Averi Amsterdam, Staff Writer
It was a morning like any other for MacArthur High School student, Ahmed Mohamed. This bright, 14 year old student designed a clock and brought it to school to show his teachers. Mohamed thought nothing of bringing his creation to school. However, the teachers of MacArthur High School, in Irving, Texas, believed his clock was a hoax bomb. As a result, Mohamed was arrested and suspended from school.
This incident has brought a lot of controversy and uproar around the country. Public figures, including President Obama, heard the news and publicly announced their support of the student. Mohamed’s father told The Dallas Morning News this incident was an act of Islamophobia. There are rumors that the arrest was due to bias against Muslims.
Because of the arrest and suspension, Mohamed and his family felt very uncomfortable in the Irving school district. As a result, the family has un-enrolled their three children from the school district “because of religious persecution.” Since then, Mohamed has received many letters from several different schools who wish to have him as a student. Currently overwhelmed by the entire situation, his father is having him take a break before deciding on where he shall attend school next. During this time, he is set to meet with people from the United Nations, take a pilgrimage to Mecca, and meet with President Obama at the White House.
As the controversy continues to bring uproar around the country, people have concocted many different theories on the situation. There have been several accounts of people believing Mohamed did not create an ordinary clock, but instead a “countdown clock.” In other words, people believe Mohamed intentionally created the clock to count down to zero. Clocks are meant to count up and bombs to count down. The hole in this theory is that the police never mentioned the clock counting down.
Another similar theory consists of beliefs that he did not create the clock himself, but instead disassembled other clocks and put them back together to create his. Mohamed has told the news repeatedly that his clock was his own creation, and it was simple to make.
A final theory leads people to believe that Mohamed made the clock and brought it to school to get arrested on purpose. Believers of this theory think Mohamed purposely did this to create controversy over stereotypes based on religious background.
It is unfortunate that Ahmed Mohamed has undergone such a traumatizing experience while beginning his high school career. The Mohamed family has hired lawyers to bring justice. They hope no other family will have to suffer through a situation like this one. The Irving police considered the case closed as of September 16 and have not brought any charges against Mohamed. His clock is no longer being held by the police and has been available for pickup by the family. Unfortunately, the damage has already been done.
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