DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — City officials and faith leaders gathered at Dearborn City Hall to deliver a unified message ahead of anti-Muslim activist and Jan. 6 rioter Jake Lang's planned appearance at Tuesday's city council meeting.
Watch Faraz Javed's video report:
Officials moved the meeting from City Hall to the Centennial Library and ramped up security in response to Lang's expected attendance.
Chaplain Rick Neveu said outside agitators will not succeed in dividing the community.
"Someone coming from the outside, coming to Dearborn, and trying to tear us apart, it's just not going to work," Neveu said.
Mayor Abdullah Hammoud urged residents to remain steady in the face of outside pressure.
"Be unmoved by the loud voices coming from the outside, for I assure you they are the minority," Hammoud said.
Officials and community leaders say the bigger concern is a rise in anti-Muslim threats and rhetoric. Threatening voicemails directed at residents and Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin have surfaced in recent days.
"This is a Christian country, not a Muslim country. These motherf***ers don't have any rights to be in our f***ing city," one voicemail said.
Another voicemail targeted the police chief directly.
"A police officer is supposed to follow the Constitution of the United States, not the Muslim crap," the voicemail said.
Last week, an Alaska man was charged with making threats to murder Mayor Hammoud.
"They are here to instill fear and divide us," Hammoud said.
CAIR Michigan Executive Director Dawud Walid said much of the anti-Muslim rhetoric spreading online is driven by financial incentives.
"Anti-Muslim bigotry is a business these days," Walid said.
Walid cautioned against playing into the hands of those spreading hate.
"As a man of religion, I say we should pray to God to guide these people; number 1, number 2, is that we as Muslims feed into the traps that Islamophobes set for us, which is hostile confrontations," Walid said.
Hammoud pushed back on the media narrative surrounding Dearborn.
"This is a city with more than 30 churches, home to more than a dozen mosques, and yet that narrative is absent oftentimes in the media, because they would like to use Dearborn for the purpose of political theater," Hammoud said.
Lifelong Dearborn resident and practicing Christian Dan Murray said he doesn't understand how people who have never lived in the city can make sweeping judgments about it.
"It seems friendly or friendlier than it's ever been," Murray said.
Alex Cazel, a military veteran from Florida who completed 2 tours of duty, said he once fed into the negative perception of Dearborn — but his view changed after visiting.
"To tell you the truth, ever since I've showed up here it seems to be a regular working town, just with a different religion, and different ethnicities, and I'm pretty sure that's what America is all about," Cazel said.
Dearborn Police Chief Shahin urged residents who do not have city business to consider skipping the meeting, and called on the community to deny outside groups the reaction they are seeking.
"The most effective thing we can do is to deny these groups the reaction that they've traveled here for. Again, if you have business for council, come; you are welcome, and you will be safe," Shahin said.
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