Anti-Islam demonstrators and counter-protesters confronted one another Tuesday in Dearborn as a small group marched toward city hall, shouting Islamophobic lines and escalating tensions along the way.
“How are they coming to us and saying we’re all about division and all about Sharia Law? They’re coming here and giving us nothing but hatred,” said Ali Aljahmi of Dearborn, responding to the rhetoric being directed at the community.
CBS News Detroit was present along Michigan Avenue as the opposing gatherings formed following claims by Michigan Republican gubernatorial candidate Anthony Hudson, who had incorrectly alleged that Sharia Law existed in Dearborn before later walking those statements back.
“If we’re going to bring these people together, then we’re going to lead by example and come down here, put boots on the ground and walk with these people and show that we can come together,” Hudson told CBS Detroit, attempting to clarify his stance.
Hudson walked the route with his supporters under his “Fix Michigan” banner, though it was another separate group — not sanctioned by Hudson — that generated the most controversy. Among those in the crowd was Jake Lang, a Republican running for a U.S. Senate seat in Florida. Lang had been charged with assaulting an officer, civil disorder, and additional offenses tied to the Jan. 6 attack, before later receiving a presidential pardon from Donald Trump.
CBS News Detroit captured the moment Lang threatened to burn a Quran and provoke counter-protesters by using bacon, further inflaming the scene.
“This despicable display was nothing more than a transparent and failed attempt to divide communities in our state. The Muslim community in Dearborn, and indeed all Muslim communities across Michigan and the whole of our nation, will not be intimidated or baited by low-rent bigots. Actions like those taken by the protestors in Dearborn will always fail,” said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Michigan chapter.
Dearborn police monitored the demonstrations and asked individuals to avoid escalating confrontations. At one point, an attendee was escorted away in handcuffs, though it remains unclear whether charges will follow.
In case anyone is still wondering how things have turned out for the Muslim Republicans who helped hand Trump a critical swing state last November, the situation speaks for itself — the Muslims who backed the GOP are starting to look a lot like poor rural Americans who vote against their own interests, and at some point you just can’t fix stupid.
Adding to the irony, the candidate involved was Jake Lang, a January 6th participant whom Trump pardoned earlier this year. And honestly, Muslims — especially Arab Muslims — supporting Republicans makes even less sense, considering the party has been openly hostile toward them since 9/11, more than toward almost any other ethnic or religious group; for years, blatant racism wasn’t socially acceptable unless it was directed at Arabs, who remained “fair game” in Republican circles.
