Ahmed Mohamed and his family were seeking $100,000 in restitution from conservative news organizations for defamation of character, but were  denied by the courts on Monday.

During the hearing, AFLC co-founder and senior counsel David Yerushalmi explained to Judge Maricela Moore that the purpose of the lawfare-driven lawsuit was to intimidate into silence those who might comment publicly on the connection between jihad, terrorism, sharia, and Islam. Yerushalmi argued, “this case is a classic Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation or ‘SLAPP’ case and should be dismissed.”

The matter stems back to an incident when Mohamed was detained for bringing a suspicious looking device onto school property in 2015.  The lawsuit, which runs 21 pages, notes that in sixth grade, “Kids called him Sausage Boy and Bacon Boy because he did not eat pork.” 

The lawsuit came after Mohamed returned to Texas from an Islamic pilgrimage in the Middle East because of homesickness.  

During his time in the Middle East, Mohamed said he visited the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia with his family and enjoyed learning more about Islam at school, where the religion is  embedded in the curriculum.