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Dearborn’s Dem mayor hit with federal lawsuit over public Ramadan displays

September 19, 2026 | | Print Article

Dearborn’s Islamist mayor has been accused of using taxpayer money to promote Islam while ignoring Christianity and Judaism.

The accusation comes from Dearborn resident Margot Cleveland, a legal correspondent for The Federalist who filed a civil-rights lawsuit against Mayor Abdullah Hammoud on Thursday via the American Freedom Law Center (AFLC).

The suit accuses Hammoud and other city officials of violating the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits the government from showing preference for one religion over another.

“For too long, the City of Dearborn has been a hostile place for Christians and Jews,” the lawsuit reads. “Defendant Hammoud has taken this hostility to the next level, openly conveying the message that Christians and Jews are not welcome in the city and are, indeed, second-class citizens.”

As an example, the suit points to what happened in April of last year, when Dearborn spent taxpayer money on Ramadan banners and a crescent-moon display at a park:

Yet the city then turned around and refused to fork over any public money to buy similar displays for Lent and Passover. Indeed, when Cleveland asked city officials to treat Lent and Passover with the same respect they’d treated Ramadan, she was ignored.

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“The City of Dearborn spent taxpayer money to light up its streets and parks for Ramadan while stonewalling a resident who simply asked that Easter, Passover, and other Christian and Jewish holy days be treated the same way,” AFLC co-founder and senior counsel Robert J. Muise told Fox News.

“That is a straightforward Establishment Clause violation, and the retaliation our client faced for speaking up about it only compounds the constitutional harm,” he added.

The city has also been accused of designing Ramadan-themed shirts for its police force:

Things got worse in 2026 when Hammoud and his fellow Islamists further expanded the city’s Ramadan celebrations.

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“[T]he City commissioned crescent-moon-and-star light displays on municipal street lights for Ramadan 2026, describing this as ‘the first of its kind in Dearborn,'” the suit reads.

“Defendant Hammoud was quoted, stating of the City-sponsored display, ‘This initiative reflects who we are as a city,'” the suit continues. “In other words, rather than celebrate other religious traditions per Plaintiff’s repeated requests, the City instead increased its promotion of Islam.”

Speaking with National Review, Cleveland stressed that her purpose isn’t to stop Dearborn from celebrating Ramadan, but rather to equalize the playing field so that other religions are celebrated as well.

“I wish my Muslim neighbors a blessed Ramadan, and merely seek equal treatment for Christians and Jews,” she said.

The suit from Cleveland also draws attention to a stunning September 2025 encounter between local Christian pastor Red Barham and Mayor Hammoud.

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During a city council hearing, Barham critiqued Hammoud’s decision to rename a street after terrorist-supporter Osama Siblani. This minor criticism prompted Hammoud to rail about so-called Islamophobia:

“[Y]ou are a bigot and you are a racist and you are an Islamophobe,” the mayor said to Barham. “And although you live here, I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here.”

“And the day you move out of the city will be the day that I launch a parade celebrating the fact that you moved out of the city … because you are not somebody who believes in coexistence,” the Islamist mayor added.

Yet his version of Dearborn looks nothing like a place of so-called coexistence:

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Lastly, the suit alleges retaliation against Cleveland for her daring to speak out against her Islamic oppressors.

According to the suit, this retaliation included the city “authorizing the additional installation of lighted Ramadan signs as a direct affront to Plaintiff’s request for Christian and Jewish displays; directing the City Attorney to not communicate with Plaintiff; directing the Chief of Police to not communicate with Plaintiff; directing City Council members not to communicate with Plaintiff, even though they are her representatives in the government; opposing funding for Christian and Jewish religious displays; and excluding Plaintiff from additional Community Meetings.”

Vivek Saxena
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