Ahmed Mohamed's parents handed out pizza to reporters outside their home

Ahmed Mohamed's parents offered pizza to the media waiting outside their home

Serina Sandhu
Thursday 17 September 2015 13:59 BST
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Ahmed Mohamed gave a press conference outside his home in Texas on Wednesday
Ahmed Mohamed gave a press conference outside his home in Texas on Wednesday

The parents of the boy who was arrested for taking a homemade clock into school greeted the world's media camped outside their home with boxes of pizza.

Earlier this week, it was reported that 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed, from Texas, was questioned by the police after the clock he had taken into school to show his teachers was thought to resemble a bomb.

The boy was taken away from his school in handcuffs to a juvenile detention centre. The police have dropped the charges against the youngster, but his arrest has been highly criticised.

Ahead of a press conference delivered outside his home in Irving, Ahmed's parents delivered pizza and drinks to the crowd of waiting media.

Ahmed Mohammed's family offers pizza to crowd of waiting media at his home

During the press conference, the 14-year-old said: "I built the clock to impress my teacher, but when I showed it to her, she thought it was a threat to her."

"So it was really sad she took the wrong impression of it," he said, adding he planned to transfer from MacArthur High School and wanted to go to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

But the teenager encouraged other people his age to keep inventing: "Go for it! Don't let people change who you are, even if you get a consequence for it. I suggest you still show it to people, at least show them your talent."

The Dallas Morning News reported that Ahmed's father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, told reporters at the press conference: "He fixed my phone, my car, my computer. He is a very smart, brilliant kid."

Speaking to The Independent, Ahmed said the arrest had made him lose his innocence.

“I can never look at the world in the same way,” he said. “I like science, but I look like a threat because of my brown skin.”

Additional reporting by AP

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