Ahmed Mohamed in 2015 (Credit: US Congressman Mike Honda/Wikipedia)
Ahmed Mohamed, the Texas “clock boy” who was arrested after bringing a homemade clock to school to show his teachers, is suing Fox Television Stations, Glenn Beck, his conservative news site the Blaze and others for defamation in their reporting on him. Mohamed’s father is filing the suit on his and his son’s behalf.
The lawsuit calls for the parties in question to correct and retract claims about the Mohamed family. Ahmed Mohamed was arrested last year at age 14 after he brought a homemade clock to school, which was suspected of being a hoax bomb. The local police charged the boy but dropped the charges two days later.
Mohamed is suing the Blaze, Glenn Beck, Center for Security Police, Jim Hanson, Fox Television Stations, Ben Ferguson, Ben Shapiro and Beth Van Duyne, according to the lawsuit, which was posted online by NBC’s Kevin Young. iMediaEthics has written to all those being sued. When asked for comment, Mohamed’s lawyer Christopher Stoy pointed iMediaEthics to a lengthy statement blogpost on his firm’s website. That statement called the media coverage of Mohamed and his family “yellow journalism.”
The 21-page lawsuit includes a few pages about Ahmed Mohamed and his family’s background, Ahmed’s creation of the clock, and the incident at school where a teacher asked him if it was a bomb. Beck and Hanson are being sued for saying it was staged so people would pay attention to the town of Irving, Texas. Van Duyne, Irving’s mayor, is sued for saying Ahmed had a “hoax bomb” and that his family was not cooperating with the city. Ferguson is being sued for saying on Fox 4 News that he thought it was a “pre-planned idea” by the child’s father. Shapiro is being sued for calling it a hoax.
Shapiro declined to comment for legal reasons. He has tweeted about the lawsuit.
So, looks like I've been sued by "Clock Boy" and family https://t.co/Hxkgfxl0hQ
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 26, 2016
I committed the egregious sin of not believing the "Clock Boy" Islamophobia BS narrative, so now they're suing https://t.co/Hxkgfxl0hQ
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 26, 2016
Hey @IStandWithAhmed, cool frivolous lawsuit! https://t.co/Hxkgfxl0hQ
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 26, 2016
Hanson tweeted
Will we settle?
Oh Hell NoIs it Defamation?
Oh Hell NoAre we gonna have some fun w/ this lame lawfare attempt?
Oh Hell Yeah https://t.co/iwUuAtfYGw
— Jim Hanson (@Uncle_Jimbo) September 27, 2016
#AhmedClockBoy's Dad is suing
Me
& Glenn Beck & FOX & others
For DefamationThis won't go his way
More to comehttps://t.co/l2js7ZixVJ— Jim Hanson (@Uncle_Jimbo) September 27, 2016
A spokesperson for Mercury Radio Arts, Glenn Beck’s production company, told iMediaEthics by e-mail, “This is an abuse of the court system and we will not only fight this, we want to send a message to anyone who would abuse the court system to squash free speech.”
Hat Tip: NBC-affiliate KAGS-TV
UPDATED: 9/28/2016 11:49 AM EST With response from Mercury Radio Arts
