Community leaders raise concerns about threats to Muslim Americans

DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Community leaders in Dearborn say it’s time to call more attention to hate crimes against the Muslim American community, and they’re calling on elected leaders to take on a larger role.

During a press conference today outside the Dearborn Police Station, we heard a strong message being delivered.

This comes after a young boy was viciously murdered and his mother also attacked in Chicago. Police say it was motivated by their religion and the attacker was a landlord.

“An innocent, 6-year-old Palestinian young boy was stabbed 26 times in Chicago,” says Imam Imran Salha of the Islamic Center of Detroit.

The statements also come after another man was charged with threatening Palestinian Americans in Dearborn.

Khalid Turaani represents the Mich. Task Force for Palestine and says elected leaders must take more of a stand.

“They have nothing to say about that. That’s really alarming and a cause of concern,” says Khalid.

Dawud Walid with CAIR Michigan also spoke out to say, “Dearborn is seen as the epicenter of Islam in the U.S. We’ve had white supremacists come to protest with guns outside our mosque in years past.”

Walid says his office is now receiving more calls about threats and intimidation.

“All sorts of threats and dehumanization on social media against Arabs and Muslims. Talking about Dearborn,” says Walid.

Today, we reached out to several elected leaders for comment at the state and federal level, and are waiting to hear back.

Governor Gretchen Whitmer has released the following statement on the threats and violence:

Representative Debbie Dingell issued the following statement as well:

Below, are some of their statements that referenced recent violence in the Middle East, made on social media.