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Ahmed Mohamed, the Muslim teen arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school, wants financial retribution for an incident his family’s lawyer says was “openly discriminatory.” The teen and his family are suing the city of Irving, Texas and the school district for $15 million, and a written apology.

The Irving MacArthur High School student was removed from class in September after a teacher assumed his clock was a bomb. Ahmed was later led out of the school in handcuffs, and suspended.

The school targeted Ahmed because of his “race, national origin and religion,” the family’s lawyer states in letters to the Irving Independent School District, and the City of Irving.

Further, the attorney accuses the city spinning the story for their own benefit and trying to “trash” the student. “Ahmed never threatened anyone, never caused harm to anyone, and never intended to,” the letter states. “The only one who was hurt that day was Ahmed, and the damages he suffered were not because of oversight or incompetence. The school and city officials involved knew what they needed to do to protect Ahmed’s rights. They just decided not to do it.”

The family wants $10 million from the city and $5 million from the school district, plus a written mea culpa from Irving Mayor Beth Van Duke acknowledging that she never received evidence that “Ahmed was a ‘pawn’ in any ‘civilization jihad’ or that the events here were planned by Ahmed’s family or friends as part of an ‘influence operation.”

Both the school district and city are having lawyers review the attorney’s letter, which you can read in full below.

City of Irving Demand Letter

Photo: screenshot