'Clock Kid' Ahmed's Family Seeks $15 Million, Threatens Lawsuits

Attorneys for the family of Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas teenager who was arrested for bringing a clock to school that officials mistakenly thought was a bomb, sent letters to the city of Irving and the Irving School District seeking $15 million in damages and threatening a lawsuit otherwise.

The letters make a number of claims, including that city officials tried to “kneecap a kid in the media” and that school officials threatened to expel Mohamed if he didn’t admit that his clock was actually a “hoax bomb.”

They claim that he was treated unfairly during his detainment and was the victim of a smear campaign orchestrated by city and school officials all because of his race.

“There is no other way to put it: Ahmed’s reputation in the global community is permanently scarred,” the letters both say. “One also would anticipate that Ahmed, quite reasonably, will have a lifelong fear of the law enforcement and educational establishments that have let him down so terribly.”

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“The city of Irving has received a demand letter from attorneys representing Ahmed Mohamed,” city spokeswoman Meribeth Sloan said in an email to Patch. “At this time, we are reviewing it and have nothing further to add.”

“Irving ISD is in receipt of a letter from the Laney & Bollinger law firm,” Lesley Weaver, an Irving School District spokeswoman told Patch. “Our attorneys will review the information and respond as appropriate, as with any legal matter.”

Here are some of the claims the family is making:

• Mohamed’s parents should have been in the room with him while police and school officials were questioning him, but they told Mohamed he couldn’t talk to them. He was also never read his Miranda rights before or after he was put in handcuffs.
• Police and McArthur High School Principal Daniel Cummings threatened Mohammed with expulsion unless he signed a statement saying that the clock was a “hoax bomb.”
• Mohammed was suspended from school despite not breaking any rules. Assistant Principal Patrick Smith only cited a “prohibited items” rule, which Mohammed did not break.
• A statement from Cummings over the school intercom, saying “the media only has one side of the story,” violated Mohammed’s privacy and defamed him by calling him a liar.
• Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne went on Glenn Beck’s TV show and sat back without protest as Beck talked about a coming “civilization jihad.” She also called Mohamed’s clock a “hoax bomb,” accusing him of crimes that had already been disproven after an investigation.

The letters ask for $10 million from the city of Irving for the police and mayor’s actions after the incident. They seek an additional $5 million from the school district.

Mohamed became something of a household name following the September incident. Several major businesses, most of them tech companies, reached out and invited Mohamed to tour their business or even work for them. Celebrities and politicians showed their support on social media.

He got to meet President Barack Obama at the White House.

Now, Mohamed lives with his family in Qatar, where he accepted a fellowship to attend a private non-profit educational institute.

You can read each of the family’s letters in full below.

Image via YouTube