US teen’s family seeks $15 million for clock incident

The family of Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas teenager who was arrested after a teacher mistook his homemade clock for a bomb, has demanded $15 million in compensation and written apologies from Irving city’s mayor and police chief, their lawyers have said.

An attorney for the family wrote in letters published by the local media seeking $10 million in damages from the city of Irving, Texas, and $5 million from the local school district, adding that they will file a civil suit if they do not receive a reply within 60 days.

Ahmed’s family, which moved to Qatar after accepting a foundation’s offer to pay for the teen’s education, argued in the letter that the boy’s reputation had been “permanently scarred”.

The incident caused “severe psychological trauma” to the teen, the letter said, adding that he and his family suffered physical and mental anguish.

Ninth-grader Ahmed had brought a digital clock, made from a pencil case, to his school in Irving to show it to his teacher who mistook the device to be a bomb. Hours later, he was handcuffed and arrested by law enforcement officers as part of “standard procedure”.

The 14-year-old became an overnight sensation after his sister tweeted a photo of the aspiring inventor standing in handcuffs while wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with a Nasa logo.