[wireties]

Originally Posted by Lil' Lavery

Ahmed was wrongly detained.
Ahmed is a student interested in engineering.
Ahmed is of a race that suffers institutional and cultural prejudices against it.

Those are the facts that matter. That's enough to justify the use of Ahmed as a symbol, and Ahmed accepts that.

Wrong - a key fact is missing. Was Ahmed wrongly detained BECAUSE of his race and/or culture? This is the key unknown factoid. By choosing Ahmed you are focusing public ire on persons and groups that may or may not deserve it. Also if there is something negative we do not know one risks damaging the cause and Ahmed. People will tune this kind of thing out - they already are. How many cause celebres have there been lately that turned out to be something different? Answer - too many.

Why not pick another symbol? There are plenty of documented possibilities.