A Trinity University professor chose to weigh in on the Ahmed Mohamed clock controversy, and his tweet quickly went viral.
“I brought my clock to work today,” the professor tweeted on Wednesday, using the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed.
Brought my clock to work today. #IStandWithAhmed #Solidarity pic.twitter.com/h4Jr0siF1A
— Simran Jeet Singh (@SimranColumbia) September 16, 2015
Simran Jeet Singh is an assistant professor of religion at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, as well as a senior religious fellow at The Sikh Coalition.
In a LinkedIn post, Singh wrote, “as a Sikh American who keeps a turban and a beard,” he is often racially profiled by police officers and airport security, therefore, he empathizes with Ahmed Mohamed, the Muslim high school student who was arrested on Monday when he brought a homemade clock to school and it was mistaken for a bomb.
Twitter users created the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed in support of the 14-year-old, garnering hundreds of thousands of posts and tweets.
“One of my tweets went viral, and I’m glad it did,” Singh wrote. “I think it means a lot to have someone who is not Muslim speak out against discrimination based on Islamophobia. Furthermore, Muslim Americans showed solidarity in responding to the brutal hate crime against a Sikh father of two earlier this week. I felt I had to show support for Ahmed Mohamed because my faith has taught me to stand up against bigotry and injustice of any kind.”
