Ahmed Mohamed Went to the Google Science Fair and It Was Glorious

Source: Twitter user OfficalPrajwol

Update: At a news conference, Ahmed Mohamed spoke about his story now that it's gone viral. Not only is he transferring to a new school, but he also told the crowd of reporters his words of advice for anyone: "Don't let people change who are you, even if you get a consequence for it." One reporter asked how he was coping emotionally and Ahmed simply responded, "I felt down about it thinking no one would know about it but all the support on social media has really helped." So far, he has been invited to The White House, Facebook headquarters, MIT (his dream school), a Twitter internship, Box, NASA, and the Google science fair, where he met Google co-founder Sergey Brin..

Thanks @Google for saving me a seat at #googlesciencefair. Amazing projects and people pic.twitter.com/kpjVmlRPHY

— Ahmed Mohamed (@IStandWithAhmed) September 22, 2015

Original story: The Internet is coming together to show support for 14-year-old student Ahmed Mohamed after his school handcuffed him on Monday when he brought a homemade clock to class. School officials in Irving, TX, believed the object to be a "hoax bomb" and held the teen before placing him in juvenile detention.

Here's a photo of the clock:

This is the device Irving Police called suspicious #wfaa pic.twitter.com/arnur3x9LY

— D Fernandez (@DemondFernandez) September 16, 2015

And here is an interview from The Dallas Morning News of Ahmed telling his story.

The story, which broke late Tuesday night, quickly picked up steam with people on the Internet creating the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed. They used it to display their support and outrage that something like this could happen, believing that he was targeted because of his race.

#IStandWithAhmed because children should not be afraid to share their inventions or ideas in fear of incarceration

— amith // tesla (@niallwifipizzas) September 16, 2015

In solidarity with @IStandWithAhmed CAIR-Chicago staff brought our clocks to work too. #IStandWithAhmed pic.twitter.com/NK9CWhyfru

— CAIR-Chicago (@cairchicago) September 16, 2015

Brought my clock to work today. #IStandWithAhmed #Solidarity pic.twitter.com/h4Jr0siF1A

— Simran Jeet Singh (@SimranColumbia) September 16, 2015

Other notable figures like President Obama, Hillary Clinton, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and NASA employees have also come to his defense.

Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.

— President Obama (@POTUS) September 16, 2015

Assumptions and fear don't keep us safe—they hold us back. Ahmed, stay curious and keep building. https://t.co/ywrlHUw3g1

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) September 16, 2015

Anytime you wanna see Mars rovers Ahmed, let me know. #IStandWithAhmed

— Imperator MARSiosa (@cirquelar) September 16, 2015

It appears Ahmed himself has created a Twitter account to thank people for their support.

Thank you for your support! I really didn't think people would care about a muslim boy. #Thankyouforstandingwithme #IStandWithAhmed

— Ahmed Mohamed (@IStandWithAhmed) September 16, 2015

Thank you fellow supporters. We can ban together to stop this racial inequality and prevent this from happening again pic.twitter.com/fBlmckoafU

— Ahmed Mohamed (@IStandWithAhmed) September 16, 2015

Anil Dash, an entrepreneur who regularly blogs and writes about technology and society, has also created a Google Doc for anyone to give words of encouragement and support to Ahmed.

Good morning, all. Great to see an outpouring of support. You can tell Ahmed & family how you'd like to help, here: http://t.co/IHOTsPSCEN

— Anil Dash (@anildash) September 16, 2015

Since Monday, the Irving police chief, Larry Boyd, has decided not to press charges. However, school officials have yet to apologize to Ahmed for suspending him or for this letter sent home to families.

ParentLetter_SuspiciousLookingItematMacArthur

This is definitely not the end of this story and hopefully, with all this support, Ahmed will not stop trying to create and pursue his interests in engineering.