Irving police later dropped the charge, but Ahmed Mohamed was still suspended for three days.
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Ahmed Mohamed said he lost a lot of things, including his safety and creativity, almost a year after his arrest in Irving, Texas, when police and school officials mistook his homemade digital clock for a hoax bomb.
Attorney Linda Moreno, Ahmed Ahmed Mohamed, and Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed address the media during a news conference on September 16, 2015 in Irving, Texas.
Last year, then-freshman student Ahmed Mohamed built a clock in order to impress his teachers on his first day of high school.
The boy who became famous past year for taking a homemade clock to school that was mistaken for a bomb is now suing his former Texas hometown. The incident at MacArthur High School in Irving, a suburb of Dallas, made worldwide headlines and quickly went viral last September.
While the lawsuit fails to state a dollar amount, on November 23 Ahmed’s family delivered a letter threatening litigation against the city of Irving and IISD, seeking a total of $15 million in compensation.
Ahmed said he and his family plan to return to Qatar, where he will finish high school, because they have received death threats and hate mail.
“I got a lot of hate”. The family is suing the district from their new residence in Qatar, where the family chose to move after the incident occurred.
President Barack Obama tweeted Mohamed an invitation to a White House event after complimenting the clock design.
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. It also claims Mohamed’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated when he was interrogated by police and principal Daniel Cummings for over an hour without his parents present before he was arrested.
“History tells us that when we have stood tall and proud for equality and freedom, we have grown as a nation”, the suit said.
On Monday, in a news conference during a family visit to Texas, Ahmed downplayed his flash of fame, comparing it to the loss of his home and sense of security. When he started middle school, Ahmed joined the robotics club and often brought home-made “gadgets” to school.
The Irving school system denies Mohamed’s claims. Any time I walk out of the house there might be death waiting for me.
“The city of Irving is prepared to vigorously defend itself and the justifiable actions it took in this matter”, city officials said.
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While in Texas, Ahmed said, he has to wear a hat, sunglasses and a hoody. “The legal process will allow all facts to be revealed, and the city welcomes that opportunity”, the statement said.
