Mayor shares more about Ahmed Mohamed case

The Mayor of Irving revealed new details Thursday night about the arrest of an Irving MacArthur High School freshman who was arrested after bringing a homemade clock to school.

The mayor, Beth Van Duyne, spoke while she was the guest speaker at the Arlington Republican Club.

Much of her speech centered around Sharia Law and the criticism Van Duyne has gotten on social media.

“In my own conversations with the police is that he was not forthcoming with information, but I just think common sense prevails,” Van Duyne said about the arrest of the teen who brought the clock to school, Ahmed Mohamed. “Does it make sense? And if not, why?”

She says that since the boy is a juvenile, his police records are sealed. But she characterized his responses to questions about the clock from police and school officials as evasive.

"The family has been non-responsive to their requests to sign off that they can release that information,” said Van Duyne. “So right now, we’re waiting to hear back from the parents that we can release that information and have transparency out in the public.”

Mohamed was suspended for three days because the clock was considered a suspicious device.

Police determined he meant no harm and dropped the case.

Mohamed’s parents have described the teen as a budding inventor and initially said he brought the clock to school innocently, to show a teacher.

Some have claimed that the freshman was profiled because of his race and religion, but Heath Wester, the President of the Texas Municipal Patrolman's Association, says quite the contrary.

"Any person who breaks the law or potentially breaks the law is going to be questioned,” said Wester. “Especially in the school system. They have to protect the teachers and the students that are there at the school.”

Wester says after speaking with the officers who were part of the response, and the Irving Police Chief, he says his conclusion was that it was a hoax bomb and that the boy knew exactly what he was doing.

“I think his intent was to see how far he could get with the device and to see what kind of alarmant he could get,” said Wester. “And as you can see now, he’s got what he asked for. He’s gotten that alarmant. He’s gotten that excitement or whatever he was trying to get; he got it.”