Muslim Teen Builds Clock For School Project, Gets Arrested

A 14-year-old at a Texas high school student found himself in handcuffs this week for completing a class project by building a homemade clock.

Ahmed Mohamed, a Muslim at Irving MacArthur High, who “loved robotics class in middle school,” making “his own radios” and repairing “his own go-kart,” according to the Dallas Morning News, was removed from school in handcuffs for making a digital clock out of a metal pencil case and circuit board.

According to police spokesman James McLellan, officers “did not believe Ahmed was giving them the whole story,” when he told them it was just a clock, but that police “had no reason to think it was dangerous.”

So handcuffs?

“They were like, ‘So you tried to make a bomb?’” said Mohamed.

“I told them no, I was trying to make a clock.”

“[The officer] said, ‘It looks like a movie bomb to me.’”

Heads up academically achieving students, you can get arrested because some teachers and cops have seen Hollywood movies.

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

— anildash.com (@anildash) September 16, 2015

Mohamed was suspended for three days, despite a letter addressed to parents and guardians stating “the item … did not pose a threat to your child’s safety.”

Further, police have threatened to charge Mohamed with making a hoax bomb, despite any evidence to support those charges.

Mohamed’s father believes race and the anti-Islamic sentiment coursing through the country played a part in the fiasco.

“Because his name is Mohamed and because of Sept. 11, I think my son got mistreated.”

Don’t display intelligence kids. It’ll get you arrested.