Within a week, Muslim teenager Ahmed Mohamed went from being just another ninth grader at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas, to being handcuffed and humiliated, to having his creativity and drive praised by the nation's top inventors and politicians.
Mohamed was arrested on Monday at his school for bringing in a homemade clock that he thought would impress his engineering teacher. Instead, school administrators asked him if he'd tried to "make a bomb," and later informed police. A photo of Mohamed being handcuffed by the cops (while wearing a NASA t-shirt) went viral and soon caught the attention of everyone from President Barack Obama to chief executive and founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg.
The teen spoke with MSNBC's Chris Hayes on Wednesday night about what he's learned from the support he's gotten from around the country during his whirlwind week.
I feel really well after, because before I didn't think I was going to get any support because I'm a Muslim boy. So I thought I was just going to be another victim of injustice. But thanks to all my supporters on social media, I got this far, thanks to you guys. I see it as a way of people sending a message to the rest of the world that just because something happens to you because of who you are, no matter what you do, people will always have your back.
Watch the full interview above.
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