Twitter would “love” to have Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas student suspended after authorities said they believed a clock he brought to school was a hoax bomb, as an intern, the company said Wednesday.
Mohamed’s story of being handcuffed and suspended from school in Irving, Texas after he brought in a clock he had built himself sparked outrage around the web on Tuesday night and throughout Wednesday. There has been speculation that Mohamed’s Muslim faith led to his detention and suspension.
“I think this wouldn’t even be a question if his name wasn’t Ahmed Mohamed,” Alia Salem, the executive director of the North Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told USA Today.”He is an excited kid who is very bright and wants to share it with his teachers.”
He has received support from other quarters of the tech industry as well. Mark Zuckerberg, the creator and CEO of Facebook, invited Mohamed to the company’s headquarters in his own message.
The smartwatch firm Pebble tweeted, “So, @IrvingISD, we also make digital clocks—you gonna arrest us, too?” Politicians like President Obama and Hillary Clinton also voiced support for the teenager.