U.S. President Barack Obama and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg praised Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year old student who was arrested for making a digital clock out of a pencil case, which was mistakenly identified by his school as a hoax bomb.
After learning about the incident, Zuckerberg posted a message to his Facebook account expressing his desire to meet Ahmed. He invited him to visit the social network giant’s headquarters.
“Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause, not arrest. The future belongs to people like Ahmed,” wrote Zuckerberg. He added, Ahmed if you ever want to come by Facebook, I’d love to meet you. Keep building.”
Pres. Obama, other officials express support
President Barack Obama and other government officials also expressed support for Ahmed through the social media. The President invited the arrested teenager to the White House.
In a message posted on Twitter, “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.”
Pres. Obama would like Ahmed join him and other scientists firing the annual Astronomy Night at the White House next month, according to Press Secretary Josh Earnest.
Former Secretary of State and Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Education Secretary Arne Duncan also expressed their support for Ahmed.
Clinton tweeted, “Assumptions don’t keep us safe,” and encouraged the student to “keep building.”
Student will not be charged
Ahmed brought the clock to school and showed it to his teacher. The school called the police and he was arrested for allegedly making a “hoax bomb.”
In an interview with WFFA, Ahmed said the school officials overreacted to his invention and mistakenly thought that it looked like a fake bomb. He said the police explained to him that he was arrested because he “committed a crime of a hoax bomb.”
Irving Police Officer James McLellan said, “We attempted to question the juvenile about what it was, and he would simply only tell us that it was a clock.” The police will not file charges against Ahmed.
