American Muslim Boy Arrested After Police Mistake Clock He Made for Fake Bomb

A 14-year-old Muslim boy has been arrested in North Texas after a high school teacher decided that a homemade clock he brought to class could be a bomb.

Ahmed Mohamed, who enjoys tinkering with electronics, proudly took the clock to MacArthur High in Irving on Monday.

But one teacher raised concerns that it looked like a bomb, prompting the school principal and several police officers to question him, search his belongings and march him from the school in handcuffs.

Police don't believe the device is dangerous, but say it could be mistaken for a fake explosive.

Mohamed was suspended from school for three days, but he has not been charged. According to the Dallas Morning News, which first reported the story, he may yet be charged with making a hoax bomb.

He told the Dallas Morning News that when he showed his engineering teacher the clock, he told him, “‘I would advise you not to show any other teachers.’” Later that day, when he showed it to his English teacher, she said it looked like a bomb, he told the paper. The newspaper also reported that Mohamed's school principal threatened him with expulsion, and that when police first questioned him at the school, they accused him of trying to make a bomb. They told him the clock "looks like a movie bomb," he told the paper.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is investigating, saying the incident is typical of the negative attitudes toward Muslims in Irving.

In the meantime, there has been an outpouring of public support for Mohamed, with #Istandwithahmed becoming one of the top trending hashtags worldwide on Twitter.

Responding to the outpouring of support, Ahmed tweeted a thank you on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Ahmed received a very special invitation: