A makeshift clock, which teachers mistook for a bomb, prompted the arrest of 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed. .
(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
X
Dear Reader,
As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before.
Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications,
like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations,
we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open
and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news
and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World.
As one of our loyal readers, we ask you to be our partner.
For $5 a month you will receive access to the following:
- A user experience almost completely free of ads
- Access to our Premium Section
- Content from the award-winning Jerusalem Report and our monthly magazine to learn Hebrew - Ivrit
- A brand new ePaper featuring the daily newspaper as it appears in print in Israel
Help us grow and continue telling Israel’s story to the world.
Thank you,
Ronit Hasin-Hochman, CEO, Jerusalem Post Group
Yaakov Katz, Editor-in-Chief
UPGRADE YOUR JPOST EXPERIENCE FOR 5$ PER MONTH
Show me later
A ninth grader from Irving, Texas was arrested after his teachers thought his homemade clock looked like a bomb and called the police, The Dallas Morning News reported on Tuesday.
Ahmed Mohamed, a former member of his middle school robotics club, hoped to impress his teachers with his mechanical fete. “Here in high school, none of the teachers know what I can do,” Ahmed told the paper.
Instead of receiving praise, the 14-year-old was put in handcuffs by police who say they may charge him with attempting to create a hoax bomb, although officials admit that Mohamed told peers and school faculty members that the device was just a clock.
Ahmed brought the clock, built out of a circuit board embedded inside of a pencil case, to his engineering teacher as school began, however his makeshift clock was not met with acclaim.
Ahmed's teacher insisted he not show other teachers, however the clock's alarm went off during class, raising suspicion.
"They took me to a room filled with five officers," Mohamed said. "They interrogated me, and searched through my stuff and took my tablet and my invention."
Ahmed has since been suspended from school and police are investigating the case.
Many took to Twitter to voice support for Mohamed, and the Twitter hashtag #IStandWithAhmed has since gone viral. The incident has prompted a social media debate about Islamophobia in America.
Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>>