Family of Muslim teen arrested over homemade clock files lawsuit

The family of Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old arrested last September after bringing a homemade clock to school, filed a federal lawsuit against Irving, Tex., the Irving Independent School District and his former principal on Monday.

The 35-page lawsuit, filed Monday, claims the the rights of the 14-year-old boy, Ahmed Mohamed, were violated.

The case is an “opportunity to take a stand for equality and for justice, two things that should prevail above all else”, according to the lawsuit.

Citing a pattern of disproportionate disciplinary actions for black students in the Irving Independent School District (ISD) and a history of anti-Muslim sentiment in Irving, the lawsuit alleges that Ahmed was discriminated against based on his race and religion. She also mentioned “violent acts committed in schools” as justification for the arrest and did not offer any apology to Mohamed or his family.

The story – including pictures of the incident – quickly gained worldwide attention.

Ahmed’s “homemade” clock, which was actually a normal alarm clock that he took apart and put back together in a fancy pencil case, earned him a shout out from President Obama and an invitation to the White House.

A few months after the incident Ahmed got a scholarship from Qatar and him and his family moved there as he was facing death threats in the US.

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. 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.

Mohamed, who turns 15 soon, said it’s been terrifying to return to the United States.

Hutchison argues that IISD history of discrimination particularly towards African American and Muslim students culminated in Ahmed’s arrest.

Ahmed told the Post that his life in Qatar has been much different than his life in Irving and that he no longer is able to pursue his passion for building.

The school district has denied violating Ahmed’s rights as a student and said that no other details could be provided at the moment since this was an ongoing litigation. My dad doesn’t have a job anymore. “I never went out to buy things”.

“I can’t walk out of the house without being covered up because I might get shot because that happens here”, he said.