All of these cool offers are a a result of something not so cool.
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Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old originally from Sudan, was arrested at the MacArthur High School in the United States over a homemade clock which he brought to his school.
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”.
To social media users, the arrest smacked of Islamophobia. The science pupil was looking forward to show it to his teachers.
The incident has sparked outrage, justifiable so, with the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed trending on Twitter.
There was a cheer when Ahmed, who is of Sudanese heritage, announced that he would be visiting the White House.
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Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also invited him on a tour of the company’s offices. “Keep building”, Zuckerberg added.
The clock built by Ahmed. It tweeted that it would save him a seat and told him “bring your clock!”
He said he’d like to take Obama up on the White House visit and is on the lookout for a new school, too. “It’s what makes America great”, Obama tweeted.
The boy was invited to participate in an astronomy night the White House is organizing next month with scientists. Ahmed said he has built a go-kart.
The arrest sparked a wave of support on social media.
The Irving Police Department in Texas has defended its action and said the police officers reacted the way they were expected to in such situations.
Late Wednesday, they were still holding it as evidence – even though Ahmed was released without charge.
Ahmed revealed that he was thinking about switching schools from McArthur to any other school for his education.
Ahmed’s family believes he was detained because of his name.
“It was the first time I brought an invention to school to show a teacher”, Ahmed said in an interview with WFAA television.
“My son is a very brilliant boy”, the father told CNN.
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Hooper said CAIR, America’s largest Muslim civil liberties organization, would be following up with school officials and police to determine how to prevent a similar incident from occurring again, and how to fix the student’s reputation.
