Mondoweiss: #IStandWithAhmed: Story of Muslim-American teenager arrested for bringing clock to school goes viral
Islamophobia ran amok on Monday with the arrest and interrogation of 14 year old aspiring inventor, Ahmed Mohamed. Mohamed brought a homemade clock to school to impress his teacher at MacArthur High in Irving, Texas, but instead of encouraging words his teacher and principal called in the police. Mohamed was then interrogated without his parents present, handcuffed and hauled down to the local juvenile detention. Ahmed Mohamed is Muslim. His teacher thought his clock was a bomb. After Mohamed’s arrest went viral, and by Tuesday night it spiraled into a tidal wave of support. His arrest made national news this morning and the rest is history. We’re watching it unfold today:
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
Using the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed support is pouring in from across the nation. Ahmed’s sisters set up a twitter account, @IStandWithAhmed and he tweeted out his thanks to fellow supports with the message
Thank you for your support! I really didn't think people would care about a muslim boy. #Thankyouforstandingwithme #IStandWithAhmed — Ahmed Mohamed (@IStandWithAhmed) September 16, 2015
And:
“We can ban together to stop this racial inequality and prevent this from happening again”.
Expect to see a lot more more clocks today!
In solidarity with @IStandWithAhmed CAIR-Chicago staff brought our clocks to work too. #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/NK9CWhyfru — CAIR-Chicago (@cairchicago) September 16, 2015