IRVING, Texas: Attorneys for a 14-year-old Muslim boy arrested after the homemade clock he took to his Dallas-area school was mistaken for a possible bomb said Monday he was publicly mistreated and deserves $15 million.

A law firm representing Ahmed Mohamed sent letters Monday demanding $10 million from the city of Irving and $5 million from the Irving Independent School District. The letters also threaten lawsuits and seek written apologies.

Ahmed, a robotics fan, took his clock to school in September to impress a new teacher at MacArthur High School. Instead, he was accused of trying to scare people with a hoax bomb and escorted from the school in handcuffs. He was arrested but never charged. He was suspended from school.

His lawyers insist that the school, police force and city officials violated Ahmed’s rights by wrongfully accusing and detaining him and then decided to “trash” him when the media got wind of the story.
“Ahmed clearly was singled out because of his race, national origin and religion,” attorney Kelly Hollingsworth wrote. Ahmed is the son of Sudanese immigrants who lived in a Dallas suburb. 

“What has happened to this family is inexcusable,” Hollingsworth said in an e-mail. “As indicated in the letters, the long term effects on Ahmed are incalculable.”

Meribeth Sloan, a spokeswoman for Irving said the city is reviewing its letter and has no comment. The district didn’t immediately return a message Monday.
Ahmed became an overnight sensation in September after his sister tweeted a photo of the aspiring inventor standing in handcuffs while wearing a t-shirt with the US space agency NASA’s logo.

President Barack Obama joined a surge of public support by congratulating the teen on his skills and inviting him to bring the clock to the White House in what was seen as a pointed rebuke to school and police officials amid accusations of Islamophobia.

Invitations poured in from Facebook, Google, the United Nations and Mohamed later tweeted photos of visits to Makkah, New York, Sudan and Qatar.

But his lawyer insists there was a dark side to his fame, which caused “severe psychological trauma,” according to a letter notifying the city and school district of his demands.

The letter noted that Irving Mayor Beth Van Duyne called the clock a “hoax bomb” during an appearance on the Glenn Beck television show and nodded as Beck and his other guest called the story “an influence operation” in furtherance of a coming “civilization jihad.”

“Not only was this dangerous ‘baiting’ that destroyed any chance the Mohamed family ever had of being truly safe and secure in the United States, but it was also defamatory,” his lawyers wrote.

The family received threatening e-mails and left their home after their address was publicized.

They eventually moved to Qatar after Ahmed was offered a generous scholarship. Hollingsworth said that while Ahmed and his younger siblings have found schools in Qatar, his older sisters, who are 17 and 18, have not.

“Ahmed is very gratified by all of the support that he has received, but just like his siblings and his parents, he misses Texas. It is his home,” Hollingsworth said.