by Marie Kauna – EMTV Online, Port Moresby
Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old originally from Sudan, was arrested at the MacArthur High School in the United States over a homemade clock which he brought to his school.
The homemade clock was made by Ahmed and brought in as a gift to impress his teacher.
With incidents of bombing in schools and around the globe, Ahmed’s teacher was suspicious that the homemade clock was a bomb. This suspicion led to the arrest of the 14-year-old.
According to Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, “He (Ahmed) is a very smart, brilliant boy and he said he just wanted to show himself to the world”.
Despite the claims made by Ahmed’s father, the boy was detained because of his name.
According to Irving Police Department Chief, Larry Boyd, “We have always had an outstanding relationship with the Muslim Community”, and “incidents like this present challenges. We want to learn how we can move forward and turn into a positive”.
After a thorough investigation of the homemade clock, Ahmed was released and police have decided not to charge him.
Following the incident, Ahmed has become a bit of a minor celebrity. Even Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg wants to meet with the teenager.
“Ahmed, if you ever want to come by Facebook, I’d love to meet you,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a post that went up on his personal page today.
“Keep building.”
