Outpourings of support for Ahmed Mohamed on social media today promptly followed the 14 year old’s arrest and suspension from school yesterday after the homemade digital clock he brought to class was mistaken for a bomb.
As of 10 a.m. this morning, over 400,000 Tweets were found with the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed, with sentiments ranging from serious discussions of racism, ignorance, and STEM education, to light-hearted pictures of solidarity featuring people bringing their own digital clocks to their schools and offices.
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The POTUS himself showed his support of Ahmed by promptly inviting him to the White House:
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 Obama (@POTUS44) September 16, 2015
And there’s also talk of getting Ahmed to the quickly approaching World Maker Faire in New York:
Hey @timoreilly – let's get Ahmed – @IStandWithAhmed to @makerfaire NYC next week#IStandWithAhmed
— Barry Graubart (@graubart) September 16, 2015
Before Maker Faire happens, Ahmed may be attending the Google Science Fair:
https://twitter.com/googlescifair/status/644219471469629440
Chris Hadfield also extended an invitation to Ahmed:
Hi @IStandWithAhmed ! I'd love you to join us for our science show Generator in Toronto on 28 Oct. There's a ticket waiting for you.
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) September 16, 2015
Autodesk CEO Carl Bass invites Ahmed to come tinker at the Autodesk HQ:
Ahmed, don’t let this stop your creativity. Come hang out at Autodesk and we’ll make something new together. #IStandWithAhmed
— Carl Bass (@carlbass) September 16, 2015
And the Dallas Hackers have invited Ahmed to give a talk (this kid is about to have a very busy schedule!):
Ahmed, would you give us a Fire Talk about how you made your clock? @IStandWithAhmed #HelpAhmedMake #IStandWithAhmed
— Dallas Hackers (@Dallas_Hackers) September 16, 2015
Ahmed’s family Tweeted a picture this morning on their way to meet their lawyer:
Going to meet my lawyer. pic.twitter.com/YCxOOeOz3Z
— Ahmed Mohamed (@IStandWithAhmed) September 16, 2015
But as of 9 a.m. this morning, just one minute after the above picture was posted, the Irving Police Department announced that they have dropped and closed the case:
@IrvingPD says there is no evidence of intent to create harm. Case dropped and closed @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/1VqubCFcMg
— Ken Kalthoff (@KenKalthoffNBC5) September 16, 2015
They also released a picture of Ahmed’s homemade build:
While the resolution seems swift and appropriate, it hasn’t quelled the explosion of support for Ahmed. Hillary Clinton was quick to voice her stance:
Assumptions and fear don't keep us safe—they hold us back. Ahmed, stay curious and keep building. https://t.co/ywrlHUw3g1
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 16, 2015
As was Megan Smith, Chief Technical Officer of the United States:
#lookslikeanengineer /cc @IStandWithAhmed @whitehouseostp @POTUS https://t.co/4GQqCE4Ntd pic.twitter.com/TGvKWrsyz7
— Megan Smith -Archive (@USCTO44) September 16, 2015
As well as Mark Zuckerberg:
You’ve probably seen the story about Ahmed, the 14 year old student in Texas who built a clock and was arrested when he…
Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Pebble Tweeted this challenge to Ahmed’s school district:
So, @IrvingISD, we also make digital clocks—you gonna arrest us, too? Keep making, @IStandWithAhmed! http://t.co/OaP47h5GCF #IStandWithAhmed
— Pebble (@Pebble) September 16, 2015
And Twitter user femme_esq also had something else to say about Texas schools:
https://twitter.com/femme_esq/status/644158440932249600
Muslims and non-Muslims alike are showing solidarity by posing with their clocks:
In solidarity with @IStandWithAhmed CAIR-Chicago staff brought our clocks to work too. #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/NK9CWhyfru
— CAIR-Chicago (@cairchicago) September 16, 2015
Watch out, it's a brown guy with a clock! #IStandWithAhmed @IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/8lzzrEakoi
— Tariq Khokhar (@tkb) September 16, 2015
While others are meme-ifying the racist subtext inherent in the fear of a brown boy with a homemade circuit:
If it looks like a clock, ticks like a clock, is a clock but your name is Mohamed then its a bomb #IstandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/DP8rrYWyVZ
— TheMuslimLawyer (@faisalkutty) September 16, 2015
Despite concerned discussions of Islamaphobia, people are optimistic about Ahmed’s future:
I used to take circuit boards & electronics to school, even as the only brown kid. Now, my entire job is building a community of makers.
— Anil Dash (@anildash) September 16, 2015
And of course, the Make: community has been quick to show our support of Ahmed as well. Words of wisdom, encouragement, and advice are coming in from all directions:
@make @IStandWithAhmed Don't let this discourage you, turn this around on their ignorance and help keep others from having to go through it.
— GraydonS (@GraydonScates) September 16, 2015
https://twitter.com/KrisStruble/status/644200479963131904
@make @IStandWithAhmed Try to be patient and forgive others for their ignorance. Then, go to MakerFaireNYC and find others who are like you
— Catalyst Corps (@CatalystMJ) September 16, 2015
https://twitter.com/DavidLNorris/status/644202266870841345
https://twitter.com/nicegress/status/644208907414405121
The following comments are from our Facebook page:
Maria Elena Uriarte-Zygmunt puts it concisely:
Smh once more at humanity.
And she also adds an open letter to Ahmed:
I am proud of your enthusiasm. Seeking out praise for what you did was not wrong! Do not let your intelligence be squashed by those who are afraid of you. Their fear could teach you fear. So be open to compassion and know many of us support and love you. And are proud of you!!! Seek us out for we are here! “We are here!”
Allen Seymour reminds Irving’s school district and police:
We should be proud of young men like this.
Dennis San Vicente says:
The Maker and even larger DIY community have to rally and show support to Ahmed and other young creative & resourceful minds. Instead of extinguishing this heart, use it as a rallying point to bring more awareness, appreciation, and celebration [to] the next young creators in our world. Racial profiling and ignorance doubly sucks too.
Sean Walker’s words of encouragement:
Build on young man! BUILD ON!!
This post will be updated as events develop.
14 thoughts on “Updates: Obama Invites Ahmed to the White House, Social Media Explodes with Support”
Comments are closed.
+1 to Pres Obama.
Also hope someone takes a clue stick to the Irving Police Dept. No need to arrest a 14 year old after the device he brought to school turns out to be exactly what he said it was. An apology (and more) is due him from the school official who involved the police and from the officer who arrested him.
I see a lot of talk about this incident in regards to him and his family being Muslim. I won’t pretend to know how much religious prejudices did or did not influence the school and the police officers. But.. before assuming… let’s not forget that the same thing happened to Limor Fried at MIT or the “2007 Boston Bomb Scare” which was only some LED lightups in the shape of cartoon characters.
Our society is broken and sick in how it relates to making and makers. It doesn’t take religion for people to fear what they don’t understand and unfortunately they don’t understand much.
He didn’t make shit, he took a cheap Walmart alarm clock with battery backup apart and shoved it into a case!
Eh. Barack is in it just for the attention it brings himself and his pet minorities. I don’t see him inviting white kids that got suspended for making a gun out of a pop tart.
Thank you for shoing the positive outcome of this story, Sophia.
I think you could possibly be just a little more pretentious.
Something smells fishy around here……….perhaps a political action…
All that positive publicity – but he is still suspended. And I guess nothing will change at the school.
The makers of Aqua Teen Hunger Force placed holograms around the city as a promotional gimmick. The Boston police overreacted and called an emergency. The makers of the movie where made to pay $5 mil. for police stupidity. The difference in this case, the people that made the movie weren’t Muslim. He brought a suspicious device to school; no teacher knew what it was, so it was not a class project. Stop falling all over yourselves to try to act nice and seem like ethically superior people and try using your brains.
LOL @ the racist subhuman parasites building clocks that look like bombs to terrorize their White hosts and winning accolades by the ignorant, racist imperial ape despot.
Wow…..so make is now a political magazine…is there some competing source for this kind of hobby information, because I don’t want politics when I want to build something. Everyone threw their weight behind this kid and he’s a fraud. Hey…I’ll take the body off my Mazda, put the works in a cardboard box and boom—I invented the automobile
This isn’t meant to be political. It’s about youth, and technology.
I started a new web page. ahmedsclock.org The goal is to get geeks of various stripes together and provide a safe place where kids, of all ages, can learn and be mentored. Share projects. Give tutorials. Ask questions. I’ll be setting up a forum too.
I have NO idea where, or if, this is going, but I just thought I’d try something.
If anyone is interested, send me a FB message, or visit the blog and see the email info there. I’m looking for contributors, and good blog posts to link to.
Brad
WA5PSA
It’s too bad that we’ve been played for fools. If this kid actually built that clock, what kit did he use? There’s no Aruino in those photos. No breadboard, no perfboard. Where are his plans? Where are the instructions?
This is a publicity stunt, designed to gin up public outrage. And we fell for it. Hook, Line and Sinker.
Remember the young lady who wore blinking led’s at an airport and said it was art? And some stupid idiot got scared and called the TSA? Lady got banned from the airport for a year . . .