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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forumsteenager arrested after bringing homemade clock to school, seeks $15 million in damages
An attorney for the family wrote in letters published by the Dallas Morning News that they want $10 million in damages from the city of Irving, Texas, and $5 million from the local school district.
As many as seven adults interrogated the 14-year-old, who was pressured to sign a statement saying he intended to bring a "hoax bomb" to the school, according to the letters, which threaten a civil lawsuit if their demands are not met.
Ahmed, who has relocated to Qatar with his family after accepting a scholarship, visited the White House last month for an astronomy event where he briefly met President Obama.
The family's attorney said Monday in one of the letters that the family is living in Qatar "for personal security reasons" but wants relocate back to Texas "when they feel safe again."
I can see why they feel unsafe in Texas:
Armed protesters gather outside Islamic Center of Irving
About a dozen protesters most carrying long guns, some masked and one with his mother lined up outside an Irving mosque on Saturday. They had come from as far away as Hunt County to the green-domed complex. To Stop the Islamization of America, as the mothers hand-drawn sign urged.
SoCalNative
(4,613 posts)says his 15 minutes are up.
And that perhaps he and his family are nothing but grifters.
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)Your home-made clock appears to contain a rather effective and efficient factory-made bias built into it. One may go so far as to wonder if that's a feature or merely a bug...
SoCalNative
(4,613 posts)the story was sort of sketchy to begin with. Add to the fact that the family has since abruptly relocated to the UAE.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)How much extra for the echo?
Sissyk
(12,665 posts)lol!
philosslayer
(3,076 posts)Do you know anything about this case at all?? This child built a clock, and then got harassed by school officials to the point where he ended up in handcuffs. He deserves whatever he gets.
840high
(17,196 posts)tonedevil
(3,022 posts)you have an important point there don't ya?
saturnsring
(1,832 posts)840high
(17,196 posts)tonedevil
(3,022 posts)to share what you think that point might be? Would you be so kind as to do so?
philosslayer
(3,076 posts)And does that make everything else okay?
pnwmom
(109,025 posts)not as a bomb, and he was arrested for building it.
840high
(17,196 posts)pnwmom
(109,025 posts)And they shouldn't have arrested him for it.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)cwydro
(51,308 posts)People can't seem to get that straight.
pnwmom
(109,025 posts)how easy or complicated it was for him to put the parts together to make the clock.
He showed it to his teacher. She knew it was a clock. Everyone knew it was a clock. And yet they decided to charge him with making a fake bomb.
alarimer
(16,245 posts)What reason do you have for repeating shitty right-wing bullshit about this kid? Does that justify the overkill by the cops and the racism of the teachers.
NEWSFLASH: It's about the racism, stupid.
840high
(17,196 posts)pnwmom
(109,025 posts)and yet they decided to charge him with a BOMB HOAX.
He never claimed it was a bomb.
It can't be a bomb hoax if he never pretended it was a bomb.
BlueStateLib
(937 posts)What did Ahmed do, later in the day he plugs his clock into 110 ac power and sets the alarm
so it starts beeping interrupting the class.
The kid is playing a game
pnwmom
(109,025 posts)vt_native
(484 posts)time to teach those a-holes a lesson.
tonedevil
(3,022 posts)says you are indulging in rank speculation with exactly zero evidence outside of your own prejudice.
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)newfie11
(8,159 posts)I hope he gets it!
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)People falsely put in jail for dacades don't get that much in most cases. I'd say 10,000 max.
arcane1
(38,613 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)Both sides decide on.
840high
(17,196 posts)uppityperson
(115,681 posts)Now they want millions because "Ahmed's reputation in the global community is permanently scarred,"
HuckleB
(35,773 posts)closeupready
(29,503 posts)They won't do that, will they.
I'm not sure it's worth $15 Million, but I do believe this exposure has damaged his future globally, and unfairly.
Response to dixiegrrrrl (Original post)
Warren DeMontague This message was self-deleted by its author.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)I don't think he needs 15 million to "become whole."
smirkymonkey
(63,221 posts)It has from the beginning.
Throd
(7,208 posts)Quantess
(27,630 posts)Balloon Boy. Thanks for the bit of nostalgia.
GusBob
(7,286 posts)But something cooked up for sure
ProudToBeBlueInRhody
(16,399 posts)I have no doubt that who he is and what he looks like played a part in this, but I'm also very certain this was a troll to that end. Everyone involved should be ashamed.
I wonder if MIT and Stanford figured out he wasn't as bright at electronics as he was at grifting?
renate
(13,776 posts)What happened to Ahmed was grossly unfair and awful, but so many good things came of it--scholarship offers, a trip to the White House, a huge outpouring of support.
... And now they're asking for $15 million for the kind of thing that probably happens to non-science-y students of Middle Eastern descent all the time. It does leave a little bit of a bad taste in the mouth. Their lives have been disrupted so they deserve some compensation, but that's a huge overreach IMHO.
GusBob
(7,286 posts)Who is accused of participating in genocide in the Dafur conflict.
I don't know what sort of physical suffering he and his family went thru,
But genocide? ain't nothing worse than that
eissa
(4,238 posts)Wanted for war crimes in connection with the genocide committed in Darfur. I washed my hands of this kid and his grifter family after that meeting.
Democat
(11,617 posts)Doesn't matter if he meets with dictators, sues a school district, or moves to a place where women are second class citizens. All that matters to many here is that Republicans don't like him.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)read all the comments before yours before you decided to tag DU as being filled with reactionary imbeciles. There are plenty of people who see this an entirely different way than what you're saying. If you're going to make a blanket statement like that, be sure you're right next time.
Democat
(11,617 posts)I should have said that some here on DU will love him as long as Republicans hate him.
leftynyc
(26,060 posts)who just happen to disagree with you on this topic.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)The negative publicity alone to the school and officials is priceless, tho. They committed huge over reach.
Hoyt
(54,770 posts)The kid was treated unfairly. But suing the school system doesn't accomplish anything positive. If he'd been thrown out of a restaurant or something, I'd be fine with taking legal action. Obviously, the school system's actions were wrong, but I assume they really thought they were protecting kids. If it is found he was singled out as a Muslim, I'd multiply the damages sought by a factor of 10, and fire anyone involved.
Logical
(22,457 posts)951-Riverside
(7,234 posts)The police officers and school staff will still be collecting paychecks.
kiva
(4,373 posts)Greed, it's a wonderful thing
davidn3600
(6,342 posts)....what do you think TSA would do regardless of your skin color?
Take a guess.
Logical
(22,457 posts)Jesus Malverde
(10,274 posts)I don't blame the english teacher. He showed it to his science teacher earlier in the day, who wasn't impressed and he told him to put it away. Instead he brought it to english class plugged it in, and had the alarm go off during class.
For me this interview, with the dallas morning news, helped me decide his mindset. He says two things, that he invents stuff and he points to a commercial made in china USB controller, the second which I think would play well in front of a court for the city, is his comment at 1:28 in the video.
"I closed it with a cable, cause I didn't want to lock it and make it seem like a threat. So I just used a simple cable so it wouldn't look that much suspicious."
He was aware from the beginning that the clock would be perceived as a threat and it might be considered suspicious.
The Dallas Morning News Interview.
He's am interesting kid with an interesting family. May he enjoy his studies in Qatar (the second largest funder of ISIS after Saudi Arabia).
Regarding the law enforcement reaction it's possible they went overboard and police reform on many issues is something that needs to occur.
Some imply that this a racial case, the Irving school district is pretty diverse and mostly hispanic
African American 12.06%
American Indian 0.47%
Asian 3.57%
Hispanic 70.84%
White 11.66%
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irving_Independent_School_District
jack_krass
(1,009 posts)His sister also got in trouble for a "bomb hoax/threat" (a separaye incident which occurred previous to this one). C'mon,, what are the odds?
philosslayer
(3,076 posts)This is the first I've heard this
Brigadier Pudding
(6 posts)After the MSNBC segment, Eyman and I sit down in the hallway where she says the same thing happened to her as Ahmed.
I got suspended from school for three days from this stupid same district, from this girl saying I wanted to blow up the school, something I had nothing to do with.
Eyman talks with the slightest lisp, almost imperceptible, but it becomes stronger as she gets emotional.
I got suspended and I didnt do anything about it and so when I heard about Ahmed, I was so mad because it happened to me and I didnt get to stand up, so Im making sure hes standing up because its not right. So Im not jealous, Im kinda likeits like hes standing for me.
Eyman said her suspension was in her first year of middle school, my first year of attempting middle school in America. I knew English, but the culture was different, the people were different.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/09/17/man-i-went-viral-my-day-with-ahmed-moahmed-the-most-famous-boy-on-earth.html