obama on the #IstandWithAhmed matter and he even invited the young boy and his clock to 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
Hillary Clinton also urged Ahmed Mohamed to continue with his passion.
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
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also voiced out his #IstandWithAhmed support. In his Facebook account, he commended Ahmed and invited him in his company.
“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.”
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, September 16, 2015
Anil Dash, co-founder of Activate nc and Maker Base also threw support. He even set up a donation drive for him which can be found here.
I expect they will have more to say tomorrow, but Ahmed's sister asked me to share this photo. A NASA shirt! pic.twitter.com/nR4gt992gB
— Anil Dash (@anildash) 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
How do I get in touch with Ahmed? We (@reddit) wanna intro him to some of our friends in science ( internship?) https://t.co/Bwgnbz179O — Alexis Ohanian (@alexisohanian) September 16, 2015
#IStandWithAhmed cause I was once a brown kid in the south too. Plus sure he'll lead an amazing life & I'm trying to get in the bio pic game — Aziz Ansari (@azizansari) September 16, 2015
