Dearborn in Uproar over High Rank on Terrorism Watch List

Dearborn residents are understandably upset that their city ranks second on the U.S. terrorism watch list. I was a little confused when I saw that thousands of residents are supposedly on the list. I know lots of people in Dearborn, and they're not terrorists. However, after watching the following exchange between Osama Siblani (of the Arab American News) and Richard Thompson (of the Thomas More Law Center), I think I figured out what's going on. Siblani isn't a terrorist, but he openly supports Hezbollah (a terrorist organization) and says that the U.S. government engages in terrorism. The U.S. government is probably adding people who support Hezbollah to the watch list, even if the people are otherwise peaceful and moderate. Since many Dearborn residents support Hezbollah, this is likely the reason for the high numbers.

Fox 2 News Headlines

Dearborn Ranks Second on Terrorist Watch List

There are plenty of nice Muslims in Dearborn, Michigan, just as there are plenty of nice Muslims in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Pakistan, Egypt, etc. But in all of these places, the more violent Muslims always find a way to cause problems for everyone else.

Dearborn Press and Guide—Among the U.S. cities that have the most residents on the government’s terrorist watch list is one that stands out because of its comparatively small population: Dearborn.

Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit, was described by The Intercept, an online news site that reports on issues of national security, as having the second-highest concentration of people designated by the government as “known or suspected terrorists.”

The report said that Dearborn’s ranking, just behind New York City and ahead of Houston despite their significantly larger populations, has to do with its concentration of Arab and Muslim Americans.

Dearborn has the largest percentage of Arab Americans in the country, according to the report.

“At 96,000 residents, Dearborn is much smaller than the other cities in the top five, suggesting that its significant Muslim population—40 percent of its population is of Arab descent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau—has been disproportionately targeted for watchlisting,” the report said. (Continue Reading.)

Dearborn Muslim Mohammad Hassan Hamdan Arrested on Attempted Jihad Charges

Politicians, the media, and Muslim organizations assure us that it's bigoted, racist, and Islamophobic to tell people what the Qur'an says about jihad. Meanwhile, Muslims from around the world continue to wage jihad in the name of Allah. While most Muslims don't take the Qur'an's violent commands seriously, Dearborn's own Mohammad Hassan Hamdan apparently does:

Investigative Project on Terrorism—A Dearborn resident was arrested Sunday night and charged with providing material support to the Shi'ite terrorist group Hizballah.

Mohammad Hassan Hamdan, who was born in Lebanon and has been living in the United States since 2007, tried to travel to Syria to fight alongside Hizballah fighters in the civil war that has been raging there for the last three years.

According the complaint, Hamdan told an FBI informant around Christmas that he wanted to go to Syria to fight with Hizballah. He couldn't leave yet because his sister took away his Lebanese passport to prevent him from going overseas to wage jihad. Hamdan, a permanent U.S. resident, applied for naturalization as an American citizen. He also applied for a new Lebanese passport.

Hizballah, an Iranian proxy based in Lebanon, has a history of violent attacks against U.S. and Israeli targets. The U.S. designated Hizballah as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 and the European Union recently added the military wing of the Lebanese group to its list of terrorist organizations. . . .

Hamdan claimed to have been active with Hizballah before coming to America, the complaint said. That included the terrorist group's 2006 war with Israel. He told the informant he received military training and worked with Hizballah's public assistance programs. He did not disclose this in his U.S. immigration papers.

He said he would be paid between $500 and $1,000 by "the party" (Hizballah) to fight in Syria, the complaint said. "I am leaving behind a family…My uncles tried to convince me [not to go to Syria]…but this is my decision and no one else's," Hamdan said.

On Saturday, he booked a roundtrip Air France flight to Lebanon through Paris. Authorities arrested Hamdan at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport after he had cleared security and was waiting to board his flight.

He faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted. He denied any plans to join Hizballah and fight in Syria, instead claiming that he was undertaking the trip to Lebanon to undergo some dental work. (Continue Reading.)

Wow. Lebanon must have some world-class dentists for Hamdan to be using this as an explanation.

Dearborn Arab International Festival Canceled This Year

It's sad to see the festival canceled, but it's probably in Dearborn's best interest to cancel it. Terry Jones and Ruben Israel were coming to the festival to protest, and some of the attendees don't respond well to protesters. The city has made some important strides over the past few years, mostly due to the persuasive power of lawsuits. However, until the citizens of Dearborn can somehow convince young people not to react violently to constitutionally protected free speech, it's better not to draw a crowd.

Not surprisingly, Niraj Warikoo of the Detroit Free Press is blaming the cancelation on "aggressive" Christian "extremists," and not on the security guards who assaulted us in 2009, or on the police officers who arrested us in 2010 for having a peaceful discussion (and, two days later, took us into custody for distributing Bibles outside of the festival), or on the young Muslims who chased a preacher out of the festival in 2011, or on the young Muslims who viciously attacked Ruben Israel's group in 2012. For the Detroit Free Press, problems at the festival are always caused by Christians, even if the Christians are bleeding after being pelted with rocks. I wonder if Niraj will ever realize that, by refusing to hold Muslims accountable for their actions, he's treating them like children, and engaging in a subtle form of racism (the racism of lowered expectations).

Dearborn--After growing religious tensions between some Christian missionaries and local Muslims, the annual Arab International Festival in Dearborn has been canceled for this year, organizers said Friday.

The announcement left many disappointed that a small number of aggressive extremists could ruin what had become a tradition in the eastern section of Dearborn, which has a significant number of Arab Americans.

The city and organizers were facing increased insurance and liability costs because of the tensions and lawsuits over the festival. Last month, the City of Dearborn had proposed moving the festival to a park instead of the traditional location on Warren Avenue in order to decrease conflict.

But Fay Baydoun, director of the American-Arab Chamber of Commerce, said Friday that it would have been impossible to organize a successful event in time at the new location. Baydoun said she hopes that next year’s festival will “come back better and stronger.” (Continue Reading.)

Be sure to read the comments on Niraj's article, to see how he's managed to convince his readers that a handful of Christian "extremists" caused all of the problems at the festival. I suspect that, if people like Niraj had reported honestly on what was happening at the festival in 2009, the problems would have been addressed and dealt with, and the festival would continue to this day.

City of Dearborn Apologizes for Arresting Christians at 2010 Arab Festival; Settlement Reached in Lawsuit

In June of 2010, a few of us were on our way out of Dearborn's annual Arab International Festival, when some young Muslims began asking us questions, which we were happy to answer. Here's unedited footage of our last 20 minutes or so at the festival:

Nearly three years later, thanks to our lawyers Robert Muise and David Yerushalmi, the City of Dearborn has apologized for arresting us. (Click here for the apology on the City's website.)

David Wood's Arrest in 2010

Detroit, Michigan (May 6, 2013) — After more than two years of intense motion practice and discovery, the City of Dearborn has agreed to enter into a settlement that includes a public apology for arresting several Christian missionaries who were peacefully preaching to Muslims at the Dearborn Arab International Festival in 2010. The American Freedom Law Center (AFLC), a national nonprofit Judeo-Christian law firm, is representing Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, David Wood, and Paul Rezkalla, who were thrown in jail on June 18, 2010, and charged with “breach of the peace” for their free speech activity.

In September 2010, Robert Muise, AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel, represented the Christians during a five-day criminal trial. At the end of the trial, the Christians were acquitted by a unanimous jury verdict. Following the acquittals, fellow AFLC Co-Founder and Senior Counsel David Yerushalmi and Muise filed a 100-page, civil rights lawsuit against the City, its mayor, John B. O’Reilly, its chief of police, Ronald Haddad, 17 City police officers, and two executives from the American Arab Chamber of Commerce on behalf Qureshi, Wood, and Rezkalla. The lawsuit was later amended to add the Arab Chamber as a defendant. The civil rights complaint alleged that the Christians’ constitutional rights were egregiously violated during the Arab festival.

Just this past week, the City agreed to enter into a settlement, which includes a public apology that will be posted on the City’s website for three years; the removal from the City’s website of a press release and letter from the mayor that contained derogatory comments about the Christians; and a payment to the Christians, the amount of which is confidential. The legal claims against the Arab Chamber defendants will proceed.

The City’s public apology states as follows: 

On June 18, 2010, David Wood, Nabeel Qureshi (co-founders of Acts 17 Apologetics) and Paul Rezkalla were arrested by Dearborn police officers at the Dearborn Arab International Festival (“Arab Festival”), while they were engaging in a peaceful dialogue about their Christian faith with several festival attendees. Wood, Qureshi, and Rezkalla were subsequently charged with breach of peace, a misdemeanor offense.

The decision to arrest these individuals was based in part on information provided to the Dearborn police by Arab Festival attendees, workers, and volunteers. When all of the information—including the video captured by Wood, Qureshi, and Rezkalla—was presented to a Dearborn jury, the jury found that these individuals were not guilty of the criminal offense of breach of peace.

The City of Dearborn regrets and apologizes for the decisions to arrest and prosecute David Wood, Nabeel Qureshi, and Paul Rezkalla and the hardship caused to everyone involved.

Through this apology and its acceptance by David Wood, Nabeel Qureshi, and Paul Rezkalla, the parties seek to build a bridge and to confirm to the community that members of all faiths are welcome in Dearborn to peacefully share their views and to engage in religious discussions.

Muise commented, “For too long our clients have been vilified for simply exercising their constitutional right to evangelize on a public street during the Arab Festival. And despite their acquittal, they continued to be treated as if they had committed a crime. With this settlement and apology, our clients have been vindicated and this dispute with the City will finally be put to rest.”

Yerushalmi added, “While the dispute with the City is over, there is still unfinished business with the Arab Chamber. As the City itself noted in its apology, Arab Festival volunteers and workers, who were acting under the guidance and direction of the Arab Chamber and its executive director, Fay Beydoun, and pursuant to the Chamber’s festival ‘rules and regulations,’ are similarly responsible for the violation of our clients’ rights, and we intend to hold them accountable.”

The American Freedom Law Center is a Judeo-Christian law firm that fights for faith and freedom. It accomplishes its mission through litigation, public policy initiatives, and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is supported by contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations, and is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization. Visit us at www.americanfreedomlawcenter.org.

Michigan Federal Judge Denies Dearborn’s Request to Dismiss Our Civil Rights Case

Dearborn police threw us in jail for having a peaceful discussion with Muslims at a public festival. They also took us into custody two days later for attempting to distribute copies of the Gospel of John outside the festival. The police seized our cameras for nearly a month and filed false police reports, while the mayor waged a smear-campaign against us. The city of Dearborn then had the nerve to try to have our civil case thrown out of court, arguing that police had "probable cause" to arrest us! Fortunately, our lawyers do not know the meaning of "sleep," and the judge saw through the city's attempt.

MICHIGAN--A U.S. District Court Judge in Detroit, Michigan denied the City of Dearborn’s request to dismiss the civil rights claims brought by several Christian missionaries arising out of their arrests by City police officers in 2010. The Christians were arrested by City police officers while preaching to Muslims at the City’s Arab Festival. The Christians spent the night in jail and were then charged and tried for “breaching the peace.” American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) Senior Counsel Robert J. Muise won acquittals from a jury for all the Christian defendants at the conclusion of the criminal trial.

Following the acquittals, Muise, along with AFLC Senior Counsel David Yerushalmi, filed a 96-page civil rights lawsuit against the City, its mayor, John B. O’Reilly, its chief of police, Ronald Haddad, 17 City police officers, and two executives from the American Arab Chamber of Commerce on behalf of Acts 17 Apologetics, Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, David Wood, Paul Rezkalla, and Josh Hogg—the Christians whose rights were violated by the City officials. [Read more about this lawsuit and watch the stunning videos of the arrests of the Christians here].

Muise commented, “The judge’s ruling today is a huge victory for these Christians. It allows the civil rights claims for the most egregious constitutional violations to proceed against the City and its officials. AFLC is committed to ensuring that our Constitution and not sharia law, which makes it a crime to preach the Gospel to Muslims, is the supreme law in this country.”

In their motion, the City had argued that the state court judge’s finding in the criminal proceeding that the police officers had probable cause to arrest the Christians based on a complaint from festival worker Roger Williams effectively immunized the City of Dearborn and the individual defendants from civil suit. Muise and Yerushalmi, on behalf of the Christians, countered by arguing that the ruling does not preclude the civil rights claims because it was based upon fabricated allegations and besides, the Christians did not have a full and fair opportunity to challenge the claims in the police reports prior to the ruling. The federal judge agreed with the AFLC attorneys.

In his ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Stephen J. Murphy, III, stated, “It is a reasonable inference from their allegations that [City officials] knew Williams’ complaint was pretextual.” The federal judge noted that “[t]he indirect evidence of this conspiracy that was developed in state court and is already a part of the record in this case—including the videos and the testimony given by [City police officers] at their trial—elevates [the Christians’] accusations above the threshold of plausibility. . . .” The federal judge also stated, “The [state] district judge appears to have presumed the police reports submitted were truthful, and staked his probable cause determination on that presumption. Plaintiffs had no opportunity to either cross-examine the officers or take the stand themselves to contest the reports.” The judge concluded, “Finally, the district court was inattentive to the effect Plaintiffs’ claims of First Amendment protection might have on the probable cause determination. . . . The Sixth Circuit has warned on previous occasions that Michigan’s ‘breach of peace’ statute is prone to such abuse.”

Yerushalmi concluded, “This case is a stunning example of the pernicious influence of stealth jihad and sharia law in America. The City of Dearborn is now a serial violator of Christians’ constitutional rights and has wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and costs defending its insidious conduct. Apparently, in Dearborn, where sharia and jihad are advocated openly, it is a crime to preach the Christian Gospel. AFLC is committed to stopping this attack on our Constitution. And the ruling today allows us to do just that.”

The American Freedom Law Center is a Judeo-Christian law firm that fights for faith and freedom. It accomplishes its mission through litigation, public policy initiatives, and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is supported by contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations, and is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization. Visit us at www.americanfreedomlawcenter.org.

For those who haven't seen it, here's the unedited footage of our arrests:



And here's what happened two days later, when we attempted to pass out materials outside the festival:



For more on Dearborn, click here.

Court Awards Attorneys’ Fees Against the City of Dearborn, Michigan for Violating a Christian Pastor’s Right to Freedom of Speech

The City of Dearborn has no respect for Freedom of Speech. They threw four of us in jail for having a peaceful discussion at the Arab Festival. They took us into custody two days later for attempting to distribute copies of the Gospel of John outside the Arab Festival. They threw Terry Jones and his partner Wayne Sapp in jail for planning to hold a rally across the street from the largest mosque in America. And they violated the rights of countless Christians by threatening to jail anyone who would dare pass out tracts within five blocks of the Arab Festival.

Fortunately, there are lawyers who believe in fighting for our Constitutional rights. In 2011, Robert Muise won a long legal battle on behalf of Pastor George Saieg. Pastor Saieg, who immigrated to the U.S. from Sudan (and therefore understands what it's like to live under Muslim rule), simply wanted the right to pass out tracts to Muslims. The Thomas More Law Center took up his case and defeated Dearborn's pro-Sharia attorneys. Pastor George went to the 2011 festival with his team and passed out materials to thousands of Muslims.

Of course, fighting lengthy legal battles costs money, which is why it's exciting to learn that the city is now required to pay the Thomas More Law Center more than $100,000 in attorneys' fees. We can only hope that Dearborn finally learns its lesson and stops harassing non-Muslims. Here's the update from the American Freedom Law Center:

AFLC--Today, a U.S. Magistrate Judge in Detroit, Michigan recommended that Robert J. Muise, the attorney for Christian Pastor George Saieg, be awarded $103,401.96 in fees and costs for successfully challenging the City of Dearborn’s restriction on the Christian’s right to freedom of speech at the 2009 Arab Festival held in the City. The City, not wanting to offend its large Muslim population, would not allow the Christian to hand out religious literature at the Festival.

In the order, the federal judge stated, “In this case, the Plaintiff received the full relief he sought — an invalidation of the leafleting restriction and a permanent injunction barring its enforcement. . . . Because this result ‘cannot fairly be labeled as anything short of excellent, [Plaintiff] is entitled to a fully compensatory fee.’” AFLC Senior Counsel Robert J. Muise represented Pastor Saieg in this successful free speech case. At the time, Muise was Senior Trial Counsel for the Thomas More Law Center. The City has 14 days to appeal. [Read order here]

“The award of attorney fees in this case,” noted Muise, “is critical in the lawfare against Civilization Jihad and dhimmitization, or subjugation, of an entire municipality in Michigan. Dearborn has a long record of this kind of illegal, heavy-handed treatment of Christians as an attempt to placate Dearborn’s sharia-faithful. The court’s ruling today demonstrates that this kind of behavior will come at great cost.”

Muise recently won acquittals for charges of “disturbing the peace” brought by the Dearborn prosecutor against a group of Christians following their arrests by Dearborn police in 2010 for the same kind of peaceful free speech activities. Muise and David Yerushalmi of the American Freedom Law Center, along with attorneys from the Thomas More Law Center, currently represent these Christians in a civil action arising from these arrests.

The American Freedom Law Center is a Judeo-Christian law firm that fights for faith and freedom. It accomplishes its mission through litigation, public policy initiatives, and related activities. It does not charge for its services. The Law Center is supported by contributions from individuals, corporations, and foundations, and is recognized by the IRS as a section 501(c)(3) organization. Visit us at www.americanfreedomlawcenter.org.

Click here to learn more about Dearborn.

Jessica Mokdad Human Rights Conference in Dearborn, Michigan

Laying the differences between Muslims and non-Muslims aside, there is no question that major human rights violations are accepted in many Muslim communities (e.g., more than ninety percent of honor killings are committed by Muslims). I'm hoping that concerned Muslims will join concerned non-Muslims in drawing attention to the problems, so that we may confront it together.

NEW YORK, PR Newswire: The prominent human rights organization American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI), its Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) program and the Virginia Anti-Shariah Task Force (VAST) will be hosting the first-ever human rights conference dedicated to exposing the plight of women under Islamic law in Dearborn, Michigan on the anniversary of the honor murder of Jessica Mokdad: the Jessica Mokdad Human Rights Conference.

The Jessica Mokdad Human Rights Conference will be held at the Hyatt Hotel in Dearborn. After bowing to Islamic supremacist pressure and canceling a speech by Pamela Geller that had been scheduled for a Hyatt in Nashville, Tennessee, the Hyatt reversed its stance, recovered its understanding of the American principle of free speech, apologized and offered AFDI space in a Hyatt for a future Conference to make it up the human rights organization. Geller chose the Hyatt in Dearborn to stand in solidarity there with girls who are in danger of being victimized like Jessica Mokdad.

Jessica Mokdad was a 20-year-old Muslim woman in Warren, Michigan, who was brutally murdered in May 2011. Fox News Detroit reported: “Authorities say a Minnesota man killed his 20-year-old stepdaughter in Michigan because she left home and wasn't following Islam.” Jessica’s stepfather, a devout Muslim, tracked his stepdaughter over four states to murder her for bringing dishonor on her family.

AFDI Executive Director Pamela Geller said in a statement: “We’ve named the Conference after her as part of our ongoing campaign to raise awareness and bring a stop to the phenomenon of Islamic honor killing. These girls have rights, too, they’re human beings, and yet they’re completely forgotten in our politically correct culture, in which speech that is offensive to Islam is increasingly forbidden. We’re standing for the human rights of girls like Jessica Mokdad.”

Geller added: “AFDI tried to place ads on Detroit-area buses offering help to people wishing to leave Islam and threatened by their families. Detroit SMART Transit refused the ads, and we sued on free speech grounds. We won, and the ads were scheduled to run, but Detroit SMART still refused to run them – and the same week they were supposed to run, Jessica Mokdad was murdered. Perhaps if she had seen one of our ads, she would be alive today. This underscores the cowardice of Detroit-area officials and the need for this Conference in Dearborn. We welcome women seeking help and resources to escape dangerous and misogynist households.”

The confirmed list of speakers includes ex-Muslim human rights activist Nonie Darwish; Sudanese ex-slave and freedom fighter Simon Deng; and James Lafferty of the Virginia Anti-Sharia Taskforce (VAST), co-host of the Conference. Also speaking will be David Wood of Acts 17 Apologetics, a Christian group that is suing the city of Dearborn for covering up Islamic honor killings performed in the area – that cover-up, and the resulting suit, will also be a focus of the Jessica Mokdad Human Rights Conference.

Hosting the Conference and also speaking are Pamela Geller, publisher of the acclaimed AtlasShrugs.com blog, executive director of AFDI and SIOA, and author of Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance (WND Books); and AFDI/SIOA associate director Robert Spencer, the bestselling author and director of Jihad Watch.

Stop the Islamization of America is a groundbreaking new book offering the fruit of a veteran national activist’s years of experience fighting back against Islamic supremacist efforts to erode our freedoms. In it, Geller offers the fruit of her experience as the national leader of the fight against the Ground Zero mega-mosque and of numerous other initiatives to defend freedom against the encroachment of Islamic law. She offers practical, tested, effective guidance on how freedom lovers can stop jihadist initiatives in local communities.

AFDI/SIOA is one of America’s foremost organizations defending human rights, religious liberty, and the freedom of speech against Islamic supremacist intimidation and attempts to bring elements of Sharia to the United States.

Join the SIOA Facebook group here.

For more information, contact Pamela Geller at writeatlas@aol.com.

Go here to register: HumanRightsConference.com.

CLARIFICATION: Just about everyone who visits this blog knows that Acts 17 is suing the City of Dearborn for violating our Constitutional rights, so you may be confused that the above press release says that we are suing the city for covering up honor killings. Here's the connection. One of the police officers in the city jail told us about the honor crimes that are committed (and covered up) in Dearborn, and this is part of our case against the city (probably the most important part, as far as I'm concerned). We'll learn more during the "discovery" process.

Male Nurse John Benitez Jr. Sues Dearborn after Being Fired for Treating Female Patients

This city just won't learn.

Muslim men in Dearborn made it clear that male doctors and nurses would not be allowed to treat female patients. The clinic complied with these demands, and even fired a male nurse who dared treat female patients. And now Dearborn is being sued . . . again.

Ironically, the clinic has already been closed due to budget cuts. Perhaps Dearborn wouldn't need to deal with such dramatic budget cuts if they'd stop violating people's rights.

Detroit—A male nurse filed a sex discrimination lawsuit against the city of Dearborn on Wednesday, claiming he was fired for treating conservative Muslim women wearing head scarves.

John Benitez Jr. is suing for unspecified damages and to reclaim his job, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court.

Benitez, 63, of Madison Heights, worked at the city's taxpayer-funded health clinic. He alleges he was ordered by a female supervisor not to treat conservative Muslim women, specifically those wearing head scarves, according to the lawsuit. He was told the clinic's male Muslim clientele did not want a male treating female patients.

He complied until November 2010, when a doctor ordered him to treat Muslim women as he would any other patient. Benitez followed the doctor's order and was fired less than one month later, according to the lawsuit.

"When you get to the point that taxpayer-funded entities are having to comply with personal religious beliefs rather than letting people do their job you're going down a road that does not end in a good place," the nurse's lawyer Deborah Gordon said in an interview Wednesday. "If people don't want to be treated, they can go find their own practitioner."

The city closed the clinic June 30 amid budget cuts. (Read more.)

For more on Dearborn, click here.

Michigan Court Rules: Dearborn Judge Mark Somers Violated Constitutional Rights of Pastor Terry Jones

Whether you agree with Terry Jones or not, all Americans should support his Constitutional rights. You may not agree with burning books (I certainly don't), but you should agree with a person's right to burn them. Dearborn Judge Mark Somers (the same judge who tried to get us convicted of "breach of peace" after Nabeel dared speak to young Muslims at the 2010 Arab Festival) threw Jones in jail for attempting to hold a peaceful protest across the street from a Dearborn mosque. Whatever his intentions were, the reality is that Judge Somers enforced Sharia in the United States. Fortunately, a higher court has overturned his deplorable decision.

Michigan--On Thursday, Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert Ziolkowski ruled that Jones' constitutional rights were violated when the Wayne County Prosecutor and Dearborn District Judge Mark W. Somers required Jones and his associate pastor, Wayne Sapp, to take out a "peace bond" in order to hold a demonstration against "radical elements of Islam and Sharia" outside the Islamic Center of America.

Ziolkowski overturned Somers' ruling in April on First Amendment grounds, said Jones' attorneys.

The Wayne County Circuit Court judge also reversed the District Court judge's order of a three-year injunction that ordered Jones to stay away from the vicinity of the Islamic Center of America, where he planned his rally against "radical Islam and Sharia."
Jones applauded the ruling.

"We are very pleased that the decision of Judge Somers to ban us from exercising our free speech rights was overturned yesterday," Jones said in a release today. "Justice has been done, and the most important part of the American system has been protected, our First Amendment." (Read more.)

Dearborn's "Burka Bandits" Arrested, Face Life in Prison

If these guys were smart, they would have committed their crimes in Dearborn and would only have robbed Christians. The Dearborn Police Department and prosecuting attorneys might overlook such crimes.

MICHIGAN--Four Dearborn men are facing an Oct. 10 preliminary hearing on charges of holding up Ruby Jewelers on Ford Road in Garden City and taking more than $200,000 in cash and jewelry last Wednesday afternoon.

Yousif Raad Al-Hassan, 18, Zeyd Addul Al-Hayder, 18, Mustafa Ali Al-Sayad, 18, and Sajad Ali Al-Sayad, 18, were arraigned before 21st District Court Richard Hammer Friday afternoon. All four defendants were charged with armed robbery, punishable by up to life in prison and receiving and concealing stolen property in the amount of $20,000 or more, punishable by a prison term of 10 years and/or three times the value of the property. Al-Hayder face an additionally charge of assault with a dangerous weapon-felonious assault that carries a sentence of four years and/or $2,000 fine.

A not guilty plea was entered on behalf of all defendants and bond was set at $250,000 cash for each of them. A preliminary examination will be Monday, Oct. 10, in 21st District Court.

More that $200,000 in jewelry and cash was taken from the store during the daytime robbery.

According to Garden City Police Chief Robert Muery, a witness at an adjacent business called 9-1-1 after he became concerned when he saw what he believed was a man, dressed as a woman in Arabic attire and two other men enter the store.

“When the witness saw two other men approach the door, he went to an area where he was able to observe the store's closed circuit surveillance monitor and became convinced there was an armed robbery in progress,” Muery said. “As the robbers fled the business, the witness also was able to provide a vehicle description.”

Muery said the information given out to other police agencies and within a few minutes, Wayne County Sheriff's Deputy Keith Rachwal spotted the vehicle in the area of Inkster Road and Cherry Hill. The vehicle was stopped with the help of officers from Dearborn Heights, Inkster and Garden City.

“The four occupants were taken into custody without incident,” Muery said, adding that the stolen cash and jewelry, disguises and a weapon were found in the vehicle.

The victim at the jewelry store told police the first man, whom the owner initially thought was a woman, produced a handgun, demanded access to the safe and then struck the victim with the gun. The man then let two other men into the building through a secured door. They began taking jewelry while the armed man forced the victim to open the safe, Muery said. (Source)

Faouzi Mohamad Ayoub, Former Dearborn Resident, Added to FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist List

Will the Islamophobia never end? Where's Mayor O'Reilly to tell us that Dearborn is the most peaceful place on earth?

DETROIT, MICHIGAN--Federal prosecutors in Detroit have unsealed a two-year-old criminal indictment against a former Dearborn man who, they say, tried to use a phony U.S. passport to sneak into Israel in 2000 to carry out a bombing for Hizballah.

The indictment, handed down in August 2009, said Faouzi Mohamad Ayoub, 44, who also goes by the name Fawzi Ayoub, used a passport in the name of Frank Mariano Boschi to try to get into Israel. The U.S. State Department has designated Hizballah as a Lebanese terrorist group.

The indictment was unsealed Friday, two days after the FBI added the man’s name and photo to its most wanted terrorist list. There are 31 others on the list. (Read more.)

Christian Preacher Harassed and Bullied at 2011 Dearborn Arab Festival

Dearborn is caught in a spiral. A few years ago, peaceful Christian missionaries would quietly come to Dearborn to preach the Gospel. Then security started slapping Christians around, and police began throwing Christians in jail and trampling on the Constitution. This drew some of the more vocal, confrontational, anti-Sharia Christian groups to the city (e.g. Terry Jones, Ruben Israel, etc.). But instead of showing the world how peaceful and loving Muslims are, Dearborn reacted with further hostility, even towards peaceful Christian preachers. This, of course, will draw even more anti-Sharia groups to Dearborn in the future. Will the city continue to respond in anger? If so, I see no end to the spiral.



For more Dearborn videos, click here.

Roger Williams Meets Thomas More (No Reference to Famous Historical Figures!)

Sometimes a picture says much more than a thousand words. Here we see the infamous volunteer Roger Williams harassing yet another peaceful Christian at this year's Arab Festival in Dearborn, Michigan.

For those who don't remember Roger, he's the one who lied to police last year, claiming that we had surrounded him and that he asked us repeatedly to leave him alone, but we just wouldn't.



Roger even filed a false police report (which the city never charged him for), asserting that security actually had to rescue him from us! He then lied under oath in court (but wasn't charged), in a desperate attempt to get us convicted. (Note: Police testified at our trial that we weren't arrested based on Roger's complaint. They said that we were arrested for our supposedly riotous behavior when Nabeel was calmly answering the questions of Muslims who approached him.)

Based on Roger's actions, I didn't think there was much of a chance he'd be back for the 2011 Arab Festival.

Welcome to Dearborn, Michigan, where reality is never what you'd expect.

Three things are worthy of note in the above picture.

First, Roger isn't going after Terry Jones or Ruben Israel's group. He harasses quiet, peaceful Christians who attempt to discuss the Gospel with Muslims. The shocking thing is that Roger actually considers himself to be a Christian. He's from strange group that believes they can impress Muslims by attacking other Christians. Supposedly, after years of seeing people like Roger harass Christians (so the theory goes), Muslims will be attracted to Roger's unspoken Gospel message and will embrace Christianity. This absurd mentality is becoming increasingly popular in Dearborn, where the only Christians who are truly welcome are the ones willing to throw other Christians under the bus.

Second, despite the fact that Roger (a) threatened us, (b) lied to police, (c) filed a false police report, and (d) lied under oath in court, the Arab Chamber of Commerce had him back to continue harassing Christians this year. If Christians are really welcome at the festival, and if the Arab Chamber of Commerce really respects the Constitution, why would they invite a known liar and troublemaker to stalk Christians at the festival? I'm guessing this will come up in court.

Third, the woman in the photo is holding a copy of the court ruling declaring that Christians are free to distribute materials on the public sidewalks around the festival. Apparently, Roger and the other volunteers thought that some Christians might not be aware of the Thomas More Law Center's legal victory, and that these Christians could therefore be bullied and intimidated. Not so. Christians came armed with documentation and insisted on their Constitutional right to distribute pamphlets, DVDs, Bibles, etc. In a desperate attempt to shut these Christians down, the festival volunteers yet again lied to police and said they were harassing people. Fortunately, Wayne County Police didn't buy it. Kudos to Wayne County Police for showing more respect for the Constitution than Dearborn Police have shown, and to the Thomas More Law Center for spending hundreds of hours, pro bono, defending the rights of Christians in Dearborn.

Dearborn Police Bar Christian Group from Public Street Near Mosque

A few hours before Dearborn's Arab Festival began last week, Pastor Terry Jones was preparing to give a speech at City Hall. Police were there in full force to protect Pastor Jones. The police presence might easily give the impression that Dearborn respects the U.S. Constitution. But alas, appearances can be deceiving.

Dearborn Police were protecting Terry Jones for one simple reason: more than a dozen cameras, including many news cameras, were pointing at Terry Jones. Dearborn Police had no concern for protecting First Amendment rights. They were there to protect the reputation of Dearborn.

How do I know? Well, just as Pastor Jones was preparing for his speech, a few peaceful Christian evangelists were preparing to distribute DVDs, pamphlets, and copies of the Gospel to Muslims near the largest mosque in North America. Without a dozen cameras recording, Dearborn Police showed far less concern for the U.S. Constitution.



If you remember, this is the same police department that stopped Christians from peacefully distributing copies of the Gospel outside the Arab Festival last year. (The court later ruled that Dearborn Police had violated our Constitutional rights.)



It's also the same department that arrested four Christians for . . . um . . . er . . . attempting to cause a riot by answering questions.



For more on Dearborn, click here.

Anti-Christian Bigotry in Dearborn

Free Speech Victory in Dearborn, Michigan!

Maybe I shouldn't say "in" Dearborn, since the city only sought to suppress free speech in this case. An outside court (the United States Court of Appeals) had to impose Constitutional law on the city.

Dearborn hosts an annual Arab Festival on Warren Avenue. During the festival, the street is reserved, but the adjacent sidewalks are not reserved and therefore remain public property. Hence, prior to 2009, many people would distribute pamphlets, DVDs, CDs, etc., on the public sidewalks. However, when Ronald Haddad took over as Chief of Police, he announced that no one would be allowed to distribute materials on the public sidewalks. Indeed, he insisted that no one would be allowed to distribute materials within five blocks of the festival. (He justified his decision by claiming that he needed to keep the area clear for pedestrian traffic.)

From a Constitutional perspective, this was quite disturbing, as the government was officially limiting free speech on public sidewalks. Moreover, those of us who attended the festival noticed that security only enforced the policy on Christians. Muslims remained free to distribute their materials.

Pastor George Saieg, an Arab Christian from the Sudan (who has observed the effects of Islamic law in his home country and therefore understands the importance of free speech better than many of us) decided to take the case to court. The freedom fighters at the Thomas More Law Center (praise God for them) took the case free of charge, and they won.

Lower courts had ruled in favor of Dearborn (i.e. that Dearborn police could stop people from exercising their freedom of speech on the public sidewalks adjacent to the festival). The appeals court reversed the decision on Constitutional grounds. Here are two excerpts:

On the free speech claim, we REVERSE the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendants and its denial of summary judgment to the plaintiffs. We thereby invalidate the leafleting restriction within both the inner and outer perimeters of the Festival.1 The restriction on the sidewalks that are directly adjacent to the Festival attractions does not serve a substantial government interest. The City keeps those same sidewalks open for public traffic and permits sidewalk vendors, whose activity is more obstructive to sidewalk traffic flow than pedestrian leafleting is. Moreover, the prohibition of pedestrian leafleting in the outer perimeter is not narrowly tailored to the goal of isolating inner areas from vehicular traffic. The City can be held liable because the Chief of Police, who instituted the leafleting restriction, created official municipal policy. . . .

The leafleting restriction is not a reasonable time, place, and manner restriction. In the inner perimeter, the restriction does not serve a substantial governmental interest. In the outer perimeter, the restriction is not narrowly tailored. The defendants therefore violated Saieg’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech. Absent an injunction, Saieg will continue to suffer irreparable injury for which there is no adequate remedy at law. As a result, on the free-speech claim, we REVERSE both the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendants and its denial of summary judgment to the plaintiffs.

Interestingly, the court even recognized that the penalty for leaving Islam is death. They state:

In 2009, Saieg had planned for 90 ACP members to continue the practice of leafleting while roaming the Festival. However, when Saieg shared these plans with a City police sergeant, Saieg learned that the new Chief of Police, Chief Haddad, would not permit anyone to distribute leaflets while walking around the Festival. Instead, the City provided the ACP with a booth, waiving the standard fee. The booth was poorly lit and located by carnival rides, which attracted mostly children. This problem was remedied in 2010, when the ACP’s booth was lit and located “in the central area.” Saieg v. City of Dearborn, 720 F. Supp. 2d 817, 834–35 (E.D. Mich. 2010) (describing then- upcoming plans for the 2010 festival). Saieg also faces a more basic problem with booth-based evangelism: “[t]he penalty of leaving Islam according to Islamic books is death,” which makes Muslims reluctant to approach a booth that is publicly “labeled as . . . Christian.” R. 48 (Ex. A: Saieg Dep. at 75). Saieg believes that evangelism is more effective when he can roam the Festival and speak to Muslims more discreetly. The ACP distributed 37,000 packets of religious materials in 2007 and 20,000 packets in 2008, but only 500 packets in 2009 due to the remote, fixed location. Numbers from 2010 are not in the record. (Click here to read the entire ruling.)

Hence, at the festival next month, police will no longer be permitted to interfere with Constitutionally protected free speech activities. Additionally, the city may now be held liable for damages to anyone whose rights were violated by police at the festivals. That has profound implications for our own case against the city, which is based, in part, on the following incident:



The ruling will also apply to many other people:



I wonder how long the city is going to put up with officials like Chief Haddad, Mayor John O'Reilly, Judge Mark Somers, Prosecuting Attorney William DeBiasi, and others, who apparently have no respect whatsoever for the Constitution, and are responsible for numerous lawsuits against Dearborn. Are the citizens of Dearborn going to continue letting their leaders destroy their city's reputation? Or will they eventually elect leaders who will champion the Constitution and fix the damage that's been done? Only time will tell.

For more on Dearborn, click here.

Now that we're allowed to distribute materials, please support our outreach this year:



***UPDATE*** Thomas More Law Center posted a press release:

The U. S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that Sudanese Christian Pastor George Saieg has a free speech right to distribute religious literature on public sidewalks and evangelize Muslims during the Annual Arab International Festival held each year in Dearborn, Michigan.

For five years Saieg, who specifically ministers to Muslims, had been discussing his Christian faith and passing out literature on Dearborn’s sidewalks during the Festival without encountering any problems. Nevertheless, in 2009 police officials informed him he had to remain in a booth, prohibiting him from distributing his literature on the nearby sidewalks and public streets.

Dearborn is one of the most densely populated Muslim communities in the United States. It has the largest Mosque in North America. In the past few years Dearborn has gained national attention for taking a pro-Muslim stance and for the arrest and intimidation of Christian evangelists for engaging in protected speech activity.

The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a national conservative Christian public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of Pastor Saieg in 2009, naming the City of Dearborn and its police chief, Ronald Haddad, as defendants. The case was handled by TMLC Senior Trial Counsel Rob Muise.

In ruling for Saieg, the court recognized the problem Saieg had with booth-based evangelizing: “the penalty of leaving Islam according to Islamic books is death,” which makes Muslims reluctant to approach a booth that is publically “labeled as … Christian.”

Dearborn Arrests: Unedited Video Footage

Several people have requested unedited video footage of our arrests in Dearborn, to see whether the claims of police and Mayor O'Reilly (e.g., that we we inciting a riot, that we were screaming at people, etc.) are true. The idea seems to be that, even though we obviously weren't committing any crimes in the videos we posted, perhaps we were causing a riot in between scenes. In case there are any doubters, here's unedited footage of our final twenty minutes at the festival. As you can see, nothing important happens apart from what we originally posted. (The footage begins several minutes after the "Roger Williams Incident," which you can view here. Police testified at our trial that we were arrested based on our behavior when they approached us, not based on Williams' complaint. You can see our behavior in the following video.)



How does this video footage line up with Dearborn's story?

Here's Mayor John O'Reilly's version of events:

On Friday, June 18, they behaved very differently than what you saw on film from Saturday, June 19. They were not handing out flyers but were aggressively engaging passers-by in confrontational debate when they were arrested and cited for Breach of the Peace and Failure to Obey the Lawful Order of a Police Officer.

. . .

At the time he was arrested on Friday, June 18, Mr. Wood had gathered a large crowd around him, blocking a key access point between the tents. The crowd was forced to grow bigger solely because people could not pass. Those who created this public danger did so with the knowledge that they were violating the laws because they wanted to be arrested while their cohorts were actively recording the event for posting on the web. They knew that they could inflame the passions of viewers who would be taken in by their misrepresentation of what was really going on. They have even found media that would put them on air to repeat these inaccurate representations without seeking information or the truth from others. (You can read Mayor O'Reilly's letter in its entirety here. Notice that, despite obvious and blatant falsehoods, the Mayor's letter continues to be put forward as fact by the City of Dearborn.)

The City of Dearborn posted its own version of events. Here's the relevant portion:

The police command center received a complaint, from a Christian volunteer working the festival, regarding members of Acts 17 Apologetics harassing and intimidating patrons of the festival and that a large crowd was gathering. Officers responded to the area where, in fact, a large agitated crowd had gathered due to the actions of the individuals of Acts 17 Apologetics.

Public safety became an issue for both members of Acts 17 Apologetics and the gathering crowd. The four (4) members of Acts 17 Apologetics chose to escalate their behavior, which appeared well-orchestrated and deliberate, and chose not to follow the directions being given to them by the responding officers. The behavior of these individuals drew and incited a large crowd to a point where they were in violation of City of Dearborn Misdemeanor Ordinances of Breach of Peace and Failure to Obey the Lawful Order of a Police Officer. They were arrested. Upon their arrest, the crowd dispersed without further action being needed. (The rest of the City's response can be read here. Notice again that the City of Dearborn continues to portray their blatant falsehoods as fact.)

Here's an excerpt from the police report (by Sergeant Jeffrey Mrowka):

As a result of Qureshi screaming into the crowd while uniformed officers were present and the fact that the crowd had increased in numbers and agitation, all three were handcuffed and escorted to the police command post in an attempt to gain control of the situation and avoid a possible riotous crowd.

. . .

Negeen Mayel, Nabeel Qureshi, David Wood and Paul Rezkalla’s actions caused a crowd to gather and become agitated. The weather conditions, hot and humid temperatures, fueled an already agitated crowd. This was evident by the crowd’s yelling profanities and repeated calls to security on the behavior of Mayel, Qureshi, Wood and Rezkalla. When uniformed officers were present Qureshi was yelling into the crowd further inciting the crowd.

Of course, people keep telling me that everything is fine in Dearborn, and that the city is thoroughly dedicated to upholding the U.S. Constitution. The facts say otherwise.

For a complete summary of the events in Dearborn, click here.

Terry Jones and Dearborn: Two Sides of the Same Street

Muslim Praising God for the Arrest of Terry Jones

Why do authorities in Dearborn continue to carry out penalties that happen to line up perfectly with Sharia? Could it be . . . the will of the people?



There are two additional things you might want to note from this video. First, the massive field was the site of Jones' planned protest. Doesn't it look more than sufficient for a protest? Second, people were free to gather in protest, even though Jones was not. Were they arrested? Of course not.

Welcome to Dearborn.

I feel a video coming on . . .