Ahmed Mohamed Wants Apology, $15 Million From Texas Town

By Kenrya Rankin Nov 24, 2015

Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old Muslim boy who was arrested after his school labeled his invention a bomb, may have moved to Qatar, but he isn’t quite done with his old Texas town.

According to his attorney, his family is threatening to file a civil suit against Irving, Texas, and officials at his former high school unless the mayor and police chief issue him an apology and a check for $15 million within 60 days.

In letters sent to attorneys representing the city and the school district, attorney Kelly Hollingsworth says that Mohamed has suffered severe psychological trauma and a scarred global reputation following the civil rights violation he suffered at the school. CNN reports:

“They tried to push responsibility off on the victim—Ahmed. They have even implied publicly that what has come of this has been good for Ahmed, as though the resilience of this fine boy and his fine family somehow excused what they did,” the letters say. “It does not, for there is no excuse.”

Hollingsworth argues that the damages are numerous but difficult to quantify. He notes an online blog post that superimposed the 14-year-old’s face onto a famous image of Osama bin Laden, a “Clock Boy” Halloween costume on a website and harassment suffered by the teen’s siblings.

“Ahmed will now forever be associated with bomb making wholly without basis,” Hollingsworth says.

Among numerous allegations, the letters say that the authorities interrogated the Muslim teenager, alone, for at least one hour and 25 minutes, a period that was recorded on a police officer’s iPhone. At one point, according to the letters, a police officer who first saw Ahmed said, “Yep. That’s who I thought it was.”

“Ahmed clearly was singled out because of his race, national origin and religion,” the letters say.