Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old Muslim boy, brought to school a clock he made with his own bare hands to impress his engineering teacher. It instead got him arrested.
"When I showed it to her she thought it was a threat to her. So it was really sad that she took a wrong impression of it, and I got arrested for it later that day," he was quoted by Mashable as saying, adding that he was suspended by his school, MacArthur high school in Irving, Texas, for three days. The suspension was still in effect as he spoke to the media Wednesday. It will end Thursday.
Among the social media users who took note of his plight and sympathized with the boy was the President of the United States himself.
"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 Barack Obama tweeted Thursday.
From a stint at the police station to an invitation to the White House, it appears Mohamed is indeed going places.
"The White House said Ahmed was invited to participate in an astronomy night next month," The Guardian reported. "Press secretary Josh Earnest said the Obama administration thought the boy was 'failed' by his teachers and called the incident a 'teachable moment'."
"The president and his chief science adviser, John Holdren, frequently speak out about the importance of fostering more students who are focused on studying in science, technology, engineering and mathematics," Mashable said in another piece.
Mohamed was arrested and put in handcuffs Monday and was interrogated without being allowed to call his own father, the publication said. This earned the ire of netizens and a flood of support from social media users, including Hillary Clinton and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg. Even Twitter has given Mohamed an invitation to intern with the company.
A school district spokesperson has since defended the school's action, saying that it was a necessary precaution to keep students and the community safe.
The police have since dropped the case as he appeared to be no safety threat.
"He's a very smart, brilliant boy and he said he just wanted to show himself to the world," said Mohamed's father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, as noted by the BBC.
The elder Mohamed also revealed his son had also fixed a number of other devices, ranging from his mobile phone to his car.
The boy has since announced that he will be transferring schools and will be taking up President Obama's offer and visit the White House at some point in the future.
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