Schoolboy arrested for clock to visit Whitehouse

The outcry sprouted the hashtag #IStandwithAhmed and sent it trending in cities across the world Wednesday, with users pointing out how differently the situation might have gone had Mohamed been a non-Muslim, white student.

Later in the day the boy was pulled out of class, interviewed by senior teachers and four police officers, and put into juvenile detention.

(Irving Police via AP). Police detained the 14-year-old Muslim boy after a teacher at MacArthur Hig… He thanked all of his supporters, and had a message for other talented students.

“I’ve wanted to be on… and I guess now I have a chance to be on there, only if the entrepreneurs on that show would accept me”, Ahmed said. Polic…

Mohamed’s story spread across the internet, drawing support from tech companies who praised his innovation and President Barack Obama, who invited him to visit the White House to take part in an astronomy night.

Police were called to the school earlier this week after a teacher reported he suspected the clock Ahmed made was a bomb or fake bomb.

“Obviously, we will review this as we do any other high profile nature”, said Boyd. Officials say the boy’s religion was not a factor.

But on Wednesday, the 14-year-old was arrested at his school for bringing a “homemade bomb” into class.

“Ahmed, if you ever want to come by Facebook, I’d love to meet you”, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post that went up on his personal page today.

Both Mark Zuckerberg (head of Facebook) and President Obama reached out to Ahmed after hearing the news. “Ahmed, stay curious and keep building”, she tweeted.

Bobak Ferdowsi, a science planner engineer on NASA’s Cassini space probe to Saturn, joined in.

Alia Salem of the Council On American-Islamic Relations agreed: “This wouldn’t even be a question if his name wasn’t Ahmed Mohamed“.

“It made me feel like I wasn’t human”, Mohamed said of the incident, which represents the growing face of Islamophobia in the United States.

Irving ISD, Chief Larry Boyd in a press conference said that the device which was confiscated did look suspicious and they did not blame the school authorities for calling the police.