Authorities arrested a 14-year-old boy after a homemade clock he brought to school was mistaken for a bomb. The young inventor, Ahmed Mohamed, went through long hours of interrogation after he brought with him his invention into MacArthur High School where he is currently studying.
According to the reports, Ahmed showed his invention to his teacher, a clock which consisted of a circuit board and some wires leading to a certain display. However, instead of being at awe and appreciative, the teacher instead alerted local authorities, which lead to his arrest thinking that the device was a "hoax bomb".
When the family of Ahmed heard of the incident, they immediately thought that such unprecedented act against their son is an indirect effect of their religious background as Muslims. There was no intention for Ahmed to harm anyone or start a bomb hoax for that matter. Ahmed himself deliberately stated his reason for creating such unique piece of device, as quoted by bbc Ahmed stated that;
"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."
After the incident went viral on social media, personalities from different areas started supporting and recognizing Ahmed's home-made clock. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was impressed of what Ahmed created. He then posted on his Facebook Page saying that;
"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."
-Mark Zuckerberg, September 16, 2015
It was not just Zuckerberg who expressed his support to Ahmed. For amidst the controversy netizens were posting hashtag #IStandWithAhmed as a sign of their support and condemnation of racism and religious bigotry. Even United States president Barack Obama was amazed of Ahmed's home-made clock, stating on his tweeter account that;
"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
