Clocking no time
African-American Muslim student Ahmed Mohammed was taken into custody on Monday, Sept. 14, 2015. He brought to school with him a homemade clock that his teacher mistook for a bomb. Mohammed was released shortly after authorities discovered the contraption posed no threat.
On Mon., Sept. 14, Muslim teen Ahmed Mohamed was taken into custody for bringing to school a handmade device that was assumed to be an explosive.
After presenting his invention to teachers, Mohamed was abducted from class and taken to a detention center in handcuffs.
Irving Police Chief Larry Boyd said the instrument looked “suspicious in nature.” However, there was no proof that Mohamed meant to cause panic at his high school.
Sophomore Skylar Ziegler said “I think it is good to be careful, but I wonder if they would have reacted the same way to a white person.”
After a thorough investigation by the town authorities, the contraption was declared harmless, and Ahmed was released to his parents.
Senior Maya Outlaw said “It [the incident] was very typical and stereotypical.”
A photo of Ahmed’s arrest was posted on social media, and his story quickly went viral. According AOL News, in a matter of hours, the clock incident made Ahmed a celebrity online, with the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed tweeted about 750,000 times by Wednesday afternoon.
Ahmed’s got support from around the world, and even famous people such as President Barack Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and inventor of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg.
President Barrack Obama tweeted, “Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It is what makes America great.”
On Wed., Sept. 16, the Google Science Fair posted on Twitter, “Hey Ahmed-we are saving a seat for you at this weekend’s Google Science Fair…want to come? Bring your clock!”
Junior Nathan Kisselle said, “I think it is sad that people make generalizations and assumptions about Muslims.”
On the same day, the Irving County Police Department announced they were not going to press charges on Ahmed and his family for creating a hoax bomb.
