Voting Station

Ahmed Mohamed

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Student

The Resume

    Resides in Irving, Texas
    Son of Sudanese-American entrepreneur, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed
    Former student at MacArthur High School
    Nicknamed 'Clock Boy' by several political outlets
    Came to national attention, at the age of 14, after being arrested for bringing an alleged 'hoax bomb' to school (Sept. 14, 2015)
    Reportedly had reconstructed an electronic clock in a pencil box and brought it to school to show his physics teacher
    English teacher allegedly mistook the clock for a bomb, confiscated the project and reported him to the school principal's office
    Local authorities were subsequently alerted and, after an hour and a half questioning, Mohamed was handcuffed and taken into custody
    News of the arrest went viral on social media, inspiring the trending hashtag, #IStandWithAhmed, and attracting the attention and support of Hillary Clinton, Mark Zuckerberg, and, most notably, President Barack Obama, who elicited an invitation to the White House on Twitter (Sept. 17, 2015)
    Effectively translated his newfound viral celebrity to an advocacy tool to promote education in the sciences and to raise awareness of Muslim issues
    Awarded 'Muslim of the Year' by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (Oct. 18, 2015)
    Announced that he would be moving with his family from the United States to Doha, Qatar; after accepting a scholarship from the Qatar Foundation (Oct. 21, 2015)

Why he might be annoying:

    Many argued that if any kid, Muslim or not, had come into a school with a similar device, they would have at least been questioned about it.
    Mark Cuban claimed to have heard his sister feeding him answers about the arrest over the phone.
    He was issued an offer to return to school after his three-day suspension, but he declined.
    He reportedly had a history of suspensions and behavioral issues with faculty.
    Many of his disciplinary issues stemmed from his 'inventions' he brought to school (e.g. rigging a teacher's projector with a special remote he built, turning it on and off during a lesson, then invoking the First Amendment when sent to the Principal's).
    Even sympathetic observers who opposed his arrest also admitted that, upon seeing pictures of it, the digital clock he gutted 'didn't really look all that much like a clock' (not round, no hands, didn't obviously tell the time, etc.)
    His story was reduced to a chronicle of irrational xenophobia, but its usually left out that he initially showed it to his physics teacher, who approved but cautioned him to conceal it.
    When the clock's alarm subsequently went off during his English class, he was asked to bring forth the bag containing a suspicious-looking wired device (did we mention this was during the week of 9/11?)
    Critics claimed that the uproar against the arrest was encouraging people to look the other way at signs of suspicious activity, in the name of political correctness.
    Greta Van Susteren, for example, defended the faculty on her Facebook page, writing that if it had been a bomb, the teachers, 'since they acted fast and called the police... would be heroes. If it HAD been a bomb and they DID NOTHING, they would have been incompetent at best... These teachers can't win.'
    Conspiracy theorists had a field day when his family announced their plans to move to Qatar less than 24 hours after attending the White House's Astronomy Night and meeting President Obama (what did they discuss, what's the real reason they're going, etc.)
    That his father was a known Islamic rights activist who had ran for President of Sudan twice (while still in Texas) contributed to the belief that the whole stunt had been staged as a means of provoking a sympathetic reaction for the Muslim community.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His father crossed legal swords with radical anti-Muslim pastor, Terry Jones.
    He was prevented from calling his parents during his lengthy interrogation.
    Prior to his arrest, the most notable figure to attend MacArthur High had been gay porn star, Chris Steele.
    His Principal threatened him with expulsion unless he signed a written statement about his 'hoax bomb,' before being handcuffed, fingerprinted, and detained.
    He had previously filed complaints against the school district after being bullied as 'ISIS Boy,' 'bacon boy,' and 'terrorist.'
    He also claimed to have been disciplined by school faculty for reciting Islamic prayers during school hours.
    While the exact nature of his previous offenses were confidential, at least one of them was known to be his getting caught blowing bubbles in the school bathroom with a friend (the humanity...)
    It was also reported that one of his suspensions had been overturned when it was confirmed that he had acted in self-defense during a hallway fight provoked by another student.
    He was derided as an attention seeker who screamed Islamaphobia, attracting anti-Muslim cyberbullying that only reinforced his claim of experiencing prejudice.
    For the most part, he came off as just a polite, unassuming kid inserted into an existing culture war by outside forces.
    He received offers to intern for Twitter, to attend Google's Science Fair, and to visit Mark Zuckerberg at the Facebook headquarters.
    He was sucked into a one-sided feud with a black teenage Conservative blogger, C.J. Pierson, who ripped the Obama White House for extending an invitation to Mohamed but ignoring the families of terror attacks (he would later claim to have been blocked from Obama's Twitter page as a result).
    He is technologically handy and resourceful (jerry-rigging a battery to charge his teacher's dead cell phone, wiring the switchboard of a media player for his interview with Robin Roberts, etc.)

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 12 Votes: 91.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 91 Votes: 51.65% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 10 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 75 Votes: 53.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 313 Votes: 66.45% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 14 Votes: 78.57% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 160 Votes: 61.25% Annoying