By now, we all know the story of Ahmed Mohamed. The 14-year-old student who was arrested after he brought a homemade clock to his Irving, Texas school because a couple of teachers thought it might be a bomb. They called authorities who were quickly able to discern that it was not an explosive, but Ahmed was still arrested and led away in handcuffs for creating a hoax bomb.

Since then thousands of people have praised Ahmed for his scientifically oriented mind — including President Obama and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg — and blasted the Irving school district for their poor handling of the case. And yesterday, the Department of Justice announced that they were opening an inquiry into whether or not Ahmed's civil rights were violated. The U.S. Attorney General, Loretta Lynch, says this is an "'extreme case' of rising anti-Muslim feelings in the country."

Ahmed, who has since moved with his family to Qatar in the Middle East, is also asking the school district for $15 million and a written apology. As we previously reported, Ahmed's family says the incident caused the teen physical and mental anguish, and that he was singled out because of his race and religion (Ahmed is Muslim). "I felt like a criminal," Ahmed told the press soon after the incident.

While no charges were brought against Ahmed in Irving, the incident of the slight teen being led away in handcuffs was seared into many minds as a reminder of Islamophobia and racism in the country. We're glad someone is looking into the matter and will keep you updated on the outcome.

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Check out Teen Vogue’s December/January issue cover star, Fernanda Ly.