Time is running out for them to meet this clockmaker’s demands.
Attorneys for the Texas teen who was arrested for having a clock that was thought to be a bomb are demanding $15 million for his unjust treatment.
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Ahmed Mohamed, 14, was arrested and suspended in September after educators mistook his homemade clock for a bomb.
Mohamed’s attorneys are now demanding $10 million from the city of Irving and $5 million from the Irving Independent School District, as well as written apologies.
If not received in 60 days, attorneys will file a formal lawsuit, the letters say.
“Ahmed never threatened anyone, never caused harm to anyone, and never intended to,” letters obtained by the Daily News from Mohamed’s attorneys read.
The letters state that Mohamed was interrogated by seven administrators and police officers for more than an hour and he wasn’t allowed to call his parents.
An Irving Police Officer entered the room where Mohamed was being questioned and said, “Yep. That’s who I thought it was,” according to the letters addressed to the City of Irving’s attorney, Charles Anderson, and the school district’s chief legal counsel.
Mohamed’s story garnered national attention after his sister asked that a photo of his arrest be posted to Twitter.
The incident sparked a heated discussion about racism against Muslims. And the 14-year-old was quickly dubbed the “clock kid.”
He was not charged for having the suspected bomb, but he was suspended from school.
“The only one who was hurt that day was Ahmed, and the damages he suffered were not because of oversight or incompetence. The school and city officials involved knew what they needed to do to protect Ahmed’s rights. They just decided not to do it,” the letters said.
Following Mohamed’s arrest, he was invited to visit Facebook, Google and the White House.
“Cool clock, Ahmed. Want to bring it to the White House?” President Obama tweeted out to him. “We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.”
Mohamed tweeted a photo of his meeting with Obama, writing that it was an honor to meet the president.
Despite the positive attention Mohamed received, his attorneys are claiming a slew of damages stemmed from the incident, including the teen’s face being superimposed on an image of Osama bin Laden.
“He will continue for the rest of his days to experience pain and suffering,” his attorneys said.
Mohamed’s parents later decided to pull him out of the Dallas-area district. He’s now attending the Young Innovators Program in Doha, Qatar, on a full scholarship for both high school and college.
In early October, Mohamed tweeted, “Qatar is Amazing!!”
“We are going to move to a place where my kids can study and learn and all of them being accepted by that country,” Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, told the Dallas Morning News.
Mohamed’s attorneys say that the family would like to return to Irving, Texas, once they feel safe again.
Mohamed spoke of his experience saying, “Don’t judge a person by the way they look, always judge them by their heart.”
Before the family’s move to the Middle East, Mohamed was finally given back his clock — which proved not to be a bomb — on Oct. 22.
