Dearborn, state leaders share unity message after anti-Islam protest clash

Dearborn Unity Presser

Dearborn holds press conference of unity days after earlier anti-Muslim protests.

DEARBORN, Mich. (FOX 2) - A coalition of Dearborn voices along with state politicians and faith leaders gave a message of unity a few days after a clash of protesters on Tuesday.

The backstory:

Three groups of protesters flooded downtown Dearborn with pro-Muslim activists, conservatives and alt-right anti-Muslim demonstrators rallying earlier in the week.

On Friday Mayor Abdullah Hammoud with a gathered group of diverse voices, said a message of solidarity against hate was sent.

"Our city was once again targeted for simply being who we are," he said. "They did so in hopes of manufacturing outrage to divide neighbors, to use our city as a staging ground for clicks, for views, for political stunts. 

"Because our coexistence is threatening to those who reject the most sacred of all American ideals, that we are created equal, and that we are all entitled to a place in the American story."

Dearborn Unity Presser: Mayor Hammoud

Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud's comments at the unity press conference against hate held Friday.

The press conference was held on Altar Road in front of the multi-faith complex of places of workshop off Ford Road. Hammoud said the location was symbolic.

"We are gathered on a historic Altar Road where, every day these beautiful houses of worship open their doors to all members of the Dearborn family," he said. "Inside of these walls, people may pray differently, look differently, but they walk out into a city that always has, despite all the outside noise chosen to stand firmly together."

On Tuesday the heated clashes and shouting matches took place across downtown Dearborn and at City Hall, with some activists making critical statements of Islam and Muslim protesters not taking any of that lightly, speaking up in defense of their faith and culture.

One right-wing organizer’s social media page called it a "Christian crusade on Dearborn," but large portions were filled with anti-Islamic rhetoric. 

US Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-12th District) spoke about standing up to the bigoted rhetoric.

"Our neighbors, we know, do not deserve the kind of violent and hateful rhetoric we witnessed on Tuesday in our beautiful, beloved city of Dearborn," she said. "From the people again, who do not even live in our community, do not understand our community."

Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist spoke out about normalizing political violence, urging all of us to be better than that.

Dearborn coalition of leaders hold press conference after protests

After outside agitators descended on Dearborn Tuesday, a diverse group of voices came together to show unity Friday.

"Any place in Dearborn, West Dearborn, South Dearborn. Every place is safe and welcoming," he said. "The city is full of friendly and decent people who want to live their lives not as targets, but as human beings."

Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson said that everyone is in it together.

"So I ask for the people of Michigan is to stand with us, to stand with Dearborn," she said. "And to help us send a message that if you come for one of us, you come for all of us."

Dearborn has been targeted by numerous national media pundits after Mayor Hammoud's confrontation with a Christian minister during a council meeting that went viral. The minister objected to a ceremonial street renaming of Warren Avenue at Chase for Arab American journalist Osami Siblani who he said has made numerous pro-Hezbollah statements in the past.

The mayor blasted the resident saying he was not welcome in the city with an over-the-top reaction that led to click-farming by influencers, media and rage-baiters alike, on social media.

Hammoud, the second-youngest mayor to be elected in city history, later refused to back down and deflect with media blaming. After his refusal to apologize to resident Ted Barham, it only fanned the flames of some pundits, many from the conservative side (ignorant to the fact most of the city voted for President Donald Trump in the last election).

More Dearborn coverage:

• Dearborn mayor gives statement, doesn't apologize to resident he called racist
• Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud slams Trump visit, refuses sit-down offer
• Dearborn Mayor Hammoud talks Biden, community and staying humble in the Roundabout

Dearborn political and faith leaders rally around soilidarity message

After controversial protests earlier in the week, some fueled by outside agitators, Dearborn held a press conference of unity to showcase the coalition of diverse voices from the community.

On Friday one Arab religious leader who spoke, mocked the outside protesters obsessed with banning so-called Sharia Law, observing the demonstrators march past the city's Christian Nativity scene downtown - clueless to the regulations if such a thing existed. 

"They walked by a bar and even by one of Dearborn's two gentlemen's clubs, to protest a law that does not exist," he said amid a murmur of good-spirited laughter. "This all happened in a city where mosques stand proudly alongside church steeples. Ladies and gentlemen. This beautiful background truly, truly exemplifies the real meaning of our coexistence here in Dearborn."