Judge dismisses 'Clock Boy's' lawsuit against school 'with prejudice'
In 2015, Ahmed Mohamed, a 14-year-old student at MacArthur High School in Irving, Texas brought what he claimed was a homemade clock to school. When he showed it to one of his teachers, the older man thought immediately it was a bomb.
Police were called, and Ahmed was escorted to the police station.
The world exploded in outrage. The kid was showing how clever he was, but Islamophobic authorities believed the worst because he was a Muslim. Despite the fact that the machine didn't look much like a clock and appeared very much to be a bomb, the weepy left got involved, and young Ahmed became a celebrity.
NASA invited him for a tour. President Obama weighed in, congratulating the young man for being so clever. Editorials in all the correct newspapers praised him and condemned the "Islamophobia" that led to him being taken into custody.
Ahmed's family sued the school district and the city of Irving in 2016, claiming that his civil rights were violated. Yesterday, a judge dismissed the lawsuit "with prejudice," which basically means "get out of my court and don't come back."
The suit, filed by Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed on behalf of his son, had asked for unspecified damages. It had been amended twice since it was initially filed in August 2016.
U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay on Tuesday ordered that the suit be "dismissed with prejudice" and that "all relief requested by plaintiff is denied."
Lawyers for Ahmed Mohamed did not return calls for comment Wednesday.
In a statement released Wednesday, the city of Irving said that it is "extremely pleased by the court's ruling, which supports the justifiable actions taken by the officers in the matter. We remain committed to ensuring the safety of all Irving residents and schoolchildren."
Katie Long, the attorney for Irving ISD, said in an emailed statement that the district was "pleased the court had dismissed the case in its entirety" and that it had recognized that there was no basis to the claim that "Irving Independent School District or any employee discriminated against this student on the basis of race or religion."
"The Court's Order confirms that there is no plausible claim that Irving ISD or its employees violated anyone's constitutional rights. Irving ISD is committed to the safety, well-being, and equality of all students," the statement said.
So that ends this strange and disturbing episode. But does it? There has been intelligent speculation for years that the whole incident was a setup – that young Ahmed, in cahoots with his father (and possibly CAIR), wanted to create conditions for the kind of lawsuit that was eventually filed. It's even possible that CAIR was in on the scheme, hoping to prove how much America hates Muslims.
While there's no proof of any of this, there's that crazy clock and its resemblance to a bomb. As questions began to be asked, the family moved to Qatar. His father, who ran twice for president of Sudan, is a Sufi Muslim who was deeply involved in the Islamic community in Texas. Ahmed later made a promotional video with the co-founder of CAIR.
Many questions, no answers. The idea that it was all a setup is plausible because of who was involved and what eventually transpired. And Ahmed is a hero to leftists because the incident gave them all – from President Obama on down – a chance to let us know how tolerant and good they all are because they defended someone who may have conned them all.