Yesterday, Ahmed Mohamed and his family were back in the news after it was reported that they had filed a lawsuit against the city of Irving, Texas, the former principal of his high school and the school district. He showed it to a teacher, who took it and contacted school officials, who in turn called police.
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The lawsuit contends that Ahmed’s Fourth and 14th amendment rights were violated, which included the student being taken out of the school in handcuffs and suspended for three days.
Although a previous demand letter from the family threatened to sue the city and the school district for a combined $15 million, no specific dollar amount in damages is named in this lawsuit.
The Irving school district is also under investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice over an alleged pattern of discrimination against minority students.
In the aftermath of the arrest, Ahmed and his family moved to Qatar after the teen accepted an offer from the Qatar Foundation to study at its Young Innovators Program. He said he wanted to show the clock to his English teacher. Ahmed received, according to a family spokesperson, a scholarship in the Persian Gulf nation. A family attorney said in November that Mohamed was interrogated by seven adults for almost 90 minutes and was not allowed to call his parents, a violation of the Texas Juvenile Justice Code.
It claims they violated his constitutional protections against illegal arrest and unequal treatment, and discriminated against him in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Though Mohamed did get to meet President Barack Obama, he said the media attention became too much to deal with.
Now, after relocating to Qatar over concerns for his safety, Mohamed’s family is attempting to sue the city over the boy’s disgusting treatment. “When we have given in to fear and hate, we flounder”.
Irving Independent School District officials said in a statement to The Dallas Morning News that they are focused on preparing for the school year in the 35,000-student district. The lawsuit claims that the only reason Ahmed got arrested was, that he was a Muslim and people thought he is making a bomb.
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The Irving Independent School District responded in a statement saying it “continues to deny violating the student’s rights” and does “everything possible to ensure each student is achieving his or her maximum potential”. Ahmed said at a press conference, according to KTVT-TV. Yet, “several hours” later, the suit says, he was pulled out of class by the principal and police and interrogated.
