Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old son of Muslim immigrants from Sudan, became a media sensation last year after he was arrested for bringing a weird homemade clock to school.
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Irving Police arrest Ahmed Mohamed at his suburban Dallas school previous year.
The federal lawsuit was filed on behalf of Mohamed, who was arrested at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas in September of past year and charged with having a hoax bomb. Ahmed’s Sudanese father who is also an American citizen filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Irving Independent School District, the city, and principal for racial and religious discrimination.
Irving police eventually arrested the boy at MacArthur High School on charges of possession of a hoax bomb.
One fact does stand out as refreshingly truthful – the admission that Ahmed showed the clock he had made to one teacher, who told him to keep it in his backpack, words the teen promptly ignored when he “could not resist” showing it to a student in another class. It also charges violations of his 4th Amendment rights after being interrogated by police and the school principal without the benefit of having his parents present.
In November, letters were sent on behalf of Ahmed’s family, demanding that the school district and city pay million for damages and offer written apologies to avoid a lawsuit.
The school district issued a statement asserting that it did not violate the student’s rights.
President Barack Obama tweeted Mohamed an invitation to a White House event after complimenting the clock design.
The family and their attorneys appeared at a news conference Monday in Dallas.
The U.S. Department of Justice is now investigating the school district on complaints of harassment and discipline of students on the basis of race, religion and national origin. During that live interview the teen said: “I want to help change Texas for a better state, and I hope that not just for Texas, but the entire world”.
Ahmed was a victim of systemic discrimination by the school district and state Board of Education that has marginalized Muslims and other minority groups, the suit claims. The district has denied that Mohamed was treated the way he was based on his Islamic faith. His father is a an immigrant from Sudan who became a US citizen.
“Will we be faithful to our American principles of equality and freedom or will we let fear and hate prevail, the two biggest evils that will defeat our democracy?” the suit read. “… I can’t build anymore”.
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“When I lost my house, that’s where I had everything”, Ahmed said at the press conference. But I lost my home, I lost my creativity because before I used to love building things but now I can’t. “The only thing I can do is use the Internet”, he said, according to the Post.
