‘Clock Boy’ Ahmed Files Lawsuit Alleging ‘Discrimination’ Against Texas School, City

Clock Boy with Sudanese Bashir Ashraf ShazlyAFP
Ashraf Shazly/AFP

Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, father of “Clock Boy” Ahmed, filed a federal lawsuit in Dallas against the Irving Independent School District, the MacArthur High School Principal and the City of Irving, on August 8.

The lawsuit claims Ahmed Mohamed’s rights were violated when he was arrested last year after the 14-year-old brought to school a clock device that resembled a hoax bomb. Although Mohamed’s engineering teacher advised him to put it away, he did not listen. Instead, Ahmed took the “clock” to English class where he plugged it in. It started to beep and scared the teacher. No charges were ever filed against the teen once the situation sorted itself out, but Mohamed served three days of suspension before his family withdrew him from Irving ISD and relocated to Qatar where Mohamed accepted a full scholarship to attend a Qatar Foundation school.

The Mohamed family held a press conference at 10 a.m. Monday, August 8 by led by new attorney Susan Hutchison, after filing a lawsuit against the City of Irving and the Irving school district. Hutchison said she filed the lawsuit against the City and Ahmed Mohamed’s former school district at 6 a.m. in federal court in Dallas. The suit alleges a violation of the teen’s civil rights. During the press conference, Hutchison asserted “there was no cause” for the Ahmed Mohamed’s arrest last year and accused the Irving school district of “paranoia” towards Muslims. She said the only remedy to this matter is “money” and they are “suing for justice.” They have not stated a dollar amount to sue for, so far. Hutchison said that would be up to a jury.

The lawsuit also claims a history of anti-Muslim sentiment in Irving and that Ahmed Mohamed was discriminated against based on his race and religion. The teen’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, who filed the suit on his son’s behalf, claimed last year that Islamophobia was behind his son’s clock woes. In 2015, he said it happened “because his name is Mohamed and because of September 11.”

Meanwhile, the elder Mohamed posted a contentious photo of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers enveloped in smoke during the 2001 terrorist attacks on his Sudanese National Reform party page that sourced to a Sudanese military group that asserted a truther philosophy. They called 9/11 an inside job, depicting these “so-called” events a “rumor.” Weeks later, Mohamed shared another 9/11 “truther” Facebook post in Arabic. He pondered the clock incident would lead to spreading Islam in America.

The lawsuit described Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed as “an immigrant from the Sudan” and a United States citizen, although his son, Ahmed, is listed as “African American Muslim.”

The lawsuit accuses the Irving Independent School District of displaying a pattern of disproportionate disciplinary actions for black students. It also asserts Mohamed’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated when he was detained by police and by principal Daniel Cummings for over an hour without the presence of his parents before he was arrested.

Irving ISD responded to its being named in the lawsuit shortly after the Mohamed Family press conference in a statement obtained by Breitbart Texas:

“Legal counsel for Irving ISD has confirmed that the school district was named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed today in Dallas federal court by attorneys for a former Irving ISD student. As with any legal matter of this nature, attorneys for the school district will review the filing and respond as appropriate. Irving ISD continues to deny violating the student’s rights and will respond to claims in accordance with court rules. Because this matter is now in litigation, Irving ISD officials will have no further comment at this time.”

September 2015, Breitbart Texas reported that zero tolerance, not Islamophobia was behind the teen’s woes.

The family has had several lawyers represent them along the way, including a west Texas personal injury attorney Kelly Hollinsgworth demanded a total of $15 million last November —   $10 million from the City of Irving, and $5 million, from the Irving school district. Breitbart Texas reported the letters alleged innumerable claims about Ahmed Mohamed’s September 14, 2015 detainment, among them “Islamophobia.” In late June, uncle Aldean Mohamed told Dallas news media the family still planned to sue.

Personal injury attorney Susan Hutchison of Hutchison & Stoy in Forth Worth is the latest lawyer representing the Mohameds.

In June, Mohamed told news media he returned to Texas for a summer internship with Twitter, although, CBS DFW reported the family returned to visit family.

This article has been updated to reflect new developments in the story.

Follow Merrill Hope on Twitter @OutOfTheBoxMom.

Doc 1 Clock Boy Complaint by Logan Churchwell on Scribd

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