Remember Ahmed The 'Clock Boy'? His Family Is Now Demanding USD15 Million Compensation
Ahmed Mohamed was arrested after his homemade clock was mistaken for a bomb.
By Sadho Ram — 24 Nov 2015, 01:32 PM
In September, 14-year-old Ahmed Mohamed made global headlines when he brought a handmade clock to school to show his teachers
However, his class teacher thought it was a bomb and notified school authorities, who then called the police. Ahmed was detained, questioned and hauled off in handcuffs.
At the time, the school said it reacted with caution because the homemade clock that had wires popping out of it from everywhere could have been an "explosive device."
It wasn't. It was just a clock.
In a whirlwind of publicity about the case fueled by social media, #IStandWithAhmed became a trending topic on Twitter, US President Barack Obama invited him to the White House and a foundation offered him a scholarship to study in Qatar.
Fast forward to November, his family is now demanding USD15 million from Texas officials, along with an apology for how Ahmed was treated when he brought his homemade clock to school
Mohamed’s attorney sent letters to the City of Irving and the Irving Independent School District adding new details and accusations to the story, with the family alleging that authorities “sought to cover its mistakes with a media campaign that further alienated the child at the center of this maelstrom,” the Dallas Morning News reports.
The Mohamed’s are asking for $15 million in damages, as well as apologies from key players—the school district, MayorVan Duyne and Police Chief Larry Boyd, alleging “They stoked the flames. They tried to push responsibility off on the victim—Ahmed.”
time.com
The family's lawyers said that if their demands for the apologies and compensation were not met, they would file a civil action suit
“Ahmed never threatened anyone, never caused harm to anyone, and never intended to. The only one who was hurt that day was Ahmed, and the damages he suffered were not because of oversight or incompetence,” said the letter to the city authorities.
“The school and city officials involved knew what they needed to do to protect Ahmed's rights. They just decided not to do it.”
The Mohamed family is asking for $10m from the city and $5m from the school district or they will file civil lawsuits within 60 days, the letter said.
“Understandably, Mr Mohamed was furious at the treatment of his son – and at the rancid, openly discriminatory intent that motivated it,” attorneys said in one of the letters.
theguardian.com
Lesley Weaver, spokeswoman for the Irving school district, said in a statement Monday that the school district’s attorneys “will review the information and respond as appropriate, as with any legal matter,” reports the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram.
time.com
The letters claimed Ahmed's civil rights were violated and that he and his family suffered physical and mental anguish. They claim he was singled out because of his "race, national origin, and religion."
“Everyone in the country and around the world believes this has been a wonderful experience for Ahmed’s family, and in some ways, it has been,” said Anthony Bond, a family friend. “But now they are settled in Qatar, they have realized they are tremendously traumatized.”
The letters elaborate on the timeline of the arrest. The family left the United States in October. Religion and race were at the center of the controversy over Ahmed’s arrest. For some, it amounted to the unfair profiling of a young Muslim of Sudanese descent, while others saw his case as a bid for media attention.
The letter of demand alleges that officials at Ahmed’s school never really thought that his homemade clock, assembled from “spare parts and scrap pieces he had around the house,” was a bomb. Attorneys claim that Ahmed showed it to another teacher earlier in the day without consequence. But in his English class, a teacher told him it “looked like” a bomb.
“The basis for Ms. West’s actions is unclear. She certainly did not treat the clock as though it were dangerous. Ms. West initially placed the clock on her desk,” the letter states.
Ahmed was escorted out of class and taken to a room where five Irving Police Department officers, the principal and assistant principal performed an “interrogation,” attorneys said. He was not permitted to contact his parents and was “pressured to sign a written statement admitting that he intended to bring a ‘hoax bomb’ to school.”
The letter states that the principal threatened that he would be expelled if he did not sign the confession.
Meanwhile, the family, now living in Doha, has traveled the globe to meet foreign dignitaries. Ahmed's father also took him to meet Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir who is accused by the International Criminal Court of masterminding genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes during Sudan's Darfur conflict.
Ahmed Mohamed poses with the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.
Image via Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty Images