Police in Texas have arrested a 14-year-old boy for building a clock. Ahmed Mohamed, who lives in Irving, TX and has a keen interest in robotics and engineering, created the device on Sunday night.
When he took it to school the next day, he was pulled out of class, interviewed by police officers, and taken in handcuffs to juvenile detention, after being told by teachers that his creation looked like a bomb.
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
Ahmed said he brought the clock, which he had fashioned with a digital face in an inexpensive box, to school on Monday to show to an engineering teacher, who said it was “nice” but then told him that he should not show the invention to other teachers.
But when it beeped during an English class, Ahmed revealed the device to his English teacher, according to an account in The Dallas Morning News. “She was like, it looks like a bomb,” he said.
In a video posted on the newspaper’s website, Ahmed described how he was eventually taken from school by the police. “They took me to a room filled with five officers,” he said. “They interrogated me, and searched through my stuff and took my tablet and my invention.”
He said he was fingerprinted, and mug shots were taken at a juvenile detention center. He was not allowed to call his parents but was released when they came to get him. The genius boy is wearing a NASA t-shirt. Something that tells you how nerdy he is!!
The clock had a digital display, built into a metal case with a circuit board. Check it out below…
https://twitter.com/RobertWilonsky/status/644183297757593600/photo/
The social media was outraged!!! All our Facebook feed is about the poor boy. The Verge called for all NERDS to unite. Already the a twitter account
@IStandWithAhmed
was created and a hastag #IStandWithAhmed !!!
To react to the consequences of such an act and the strength of a nation defending creative minds, President Obama released a statement condemning the arrest and inviting the boy over 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 (@POTUS44) September 16, 2015
When will we such an act here in Egypt? Or Arab world??
