Ahmed has been getting a lot of online support in recent days and thanked his supporters with a tweet from his account.
Advertisement
The clock, which had a digital display and circuit board, was in the possession of police, he said.
To social media users, the arrest smacked of Islamophobia.
Soon after the incident, #IStandWithAhmed was trending on Twitter and many people posted pictures of themselves posing with clocks in solidarity. “Want to bring it to the White House?”
Google Science Fairs also invited him to its science fair this weekend. Twitter offered him an internship.
Facebook’s chief executive and founder was among the powerful voices speaking out for Mohamed on Wednesday.
“Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause, not arrest. The future belongs to people like Ahmed”, he wrote on his personal Facebook page.
“I hope I get the chance to meet Ahmed”, he said. “Keep building”.
Ahmed’s teacher discovered the clock when it started to beep during his English class.
Pharrell tweeted: ‘Ahmed, it’s innovative, curious, bright minds like yours who move humanity forward.
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”.
President Barack Obama and other government officials also expressed support for Ahmed through the social media.
“I dream of going there”, he said. He was grateful to everyone who helped make it happen. And they told me, ‘Why would you bring a clock to school?’ And I was like to tell time.
He said he was still suspended until today, and was thinking of transferring to a different school.
A 14-year-old boy from Texas has received a strong show of support from tech royalty after police arrested him for bringing a homemade clock into school.
A visit to the headmasters office followed and the police were called.
On Wednesday, the police announced the teenager won’t be charged.
Advertisement
School officials, however, insist that their staff and police acted appropriately in investigating the device as a potential threat. She said all information “made public to this point has been very unbalanced”.
