Texas teen arrested for homemade clock to move to Qatar

[webfact]

Texas teen arrested for homemade clock to move to Qatar

DALLAS (AP) — A 14-year-old Muslim boy who was arrested after a homemade clock he brought to school was mistaken for a possible bomb will be moving with his family to the Middle East so he can attend school there, his family said Tuesday.

Ahmed Mohamed's family released a statement saying they had accepted a foundation's offer to pay for his high school and college in Doha, Qatar. He recently visited the country as part of a whirlwind month that included a Monday stop at the White House and an appearance Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol.

"We are going to move to a place where my kids can study and learn, and all of them being accepted by that country," Ahmed's father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, told The Dallas Morning News before boarding an airplane from Washington back home to Texas on Tuesday.

The statement said the family has been "overwhelmed by the many offers of support" since Ahmed's arrest on Sept. 14 at his school in Irving, a Dallas suburb. The family said it accepted an offer from the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development to join its Young Innovators Program.

Ahmed, who along with his family will relocate to Qatar, received a full scholarship for his secondary and undergraduate education. Ahmed said he was impressed with the program and thinks he'll "learn a lot and have fun, too."

Ahmed took a homemade clock to his high school to show a teacher, but another teacher thought it could be a bomb. The school contacted police, who handcuffed the boy and took him to a detention center. The school suspended him for three days.

A police photo of the device shows a carrying case containing a circuit board and power supply wired to a digital display. Police ultimately chose not to charge Ahmed with having a hoax bomb, and the police chief has said there was no evidence the teen meant to cause alarm. His parents later withdrew him from the school.

But in recent weeks, the teenager has been traveling the world. Ahmed earlier this week told The Associated Press that he had visited Google and Facebook, along with other companies and institutions. He also visited with the president of Sudan, Omar al-Bashir, which has prompted some criticism because al-Bashir is wanted by International Criminal Court on charges of genocide and war crimes for atrocities linked to the Darfur fighting. Ahmed's father is a Sudanese immigrant to the U.S. and a former presidential candidate in Sudan who ran opposing al-Bashir.

Before attending "Astronomy Night" at the White House on Monday, where he chatted briefly with President Barack Obama, Ahmed said he was grateful. He said the lesson of his experience is: "Don't judge a person by the way they look. Always judge them by their heart."

On Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol, Ahmed stood alongside California Rep. Mike Honda as the Democrat praised the teen, saying Ahmed had used his negative experience to raise awareness about racial and ethnic profiling. Honda and more than two dozen other congressmen sent a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch last month calling on the Department of Justice to investigate Ahmed's detention and arrest.


-- (c) Associated Press 2015-10-21

[amerasianex]

Good riddance to him and his family...?

[Jingthing]

Happy trails, amigo.

Whatever floats your (bomb) clock!

[Jai Dee]

A number of off-topic posts and subsequent replies have been removed from this thread.

[ezzra]

All these accolades and honors bestowed on a youngster who was found in possession of a 2 bits

clock,,,, he has done nothing, invented nothing,

or built nothing, would have happened had done any of the above? would he be than crowned

the king of the world? god, what a cuckoo world we live......

[GlobalCtzn]

Good riddance to him and his family...?

Xenophobic expats……………………………….oh the irony. You and your posse make me laugh………….at you , not with you

[Jimbo2014]

"a foundation" has paid for his education - sounds like someone was impressed with his clock making skills and may yet find a good use for them

[TheFishman1]

Good for him

[daoyai]

Yea, after it was revealed his clock was not his invention nor homemade, they still went ahead with the sharade and the mainstream press are still calling it a nomemade clock.... obsurd.

[NickJ]

Dont let Lady Liberty hit your a** on the way out.....

[balo]

Crazy , and why Qatar? It's only a desert .

[jesimps]

I'm sure he'll be missed.........not!

[fakename]

Wont be long, before he regrets it.

[jjJJ1133]

Don't let the door hit you in the arse on the way out. Good riddance.

[oneday]

"...Police ultimately chose not to charge Ahmed with having a hoax bomb..."

A hoax bomb...are they kidding me...what a bunch of A-Holes. They just can't admit when they were way off the mark and totally wrong.

I'm all for being diligent and cautious, but not dumb. Everyone connected with that was just plain dumb.

[attento]

Presumably, that school did not employ any Physics or Technology teachers. Maybe they will do soon.

[IAMHERE]

Wont be long, before he regrets it.

I'm betting his family has a special 'green card' that they can use for the next ten years to re-emigrate to the USA; they'll use it too.

[metisdead]

Troll posts have been removed.

[boomerangutang]

Years ago, I arrived in the US. My pre-arranged ride didn't show up. I was at a Post Office. I left my suitcase in the entry room and went looking for a pay-phone to call my ride. When I got back, under 10 minutes later, a P.O. worker was starting to pick up my suitcase. I kindly said, 'whoa, that's mine.' He said, "good thing you showed up just now. I was ordered to take this suitcase to the back lot and blow it up." He wasn't kidding.

[Soutpeel]

Years ago, I arrived in the US. My pre-arranged ride didn't show up. I was at a Post Office. I left my suitcase in the entry room and went looking for a pay-phone to call my ride. When I got back, under 10 minutes later, a P.O. worker was starting to pick up my suitcase. I kindly said, 'whoa, that's mine.' He said, "good thing you showed up just now. I was ordered to take this suitcase to the back lot and blow it up." He wasn't kidding.

Some years back i left a large computer bag hanging on a trolley outside Heathrow, jumped in the taxi and drove off about a mile down the road realised we went back and found " half " of Londons finest "surrounding " the trolley not sure if the bomb squad was on its way....they where not happy chappies when i asked if i could have my bag back LOL

[Chicog]

Not sure they'll want to hang on to their US passports when they find out there is no income tax in Qatar.

[bendejo]

Compound stupidity. The kid did not build the clock, he opened up a store-bought electric clock and pulled out the circuit board and the display, then put them in another type of case. Clever, but does not require a whole lot of technical aptitude, the news stories made it sound like he designed the circuit board. When I was a pre-teen myself and some friends did this kind of thing all the time, our most ambitious attempt was to build a go-kart powered by an electric motor we pulled from a washing machine -- hey, at least we had imagination. For such a thing to earn him a scholarship? Boy, did I miss out!

Wonder if boy-o will join any interesting organizations when he's out there. "I wanna be the guy who makes the speech and cuts off the heads!"

[katana]

The clock invention was clearly a continuation of the Islamic Golden Age, referring to the period in Islam's history during the Middle Ages from the 8th century to the 13th century when much of the historically Arabic-speaking world was ruled by various caliphates, experiencing a scientific, economic, and cultural flourishing.

[Usernames]

Now you know.

After Ahmed’s mother and sister arrived at the station, where the boy was still handcuffed, the family quickly became upset—alternating between dialog in Arabic and accusations that police were mistreating Ahmed.

“It’s because he’s Muslim that you all thought that it was a bomb,” Ahmed’s sister yelled, according to a records clerk in the room.

Ahmed was eventually uncuffed and turned over to his family, but the boy became angry after learning his clock and tablet were still being held as evidence. (Police would not clear him of the hoax bomb charge for another two days.)

He slammed his hand on the counter, some in the station recalled, and demanded: “Why is my device listed as evidence? I am being released! I need it back right now!”

http://irvingblog.dallasnews.com/2015/11/docs-from-ahmed-arrest-reveal-anger-at-police-station-strategy-and-fear-at-city-hall.html/

[bendejo]

What do they mean "it looked like a bomb"? Where have they seen bombs like that before, in 007 movies?

I thought bombs looked like this

[Briggsy]

I wonder if Qatar would like to take Tower Hamlets, Bradford and half of Birmingham too.

[harrry]

He might not last long there...they may send him somewhere wearing one.

I thought the schools response was overkilll (and still do) and wonder how many are radicalised by such responses. A response was needed but this kind of response only has one ending.

Edited November 11, 2015 by harrry

[Usernames]

He might not last long there...they may send him somewhere wearing one.

I thought the schools response was overkilll (and still do) and wonder how many are radicalised by such responses. A response was needed but this kind of response only has one ending.

This kid and his family were already radicalized. That's why they pulled this stunt.

[katana]

New clock for the science fair:

[katana]

Meanwhile, 'Clock Boy' Seeking $15m From City And School.
A 14-year-old Muslim boy who was arrested after a homemade clock he took to his school was mistaken for a bomb is seeking $15m, his lawyers say.
Continued http://news.sky.com/story/1592967/clock-boy-seeking-15m-from-city-and-school