--- description: The family of Ahmed Mohamed, who was arrested in September for bringing a homemade clock to school, filed a federal lawsuit Monday. title: 'Clock Boy' Ahmed Mohamed Sues Texas School District Nearly a Year After His Arrest image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd23bc48ecf174f58/6988a18d2dce01ebd79ea38a/ahmed-mohamed-federal-lawsuit-irving.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Courts](/tag/courts/) ## Courts Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # 'Clock Boy' Ahmed Mohamed Sues Texas School District Nearly a Year After His Arrest  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 8, 2016 6:08 PM CUT  Ahmed Mohamed shows the clock he built in a school pencil box to reporters after a news conference in Dallas, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016. Ahmed Mohamed shows the clock he built in a school pencil box to reporters after a news conference in Dallas, Monday, Aug. 8, 2016.LM Otero—AP  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 8, 2016 6:08 PM CUT The family of [Ahmed Mohamed](http://time.com/4079766/ahmed-mohamed-clockmaker-president-obama/ "undefined"), the 14-year-old arrested last September after bringing a homemade clock to school, [filed a federal lawsuit](http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2016/08/08/irving-clock-kid-set-to-file-federal-lawsuit/ "undefined") against Irving, Tex., the Irving Independent School District and his former principal on Monday. Mohamed’s lawyers said in a statement that the Muslim teenager’s civil rights were violated. On the day Mohamed brought the clock to school, he was taken into custody because it looked “suspicious,” Principal Daniel Cummings said in a letter to parents. Cummings [allegedly threatened](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/family-of-clock-boy-ahmed-mohamed-files-lawsuit-against-former-school/2016/08/08/f0ee53a0-5cba-11e6-af8e-54aa2e849447%5Fstory.html "undefined") Mohamed with expulsion, he said, before he received a three-day suspension—even though “they knew it wasn’t a bomb,” attorney Susan Hutchison said at a press conference Monday, _CBS Dallas-Fort Worth_ reports. “Irving \[Independent School District\] continues to deny violating the student’s rights and will respond to claims in accordance with court rules,” the district said in a statement Monday. The federal suit did not request a specific amount of money, as Hutchinson said the lawyers and family were primarily seeking “justice.” After the incident, Mohamed [moved to Qatar](http://time.com/4080463/clock-kid-ahmed-moving-to-qatar/ "undefined") to attend school and is currently visiting the U.S. before returning. Over the past year, Mohamed’s family has received several violent threats, his family said, and Mohamed said Monday that he still “get\[s\] a lot of hate.” “I’ve lost a lot of things, and people might not see it because I didn’t really talk about it,” Mohamed said. “Anytime I walk out of the house, there might be death waiting for me.” \[[_CBS DFW_](http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2016/08/08/irving-clock-kid-set-to-file-federal-lawsuit/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4443477/ahmed-mohamed-clock-boy-federal-suit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4443477/ahmed-mohamed-clock-boy-federal-suit/"},"headline":"'Clock Boy' Ahmed Mohamed Sues Texas School District Nearly a Year After His Arrest","datePublished":"2016-08-08T18:08:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:50:17.169Z","description":"Ahmed Mohamed's family is suing the city, school district and his former principal","url":"https://time.com/4443477/ahmed-mohamed-clock-boy-federal-suit/","keywords":["Courts","Crime","Religion"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd23bc48ecf174f58/6988a18d2dce01ebd79ea38a/ahmed-mohamed-federal-lawsuit-irving.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd23bc48ecf174f58/6988a18d2dce01ebd79ea38a/ahmed-mohamed-federal-lawsuit-irving.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"ahmed mohamed federal lawsuit irving","caption":"ahmed mohamed federal lawsuit irving","creditText":"LM Otero—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/courts/","name":"Courts"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4443477/ahmed-mohamed-clock-boy-federal-suit/","name":"'Clock Boy' Ahmed Mohamed Sues Texas School District Nearly a Year After His Arrest"}}]}] ```