Mashable: Twitter stands with Texas boy who was arrested for building a clock
Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old Muslim boy who was arrested when authorities mistook the homemade clock he brought to school for a bomb, is now the recipient of an outpouring of support online. On Wednesday, #IStandWithAhmed trended in the U.S. and the UK as his story spread across social media, eliciting responses from the president, celebrities and more.
Ahmed, a student who is passionate about engineering, brought the clock into MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas, on Tuesday, where a teacher saw it and called the police, despite Ahmed's explanation that it was a clock, not a weapon.
The Irving Police Department closed the case on Wednesday without charging the boy, citing no evidence of intent to create harm, and he was released to his parents. But authorities had threatened Ahmed with charges for making a hoax bomb — and the fact that he was arrested, handcuffed, and questioned at the police station sparked outrage.
Police say the reaction would have been the same no matter who brought it to school #wfaa pic.twitter.com/TrnFxATzO7
— D Fernandez (@DemondFernandez) September 16, 2015
His story rallied high-profile figures to his corner: The president, celebrities, and tech luminaries all expressed their support.