The Internet has 14-year old Ahmed Mohamed’s back.
After the fresh-faced high school freshman attempted to make a good impression on his new teachers at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas, by bringing a hand-built clock to his engineering class, school officials claiming the clock resembled a bomb called law enforcement and had the young science whiz arrested. Irving police have declined to charge young Ahmed with a crime after “the follow-up investigation revealed the device apparently was a homemade experiment,” but not before the young engineer was questioned and taken to a juvenile detention center:
https://twitter.com/anildash/status/644020453724585984/photo/1
Well, now the masses and celebrities alike have taken to social media to show support to the enterprising student:
President Obama invited Ahmed to the White House:
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 (@POTUS44) September 16, 2015
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton tweeted her hopes that Ahmed would “stay curious and keep building” despite the incident:
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
Others used the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed to show their support:
Nerds Unite. #IStandWithAhmed http://t.co/uVpy4Z6vim
— ?st (@questlove) September 16, 2015
When a kid who loves robotics builds a clock & wants to show his classmates, we should celebrate him. Not arrest him. #IStandWithAhmed
— Sophia Bush (@SophiaBush) September 16, 2015
Hi @IStandWithAhmed ! I'd love you to join us for our science show Generator in Toronto on 28 Oct. There's a ticket waiting for you.
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) September 16, 2015
Thank you fellow supporters. We can ban together to stop this racial inequality and prevent this from happening again pic.twitter.com/fBlmckoafU
— Ahmed Mohamed (@IStandWithAhmed) September 16, 2015
But not everyone was quick to support young Ahmed. Some conservatives on Twitter dismissed cries of Islamaphobia as overblown:
Kid arrested for wearing "NRA" t-shirt: meh
Kid suspended for gun-shaped poptart: meh
Kid arrested for clock resembling bomb: INTOLERANCE!— Razor (@hale_razor) September 16, 2015
I only have one question about this #IStandWithAhmed thing:
Was the clock made out of a pop tart?
— Leslie ن 🇺🇸☦️ (@LADowd) September 16, 2015
People who were ignoring ludicrous school policing before today, but now are all in a huff? Really are predominantly playing politics.
— Pradheep J. Shanker, M.D. (@neoavatara) September 16, 2015
Considering everyday there's a new "I stand with so and so" hashtag, what precisely does it mean to "stand with" someone these days?
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 16, 2015
@charliespiering Asked if clock would raise suspicion from Secret Service at White House. Josh Earnest doesn’t want to talk hypotheticals.
— Fred Lucas (@FredLucasWH) September 16, 2015
Some tweets attempted to explain conservatives’ outrage with the support Ahmed’s received:
