Obama invites arrested Muslim schoolboy to White House

Ahmed Mohamed, 14, left, stands next to his father Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed as he thanks supporters during a news conference at his home, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, in Irving, Texas. Mohamed was arrested after a teacher thought a homemade clock he built was a bomb. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

A Muslim Texan, Ahmed Mohamed, 14, was arrested in his school after a teacher mistook his homemade digital clock for a bomb which he made for his engineering class. The incident triggered accusations of Islamophobia in an online backlash.

Interestingly, US President Barack Obama on Wednesday invited Ahmed to the White House after he was arrested and dragged off in handcuffs for bringing a homemade clock to class.

Obama congratulated 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed on his skills and issued a presidential invitation, in what amounts to a pointed rebuke to school and police officials who hastened his arrest.

“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,” the president tweeted.

A photo of Ahmed standing in handcuffs while wearing a t-shirt with the US space agency NASA’s logo was retweeted thousands of times in a matter of hours and “#IStandWithAhmed” was the top trending hashtag on Twitter.

Among those voicing support for the boy was Hillary Clinton, who tweeted: “Assumptions and fear don’t keep us safe – they hold us back. Ahmed, stay curious and keep building.”

“My hobby is to invent stuff,” the boy told The Dallas Morning News in a video posted on the paper’s website that was filmed in his electronics-filled bedroom.

“I made a clock. It was really easy. I wanted to show something small at first… they took it wrong so I was arrested for a hoax bomb.”

Meanwhile, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has said the future belonged to people like Ahmed.

“Ahmed, if you ever want to come by Facebook, I’d love to meet you. Keep building,” he wrote in a status update on his Facebook profile.