No charges for teen arrested after homemade clock mistaken for bomb


UPDATE: A Texas teen has been cleared of any wrongdoing. Ahmed Mohamed was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to MacArthur High School.

His story quickly became viral.

But in a press conference Wednesday, police said Mohamed did nothing wrong and has closed the case, KXAS reported.

Police provided local media with an image of the clock that was fit inside a pencil box as, what police said, was proof of the cause of concern.

>>Read the school district's statement

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Original post: A Texas teen was arrested and removed from school for building a homemade clock that teachers thought looked like a bomb.

Ahmed Mohamed wanted to impress his teachers with his clock when he took it to MacArthur High School Monday.

Mohamed showed the case of wires, a circuit board and digital display to his engineering teacher Monday morning, The Dallas Morning News reported.

"He was like, 'That's really nice. I would advise you not to show any other teachers," Mohamed said.

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Mohamed listened, keeping the clock in his bag, until the alarm beeped in English class. He said he showed his teacher the invention later, and she said it looked like a bomb and kept the clock.

Later in the day, the principal and a police officer removed Mohamed from class. He was questioned and his belongings were searched. Mohamed claims the principal threatened to expel him if he didn't make a written statement, The Dallas Morning News reported.

Police said they don't think the device was dangerous, but don't believe Mohamed told them everything.

"We have no information that he claimed it was a bomb," police spokesman James McLellan said. "He kept maintaining it was a clock, but there was no broader explanation."

"It could reasonably be mistaken as a device if left in a bathroom or under a car. The concern was, what was this thing built for? Do we take him into custody?"

Police did take Mohamed into custody, hands cuffed and two officers escorting him from the building, taking him to take his fingerprints, a mug shot and to meet his parents, KXAS reported.

Police did not formally charge Mohamed, but the school's principal suspended him for three days, WFAA reported

The Dallas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said Mohamed was singled out because of his religious and racial identity, WFAA reported.

"I think this wouldn't even be a question if his name wasn't Ahmed Mohamed," Alia Salem of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said. "He is an excited kid who is very bright and wants to share it with his teachers."

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