#IStandWithAhmed: Fighting Islamophobia one tweet at a time

Many, including some incredibly high-profile supporters, take to social media to let Ahmed know he is not alone


Web Desk September 17, 2015
The teenager was handcuffed and taken to police headquarters and was not allowed to call his parents. PHOTO: The Dallas Morning News

Many, including some incredibly high-profile supporters such as US President Barack Obama and Facebook CEO, are rallying behind a 14-year-old Muslim student who was detained in Texas for bringing a homemade clock to school.

Ahmed Mohamed from Irving, Texas, left school in handcuffs on Monday after his teacher and school principal said his homemade clock looked like a bomb.

The hashtag #IStandWithAhmed has taken social media by storm and people are tweeting to let Ahmed know he is not alone.

Read: Obama invites arrested Muslim schoolboy to White House

Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg was not far behind in his support for the teenager and expressed his wish to meet the boy. "Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause, not arrest. The future belongs to people like Ahmed."

“Ahmed, if you ever want to come by Facebook, I’d love to meet you. Keep building,” he wrote in a status update on his Facebook profile.



 

Micro-blogging site Twitter was not one to stay behind and went one step ahead and offered an internship to Ahmed, saying they loved building things too.

https://twitter.com/twitter/status/644261776146632704

Space Camp USA also took to Twitter to inform the 14-year-old he was welcome at the camp as someone had provided a scholarship for him.



Read: Muslim student arrested in US after home-built clock mistaken for bomb

And Google invited him to its science fair, but only if he promised to bring his clock.

https://twitter.com/googlescifair/status/644219471469629440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Celebrities and many others have also been tweeting in support of Ahmed and there is no sign of them stopping any time soon.





https://twitter.com/shannonwoodward/status/644181586695471104



https://twitter.com/floresgump11/status/644173833713283072

https://twitter.com/LOMBARDIGNITY/status/644175309286318080







https://twitter.com/BruiseAurora/status/644161725005062145

https://twitter.com/femme_esq/status/644158440932249600

Overwhelmed by all the support, Ahmed thanked everyone and appealed to them to come "together to stop this racial inequality and prevent this from happening again".



Some people also used the hashtag which was trending worldwide to share photos of themselves with clocks or watches to show solidarity:





The 14-year-old intends to stand up for his rights and tweeted that he would be meeting his lawyer to come up with the future course of action.



He has also set up a fundraiser account for anyone who would like to help him:

https://twitter.com/IStandWithAhmed/status/644319978225700864

COMMENTS (12)

Jacinta | 8 years ago | Reply I'm confused, a suitcase with a clock in it isn't a bomb? wow! That makes the bomb squads job a lot easier!!! Just leave it!! It's just a brilliant persons homemade clock! No need for alarm!! Can I take one of these cool "clocks" on the airplane with me?? I shouldn't have a problem going through security- now that the world has been properly educated and is now aware that a suitcase that ticks is completely harmless!!! What a joke this whole situation is and what's funnier is all the idiots applauding this. I'm losing faith in the ability for people to use their common sense and get over this fear of discrimination. Ted Kaczynski was white. i don't care who you are, a suitcase, a clock..... (Dismantled clock that is, put in a brief case, he just forgot the explosives, doesn't seem so smart to me)
Xman | 8 years ago | Reply @wb : if you'd paid a little more attention, you would have realised its not about the clock that is special, it's the skill and ambition to build something new and cool (something copycat Indians will never understand)
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