September 16, 2015

President Obama Comes Out in Support of Teen Arrested for Homemade Clock


On Monday, a 14-year-old high school student in Texas was arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school. School and police officials sprung into action after they became convinced that Ahmed Mohamed’s clock was a hoax bomb, and actually arrested him—despite the teenager’s repeated insistence that his invention was just a clock. Many have taken to social media to lend their support to Mohamed, who remains suspended.

Joining the wave on Wednesday was none other than President Barack Obama, who just tweeted the following:

Obama’s comment joins a chorus of supporters, including Hillary Clinton, who earlier today tweeted for Ahmed to “stay curious and keep building.”

Republican presidential hopefuls, however, remain silent. So please, Jake Tapper, broach the topic during tonight’s GOP debate. As our own Kevin Drum explains, it might even give GOP candidates a shot at demonstrating that unlike their party’s current front-runner, “occasionally they care about obvious bigotry like this.” 

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

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