Chris Hadfield invites Texas teen to Toronto science show

Canada’s most famous astronaut reached out to Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old boy who was arrested after his homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb.

On Wednesday, Chris Hadfield invited the teenager to Toronto through Twitter using the hashtag #IStandWithAhmed, which has been trending ever since the incident on Tuesday.

Earlier this week, Mohamed brought his clock into MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas, to show his engineering teacher. The teen was then arrested after police were summoned to the school and was taken to a juvenile detention. No charges were filed, BBC reports.

Since then Mohamed has received massive attention on social media. People have posted selfies with clocks in support of the teenager.

The Canadian astronaut is one of many voicing his support for the young engineer. He invited Mohamed as personal guest to the Generator event next month. It’s a “science-based variety show aimed at blending knowledge, music and comedy,” organized by the spaceman himself and his son, Evan Hadfield.

“What prompted the invitation was a combination of the NASA shirt, the annoyance of seeing ignorance trump intelligence, and the idea that he simply might benefit from the experience in the long-term,” Chris Hadfield’s son, Evan, told BuzzFeed.

Evan told Metro News that they heard from the family but they are still deciding whether their son will come to Toronto.