Ahmed Mohamed, arrested for bringing a clock to school, is now a global celebrity
A victim of the paranoid racism that has permeated the skin of some sects of American culture, Ahmed Mohamed was arrested for bringing a home-made clock to school to show his teacher.
"I felt like I was a criminal. I felt like I was a terrorist," he said. A 9th grade student with an adaptable mind and a brilliant young engineer, Mohamed created the clock at home the night before and brought it into school to impress his teachers. His engineering teacher approved, but advised Mohamed not to show any other teachers. When the clock beeped in english class, his English teacher confiscated the clock and turned him into the principal, who called the police.
When Mohamed was pulled out of class in 6th period and taken to the principal's office, he explains "they interrogated me and searched through my stuff and took my tablet and my invention. They were like, ‘So you tried to make a bomb?’ I told them no, I was trying to make a clock."
The questioner's response? “It looks like a movie bomb to me.”
Mohamed was arrested for making a hoax bomb. He was later released and all charges were dropped. He has publicly stated he will not be returning to MacArthur high school.
Social media lit up after the story hit the waves. President Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, reps from Google, MIT and more have responded with encouragement and invitations to their respective establishments. For Mohamed, the support he has received has turned a potentially traumatic event into a doorway of opportunities.
