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Obama invites student arrested over homemade clock to the White House

Obama invites student arrested over homemade clock to the White House

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President Obama wants Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old who was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school, to bring his creation to the White House. Obama tweeted out support for Mohamed this morning, saying that America ought to be encouraging students to get into science and engineering — presumably, rather than arresting them. "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."

Hillary Clinton tweeted support for Mohamed as well. In a tweet, her campaign essentially condemned the arrest as Islamophobic, albeit with far less explicit language. "Assumptions and fear don't keep us safe — they hold us back," the tweet reads. "Ahmed, stay curious and keep building." Though the tweet wasn't signed by Clinton herself, it comes through her campaign account.

There's been uproar over Mohamed's arrest as news spread of it overnight and into this morning. Mohamed was arrested on Monday for bringing a homemade clock to school that police deemed to be a "hoax bomb," even though he maintained that it was only a clock. "Because his name is Mohamed and because of September 11th, I think my son got mistreated," Mohamed's father told The Dallas Morning News. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has also commented on the arrest. "This all raises a red flag for us," Alia Salem, director of the council's North Texas chapter told the paper. "We’re still investigating, but it seems pretty egregious."

As for the Republican response? Well, there hasn't been any, but presidential candidate Ted Cruz did release an ad stoking fear in "radical Islamic terrorism." Cruz is currently a senator for Texas, where Mohamed goes to school.

Update September 16th, 1:07PM ET: This story has been updated to include response from President Obama.