Arrested Muslim student Invited to the White House

US President Barack Obama has invited a Muslim
boy to the White House after he was detained by
police for taking a homemade clock to school that
teachers mistook for a bomb.
Ahmed Mohamed, 14, was led away in handcuffs
from Irving MacArthur High School in North Texas
on Monday after bringing the device to his
engineering class.
In a tweet posted on Wednesday, Mr Obama said:
"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."
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said
Ahmed had been "failed" by his school, calling the
episode a "teachable moment".
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg also invited
Ahmed, an aspiring inventor who builds his own
radios, to the social network's California
headquarters.
Ahmed is an aspiring inventor who also makes
his own radios
"Having the skill and ambition to build something
cool should lead to applause, not arrest," said Mr
Zuckerberg.
"The future belongs to people like Ahmed.
"Ahmed, if you ever want to come by Facebook, I'd
love to meet you. Keep building."
Irving Police Chief Larry Boyd told a news
conference on Wednesday that Ahmed would not be
charged.
'It made me feel like I wasn't human,' Ahmed
said
"We have no evidence that there was an intention
to create alarm," he told reporters.
The police department earlier said three teachers at
the high school had accused the teenager of a
bomb hoax.
Irving Independent School District spokesperson
Lesley Weaver said students and staff are
encouraged to report any suspicious behaviour.
"We will take all necessary precautions to protect
our students and keep our school community as
safe as possible," Ms Weaver said in a statement.
Ahmed said he demonstrated his homework project
to his engineering teacher and was advised not to
show it to anyone else.
When his clock rang in English class later in the
day, he said the teacher confiscated it claiming it
looked like a bomb.
Ahmed said he was led into a room where five
police officers were waiting, one of whom
remarked: "Yup. That's who I thought it was."
He was taken to Irving police headquarters to be
questioned, fingerprinted and photographed,
reports the Dallas Morning News.
"It made me feel like I wasn't human," Ahmed told
the newspaper. "It made me feel like a criminal."
The principal reportedly threatened to expel him
unless he made a written statement to police.
Ahmed has been suspended.
The incident has sparked an outcry on social
media, where #IStandWithAhmed was trending on
Twitter.
His older sisters have set up a Twitter account for
him, @IStandWithAhmed, which has more than
40,000 followers.
Alia Salem, the director of the North Texas chapter
of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said
the arrest "raises a red flag".
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
has joined the chorus of tweets supporting Ahmed.
"Ahmed, stay curious and keep building," she
wrote.
Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne defended school
officials, insisting they were simply following
protocol.
She made headlines in March when she accused
Muslims of plotting to bypass US courts by offering
shariah-law mediation to worshippers.