A Muslim student was suspended for five days from his high school in Washington after he strapped a fake suicide vest around his waist in a rather interesting way to ask his classmate to the prom.
Ibrahim Ahmad, a student of La Center High School in Washington, strapped on a paintball vest with red paper tubes and some wires and asked his classmate Rilea Wolfe to prom.
Ahmad held a sign which read, “I kno it’s a little Late, But I’m kinda… THE BOMB! Rilea, Will U Be My Date To Prom?”
However, Ahmad’s proposal came crashing down less than a minute into it as a teacher took him to the principal’s office. Ahmad was subsequently suspended for five days, including prom night.
“It was really unfair, and it kind of felt racist,” Ahmad said. “If anyone else did that, I feel like no one else would have gotten in trouble for it,” he added, while speaking to The Columbian.
Claiming he was under pressure to go all out in asking his would-be date, Ahmad said, “In ‘promposals,’ you’re supposed to go big, it’s kind of a trending thing now, too, where everyone just asks in a really creative way.”
“I’m Middle Eastern, and I thought the bomb was kind of funny and clever, I wasn’t wearing the vest for more than, like, 20 seconds. I asked her, took a picture, took it off, and then the school got upset,” he added.
Ahmad contended he didn’t break any school rules and the girl, Rilea Wolfe, said yes.
However, school superintendent Mark Mansell said Ahmad clearly deserved some sort of punishment for disrupting the learning environment.
“I want all my kids to feel safe and supported, but there’s a line,” Mansell said.
The school also issued a statement saying, “Given all that is going on in the world today, even simulated weapons/devices can undermine our collective efforts to create a safe school and therefore are handled with appropriate disciplinary actions.”
