Clock Boy is back in the U.S. and he’s suing
No one saw this coming.
Ahmed Mohamed, the White House’s favorite builder of clocks, has returned to the United States and he’s suing his old Texas town of Irving over the bomb mix-up.
NBC News reports:
‘Clock Boy’ Ahmed Mohamed Sues Texas City for Accusing Him of Making Bomb
The young tinkerer from Texas who was arrested last year for bringing a homemade alarm clock to school — and was later invited to the White House and Google’s world headquarters — has filed a federal lawsuit against his former hometown, accusing it of violating his civil rights as part of a wider pattern of discrimination against African-American students.
Ahmed Mohamed, the 14-year-old son of a Sudanese immigrant who has since moved his family to Qatar, claims in the lawsuit that he was the victim of biased treatment since his arrival in Irving, Texas, as a Muslim third grader, including being singled out for discipline.
But he kept trying to impress his teachers in the Dallas suburb as a way “to make connections and gain acceptance,” according to the lawsuit.
That is why, last September, at the start of his freshman year at MacArthur High School, he spent a weekend piecing together the clock, using spare electronics parts left over from his father’s failed cell phone business, according to the lawsuit. He showed it to a teacher, who took it and contacted school officials, who in turn called police. Under questioning without his parents, he told them he had made an alarm clock. But he was accused of making a fake bomb, and taken into custody. Charges weren’t filed, but he was suspended for three days for violating the student code of conduct.
In this video from ABC News, Ahmed talks about his reasons for filing the lawsuit. Among them, he claims he lost his home, his ability to be creative and that he lives in fear of being shot because “that happens here.”
Ahmed is apparently not finished with his fifteen minutes of fame. Whether he succeeds in his lawsuit or not, I have a feeling this isn’t the last we’ve seen of him.
How old will he have to be for the Democratic Party to recruit him to run for office?
Featured image via YouTube.
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Comments
Two points…
1. the boy cannot sue, his parents have to sue on his behalf, and
2. as I understand it, all this kid did was drag teh guts out of clock..hardly a technical hat-trick
I think in this case it was the manner of presentation, when you put those parts into a box and what not, lol.
He did a bang-up job.
“as I understand it”
You understood correctly.
This electronics “genius” simply took the enclosure off a clock and stuck the innards in a case to resemble an electric clock activated bomb.
We live next door to Irving and have had to watch and listen to all of this crap.
This would never had been an issue if Clock Boy hadn’t broadcast it to all the world.
If Irving made any mistake, it was made worse by CAIR and Clock Boy and family taking it out of the school and telling the whole world how unfair it all was.
I mean, who builds a clock into an aluminum suit case. Really!
So, if they win, betcha it will be one dollar.
The mistake was not letting a jury decide.
“who builds a clock into an aluminum suit case” A kid who is trying to learn and thinks, even mistakenly, that he has actually designed something of import. He was 13 at the time. 13 year olds do stupid things; especially if they are trying to gain recognition. He never said it was a bomb. No, I don’t think it warranted a visit to the WH or Google.
Is he but one example of discrimination in Irving. It is my understanding that he is hardly the only kid who is complaining.
Is it worse because he broadcasted it? Sure. It was worse when Washington, the Adams brothers, Jefferson, et al broadcast what they perceived as injustice by the British Empire. Had they not, we would be pledging our allegiance to the Queen. Is it of the same import? Obviously not. But his family broadcast because they wanted change.
OK, I will anticipate the animus to me and the kid. They did it for the money because it is not possible that they were outraged by his prior treatment; as well as the over-reaction of the school, the school board and the police.
Get lost, troll. There was no over reaction here. And verbally stating it is a bomb is absolutely not required to be prosecuted for making a hoax bomb.
The kid (who, by the way, is a far more successful troll than you), first took it to his engineering teacher, who told him it was interesting but ALSO told him not to carry it around school because it could be mistaken for a bomb.
THEN the kid showed it to another non-engineering teacher, who I guess didn’t react.
Finally he set the alarm to go off in the middle of class, and FINALLY got the reaction he’d been trolling for.
This is a slam dunk dismissal if the school district doesn’t cave and pay out a settlement.
Ah, you hurt my feelings – I so respect your opinion.
Just like Trump, whichever way you take that, I will deny that is what I meant. I want to thank for a thought I just had. Trump is the ultimate troll.
As for the kid, I agree that if he set it off he deserved to be disciplined.
This got attention at the time because the school system has a reputation for being less than receptive to immigrants. Apparently the system is significantly non-white, but 5 of 7 Board members are white. Yeah, that is irrelevant.
The student population represents more than fifty-six countries speaking over ninety-five languages.[4]
African American 12.06%
American Indian 0.47%
Asian 3.57%
Hispanic 70.84%
White 11.66%
All school board trustees in Texas hold elected positions. The make up of the school board is selected by voters.
The demographic population of Irving
-White, non-Hispanic 24.5%
-Black, non-Hispanic 12.5%
-Asian, non-Hispanic 17.0%
-Other, non-Hispanic 2.6%
-Hispanic, Any Race 43.4%
So, yes, it’s completely irrelevant.
“but 5 of 7 Board members are white. Yeah, that is irrelevant.”
Unless you can prove that anyone of those white school board members is thinking of anything other than what is best for the children they represent, then yes it is irrelevant. School Boards are elected so the community can change that breakdown if they want.
Accusing the white school board members of racism, without proof makes you the bigot not the other way around.
@Gremlin1974, @2nd Ammendment Mother
Well, if you 2 say it isn’t relevant that is the final word.
Glad you are willing to see reason.
Suit case?! It was an ordinary pencil case. And to a kid just teaching himself electronics that would seem like a cool thing to do. Nobody claims it was some work of genius.
Uh…yeah. Obama did. As did MIT and Apple IIRC.
They all paraded him around the media as the next Oppenheimer.
Oh yea, every budding electrical engineer is taught to take the case off an existing clock, then stick the guts in a case such that it will resemble…
What? What purpose would there be?
The purpose is simple, he made a fake bomb. If taping a couple of road flares together can be considered a fake bomb then that sure as heck would.
Yea, no reason to think it might be a bomb!
http://9502-presscdn-0-95.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/12016302_10206754849723788_1035757781_o.jpg
and there is no reason why the school teachers couldn’t immediately tell the difference!
http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Ahmed1.png
and there is no reason for this kid to act like a race baiter!
http://i.imgur.com/vmPa75c.jpg?1
Purely just an innocent kid, right…Right! /sarc off
Sorry if it seems like I am not taking you seriously, but its probably because I’m not.
He took apart an old digital clock and added cell phone parts to make it look like a bomb. Then, took it to school and showed it around. And, because the PC police were on his side – he got away with saying – “but it’s only a clock.”
He’s got to have an excuse why he can’t perform when he uses that free ride @ MIT
I heard there were 12 sticks of simulated dynamite in the case.
MattMusson
Actually I believe he did not “intend “any harm . he was just “extremely careless” and ‘ No reasonable school principal would have suspended him” . It is called ” Comey Defense”
This ought to be interesting…. The Texas Tort Claims Act gives local governments and school districts a broad grant of immunity from tort claims then sets forth certain limited exceptions to that immunity. One example is negligence in operation of a motor vehicle in the course of work $100,000 is the payout limit and that requires something extraordinary such as death.
In addition, in order to sue a school district in Texas you must file the suit within 6 months of the incident.
Not my favorite set of tort rules, but there you are
Unfortunately, I bet none of those limitations apply to federal claims.
I suspect that there will be a hearing on jurisdiction. There would be a pretty strong case that the appropriate venue is the State courts since the same non-discrimination laws are on the books in Texas.
Don’t confuse jurisdiction with venue.
Jurisdiction is the BIG kahuna. Matters determining jurisdiction (among others) are standing and capacity.
Once a court determines that it has jurisdiction, venue comes into play. A court with jurisdiction may not be the proper venue for the matter.
Generally, federal courts have jurisdiction when there is a federal law question, or when there is “diversity” (a citizen of another state is a defendant or plaintiff and the state court cannot exert personal jurisdiction).
Complicating this is “pendent jurisdiction”, where a state court can sit in place of a federal court on a federal law issue.
You can see why some of us go to law school…
I stand corrected – I was trying to get across whether Federal Court or State court was the correct venue. I suspect they want the Federal Court venue in order to get around The Texas Tort Claims Act. Otherwise they payout just isn’t worth what it will cost to bring the case.
I don’t generally do these types of cases, but I thought the specifics were that you had to give ~notice~ to the municipality of claim within 6 months of the incident, but that it did not otherwise change the statute of limitations for bringing the underlying claim itself. It just added an extra layer of notice hurdles for the unwary. But, I may be wrong.
I think that the parents could TRY (and likely fail) to make a claim that the teachers and district employees acted outside the scope of their authority as municipal employees, and therefore should be ~personally~ liable, at which point the teachers would demand that the School District defend them and hold them harmless (at which point the City would technically intervene and displace the teachers as the named defendants, thus waiving the “immunity” claim).
As for the law application, My guess is that unless they can make a 42 US 1893 claim stick, they get bounced out of Federal Court and have to make it stick in the Texas Courts.
In Texas, school districts are independent entities with independently elected school boards. Municipalities have no authority over school boards (but are included within The Texas Tort Claims Act). By law, the school district cannot provide legal representation to teachers or staff, only administrators and even that is limited. Teacher’s Associations (teachers may not unionize) provide legal insurance to their members or sometimes they can fall back on their homeowner’s insurance to pay for legal fees.)
Like I said, I don’t generally do these types of cases, and I’ve never had occasion to sue a school district (I’m in El Paso, but moving to Dallas this week).
In four years, I’ve had to threaten a municipality with suit exactly once, and the threat was enough to get them to the table to negotiate paying my contractor client what he was owed for work that the municipality foisted upon him in contravention of the contract that he signed, but that the municipality subjectively claimed they didn’t like the outcome when the outcome was technically perfect and within specification.
So, from a mechanical standpoint, do you sue the ISD (Independent School District) as a “respondeat superior” as well as the teachers, principal, and superintendent in their personal capacities?
Suits are filed against the District and then the employees individually. Superintendents usually have it in their contracts that the District pays their legal fees, but pretty much everyone else is on their own. It comes as a big wake up call when it happens.
Of course, operation of motorized vehicles is a whole separate set of rules.
We were in El Paso for 25 years, retired 3 years ago and moved in the middle of nowhere west of Ft Worth…… I feel for you – we refused to work for local government because you were always being played and were going to get shafted. Just wasn’t worth the effort. It’s painful to watch my old news feed from EP. Just glad I no longer contribute tax money towards that fiasco anymore….. however, stock up on good tortillas and tamales – it’s just not the same up here.
Ugh. It’s long past time for Clock-med to go away and leave us alone.
I’d probably toss in that a 3 day suspension is only an issue if it causes a student to lose class credit. My son was suspended for defending the 2nd Amendment in Government Class – he did so in an appropriate manner but the teacher and principal deemed it insubordinate and defiant behavior. (That’s the short version)
“Insubordinate and defiant behavior” during a class presentation by offering in a peaceful manner an opinion other than that held by the teacher and principal would be protected speech under the First Amendment. If they do not respect the Second Amendment, what makes you think that they would respect any other civil rights like those protected by the First Amendment?
“Cool lawsuit, Ahmed.”
I’m just surprised the DNC didn’t fly him in a couple of weeks early so he could be a keynote speaker at the convention.
Anybody taking bets on when Clockmed gets an invite to sit behind Hillary at one of her “rallies”/
If the case proceeds I would love to see the results of discovery.
The smug little punk baited them. I hope they don’t cave. Send it to a Texas jury.
“Accused of making a bomb” is an interesting way of putting it, since he was never prosecuted for it, which he should have been.
He showed it to a teacher, who took it and contacted school officials
That’s not how the story was reported back when it happened.
Is this a civil suit (State court) or a Federal Civil Rights lawsuit? Story here doesn’t indicate. Anyone know?
Never mind. I see now this is a Federal action.
Prediction. When the kid is deposed it will go away.
‘He showed it to a teacher, who took it and contacted school officials, who in turn called police.’
No he fucking didn’t. Wonder how many months it took to coach him to get his story straight.
First he showed it to his engineering teacher, who told him not to carry it around school because it could be mistaken for a bomb. THEN he took it to another teacher, who didn’t really react, and then he set the alarm to go off in the middle of a class and then finally he got the reaction he wanted.
This is a joke. He made a hoax bomb (which is ILLEGAL and prosecutable) and trolled for exactly the reaction he got. I only hope the school doesn’t cave to this bullshit.
If only legal insurrection had this much hatred for Texas teen killer Ethan Couch.
Ahhhh! A TROLL!
First of all it is good to hear from you m1, how are things in the basement of Mom’s house these days?
What hatred, thinking that someone should face the consequences for a crime that they obviously committed?
See we would be saying the same thing regardless of his color, even white as snow. However, I doubt you would come to his defense if he was white.
As far as Ethan Couch, I have never seen any defense of Mr. Couch from anyone here, nor did I ever read an article in his defense here. Personally, I think his afluenza or what he hell ever excuse is complete psycho-babble bullshit. Also there is a big difference between the utter negligence shown by couch and the planned actions with a clear goal show by Clock-mhed.
And the judge didn’t rule that Couch suffered from “affluenza”, or that he deserved leniency because of it; his lawyer ARGUED that he did. A defense lawyer is supposed to put up a vigorous defense, and raise reasonable doubt (whether or not it’s them deemed reasonable by the judge or jury). Judge Jean Hudson Boyd specifically said she wasn’t swayed by the affluenza defense.
Several points:
1. It was in an ordinary pencil case, not a suitcase or briefcase.
2. It was a clock, and there was no reason for anyone to think it was a bomb. He did nothing to make anyone think it was a bomb, and is not in any way responsible if some idiots jumped to that conclusion.
3. The school and the district violated his civil rights, and he has a decent case against them.
4. No, it’s not worth $15M. It’s not even worth $15K. $150 would not be unreasonable.
5. If it were up to me I’d award him $1, and order everyone involved to write him a letter of apology explaining what they did wrong and promising not to do it again. I’d also order his parents to apologise to him for exploiting him for their own gain, and to explain why that was wrong too.
“1. It was in an ordinary pencil case, not a suitcase or briefcase.”
Wrong, while it was not a suitcase or a brief case it was larger than just an ordinary pencil case.
http://libertynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ahmed-hoax-clock-hoax-bomb.jpg
“2. It was a clock, and there was no reason for anyone to think it was a bomb.”
Really, I am a former Army EOD and I can tell you that I would have treated it like a real device, because that is what you do. It’s called an abundance of caution.
“He did nothing to make anyone think it was a bomb, and is not in any way responsible if some idiots jumped to that conclusion.”
Actually he was told to put it away by a teacher for the specific reason that someone might think it was a bomb. Instead he kept showing it off, then set it to go off in class. There were no “idiots jumping” to conclusions. What there were, were people who have more than Clock-mhed’s feelings to consider, you know little things like the the safety of all the other children in the school.
“3. The school and the district violated his civil rights, and he has a decent case against them.”
How? They had a credible reason to call the authorities and let them decide, which is what they did. The authorities decided it was worthy of arrest and investigation, appropriately I might add. They don’t have the luxury of hindsight, what they have to do is think about what might happen if they do nothing and the something does happen. This was not a class project, not something that was going to be graded, it was simply something he made and brought to school. He has no case.
“order everyone involved to write him a letter of apology explaining what they did wrong and promising not to do it again.”
No one owes him an apology, they did their jobs. He and his parents should have been prosecuted.
Oh, and yes he absolutely meant it to look like a bomb.
Of course he did. Just like the “flying imams,” who extorted a settlement out of an airline, were deliberately trying to spook passengers and get them to report them.
It’s a classic CAIR tactic.
millhouse is just a sucker for showing his ignorance. Of course the damn thing resembled a bomb, that was it’s only purpose.
By the way, it was a clock before he took the existing clock case off and stuck the guts in a different case. There is only one reason one would do this. Most of us can figure that one out.
If the clock was really loud, would you allow him to ride the train with you?
Are you out of your effing mind?
“5. If it were up to me I’d award him $1, and order everyone involved to write him a letter of apology explaining what they did wrong and promising not to do it again. I’d also order his parents to apologise to him for exploiting him for their own gain, and to explain why that was wrong too.”
I think the kid should write a letter of apology explaining what he did wrong and promising not to do it again. He can write “I will not troll people with a hoax bomb and show others my ‘clock’ after being told not told not to” 500 times on the blackboard to help the lesson sink in.
Anyway, if he’s such a “genius,” he should be able to describe how to create a real clock from scratch, not just take clock guts out of their original case and plop them in another container. Even making a potato clock and explaining how it works would involve more technical know-how than what that kid employed ~
Maybe Hillary Clinton will short circuit again, and think he’s suing her, and have him killed.
Tick, tick, tick…
I think you all miss the point. The end game here isn’t the court hearing their case BUT the entire process as the punishment.
I doubt their objective is to get to court but to punish the municipality through the process itself in the hope of a massive out of court settlement.
Let’s be honest here, I doubt the municipality will have the backbone to fight this and will just settle this out of court with a lovely big payout for the family.
Mailman
HEY- I recall a story about Ahmed’s high school being right here on LI!
https://legalinsurrection.com/2015/12/muslim-valedictorian-at-clock-boys-high-school-disputes-alleged-islamophobia/
I heard the clock come up missing just about the time Egypt Air went down .
Clock boy should be made to stay in Qatar where his “creative talents” will be better appreciated. When you have a kid suspended for chewing a pop tart into the shape of a gun…..particularly in the age of “see something, say something” The only reason he didn’t get expelled is because of he is part of a protected clsss – Muslim! Photos of the “clock” were shown to students at GMU and guess what they thought the project was? A Freaking BOMB (just like clock boy intended). Looks like he’s hoping to gain fame and wealth by his little stunt. Stupid liberals are there to help him…….