Washington
: The Muslim teenager who was detained when his teacher mistook his homemade clock for a bomb visited the White House Monday, after a receiving a very public invite from President Barack Obama.
Ahmed Mohamed joined a group of students, teachers, scientists, astronauts and celebrities -- including the -"Myth Busters-" and Bill Nye -- for White House Astronomy Night.
Mohamed had hoped to impress teachers by bringing a clock to his Texas school earlier this year, but was instead reported by suspicious staff who called the police.
A photo of Mohamed standing in handcuffs while wearing a t-shirt with the US space agency NASA's logo was retweeted thousands of times in a matter of hours and -"#IStandWithAhmed-" became the top trending hashtag on Twitter.
Mohamed did, however, impress Obama, who congratulated the teen on his skills, in what was seen as a pointed rebuke to school and police officials amid accusations of Islamophobia.
-"Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It's what makes America great,-" Obama tweeted.
During remarks at Monday's event, Obama did not mention Mohamed by name, but spoke about the need for teachers, parents and others to inspire young people.
-"We have to watch for and cultivate, encourage, those glimmers of curiosity and possibility, not suppress them, not squelch them,-" he said.
