Science / atheists Famed Atheist: The 'Clock Kid' Is a Fraud Richard Dawkins lays into 14-year-old kid By Neal Colgrass, Newser Staff 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 (More atheists stories.) Report an error