Ahmed Mohamed was arrested and later released over a homemade clock which authorities thought was a bomb (Photo : REUTERS/IRVING TEXAS POLICE DEPARTMENT/HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)
In a bid to quell the chaos and uproar of misjudgment on the part of police and school authorities at accusing a Muslim boy of bringing a bomb to school when his invention was actually a homemade clock, Unites States President Barack Obama has issued a White House invitation to the young man.
High-school student Ahmed Mohamed in the ninth grade who lives in Texas was arrested after his teachers reported him to the Police saying he had brought a clock to school which to the teaching staff at MacArthur High School in Irving resembled a bomb, according to the BBC.
The Texas police have said they will not charge the 14-year-old boy, however, Mohamed has been suspended from school for a day.
Images of the boy being led away in handcuffs by the Police have been circulated via social media and have caused an outpouring of sympathy as well as anger by those in the Muslim community. Many showed their support on social media by rallying round the teen under the hash tag #IstandWithAhmed.
After Mohamed was released by the Texas Police, the young boy spoke to those gathered at a news conference and said his intention was to impress his teachers but when he showed it "she thought it was a threat to her." Further, Ahmed said that he is "very sad" his teacher got the wrong impression.
The young Muslim boy at the press conference further made known his plans to transfer to another school.
The boy's father Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed who is originally from Sudan praised his son's achievement adding, "He's a very smart, brilliant boy and he said he just wanted to show himself to the world."
Many of the comments surrounding the boy's situation have cited his religious background as the main cause of his arrest, which is the same view shared by the largest Muslim civil advocacy group in the United States, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).
Spokesman for the Council, Ibrahim Hooper told Al Jazeera that it is "obvious" the boy's religion had a part to play in his arrest. Hooper added that they believe he would not have been arrested if he was not a Muslim.
It is against this background that President Obama's invitation which came in the form of an informal tweet has come at a time when sentiments have been soured, with Texas Police denying allegations that Mohamed was arrested because of his ethnicity and at the same time no formal apology has been extended by the authorities.
For the moment the young boy has still to accept the President's invitation.
