A 14-year-old Muslim boy arrested in Texas for
bringing a homemade clock to school has continued
to receive an outpouring of support from scientists,
politicians and celebrities.
Ahmed Mohamed has been invited to visit
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) by a
professor who called him an "ideal student".
He also told ABC News he will accept an invitation
to the White House.
His arrest was sharply criticised and the charges
against him were dropped.
Ahmed hopes to one day attend MIT, one of the top
engineering universities in the US. He told ABC he
was more excited about the MIT tour than the White
House invitation.
Some of the biggest names in the world of science
have welcomed Ahmed with open arms.
Nasa, Google Science Fair, Space Camp USA and
astronaut Chris Hadfield were among those
applauding him for his ingenuity.
Officials at MacArthur High School in Irving alerted
police because they thought the device Ahmed built
was a "hoax bomb".
In a news conference on Wednesday, Ahmed said
he plans to transfer schools.
He told reporters it was "very sad" that his teacher
thought his clock was a threat.
"I built a clock to impress my teacher but when I
showed it to her she thought it was a threat to her.
I'm very sad that she got the wrong impression of
it."
Ahmed's father Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, who
is originally from Sudan, praised his son's
ingenuity, saying he fixes everything around the
house, including his father's phone and computer.
"He's a very smart, brilliant boy and he said he just
wanted to show himself to the world," he said.
The police have rejected the claim made by
Ahmed's family that he was detained because of his
name.
"We have always had an outstanding relationship
with the Muslim community," Irving Police
Department chief Larry Boyd said on Wednesday.
"Incidents like this present challenges. We want to
learn how we can move forward and turn this into a
positive," Mr Boyd added.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations says it
is investigating the incident.
Under the hashtag #IstandwithAhmed , thousands of
Twitter users - including Nasa scientists, Facebook
CEO Mark Zuckerberg and US President Barack
Obama - praised the boy's initiative and questioned
why he was detained.
"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," Mr
Obama wrote on Twitter .
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