Richard Dawkins questions whether Ahmed Mohamed really did ‘invent’ controversial clock

THE world can’t stop talking about this teenager, who was arrested for taking a clock to school. He’s been accused of being a phony.

THE world can’t stop talking about Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas teenager who was arrested last week after bringing a clock to school.

Now questions are being raised from an unlikely corner.

Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has weighed into the debate over 14-year-old Ahmed’s controversial clock, questioning whether he had truly invented the device at all.

“If this is true, what was his motive?” The God Delusion author tweeted, adding: “Whether or not he wanted the police to arrest him, they shouldn’t have done so”.

If this is true, what was his motive? Whether or not he wanted the police to arrest him, they shouldn’t have done so https://t.co/LtOFAAmVxK

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) September 20, 2015

Dawkins also tweeted this YouTube video called “Ahmed Mohamed Clock is a FRAUD”, in which the creator suggests Ahmed brought the clock into his school, Macarthur High School, to create an “alarmed reaction”.

“This man seems to know what he’s talking about,” Dawkins added.

The British-born writer stuck to his guns as other Twitter users objected to his comments, adding: “Assembling clock from bought components is fine. Taking clock out of its case to make it look as if he built it is not fine. Which is true?

“Yes, there are other reasons why a boy might take a clock out of its casing & pretend he’d made it. Trying to impress teachers, for instance.”

@I_Love_Atheism Because he disassembled & reassembled a clock (which is fine) & then claimed it was his "invention" (which is fraud).

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) September 20, 2015

@HarryStopes I don't know. Possibly wanted to be arrested? Police played into his hands? Anyway, now invited to White House, crowdfunded etc

— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) September 20, 2015

When asked why he was so annoyed, Dawkins replied: “Because he disassembled & reassembled a clock (which is fine) & then claimed it was his “invention” (which is fraud).”

But Dawkins eventually backed down, saying he was sorry if he went “a bit over the top in my passion for truth”.

Acclaimed author Richard Dawkins.

He then retweeted a tweet by US President Barack Obama, in which Obama compliments Ahmed on his “cool clock” and invites him to visit the White House.

Ahmed’s arrest last week roused the attention of a host of big names, including presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, NASA engineers and Ahmed’s “dream school”, the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Ahmed Mohamed, 14, poses for a photo at his home in Irving, Texas with his home-built device. Picture: Vernon Bryant / The Dallas Morning News via AP

But former Alaska governor Sarah Palin took aim at the ninth-grader on Facebook yesterday, saying school authorities were justified in thinking Ahmed’s clock could have been a bomb.

“Right,” she said. “That’s a clock, and I’m the Queen of England.”

Ahmed, an aspiring engineer who spends his spare time tinkering with inventions in his bedroom, said he invented the clock and brought it into school to show off to his teacher.

He was arrested and interviewed by police at length, and suspended from school despite charges against him being dropped.

“It made me feel like I wasn’t a human. It made me feel like I was a criminal,” Ahmed said after his release.