How a 14-year-old student set Twitter abuzz with a clock
When Ahmed Mohamed took his clock to class to impress his teacher, he never knew that he'd end up splashed across Twitter
Last week you probably had not heard of Ahmed Mohamed. And the 14-year-old, like most teenagers, probably thought this would be like most weeks and pass by relatively uneventful.
He could not possibly have imagined that by Wednesday night he would have become a household name, let alone be receiving invites to the White House from none other than President Barack Obama. And that his name would be trending across social media.
Yet when the Muslim student took his clock into class to present his impressive project to his teacher, rather than getting straight As, he was arrested, because the teacher thought his invention was a bomb.
The police later released him without charge. But when the media found out what had happened the unsuspecting student became the talk of the Internet, including the U.S. President Barack Obama.
Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.
— President Obama (@POTUS) September 16, 2015
Ordinary people of America and around the world came out in support.
A lot of people made the obvious observation, asking the question of whether his invention would have been considered a bomb had he not been Muslim.
And celebrities came out in force to show their support for Ahmed.
He became the center of media coverage.
Ahmed has since said he intends to continue inventing, although he suggested he might look for another school.
Meanwhile the hashtag #istandwithahmed on Thursday night was still trending. But in a few days, will everyone have forgotten Ahmed and moved on to the next story?
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