It’s been nine months since Ahmed Mohamed’s ill-fated attempt to impress his teachers with a homemade clock upended his life, his hometown of Irving and much of the internet.
After being sent to juvi on a hoax bomb charge — and later to the White House as a symbol of anti-Muslim bias — the teen finally escaped viral celebrity and a backlash by leaving the hemisphere.
Since last fall, Ahmed and his family have been living in Qatar, where he’s finishing high school on a royal family-funded scholarship.
Meanwhile, in America, Ahmed’s old school district is facing a federal civil rights investigation, and Donald Trump is promising to ban Muslims from U.S. shores. And next week, his family says, Ahmed is coming home to see for himself.
“He miss[es] Texas, and he miss[es] Irving,” said Aldean Mohamed, the teen’s uncle.
Ahmed is set to fly to Dallas early next week for an extended visit, Aldean said. After catching up with family in Irving, he has events lined up with some of the tech companies that latched onto his celebrity in 2015.
Last month, Aldean said the family was still planning to sue Ahmed’s old school district, Irving ISD, over his arrest.