Ahmed Mohamed, a student inventor in Irving, Texas, was arrested and suspended after teachers thought a homemade clock he brought to school looked like a bomb. Ahmed Mohamed, 14, made the clock and brought it to school on Monday (14 September) in an attempt to impress his engineering teacher. Later in the day Ahmed's creation was confiscated, the police were called and Ahmed was interrogated by five police officers without his parents present (one of whom announced to his colleagues upon seeing Ahmed, "Yup. That’s who I thought it was"). Ahmed was eventually led away in handcuffs to a juvenile detention center where he was fingerprinted and had mug shots taken, made to feel like a criminal throughout the entire ordeal.

Dallas Morning News reported that one of Ahmed's teachers said it looked like a bomb, to which Ahmed responded: "It doesn't look like a bomb to me." Police told the local news agency that the teenager could be charged with making a hoax bomb, although Ahmed has insisted that his device is just a clock and that his passion is to "invent stuff".

In a video interview with Dallas Morning News, Ahmed described the humiliating experience, saying: "It made me feel like I wasn't human. It made me feel like a criminal."

Daniel Cummings, principal of MacArthur High School, wrote a letter to the students' parents, stating: "We want you to be aware that the Irving Police Department responded to a suspicious-looking item on campus yesterday. We are pleased to report that after the police department's assessment, the item discovered at school did not pose a threat to your child's safety." Cummings went on to recommend that parents should talk with their children "about the Student Code of Conduct and specifically not bringing items to school that are prohibited".

On April 18th, 2015 another student in Texas Micah McKee invented and built a robot that could draw for a sick friend and used it as his science experiment. Micah was praised for his ingenuity and compassion, even making the news.

This blatant stereotyping and ill-treatment of a young, impressionable mind all based on the color of his skin should not be tolerated. This young inventor should be celebrated and the brains behind both the suspension and arrest should face harsh punishment and made to attend sensitivity training when dealing with minorities, especially when they are children.

Ahmed is currently serving a three-day suspension from school. We are asking for Ahmed's criminal charges and suspension be dismissed and removed from his record.