How ridiculous was the Ahmed Mohamed clock story? As everybody knows by now, Ahmed was the 14-year-old Muslim boy who brought a “clock” to school for show and tell. Unfortunately, the “clock” looked for all the world more like a briefcase bomb than it did a clock. He showed it to an engineering teacher at his Dallas suburban high school, who said it was nice, but advised him not to show it around school or show other teachers. Undeterred by that teacher’s sound guidance, Ahmed plugged in the clock during English class and when it beeped, a teacher became alarmed. The cops were called and the rest, as they say, is history. The young lad was arrested and handcuffed and his device was confiscated. He later was released and all charges were dropped after it was determined that his clock was, in fact, nothing more than a clock. Following the incident – of course – the teacher, the principal, the cops and anyone else who questioned the wisdom of bringing a bomb-looking clock to school were immediately labeled as bigots, racists, idiots, islamophobes or worse. Absurd, because, frankly, all they were doing was their jobs. And of course the White House weighed in: “This episode is a good illustration of how pernicious stereotypes can prevent even good-hearted people who have dedicated their lives to educating young people from doing the good work that they set out to do,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, is quoted as saying in the New York Times. I can tell you with absolute certainty that statement is patently asinine. Here’s why. You are about to turn the page. When you do, you will see a picture of Ahmed’s clock. And when you see that picture, it will become stunningly obvious to you that any student – regardless of race, gender, religion, age, intellect or acne count – would have got in big trouble for bringing something like that to school. Kids get expelled for carrying a nail clipper into school these days, for crying out loud. Or how about the kid who got in trouble for brandishing a Pop Tart® he had nibbled into the shape of a handgun? (That really happened.) Oh, but the plot thickens. I watched the kid’s video where he called the clock an “invention” that he “built.” I’ve fiddled around with traces on circuit boards. I’ve tracked down and repaired cold solder joints. I know a little bit about these sorts of things. So when I first heard he “invented” and “built” a clock, I took that at face value. I figured the kid probably bought a couple generic circuit boards, a digital display, a nine-volt power supply, a battery holder and some wires and threw it all together. Well, it seems people who get way more geeked up about electronics than I do didn’t take the kid at his word. They studied the photograph you’re looking at here and determined that the components inside the little briefcase are actually from a Micronta/Radio Shack alarm clock, circa 1986. So what the kid did was tear apart an electric alarm clock and screw it’s parts into a small aluminim brief case. Then, against a teacher’s advice, he took it to class and plugged it in. Now, this bright young lad was supposedly surprised by all the attention he got from school officials and the cops. He had no idea he could get in trouble. It was just a clock, right? Well, one of the aforementioned bloggers who watched the kid’s video noted the following on artvoice.com: “He explains that he closed up the box with a piece of cord because he didn’t want it to look “suspicious.” I’m curious, why would “looking suspicious” have even crossed his mind before this whole event unfolded, if he was truly showing off a hobby project, something so innocuous as an alarm clock?” Good question. And I have a fair idea of an answer. I think the kid wanted to get caught. I think he knew his clock looked like a bomb and he had a pretty good idea this whole thing would blow up – pun fully intended – into precisely the absurd national news story it did. I know what you’re thinking. No way a 14-year-old could be quite that sly. And perhaps you’re right. So meet Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, a Sudanese immigrant. He’s quite a character. He ran for president of the Sudan in 2010 and again in 2015 – from Dallas – although neither he nor his party ever appeared on the ballot. He’s been active in pushing Islamic issues for years, but his biggest headlines came from “his bizarre role in Rev. Terry Jones’ incendiary Quran trial. In 2012, when the Florida pastor made good on his threat to burn a Quran in his Gainesville church and put the Quran on ‘trial,’ Mohamed, who refers to himself as a sheik, was apparently the one Muslim willing to play along as the defense in the mock trial,” according to the Dallas Observer. Muslim leaders in Texas, meanwhile, were skeptical of the guy. Imam Zia ul Haque Sheikh, head of the Islamic Center of Irving, told the Seattle Times, “This so-called leader, we have never heard of this person. I believe the whole thing is made up.” The result of the clock incident? The kid and his dad have garnered an audience with President Barack Obama, a meeting with United Nations dignitaries in New York, a trip to Saudi Arabia for the Islamic hajj and $20,000 in cash donations – so far. Was this an innocent, budding young electrical engineer simply trying to show off his “invention” who inadvertently became the target of Islamic bigotry? Or did we get played? I don’t know. You decide. “Cool clock, Ahmed,” President Obama said on Twitter. “Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.” The President’s staff then invited Ahmed to the White House for Astronomy Night on Oct. 19. It’s a time for scientists, engineers, astronauts, teachers and students to spend a night stargazing from the South Lawn. I wonder how the Secret Service would’ve handled it if little Ahmed and his “cool clock” would have showed up randomly for a White House Tour.
