The outrageous arrest of 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed shocked a lot of people and gained huge media attention as politicians, technologists and other influential names - including President Barack Obama voiced out their support.
The Huffington Post reports Ahmed's family expressed their appreciation by offering a nice pizza treat for reporters outside their Irving, Texas home while waiting for a press conference on Wednesday. "#AhmedMohamed family offers pizza to crowd of waiting media at his home," NBC 5's Ken Kalthoff tweeted photos.
#AhmedMohamed family offers pizza to crowd of waiting media at his home @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/REf5NfqZge
— Ken Kalthoff (@KenKalthoffNBC5) September 16, 2015
A Muslim boy broke the news on Monday when he was arrested for carrying a homemade clock to school - which his teacher mistakenly thought was a bomb.
As Ahmed's father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed assumes the suspicion was brought by Islamophobia, the MacArthur High School student felt sad for being interrogated and hand-cuffed by police officers for his innocent invention.
"He just wants to invent good things for mankind, but because his name is Mohamed and because of September 11, I think my son got mistreated," Mohamed told Dallas News.
"I built the clock to impress my teacher, but when I showed it to her, she thought it was a threat to her," Ahmed told Fox news. "It was really sad that she took the wrong impression from it and I got arrested for it later that day."
President Barack Obama, Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg and other influential people took the social media to show their support with the hashtag, #IStandWithAhmed. Ahmed was even invited by Google to its Science Fair this weekend.
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
You’ve probably seen the story about Ahmed, the 14 year old student in Texas who built a clock and was arrested when he... Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Hey Ahmed- we're saving a seat for you at this weekend's Google Science Fair...want to come? Bring your clock! #IStandwithAhmed — Google Science Fair (@googlescifair) September 16, 2015
Ahmed thanked his supporters during the press conference, saying the arrest will not stop him from continuing to invent. The young inventor also mentioned about planning to go to MIT someday and got the chance to meet an MIT professor.
"A creative, independent thinker like you is the kind of person who should be becoming a physicist," Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, an astrophysicist at MIT told Ahmed. "As a theoretical physicist, I would love it if you took an interest in the mathematical side, although you're clearly very adept with your hands and at building things."
Ahmed is still suspended from MacArthur High School since his arrest on Monday.
370K Tweets have expressed #IStandWithAhmed & currently rising at approx 2K Tweets per minute https://t.co/XTyvFnJlqr pic.twitter.com/r4Tq8z2jAS
— Twitter Data (@TwitterData) September 16, 2015
Assumptions and fear don't keep us safe—they hold us back. Ahmed, stay curious and keep building. https://t.co/ywrlHUw3g1 — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 16, 2015
The ACLU stands with Ahmed Mohamed, a 9th grader arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/LIDFcd4vkJ
— ACLU National (@ACLU) September 16, 2015
Brought my clock to work today. #IStandWithAhmed #Solidarity pic.twitter.com/h4Jr0siF1A — Simran Jeet Singh (@SimranColumbia) September 16, 2015
In solidarity with @IStandWithAhmed CAIR-Chicago staff brought our clocks to work too. #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/NK9CWhyfru
— CAIR-Chicago (@cairchicago) September 16, 2015
Both of these photos were taken in Texas. Let that sink in for a moment. #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/NQCZ9rW2lw — Muhammad ShehrOze ツ (@Shehr0ze) September 16, 2015
