By Victor Ochieng
Ahmed Mohamed, the boy who made a clock and took it to his Dallas-area school, ended up becoming very famous for his work and even more so for his mistreatment. After news went out about the mistreatment, President Obama did a tweet about him and later invited him to the White House for a science evening, although he didn’t carry his clock along.
Now, his attorneys have sent letters to the city and the school district, stating that the 14-year-old boy was taken through public mistreatment and are now demanding $15 million in damages, according to an Associated Press report.
The lawyers sent out a letter to the city on Monday, demanding $10 million and another to the Irvin Independent School District demanding $5 million. The attorneys are also demanding that the teen be served with written apologies.
“Ahmed never threatened anyone, never caused harm to anyone, and never intended to. The only one who was hurt that day was Ahmed, and the damages he suffered were not because of oversight or incompetence,” said the letter to the city authorities.
The letter went on to say that “the school and city officials involved knew what they needed to do to protect Ahmed’s rights. They just decided not to do it.”
In the letter, the attorneys have made claims that both the teenager and his family suffered both physical and mental anguish as a result of the mistreatment and thus are entitled to compensation for damages.
In September this year, Mohamed’s story captured headlines after he was reported to have been arrested after he carried a homemade clock to school, but a teacher raised an alarm, suspecting it was a bomb. The school also went ahead to suspend him.
However, he was never charged after it was established that whatever he made wasn’t a bomb, but a clock.
After the incident made headlines, Mohamed received an offer from a Qatar-based Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, offering to pay for his education. The family has since moved to Qatar to take advantage of the scholarship.
The family was outraged by what had happened to their son, saying that the son became a victim of Islamophobia.
In conclusion, the letter says that should the officials fail to the demands of the letter, they’ll have no option but to file a lawsuit
By the time of going to press, no response had been received from the city or the police department.
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