Ahmed Mohamed's family is asking Texas officials for $15 million and an apology for clock arrest


The family of Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old boy who was arrested in September after bringing a homemade clock to school, is asking for $15 million in damages and an apology from city and school officials in Irving, Texas, The Dallas Morning News reports.
Charges that Mohamed's clock was a hoax bomb were dropped after Mohamed was handcuffed and suspended from Irving MacArthur High School, but a letter from the family's attorney alleges that afterward, officials "sought to cover its mistakes with a media campaign that further alienated the child at the center of this maelstrom."
Mohamed and his family have said they plan to move to Qatar, partially due to threats of violence they've seen online and the fact that their address was made public.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
If the money — $10 million from the city and $5 million from the school — and apologies don't come within 60 days, the attorney wrote that the Mohameds will file a civil suit. Officials told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram they'll review the information.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
-
How developed was Iran's nuclear program and what's left now?
Today's Big Question Israel and the United States have said different things about Iran's capabilities
-
The downsides of a 'forgotten' 401(k) and how to find it
the explainer Don't leave your old retirement plan behind
-
AI chatbots are leading some to psychosis
The explainer The technology may be fueling delusions
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrial
Speed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside home
speed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confession
speed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulder
speed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC parade
speed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
-
2 Israel Embassy staff shot dead at DC Jewish museum
speed read The suspected gunman chanted 'free, free Palestine'
-
Bombing of fertility clinic blamed on 'antinatalist'
speed read A car bombing injured four people and damaged a fertility clinic and nearby buildings in Palm Springs, California
-
Suspect charged after 11 die in Vancouver car attack
Speed Read Kai-Ji Adam Lo drove an SUV into a crowd at the Lapu Lapu Day festival