Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old engineering prodigy that was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school, has made national headlines today, and caught the attention of some very influential people.
Advertisement
Ahmed said at a press conference: “I never thought I’d get this far, but since I have, I will try my best to help every other kid in the world who has a problem like this”.
The teen’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, who ran twice for the presidency in Sudan, was upset because the school didn’t make an effort to tell him about the incident right away. “So Obama was pleased to extend an invitation to Ahmed to participate in Astronomy Night that will be hosted here at the White House next month”, he said.
Republican presidential hopeful Bobby Jindal is glad police officers are being careful-careful enough to arrest a 14-year-old for building a clock and bringing it to school. Ahmed has been applauded and invited by the White House, Facebook and Google for his innovation.
At one point during the news conference, he gestured toward the family home and said, “We’ve been here in his house for more than 30 years”.
Many also took to social media to criticize police and officials at MacArthur High School, suspecting them of overreacting because of the boy’s religion.
In a post to his site, Zuckerberg said, “Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause”. Cuban said he would also like to get to know Mohamed.
Both Mark Zuckerberg (head of Facebook) and President Obama reached out to Ahmed after hearing the news. “Of course we’ve seen across our country horrific things happen, so we have to err on the side of caution”. The Irving Police Department has always experienced an outstanding relationship with the Muslim community. Press secretary Josh Earnest said the Obama administration thought the boy was “failed” by his teachers and called the incident a “teachable moment”.
Advertisement
Late Wednesday, they were still holding it as evidence – even though Ahmed was released without charge. It tweeted that it would save him a seat and told him “bring your clock!”
