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Texas boy arrested for bringing clock to school demands $15m in damages Family of Texas boy arrested over clock demands $15m in damages
(about 3 hours later)
Attorneys for the 14-year-old Muslim boy arrested after taking a homemade clock to his Texas school say he was publicly mistreated and deserves $15m. The family of a Texas Muslim teenager arrested for bringing a homemade clock that was mistaken for a bomb to school demanded $15m in damages and an apology from the city of Irving and its schools to avoid a lawsuit, lawyers said on Monday.
A law firm representing Ahmed Mohamed sent letters Monday demanding $10m from the city of Irving and $5m from the Irving Independent School District. The letters also threaten lawsuits and seek written apologies. The lawyers represent the family of Ahmed Mohamed, 14, a student who dabbles in robotics and attended a Dallas-area high school. His arrest in September sparked controversy, with many saying he was taken into custody because of his religion.
Ahmed took his clock to school in September, and an educator thought it could be a bomb. Ahmed was arrested but never charged. He was also suspended from school. In separate letters to the city of Irving, located west of Dallas, and the Irving independent school district, lawyers said the ninth grader was wrongfully arrested, illegally detained and questioned without his parents.
The family accepted a foundation’s offer to pay for Ahmed’s education in Qatar and has since moved to the Persian Gulf country. 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.
Messages left for Irving’s city attorney and the district weren’t immediately returned Monday. “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.
Related: Ahmed Mohamed accepts scholarship in Qatar after Texas clock incident
The school district said in a statement its lawyers are reviewing the letter and will respond appropriately. City officials were not immediately available for comment.
The boy’s family said in October that they would be moving to Qatar and he had accepted an offer from the Qatar Foundation to study at its Young Innovators Program. The announcement came a few hours after he was at the White House for an astronomy night hosted by Barack Obama.
Ahmed won support from Obama and other major US figures, including Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who said “having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause, not arrest”.
The family, now living in Doha, has also traveled the globe to meet foreign dignitaries.
Sudanese state radio reported that his father took him to meet Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The Sudanese leader is accused by the International Criminal Court of masterminding genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes during Sudan’s Darfur conflict.
Despite several television appearances and worldwide travel, the Mohamed family says the attention ruined their lives and eventually drove them out of the country, lawyers said.