Dearborn mayor reflects on tense anti-Islam protests

In the aftermath of that mass demonstration in Dearborn, led by anti-Islam influencer Jake Lang, we're sitting down with Mayor Abdullah Hamoud of Dearborn to unpack everything we saw and heard at last night's 10th City Council meeting. And Mayor, it's so good to see you. Thanks for joining us here live tonight. Thank you so much for having me. I just, I don't even know where you would begin as the mayor of a city that is charged with the responsibility of keeping morale up, making sure that everyone is in the right place at the right time, and perhaps not having all the time that you need to download what happened. Have you been able to, and what do you make of yesterday's event? Well, what I can first say is give all the credit to our police department and our public safety partners who ensured that everybody was safe, that there was no major incidents. Obviously, we announced that we had roughly 22 arrests, the majority of which were folk who were non-Dearborn residents who came and who made issue. Now what we have to do as Dearborn residents is move forward, continue to thrive as we always have, because as you know, these protests are not new in the city of Dearborn. They've been happening for as long as I've been alive. Before Jake Lang, we had Terry Jones, and after Jake Lang, there'll be somebody else. But what Dearborn does best is we come together in these difficult moments, we lock arms, we share meals over fence lines, our neighbors grow to be family, and we'll continue thriving as we always have. You know, I found it noteworthy that in that council chamber yesterday, it wasn't just Arab Americans and Muslim Americans. There were Christians who were sitting in that room and they were, as Jake Lang was speaking, were spouting back off. There were people who actually, after Jake Lang spoke, got to the mic who were white Christians who were saying, wait a minute here, that's not the Dearborn I know. Is that the beginning of healing for you to see and hear those voices? For me, I mean, this is a normal life in the city of Dearborn, where Muslims, Christians, Jews, people of all faiths, of no faith at all, interact and work with one another, have conversation and grow in community with one another. A few days ago, we had a press conference with many clergy from across the city of Dearborn of all various denominations. And they spoke openly that regardless of the direction in which you pray and how you pray, what matters is what you pray for. You pray for your neighbor, you pray for your family to stay healthy, for your children to grow up and to live in a world that welcomes them and accepts them. You pray so that you have the means to provide for your family each and every single night and that we can all grow to love one another. I think what these provocateurs want is they want us to remain strangers. They want hate can only flourish if distance exists. And as we lessen the distance, if we break bread with one another and we invite people to come into community with one us, we can eliminate the hatred that is perpetually growing as we see day in and day out. I imagine it has to be exhausting being the mayor of a city where people do already get along just fine. There is not acrimony. It's not as though there are Muslim, Christian protests with people who live there happening at all. Yet you have people from outside coming in to point their fingers and draw contrast where they're not needed to be drawn. Is that exhausting for you and the members of your team? It's not the expectation when you assume this job. When you run for mayor, you think you're worried about garbage pickup, about paving the streets, making sure you're investing in playscapes and parks and third spaces. And yet here we are having to reckon with the idea that folks from out of town are coming within our city. We're having to expend resources day in and day out just to handle this public safety situation and have to deal with the aftermath. The folks from out of town will leave, but Dearborn residents are still here. And to your point, we're not individuals who are fighting because the direction in which we pray. Dearborn residents get along. We thrive. We're the fastest growing city in Michigan for a reason. And we're actually, we're an example of the American experiment. Go ahead. No, I was going to say the last question I had for you was, so is what we saw yesterday, a small microcosm that spurred by social media that gets people together in a group in a chat room that used to be old cool chat rooms. Now they're Facebook pages and they say, let's go to Dearborn and do this thing, but it doesn't reflect all of America. In fact, it reflects a very small portion. Is that something that you- This is a small fraction and you have paid agitators that utilize the social media algorithms to perpetuate the state, to draw folk from out of their homes and to give them a villain for why life is not as easy, for why prices are up, healthcare premiums, prices at the pump, why other expenses are up. They want a villain because they don't want to point towards the failures of elected officials and federal government or a state government for why prices are up because they're taking money from corporations that are making record profits. And yet we, the working families, the state of Michigan are suffering. It's a simplistic way of thinking and one that sadly does take to fire on social media. Closing thoughts, as you talk about the future for the city of Dearborn, you say there will be other Jake Langs who will come along. Lessons learned from yesterday? My main focus is on, my message that I delivered was really focused on the people of Dearborn. Came across a young child, no older than seven, who asked me at a park if the crusaders were coming to kill him because of the direction in which he prayed in his family. And the police officer assured him immediately when they heard that, that that's not the case. You know, the lesson is to enjoy your family, to enjoy those around you, to pray for good health and to not change who you are. Pray as you have always prayed or don't pray at all. Whatever it is that you have done in the city of Dearborn, keep on doing it. Dearborn, again, is the example for how American cities can thrive. Well, we all know, I think, you know, good Christians, good Muslims, Jews, Hindus out there who are watching know that it is patently un-American to be that hateful and it is abhorrent and terrible and should be condemned by all corners. And so we thank you for doing it with grace and style. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Mayor Abdullah Hamoud.