Muslim student arrested over clock 'bomb' withdraws from Texas school

The clock made by Ahmed Mohamed and mistaken by his school for a bomb. Reuters

A teenage Muslim student who was arrested last week after high school staff said they mistook his homemade clock for a bomb withdrew from the school district on Monday, the Dallas Morning News reported.

Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, the father of 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed, told the newspaper that he formally withdrew his son from the Irving Independent School District, adding that he was also pulling out his two other children.

Mohamed became an internet sensation after a photo showing the bespectacled ninth grader clad in a NASA T-shirt being led away in handcuffs from MacArthur High School last Monday went viral.

"Ahmed said, I don't want to go to MacArthur," Mohamed's father told the Morning News. "These kids aren't going to be happy there."

article Related

Mohamed was accused of making a hoax bomb, handcuffed and questioned, and received a three-day suspension from the Irving, Texas high school over the clock he put together to impress his new classmates and teachers.

No charges were filed and police said they would review the decisions officers made in his arrest.

In the wake of the incident, Mohamed won widespread praise for his ingenuity and also received several invitations, including one from President Barack Obama to visit the White House.

The arrest sparked allegations of racial and religious profiling, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations called the case an example of the climate of hate and manufactured fear around the religion.

The news comes as Muslim Americans have responded with frustration, exasperation and anger to what many see as a growing wave of Islamophobia fueled by two of the Republican Party's most popular presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Ben Carson.

Ben Carson on Sunday said that Muslims were unfit to be president of the United States, arguing their faith was inconsistent with American principles. He said on Monday that he "absolutely" stood by his comments.

related articles
Richard Dawkins questions motives of 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed, arrested for making clock
Richard Dawkins questions motives of 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed, arrested for making clock

Richard Dawkins questions motives of 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed, arrested for making clock

News
Trump forms Religious Liberty Commission to address 'emerging threats' First Amendment rights
Trump forms Religious Liberty Commission to address 'emerging threats' First Amendment rights

In a new executive action, President Donald Trump has established a new Religious Liberty Commission to bolster protections against “emerging threats” to the US’s longstanding tradition of faith-based freedoms. 

Leviticus: the joyful middle book of the Torah
Leviticus: the joyful middle book of the Torah

Hebrew scholar and Jewish academic Irene Lancaster reflects on Leviticus, holiness and loving your neighbour. 

'The Light He Left Behind': Martin Scorsese unveils new documentary featuring final interview with Pope Francis
'The Light He Left Behind': Martin Scorsese unveils new documentary featuring final interview with Pope Francis

Acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese has announced a forthcoming documentary that will showcase the final on-camera interview with the late Pope Francis, capturing the pontiff’s enduring message of compassion, creativity, and cross-cultural dialogue.

5 things to know about Pope Leo XIV
5 things to know about Pope Leo XIV

Perhaps the most notable aspect of Prevost’s ascension to the papacy is his background.