President Barack Obama has voiced his support for the 14-year-old Muslim teenager arrested by police after taking a homemade clock to school.
As reports said police from Irving, Texas, had decided they would not charge Ahmed Mohamed with making a hoax bomb - as his family had been told they might - Mr Obama invited the teenager to take his clock to the White House.
Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great.
— President Obama (@POTUS) September 16, 2015
"Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House?," he said.
"We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great."
.@anildash @IStandWithAhmed we would love to have Ahmed visit us at MIT!
— Chanda (王嬋娟) (@IBJIYONGI) September 16, 2015
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also voiced his support for the schoolboy. Engineers from Google, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and NASA also offered their support and a tour of their facilities.
"Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause, not arrest. The future belongs to people like Ahmed," Mr Zuckerberg wrote on his own page.
Ahmed Mohamed was arrested for taking his homemade clock to school in Texas
The teenager told The Independent that he had lost his innocence after being detained by police and that he had been made to feel like a criminal. “I like science, but I look like a threat because of my brown skin," he said.
As outcry over his arrest grew, people voiced their support for the youngster on twitter using the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed
