Tag Archives: Ahmed Mohamed

Boy, family seek $15 million … for what?

ahmed

Ahmed Mohamed once was in the news.

He was doing a science project for his school in Irving, a Dallas suburb. Ahmed brought a homemade clock to school. But the clock was confiscated, Ahmed was detained, questioned intently by school officials and police who thought he had made a bomb. He then was suspended.

The incident brought a lot of attention because Ahmed and his family are Muslim.

Mr. and Mrs. Mohamed were so upset — and rightfully so — that they took their son out of school and moved to Qatar.

That should have been the end of the story.  It isn’t.

The family is now seeking reparations from the school district totaling $15 million.

That’s right. Fifteen million bucks! They also want a written apology from the school district.

Ahmed’s reputation, they family says, has been damaged beyond repair. They want the Irving district to pay them.

I’m generally in favor of allowing plaintiffs the right to sue for as much as they can get … within reason, of course.

However, not for something like this.

Ahmed’s detention and the publicity he got over the bogus bomb scare brought him a great deal of positive attention. President Obama invited him and other science students to the White House for an astronomy demonstration project.

Ahmed’s damages, such as they are, pale in comparison to what his parents’ reputation will endure by making such an unreasonable demand for reparations.

 

Stereotyping can pose major problems

Ahmed%20Mohamed_jpg_CROP_promo-xlarge2

Ahmed Mohamed is a 14-year-old high school student who lives in the Dallas suburb of Irving.

He brought a homemade clock to school the other day as part of some classroom project.

The reaction from school officials? They called the cops, who then slapped handcuffs on the boy in front of his classmates. They thought he’d brought a bomb into school.

Ahmed was taken to a juvenile detention center and then released to the custody of his parents.

And why all the fuss?

Was it because he’s a practicing Muslim? Irving police and school officials, quite naturally, insist his faith had nothing to do with the overreaction. They insist they’d have reacted the same way with any student who brought a “suspicious-looking” device into school.

Well, I don’t know about you, but I am having a little difficulty believing that. I guess it’s best just to take them at their word.

Clock was not a bomb

President Obama, of course, entered the fray by tweeting something about Ahmed’s “cool clock,” while inviting the youngster to the White House to show the device off. He said the boy’s innovation is a big part of what “makes America great.”

The overreaction in one American city to this youngster’s attempt at creativity sends quite another message.

There is good news to report. Irving police won’t press charges against Ahmed.

Now, how about a public apology to the boy and his parents?