Obama Praises Ahmed Mohamed for ‘Cool Clock,’ Invites Him to White House
A homemade clock got Ahmed Mohamed suspended from school on Monday — and invited to the White House by the president on Wednesday.The 14-year-old boy was detained by police in Dallas for bringing a clock to school — which teachers mistook for a bomb .
The story quickly spread on social media, and as of early afternoon Wednesday more than 370,000 people had used the hashtag #IstandwithAhmed on Twitter to show their support or talk about the story.President Barack Obama weighed in with a tweet, saying on his personal Twitter account, “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.”
Ahmed’s father believes he was mistreated because his is Muslim and his name is Mohamed.
Irving Independent School District spokeswoman Lesley Weaver defended the school district’s actions, saying “we were doing everything with an abundance of caution to protect all of our students in Irving,” according to the Dallas Morning News.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday that “some of Ahmed’s teachers failed him” and said that it was the job of educators to nurture curiosity in students.
Mr. Earnest said that the teenager would be invited to astronomy night at the White House in the coming weeks, where he would have the opportunity to meet with scientists and astronauts.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan also added his support on Twitter, tweeted “we need to be encouraging young engineers, not putting them in handcuffs.”
Ahmed brought his clock to school to show his engineering teacher on Monday. After showing the clock to his teacher, it beeped in his backpack, concerning another teacher who worried it looked like a bomb, according to a report by the Associated Press. Ahmed was pulled from class, handcuffed, questioned and suspended for three days.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton‘s account tweeted “Assumptions and fear don’t keep us safe—they hold us back. Ahmed, stay curious and keep building.”
