Richard Dawkins has denied comparing Ahmed Mohamed, the Texan Muslim teenager who was arrested after his homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb, to a child forced to behead people by ISIS.
The eminent atheist professor of biology at Oxford reacted to the news that Ahmed's family was demanding $15m in damages and an apology by tweeting the following:
"But he's only a kid." Yes, a "kid" old enough to sue for $15M those whom he hoaxed. And how old is this "kid"? https://t.co/kjzxGDs5Az
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) November 24, 2015 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">The tweet was met with strong criticism and Dawkins was forced to apologise and clarify his point was to suggest that children were not beyond criticism just because of their age.
How COULD you think I was likening a hoaxer to a killer? I just meant "Only a kid" is not a knockdown defence. Remember poor James Bulger?
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) November 25, 2015 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">@duggan_paul Oh for heaven's sake, it's nothing to do with their being Muslims. The link is that both are YOUNG, yet not blameless.
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) November 24, 2015 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">Dawkins has been sceptical of the teenager's motives when his arrest first hit the headlines, claiming Ahmed had not made the clock but had merely "reassembled." However he denied holding "special animosity" against the teenager.
@boringfileclerk No, I just want to alert the gullible fools who fell for his scam. And STILL fall for it even after his $15M demand!
— Richard Dawkins (@RichardDawkins) November 24, 2015 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">Dawkins has become something of a twitter sensation with 1.3 million followers. It is not the first time he has caused controversy with his tweets, especially when it comes to his criticism of Islam. However most of his feed is taken up with retweets of those praising his books.
@RichardDawkins Your books inspired my life in a way I never imagined something could do, you opened my eyes to whole new world. Thank you!
— Marcela Gianini (@AnotherAttwhore) November 25, 2015 " data-caption="null" data-credit="null">Thanks Richard.
