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Tech Companies Line Up for Clock Whiz, 14

MIT, Twitter, Google, Facebook all have an interest
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 17, 2015 9:33 AM CDT
Tech Companies Line Up for Clock Whiz, 14
Ahmed Mohamed, 14, thanks supporters during a news conference at his home, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015, in Irving, Texas.   (AP Photo/Brandon Wade)

Police in Irving, Texas, aren't pressing charges against Ahmed Mohamed, whose homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb, which means the teen whiz is now free to move his mind to other matters. "I'm thinking about transferring schools from MacArthur to any different school," Ahmed, 14, said at a press conference yesterday to cheers, per USA Today. He adds he wants to attend MIT after high school—a professor has already offered to give him a tour, per MSNBC—but he has quite a few offers he'll need to consider first: Twitter is advocating for an internship, Google has invited him to its upcoming Science Fair, Mark Zuckerberg has proposed meeting Ahmed at Facebook's offices, and President Obama has suggested a visit to the White House, per the Independent. "We should inspire more kids like you to like science," he says. "It's what makes America great."

Though officers initially weighed "hoax bomb" charges, police chief Larry Boyd says they found Ahmed didn't intend to create alarm. Responding to claims that he was targeted because of his skin color and religion, Boyd adds he discussed the issue with leaders at the Islamic Center of Irving, who say the meeting was productive. "The Irving Police Department has always experienced an outstanding relationship with our Muslim community," Boyd says. Though the case now seems resolved, a school district rep maintains we haven't heard both sides of the story. "Unfortunately, the information that has been made public to this point has been very unbalanced," the rep says, per USA Today. "We would provide further factual information about the situation, however we feel it's very important to protect the student's right to privacy." (More Texas stories.)

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