Richard Dawkins Compares 'Clock Boy' Ahmed Mohamed to ISIS Child Executioner
Months after the arrest of 14-year-old student Ahmed Mohamed in Irving, Texas for bringing a homemade clock to school resulted in widespread public outcry and a White House invite from President Barack Obama, outspoken New Atheist leader and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins is still trying to prove the kid is nothing more than a crappy inventor who could have been a terrorist.
Responding to news that Mohamed's family is seeking $15 million from the city of Irving for civil rights violations, Dawkins rehashed allegations the clock in question was just an alarm clock disassembled to resemble a suitcase explosive, and a deliberate bomb hoax.
Don't call him "clock boy" since he never made a clock. Hoax Boy, having hoaxed his way into the White House, now wants $15M in addition!
@Mukhtarishaq2 He didn't make anything. He opened a clock, took out the innards and put them in a box so they looked like a bomb
In another tweet, Dawkins took issue with the "only a kid" sentiment, linking to an article about the ISIS child executioner shown beheading a victim.
"But he's only a kid." Yes, a "kid" old enough to sue for $15M those whom he hoaxed. And how old is this "kid"? http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/isis-shocking-video-shows-islamic-state-child-executioner-beheading-victim-1511403 ...
Dawkins then posted in defense of his original tweets, saying he was bewildered anyone could possibly think his comparison between Mohamed and a child soldier was actually a comparison between Mohamed and a child soldier.
How COULD you think I was likening a hoaxer to a killer? I just meant "Only a kid" is not a knockdown defence. Remember poor James Bulger?
The ISIS child executioner was brainwashed by adults. James Bulger's killers weren't & they were ten. "Only a kid" needs thinking about.
It's far from the first time critics have claimed Mohamed simply took apart a factory-made clock, made it look like a bomb and then played the politically correct card in his defense. As the Daily Beast reported in September, several tech bloggers and YouTube contributors alleged the fake clock could have only been intended to scare people.
But to many others, the issue at hand has less to do with the sophistication of Mohamed's clock and more with the possibility that he is the victim of Islamophobic discrimination.
In an interview with the Dallas Morning News back in September, Mohamed explained why the incident — which included him getting handcuffed and interrogated by police who allegedly withheld his right to have a parent or lawyer present — was so humiliating.
Source: Mic/YouTube
On Twitter, several users responded by saying Dawkins had thrown his lot in with Islamophobic bullies.
@RichardDawkins You're a 74-year-old picking on a kid. You've completely squandered the good you could've done as an ambassador for science.
@RichardDawkins I used to look up to you. Your books opened my mind w I was a kid. Now you're doing sloppy reactionary thinking; saddens me.
Richard Dawkins is , his tweets are , and the people who namesearch to defend him from the mildest criticism are
Dawkins spends all day on twitter attacking 14 yo, Gun nuts stalk mosques on Friday afternoon: It's clear: Islamophobes need to get a job.
h/t CNN