This browser does not support the Video element.
Dearborn mayor vows not to slow down leading city after man's arrest for death threat
Mayor Abdullah Hammoud is speaking with FOX 2 after the arrest of a Detroit man who threatened to assassinate him, according to police.
FOX 2 - Abdullah Hammoud is the city of Dearborn’s first Arab and Muslim mayor.
The backstory:
His historic tenure has included many highlights, but a recent threat to assassinate him reveals the challenges he still faces leading the city.
Joseph Lipani was arrested and charged with one misdemeanor count of malicious use of a telecommunications service after allegedly threatening to assassinate Hammoud.
"Anyone who is casting a death threat or saying they want to do X,Y and Z to you, can’t let them slow you down," Hammoud said.
Last month Lipani, from Detroit, was released on a personal bond and placed on a GPS tether.
"God-willing these individuals be prosecuted to the extent of the law that it provides," the mayor said. "But if we distract ourselves from the work that we are doing, then they truly have won."
Dearborn has the highest concentration of Muslims and Arab Americans in the US, and Hammond wants his leadership to prove that building bridges, builds community.
He added, however, that obstacles can make the mission challenging.
"The one thing that you cannot tackle is willful ignorance," he said. "That is a radical concept that is proliferating, because of the rhetoric that you hear in the highest office in the world."
Hammoud says he will remain focused on serving the city which he says is thriving.
"We’re one of the fastest growing cities in Michigan, in fact the Midwest, in the country," he said. "We have amazing investments happening every single day. Ford just announced and moved into its brand-new headquarters – two million square feet of the most beautiful office space."
"Every one of our business corridors is over 90% occupied."
Hammoud, who was re-elected last year, says his mission is clear - to lead with compassion and work to erase hate.
"And so we will do our best to push back continually, and build bridges," he said.
This is not the first death threat the mayor has faced. But he says, he will not back down in fear and will continue to work for his city.
The Source: