A Texas teenager taken away in handcuffs this week after staff mistook a homemade clock he brought to school for a bomb has been given a personal invitation from President Barack Obama to visit the White House.
Ahmed Mohamed, 14, was accused of making a hoax bomb, police in Irving, near Dallas, said.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations said he is Muslim and the case serves as an example of the climate of hate and manufactured fear around the religion.
Ahmed was led away in handcuffs from MacArthur High School on Monday for a project he put together to impress his new high school classmates and teachers.
By today, his story had spread on the internet, leading to many messages of support.
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
The White House invited him to participate in its astronomy night next month with NASA astronauts and other young people, spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
"In this instance, it's clear that at least some of Ahmed's teachers failed him. That's too bad," he said.
Ahmed told a news conference in front of his house that he was going to Washington for the White House Astronomy Night.
Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg also invited the teenager to drop by his California-based company.
"Having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause, not arrest," he wrote on his Facebook page.
The incident has launched a social media campaign called #IStandWithAhmed, which was the No. 1 trending topic in the United States on Twitter for most of the day with nearly a million tweets, many critical of the school district and police.
"I built the clock to impress my teacher but when I showed it to her, she thought it was a threat to her. It was really sad that she took the wrong impression of it and I got arrested for it later that day," he said.
The teenager, who dabbles in robotics, said he was encouraged by the social media support, loved to invent things and will be looking to transfer to a different high school.
The clock, which had a digital display and circuit board, was in the possession of police, he said.
Police said no charges have been filed and they considered the case closed.
Ahmed was handcuffed and taken to a detention center where he was fingerprinted and had mug shots taken. He was freed when his parents came for him.
Police said the device was in a case and could be mistaken for a bomb. Police spokesman James McLellan said religion had nothing to do with their response.
Two school police officers initially questioned the student and he told them he had built a clock.
"He didn't explain properly what it was and they felt compelled to arrest him," Mr McLellan said.
