Updated 5.58pm
THE STORY OF 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed who was arrested after bringing a homemade clock to his Texas school has sparked derision all around the globe.
The child, who was taken from his school in handcuffs because of his extra-curricular science work, has since been invited to the White House.
Despite this, his school is sticking by the line that they were right to be vigilant for the safety of other students.
You might think their view would be considered pretty odd, but when the arrest was brought up in the first Republican debate last night they didn’t really want to talk about.
Just four of the more minor republican candidates were taking part in the first debate, George Pataki, Lindsey Graham, Rick Santorum and Bobby Jindal.
It was Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal who was asked about the child’s arrest. Although made the shockingly obvious observation that “a 14-year-old shouldn’t be arrested for bringing a clock to school”, he added that he’s “glad that police are careful”.
He also said he felt that discrimination against Christians is a bigger issue in America than discrimination against Muslims.
Mohamed spoke to MSNBC’s All In With Chris Hayes about what happened at his school when the clock was discovered.
Click here to watch the interview.
“I went to an interrogation room [a school resource' room] filled with four other officers,” he explained, claiming he was denied permission to speak with his parents.
He alleged one officer leaned back in his chair when he saw Mohamed and commented ‘That’s who I thought it was’.
Mohamed told the programme:
They asked me a couple of times ‘Is it a bomb?’, and I answered a couple of times, ‘No, it’s a clock’.
After more than hour of questioning, the officers were not satisfied that Mohamed had brought the clock to school to impress his teachers, and placed him under arrest.
I felt like I was a criminal, I felt like I was a terrorist, I felt like all of the names I was called [in school].
Additional reporting by Nicky Ryan. Originally published 11.04am.
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