Ahmed Mohamed, 14, gestures as he arrives to his family’s home in Irving, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old pulled out of a Texas school in handcuffs after a digital clock he built was mistaken for a bomb, withdrew from MacArthur High in Irving, Texas — or, rather, his father withdrew for him while he was in California visiting Google, according to a Texas newspaper. The family is headed to the United Nations and then, possibly, Saudi Arabia.
The ninth-grader’s story went viral last week after it was revealed that he had recently enrolled in MacArthur, only to run into trouble when built a digital clock to show his teachers what he could do. One teacher became concerned because the clock did not look like a traditional one and might be a bomb, and police were called. Mohamed was handcuffed and taken to police headquarters and held for several hours but was then released.
Support for Ahmed Mohamed was swift, with President Obama, Mark Zuckerberg, Hillary Clinton and others tweeting their support. Other high schools offered him admission after, and he was invited to the White House as well as the United Nations.
The Dallas Morning News quoted his father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, as saying that he withdrew Ahmed from MacArthur but no decision has been made yet about where he will enroll next. Ahmed was in California visiting Google’s Mountain View campus to attend a science fair being held there. He was a big hit with the students, according to CNN.
Ahmed’s father told the Texas newspaper that the family is going this week to the United Nations, where his son will meet international dignitaries who are eager to meet him. After that, the family will make a pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, if they can get a visa. When they return, they hope to visit President Obama.