Facebook & Google Support Muslim Teen Arrested For Homemade Clock
Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year old Muslim teen arrested for taking his homemade clock to school, has received support from Google, Facebook, and most notably, President Obama for his innovative work.
Wednesday, September 16th, Ahmed was arrested at his Texas high school, after his teacher reported the clock to authorities, believing it may have been a homemade bomb. The 14-year-old freshman was placed in handcuffs and taken to jail, following the incident, prompting outrage across the country.
Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook had the following to say after hearing about Ahmed’s experience:
Also, Google invited Ahmed to bring his innovative clock to their science fair this weekend:
The most notable support came from President Barack Obama when he tweeted the following:
“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.”
Ahmed has won awards for his inventions in the past. His story has inspired many to show support by sending out messages across social media with the hashtag: #IStandWithAhmed.
According to Irving, TX police, the case that held the digital clock had been taken apart and rearranged with the wires appearing suspicious on the inside. Ahmed claims he took the clock to school to show his Engineering teacher but in his English class, friends wanted to see how it worked. When he plugged the clock into an electrical outlet, it began to make noise, which caught the English teacher’s attention and was quickly confiscated. The teacher took the device to the school principal and within hours, Ahmed was pulled from his class and arrested. His tablet was also confiscated by police as well.
No charges were filed against Ahmed and it’s unclear if he will continue to be suspended from school for the three days, as handed down by his principal. Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne had the following to say,
“Hopefully, we can all learn from this week’s events and the student, who has obvious gifts, will not feel at all discouraged from pursuing his talent in electronics and engineering,” Van Duyne said.
Interesting that Mayor Van Duyne referred to Ahmed Mohamed as “the student.”
Ahmed Mohamed after the arrest, described his experience in an interview with MSNBC:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkCRA-Aoq5U]