A Muslim teenager arrested earlier this week in Texas for bringing a homemade clock to class says the incident made him feel like a terrorist or other wrongdoer.
{mosads}“I felt like I was a criminal, I felt like I was a terrorist, I felt like I was all the names I was called,” Ahmed Mohamed, 14, said on MSNBC’s “All In” Wednesday night.
“One of the officers did comment on me walking into the room,” Mohamed said of his arrest. “He got back in a reclined chair, and he relaxed, and he was said, ‘That’s who I thought it was.’
“I took it to mean that he was pointing at me for what I am, my race,” the Sudanese-American added. “I never had any contact with him. I never talked to him.”
Mohamed’s arrest and suspension from an Irving, Texas, high school on Monday sparked national debate over racial and religious profiling in America.
The teenager entered the media spotlight when his teachers at MacArthur High School mistook his homemade clock for a bomb.
No charges were filed against the ninth-grader, who said he constructed the device because he is interested in engineering and technology.
Mohamed said on Wednesday evening that the incident was not the first time he was singled out in Irving’s schools.
“In middle school, I was called a terrorist, [I was] called a bomb-maker,” he said. “Just because of my race and religion.”
The incident inspired widespread outrage on social media. Hundreds of thousands of tweets were sent on Wednesday using the hashtag #IStandwithAhmed as users discussed his story or expressed support for the student.
President Obama entered the controversy by inviting Mohamed to the White House.
“Cool clock, Ahmed,” he tweeted. “Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.”
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg also invited Mohamed to its headquarters, while Twitter has offered the student an internship in its organization.
Mohamed said on Wednesday night that he finds people’s support of his interests encouraging.
“I didn’t think I was going to get any support because I’m a Muslim boy,” he said. “I thought I was just going to be another victim of injustice.”
“Thanks to all my supporters on social media, I got this far — thank you guys,” Mohamed said.
“I see it as a way of people sending a message to the rest of the world that just because something happens to you because of who you are, no matter what you do, people will always have your back.”
Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne argued on Wednesday that both school and law enforcement officials in her community “followed protocol” during their investigation.
Mohamed’s family has countered that the incident results from anti-Muslim sentiment in the wake of last weekend’s 14th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.