Ahmed Mohamed, a Muslim ninth-grader in Irving, Texas, was arrested by police Monday at the beckoning of teachers who thought he brought a bomb to school. One problem: the “bomb’’ was an electronic clock that Ahmed made for an engineering class project.

Police did not file charges, according to The Dallas Morning News, but Ahmed was suspended by the school for three days, even though the 14-year-old maintained from the beginning the clock was a clock. Critics have blasted the school, accusing teachers of racial profiling.

Ahmed’s story went viral Wednesday, with the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed trending number one on Twitter in the United States.


MIT astrophysics postdoctoral fellow Chanda Prescod-Weinstein reached out on Twitter to the aspiring engineer, who was wearing a NASA shirt at the time of his arrest, to invite him to the university.

.@anildash @IStandWithAhmed we would love to have Ahmed visit us at MIT! — Chanda (王嬋娟) (@IBJIYONGI) September 16, 2015

Turns out, MIT is Ahmed’s dream school.

@IBJIYONGI @anildash I would love to!! MIT is my dream school. — Ahmed Mohamed (@IStandWithAhmed) September 16, 2015

Prescod-Weinstein then surprised Ahmed on MSNBC’s All In with Chris Hayes Wednesday night, this time inviting him to a tour of both MIT and Harvard. “You are the kind of student we want at places like MIT and Harvard,’’ she said.

(Skip to 9:05 mark.)

Prescod-Weinstein wasn’t the only one to extend the high schooler an invitation to visit:

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

You’ve probably seen the story about Ahmed, the 14 year old student in Texas who built a clock and was arrested when he... Posted by Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday, September 16, 2015

A few NASA employees also reached out, after a journalist shared the photo of Ahmed wearing a shirt with their logo.

I expect they will have more to say tomorrow, but Ahmed's sister asked me to share this photo. A NASA shirt! pic.twitter.com/nR4gt992gB — Anil Dash (@anildash) September 16, 2015

Anytime you wanna see Mars rovers Ahmed, let me know. #IStandWithAhmed — Imperator MARSiosa (@cirquelar) September 16, 2015

Ahmed, I'd be happy to show you how we drive the Opportunity rover. Come visit us at JPL any time. #IStandWithAhmed https://t.co/VtesUugxj3 — Mike Seibert (@mikeseibert) September 16, 2015

Including the mohawk guy:

Hey Ahmed, give me a call in a couple years. We could always use smart, curious & creative people. https://t.co/02a4feMrk5 — Bobak Ferdowsi (@tweetsoutloud) September 16, 2015

Photos of old MIT