Ahmed Mohamed, 14, loves to invent gadgets in his free time. He brought a homemade digital clock to school on Sept. 14, but his teachers weren’t impressed.
As reported by The Dallas Morning News, Ahmed’s teacher confiscated the clock when he presented his invention. The principal and a police officer later led him to a room with multiple other officers and questioned him about the device. According to a video recorded of Ahmed, they didn’t let him contact his parents until after the interrogation. He never once claimed the device was anything but a clock during the entire process.
I expect they will have more to say tomorrow, but Ahmed's sister asked me to share this photo. A NASA shirt! pic.twitter.com/nR4gt992gB
— Anil Dash (@anildash) September 16, 2015 Afterward, they ordered him to a juvenile detention facility to be fingerprinted. When his parents picked him up, he explained the story.
Ahmed Mohamed is a popular Muslim name, and Ahmed's family believes he was discriminated against because of his skin color and name.
“He just wants to invent good things for mankind…But because his name is Mohamed and because of Sept. 11, I think my son got mistreated,” said Ahmed's father.
While Ahmed never saw the inside of a cell, the case is still being investigated. The school has suspended him for three days and police are considering charging him with a hoax bomb threat.
You can hear the story in Ahmed's own words, below.
As an award-winning media producer, JP Keenan has worked on a variety of projects, most recently as the Multimedia Director at Sojourners.
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