Thursday, August 12, 2010

Axis of Deception at Arabfest: Roger Williams, Amal Alslami, and Dearborn Police

When Dearborn Police arrested us, they told us that we were being taken to jail for harassing a festival volunteer named Roger Williams. We told them that, with the push of a button, we could refute the accusations against us. Unfortunately, they were looking for an excuse to throw us in jail, so they refused to look at our footage.

Interestingly, by the time the Mayor’s letter, the police report, and the City of Dearborn’s article were released, the accusations against us had changed significantly. We were being accused of inciting a riot, refusing to leave when police ordered us to leave, deliberately blocking a tent entrance, screaming at Muslims, etc.

Why did the accusations change? It’s quite simple. Looking for an excuse to arrest us, police threw us in jail based on a shaky complaint by Roger (and false confirmation by a Muslim woman named Amal Alslami). After eventually examining our footage, police realized that Roger’s claims were completely false. But how then could they justify our arrests when we had informed them, at the festival, that we had exculpatory evidence and that we would only need a few moments of their time to prove our innocence? When all else fails in Dearborn, the solution is to lie. Hence the volley of false allegations.

Here’s what really happened at the festival.



Why would a volunteer like Roger go around harassing Christians and taking them to police? (Roger is the volunteer who took Luke to police for handing out a tract.) Why would he lie about us and get four innocent people thrown in jail? In Dearborn, that’s just how you win the favor of Muslims. This is why Roger lied; it’s why police lied (notice the cheers of Muslims as they falsely arrested us); it’s why the Mayor lied.

This is why we keep connecting everything with Sharia Law. Roger was harassing Christians at the festival because Muslims insist on limiting the rights of Christians, and Roger goes along with it to show them what a great guy he is. Police harass Christians who try to distribute materials, even if it’s outside the festival, because that's how you show the Muslim community that you're on their side. And anyone who dares defend the Constitutional rights of Christians suddenly becomes Dearborn’s Most Wanted.

In a discussion with Jason Smathers, Roger said that he’s currently attending college so that he can do missionary work in a Muslim country. I must say that Roger’s approach to evangelism is quite odd. He attacks Christians in order to build relationships with Muslims, in an effort to turn Muslims into Christians. He’s already had two former Muslims thrown in jail. While many Muslims will love him for punishing apostates, they will never respect him. They will always think of him as their dhimmi.

On a different note, here are the relevant portions of the police report. Please examine Roger’s claims in light of the above video footage. Also note Amal Alslami’s false statement to police. It seems that she initially claimed to be a witness in order to get us thrown in jail, but later realized that she wouldn’t appear in the video footage, and therefore would be exposed as a false witness. Thus, she changed her story.

Corporal Brian Kapanowski Reports:
While inside the Command Trailer during ArabFest, Sgt Mrowka, Ofc Smith and I were notified by Roger Williams (Festival Volunteer) that he had just been harassed by a film crew and Amal Alslami had witnessed the incident. Williams stated a film crew began recording him doing his Festival duties. He advised the subjects (later identified as Negeen Mayel, Nabeel Qureshi, David Wood, and Paul Rezkalla) that he did not want to be filmed and told them to stop. Williams stated that they did not stop and instead, began to surround him. He added that he felt extremely uncomfortable and thought he could not leave although he attempted to several times. They continued to pester him and badger him with questions and continued filming. Williams again told them to stop filming. Qureshi and Wood, as well as Rezkalla, finally put down the microphone and camcorder to speak with him but he noticed Mayel still filming within hearing distance. He radioed to security for assistance and the parties soon left. He advised Alslami that he wished to make a formal complaint with police. Alslami stated she observed the above incident as Williams had recalled. She stated she took photographs of the subjects with her camera for identification purposes, although she did not have same in her possession at the time of report.

Sergeant Jeffrey Mrowka Reports:
While at the police command post trailer, Mr. Roger Williams (Festival Volunteer) responded and reported that a film crew had approached him in the main tent area and began to ask him questions while they video taped him. Williams said he told them he did not wish to participate and did not want to be on video. Williams stated that they continued to point their cameras at him and began to surround him. Williams said he felt extremely uncomfortable and he felt that he was not free to leave. Williams said the incident was witnessed by Amal Alslami (festival worker) and she took photographs. Williams said he would be able to identify the parties involved if he saw them again. I instructed Ptl. Smith and Cpl. Kapanowski to take Mr. Williams and Alslami back to the main tent area in an attempt to identify the parties involved. As the officers left with Mr. Williams and Alslami several radio reports came in over the security portable radio of a group causing a disturbance in the main tent area and to send the police.

Detective Michael Sabo Reports:
I talked to Amal Alslami who was one of the event volunteers who assisted Roger Williams on the night of the incident. I asked Amal to tell me what happened and she stated she was on her golf cart patrolling the grounds when Roger Williams came up to her and told her about the individuals who just harassed him. Amal stated she went with Williams to the police command trailer and assisted in identifying the people that Williams stated was involved. Amal stated she didn’t see any of the confrontation between Williams and the four subjects arrested.

The entire police report has been posted here by Jason Smathers. (Notice that he had to black out my home address, which the City of Dearborn has been distributing to the public.)

Since police (not to mention the rest of the world) now know that Roger and Amal lied, and that the reporting officers lied, why is the prosecuting attorney still coming after us? Why isn't he instead seeking charges against people who lie and falsify police reports?

Welcome to Dearborn, Friends—where lying is welcome, and truth is forbidden.

33 comments:

Hogan Elijah Hagbard said...

I have to say I am impressed with you guys.

I wish Christians had to courage to do this elsewhere.

At least you might have begun a new trend within the Christian community: that of exposing injustice.

Anonymous said...

Roger

To you think we should apologize for the death buriel and resurection because from my experience is Muslims find that very offensive. Again the last thing a Muslim needs to hear is God loves and has a wonderful plan for your life. What Muslims need to hear is repent and believe the Gospel. That is the message of the apostle Paul.

JesusTheOnlyWay said...

The city of Dearborn is out of their mind! Thank you guys for presenting the honest truth as to what happened in Dearborn and showing this additional evidence. Let's see what your critics accuse you of faking in this evidence. Nothing they say surprises me at this point though that's for sure. I'm sure they will say you edited this and removed things Roger said. We'll IF you did wouldn't you run the chance of the city presenting what you took out since they have a copy of the video's BEFORE you would have a chance to edit it? But those that hate you and our Lord Jesus Christ will not stop at anything apparently to lie about you. All I can say is that the Truth will prevail praise God!

Tizita said...

Man! im studding the Book of Acts that was written by Luke, and im amazed how i can perfectly fit u guys into Apostle Paul, Peter, Barnabas, Timothy, Silas, Luke etc. situation.
Keep on telling the salvation message of our Lord and God Jesus Christ. Everything u do, u do for Jesus and it is to Him u will answer one day. Jesus has promised that He will not return until all have heard the Gospel, whether it be by us right now or by the two witnesses mentioned in Rev. that will be preaching the Gospel for 3 1/2 yrs.
Our Job as a follower of Jesus is to tell the Gospel, but the final decision is up to the hearer.
I love it how Paul was put into prison and insisted he be taken to trial to figure out what he did that was against the law. And it's ironic that u guys are in the same situation.
I'll keep u all in my prayers & keep strong in Jesus!!

Anonymous said...

Hey guy

I have a few cooments about what I think is really the heart of the issue IMO only onmy blog and on You Tube
http://challenging-islam.blogspot.com/

jem said...

Hello, Nabeel...just saw your video
and have one question....why didnt you refer the matter (Re: Luke) to the appropriate authorities.... I mean I you enter a situation (private I might add)with out knowing what's going on...... Naturally, the security is going to be put off.........I mean he is security........(of some form)...

And I'm not posting to cause controversy.....I'm just trying to understand.......although I know commentators on this blog will go on the attack.....I decided to post

Best regards,


jem

David Wood said...

Jem,

I think you need to go back and watch the videos about a dozen times until this finally sinks in. What "authorities" should we have referred Luke's case to? Security? They're corrupt liars. Police? They're corrupt liars. They Mayor? He's a corrupt liar.

All of them would have agreed with Roger's treatment of Luke.

That's the problem we're addressing, but for some reason, you're taking Dearborn's side.

Lydia McGrew said...

What strikes me in the video is what a childish, insecure person Roger Williams comes across as. He's like some kid bully who always wanted to say into his walkie-talkie, "Security, this is Roger," and strike terror into the hearts of others. The reason he "tries" to leave and "can't" has _nothing_ to do with Acts 17 surrounding him (because they didn't surround him). It has to do with the fact that he knows he looks like a fool, and he can't bear to walk away and let you guys have the last word! It's so obvious. He's like a person in a stage comedy who keeps coming back to say, "And one more thing..." and looks worse every time he does it.

I'll bet he rewrote this scene so fast in his own mind that he could hardly even bring himself to remember what really happened. (How _dare_ you guys imply that he could be doing something wrong in talking to Luke? How _dare_ you ask him what you were doing wrong? How _dare_ you complain? He had a _yellow shirt on_. He was a _festival volunteer_. He _had_ to be in the right.) He was probably the type of little boy who was always telling lies to Mom, because he couldn't bear to be in the wrong, but who convinced himself of them too.

This is a person who should never, never be in any position of authority or any position where he can get other people in trouble.

But if he can watch the video now and not admit that he bore false witness against you (and obviously, he's brazening this one out), then this is a clear case for church discipline. I wonder what church he belongs to.

And that's just from the Christian perspective. Making a false report to police has got to be a crime, and he should be prosecuted for it.

Kristen Bissontz said...

Rhetorical question: Where is the ACLU?

Unknown said...

@ Kristen,

The ACLU are actually on Acts 17's side, from what they have reported on this blog. Don't know if they will provide legal defense support, but they have issued statements indicating that Acts17 rights were violated.

Tony Byrne said...

"Bartimaeus" said:
"Again the last thing a Muslim needs to hear is God loves and has a wonderful plan for your life. What Muslims need to hear is repent and believe the Gospel. That is the message of the apostle Paul."

Me now:
This is a false either/or dilemma. Actually, Muslims need to know *BOTH* that God loves them and desires their salvation (in the same sense as He desires their obedience) *AND* they need to repent and believe the Gospel. Note the balance in Whitefield here:

"We are to preach glad tidings of salvation; to tell a poor benighted world lying in the wicked one the devil, their state and condition; we are to tell them, "God is love;" to tell them, that God loves them better than they do themselves. We must preach the law, but not leave the people there. We must tell them how Moses brings them to the borders of Canaan, and then tell them of a glorious Joshua that will carry them over Jordan; first to show them their wants; and then point out to them a Jesus that can supply, and more than supply all their wants."

For others reading this, it may be the case that "Bartimaeus" (otherwise known as "Blind Bart") either does not believe that God loves all men (including the non-elect) and/or rejects God's desire the salvation of all men in His revealed will, as orthodox, historic Calvinists even believe. Therefore, "Bart's" advice on how to evangelize will thus be distorted, involving such false either/or dichotomies as the above.

Personally, I am glad to see one man with Acts 17 wearing a t-shirt that reminds all of the love of Christ for them, even as he also tells them to repent and believe the gospel. May God honor that.

mkvine said...

Roger Williams complained to security about THAT??? Wow, then I guess you can complain about anything, "Hey that person didn't say Hello to me, GO ARREST THEM!" lol

mkvine said...

LOL at the 10:52 time mark. The Alslami girl does a little spin and then takes a picture...very stylish.

minoria said...

Hello Guys:

Roger is not well in the head,he needs professional help,a shirk.I know a few borderline non-Muslims.Now for good news,RIFQA turned 18 on TUESDAY and she is an adult.She does not have to be forced to go back to her Muslim family.Pray for her,our dear sister.

Michelle Qureshi said...

Jem--

Walking into Arabfest, at least to me, is like walking into the Wild West. There's no "authority" there that we can trust.

Honestly, I wouldn't have been at all surprised if someone were to have punched me, or worse. Neither would David have been. And neither of us would have expected the police to do anything about it, either. We knew that, in order to get a rational response that's concerned about laws and equality, we'd have to show what's happening there to the nation at large. That's what the cameras were for.

Aside from a physical attack (this year), that's what happened - all sense of justice and equality has been thrown out the window, and the only ones that care are people outside of Dearborn.

You tell me, whom could we have trusted to fairly handle this situation?

Michelle Qureshi said...

Oh, and Jem, there's one other reason. If you see someone potentially getting harassed, and you have the mindset that we at Acts 17 have, then the response is much more visceral than "Let me go notify someone, who may or may not care, and may take minutes to resolve this situation, just so I don't have to do anything myself." The response is "Let's make sure everyone's okay."

I think it's everyone's duty to defend and protect his brother, at least as much as is welcomed and necessary. That is why I asked Luke if he was okay. He said "yes", so I was ready to walk away. Had he said "no", I would have intervened accordingly.

Radical Moderate said...

mkvine said...
Roger Williams complained to security about THAT???

Notice about 5:29 Roger (Funktionshäftling) Williams THREATENS Nabeel and crew.

"You don't have to worry about me messing with him you need to worry about me messing with YOU.

Those are provocative words, in some social situations those are FIGHTING words.

After Roger (Funktionshäftling) Williams makes this threat, he is asked "What are we doing wrong" this KAPO immediately reaches for his radio to complain to security.

The same thing that he accused Nabeel and David of doing wrong.

So the same thing that he accuses David and Nabeel of (complaining) he in fact is is guilty of.

ONLY IN AMERICA could something like this happen. And that is the saddest thing of all.

Radical Moderate said...

David/Nabeel the woman taking the pictures is that the same woman who assaulted Mary JO, and was in video radio security saying you guys were harrasing her?

Rafik Responde ao Isla said...

Hi everyone:
Finally Mr Hussein wrote an APOLOGY to Acts 17 for slandering them ... but of course ... he had to defend himself as well.

http://husseinwario.com/blog/2010/08/11/acts-17-apologetics-mea-culpa-and-more/#comment-1743

Anonymous said...

Wow! I'm very glad that you all have this video, and that you're showing it.

I think that it is great, that you expose what is going on in Dearborn. What an eye opener your videos are! This entire situation serves as a reminder to all of us, to be vigilant in protecting our rights. As you have shown, they can easily be trampled upon.

We will keep praying for you all.

GreekAsianPanda said...

Grr! This makes me mad! I pray that Mr. Williams will repent for getting innocent people put in jail. Maybe he was just having a bad day (a REALLY bad day).

It's great that you two can have a good sense of humour in this situation.
=)

Traeh said...

So we find that Nabeel has yet another talent besides medicine and theology: he can do hyperspeed speaking voice-overs.

That was entertaining.

Traeh said...

As usual, the Dearborn side has a tiny half-fragment of truth on their side, and spins a heap of lies about it.

Here's the tiny half-fragment of truth. Nabeel says, "We just wanted to see if he was messing with you."

That sentence, on the street, can have a very aggressive meaning. It can suggest an assertion of physical authority, and a physical challenge. I don't know if Nabeel and David realize how big and tall they are, and how physically imposing they might seem. Because of their size, and their mission to be fearlessly forthright, I suggest they consider using the word "sir" when confronting someone in security like Roger. That and similar protocols would remove most of the intimidation that can come unintentionally and inadvertently from two large, young, and fearlessly outspoken males.

"We just wanted to see if he was messing you."

Nabeel obviously did not intend the physically aggressive street meaning of that sentence. We know that he meant a softer, civilized, more metaphorical meaning of that statement. We know it from the rest of Nabeel's speech and behavior, as observed in this and many other videos. He meant "messing" in reference to legal rights being trampled, and he meant that if necessary he, Nabeel, would intervene by watching and speaking, not physically.

Though David and Nabeel's size, together with the statement, "we just wanted to see if he was messing with you," could have been misheard as having an undertone of a street meaning denying Roger's physical authority at the festival, and as signifying a physical challenge to a security person, Nabeel's immediately preceding and ensuing behavior has to be taken into account as context.

Roger's statements in the police report, as we can see with our own eyes from the video, are inexcusable lies. Obviously then, Nabeel's statement did not warrant the police doing anything, so Roger had to make things up.

I see that Roger lied repeatedly in the police report. I think he should be prosecuted for that, so he and others like him will think twice about lying in police reports.

Acts 17 admirably prefers sometimes to go easy on those who trample their basic human rights, but if the tramplers are not prosecuted when they break the law, then they'll just keep doing it to the next victims who come along.

Traeh said...

I correct myself: Nabeel did not say "We just wanted to make sure he wasn't messing with you."

He said, "I just wanted to make sure he wasn't messing with you."

I don't think that changes the point I tried to make.

Christie said...

Well now the truth is fully out there, and now Acts 17 is owed apologies from quite a few people (lets start with the Christians that jumped to conclusions).

As for Roger, may the Lord convict him of his sin and may the Lord soften his heart for him to repent of it. What he did is totally unacceptable as a Christian, indeed even as an American. Even if he disagrees with Acts 17 methods of presenting the gospel namely the question and answer mode that was used by Paul on a regular basis, he is not to disagree with them in the way he did. Roger should also know that helping Islamic leaders in Dearborn oppress fellow Christians is not going to give him any credence to let him share the gospel with them. It will only strengthen their resolve that Islam is the stronger belief system. Also. false accusations and arrests is not how we roll here in the US in public discourse.

Roger needs to take care because our Father does not look lightly on fellow believers hindering the gospel, and he certainly does not look lightly on a brother getting their brothers and sister falsely arrested. I have heard of more than one person who wished to be a minster for the gospel being removed by God from ministry for doing less than what Roger has done. Repent Roger, and the Lord may still place you where your heart longs to be.

God will get the glory from this in the end and I believe He will bring about justice. May he protect you guys and your families as you carry out the great commission.

Pat said...

Traeh,

I'm not sure I would clasify that as a "half" truth. Even if it can be deemed as aggressive, no ways it makes it to 50% truth =P Tact can help a lot when addressing authority, as authorities often gets defensive if they feel that their position is not being respected (or they do not have what they consider enough control over the situation). Yet, Roger's actions are far from excusable.

donna60 said...

This is an open letter to Mayor John B O'Reilly of Dearborn, MI

I hope Sir, that you are able to keep your political ambitions to Dearborn. Because I promise you, if you ever need Macomb County votes, I will personally go door to door, both with your letter, and the videos in which your thug police officers hit men for asking questions and arresting a young girl for taking a recording.


I double promise you, that you will be explaining yourself for the next decade. Are you a young man?

Keep in mind that 68% of all Americans decried the buiding of the Cordoba House near ground zero. That isn't just Christian fundamentalists. That is pretty much everyone in the US. What is more, we are getting tired of the double-standard of rights demanded of Muslims in this country.

The grievances of the Europeans concerning the double-standard of rights in their countries, by Muslims who seem to be unappeasible, have reached our ears, and we are forewarned!

This is a little political information which you might not know about Mayor O'Reilly. It is not against the law to record an event on public property, and arresting little bitty, girls by thug police is reprehensible.

Istilah said...

Do you guys plan on returning to Dearborn next year?

David Wood said...

Of course.

Jabari said...

Istilah said...
Are you guys returning back to Dearborn, next year?

David Wood...
Of course.

And hopefully I'll be with you (assuming that I can talk my parents into letting me stay there until the Arab festival has ended)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

donna60 said...

I would like to support your work financially if you would find me worthy of this honor.

Since I live in Macomb County, part of me wishes I was brave enough to go with you, but there is that cowardly part of me, which I realize that God doesn't like, (Revelation 21:8) that makes me too afraid to get physically wounded, or arrested, or even to lose my job, if my place of business decides I am associating with a group that conflicts with their mission statement (of embracing diversity)

I realize this was no different persecution than what the Christians underwent under Rome, but end the end, I am still frightened. My brother would go! I will volunteer him!!!

But if I could contribute financially, to your courageous acts, I would do so joyfully.

David Wood said...

Hi Donna,

We have a PayPal link on the sidebar of our blog. We use the funds for ministry stuff (and, lately, for court costs).

donna60 said...

Thanks! I found it.