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Richard Dawkins sparked outrage after questioning whether a boy who was wrongfully arrested for building a ‘bomb’ that turned out to be a clock is a fraud.
Since 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed’s arrest for bringing a homemade clock to school that administrators mistook for a bomb, there has been an outpouring of support for the teen. President Barack Obama invited him to the White House, as did Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The folks at Twitter asked him if he’d like to intern with them.
But Richard Dawkins, the evolutionary biologist and noted writer, scholar and contrarian, found something in Ahmed’s story to take issue with — the use of the word “invention” to describe Mohamed’s work. Dawkins went so far as to suggest that describing his clock as such was “fraud” and a “hoax.”
Disassembling & reassembling is great. But you shouldn't then claim it was your "invention".http://t.co/bBcaWoJpbd
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) September 20, 2015
If the reassembled components did something more than the original clock, that’s creative. If not, it looks like hoax http://t.co/bBcaWoJpbd
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) September 20, 2015
Dawkins faced intense backlash for his remarks and repeatedly noted that he believes the teen’s arrest was wrong.
Yes, I completely agree with that. He should most certainly NOT have been arrested, handcuffed etc. https://t.co/B2yvE00Db9
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) September 20, 2015
I'm not putting down the child. I'm putting down myself & the rest of us for being fooled. And the police for arresting him for nothing.
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) September 20, 2015
He later apologized and retweeted the President’s White House invitation.
Agencies/Canadajournal
