Barack Obama has shown his support for Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old Muslim boy who was arrested for making a clock that his teachers believed to be a bomb.
The President tweeted an invite to dinner at the White House, writing: "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."
On Wednesday, people took to Twitter to show their solidarity with Mohamed using the #IStandWithAhmed hashtag. The teenager now has a long line of supporters including Mark Zuckerberg, who invited him visit Facebook.
Mohamed was arrested after a teacher raised concerns about the clock, prompting police to question him, search his things and march him from the school in handcuffs. He was wearing a NASA t-shirt when he was arrested.
Police said they did not believe the device was dangerous but said it would be mistaken for a fake explosive.
Mohamed was suspended from school for three days but has not yet been charged.
“She was like, 'it looks like a bomb',” Ahmed told Dallas News of what the teacher said. “I told her, ‘It doesn’t look like a bomb to me.’”
“[A police officer said] ‘So you tried to make a bomb?’ I told them no, I was trying to make a clock. He said, ‘It looks like a movie bomb to me.’”
A Twitter account claiming to be Mohamed and his family has now been verified.