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Ahmed Mohamed clock controversy: Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins labels Texas teenager a fraud

Evolutionary biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins has labeled US teenager Ahmed Mohamed a fraud, claiming that the clock which got him arrested by the Texas police was not an invention, and was suspiciously packaged to look like something different.

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Evolutionary biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins
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Evolutionary biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins has labeled US teenager Ahmed Mohamed a fraud, claiming that the clock which got him arrested by the Texas police was not an invention, and was suspiciously packaged to look like something different.

Dawkins began with a strange tweet on Sunday, posting a video which showed how easily the clock Ahmed made could be assembled.

Apparently Dawkins was irritated by the idea that the boy had claimed the clock as his invention.

Then came the following tweet, in response to an angry fan. Dawkins actually believes Ahmed Mohamed made and carried the clock to school only so he could get arrested, and get publicity.

When attacked by shocked Twitter users, Dawkins continued his tirade:

After the criticism continued, Dawkins attempted to scale back his remarks.

But on Monday, Dawkins once again embedded a video showing how easily the clock could be assembled and hidden inside a case, and stated that he had been 'fooled' like everyone else.

The once-famous, now-controversial evolutionary biologist slammed critics who accused him of Islamophobia and racism.

Dawkins appeared to criticise the concept of 'zero-tolerance security', blaming it for Ahmed's predicament, while simultaneously using it as a justification for the boy's arrest.

While blaming the police for 'heavy handedness', Dawkins asserted that the boy's motives were mysterious.

 

Dawkins, once famous for his theory of the selfish gene and his overall work in evolutionary biology, has become a stauch critic of religion and of intelligent design in particular, in recent years. He has published a book called 'The God Delusion' in 2006. 

Along with neuroscientist Sam Harris, late journalist and author Christopher Hitchens, and cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett, Dawkins has become known as one of the proponents of 'New Atheism'. The four individuals have also been called the 'Four Horsemen of the Non-Apocalypse' for their views against organised religion.

However, on this occasion Dawkins has surely gone too far. It is notable that neither Sam Harris nor any of Dawkins' other famous atheist allies have retweeted or commented on his rants against Ahmed Mohamed.

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