Science | atheists Famed Atheist: The 'Clock Kid' Is a Fraud Richard Dawkins lays into 14-year-old kid By Neal Colgrass Posted Sep 20, 2015 5:19 PM CDT Copied Ahmed Mohamed, 14, gestures as he arrives to his family's home in Irving, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/LM Otero) Think the "clock kid" has a friend in famed atheist Richard Dawkins? Seems not: Ahmed Mohamed, 14, who was arrested in Texas when authorities thought he'd built a bomb instead of a clock, perpetrated "fraud" and perhaps "wanted to be arrested," tweeted Dawkins today. Here's some of the tweet flow, per Gawker and the Huffington Post: From Dawkins: @I_Love_Atheism "Because he disassembled & reassembled a clock (which is fine) & then claimed it was his 'invention' (which is fraud)."—Richard Dawkins @HarryStopes "I don't know. Possibly wanted to be arrested? Police played into his hands? Anyway, now invited to White House, crowdfunded etc"—Richard Dawkins From others: "Richard, you're missing the point a little here."—Bang the Bore "fraud? That's a very emotive word to apply to a young child who is enthusiastic about engineering."—Matt Bradley "He's an enthusiastic fourteen year [old] and you, a grown man and public figure, are trashing him on the internet for 'fraud'"—Jon "remember when you were a scientist instead of a twitter crank...those were better days"—Physically, I'll Then Dawkins seemed to cool off: "Sorry if I go a bit over the top in my passion for truth. Not just over a boy's alleged 'invention' but also media lies about J Corbyn."—Richard Dawkins But the Twitter-verse was unimpressed: "Richard Dawkins now one of the consipracy theorists who think a kid planned to get arrested so he could be famous https://t.co/7lhST0K1k"—Physically, I'll Read These Next Beyonce leaves national anthem unfinished. Musk says his new party is in business. See the best BBQ cities in the US. Iraq's national game of deception brings out the best bluffers. Report an error