Earlier this month, a Texas teen was accused of bringing a bomb to school. However, Ahmed Mohamed’s supposed explosive turned out to be a clock he claimed to have invented.

The high school student said he brought the clock to school to impress his teachers, but both school administrators and police acted impulsively when they suspected that Mohamed presented a danger to his classmates.

Due to the fact that Mohamed is Muslim, there are many controversial aspects of this situation. Most importantly, the appearance of the student’s machine resembled that of a bomb rather than that of a clock. Also, there is evidence that it was not an invention at all, but a machine reassembled from manufactured products.

Nonetheless, Mohamed’s story spread quickly throughout social media, and the hashtag “I Stand With Ahmed” was used to raise awareness of his arrest and of Islamophobia in America.

Significant figures such as President Barack Obama and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg praised the student for his creativity.

In the wake of Mohamed’s arrest, President Obama tweeted, “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.”

However, some now say that supporters of the high schooler were also impulsive, for the situation may turn out to be more complex than it initially appeared; questions are now arising concerning Mohamed’s motives in bringing the “hoax bomb” to school, and his family is being accused of a purposeful stunt.

As in most cases involving race or religion, controversy is inevitable, and the true intentions of the police along with the initial motives of Mohamed and his family may never be discovered.

From here, one must decide whether they stand with Ahmed, or whether they wish to wait for more information before taking a stance.

To learn more about Mohamed’s arrest, click here, here, or here.