Tlaib and Faith Leaders Decry Anti-Muslim 'Crusade' ​in Dearborn, Michigan Led by Capitol Insurrectionist

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, clergy of various faiths, and state and local Democratic officials are among those condemning Tuesday's far-right rally in Dearborn, Michigan as an intimidation campaign against the city’s Muslim community, warning that the so-called “Christian Crusader March” is part of a broader resurgence of Islamophobic bigotry during President Donald Trump’s second term.

Thousands of anti-Muslim demonstrators, many of them traveling on motorcycles, descended upon Dearborn, a majority-Muslim suburb of Detroit, for the rally being organized by racist provocateur Jake Lang and Detroit pastor Lorenzo Sewell. Video footage showed them marching aggressively on Dearborn's City Hall Complex. Some of the protesters carried American flags, while one was seen holding a flag emblazoned with a Nazi swastika.

Area residents also marched, with a large crowd chanting "Allahu akbar"—meaning "God is great" in Arabic—while chasing some of the outsiders down a street.

Some of the footage was reminiscent of the January 6, 2021 Capitol Insurrection in which Lang took part, allegedly attacking police with a baseball bat.

Tlaib (D-Mich.), whose district includes Dearborn and is the only Palestinian American in Congress, warned Tuesday that the city of approximately 105,000 residents "is being targeted by Islamophobic white supremacists and Christian nationalists."

“Islamophobic racists are yet again marching in Dearborn to terrorize a whole faith community," Tlaib said in a statement.
"Dearborn is a beautifully diverse place, home to a vibrant, loving Muslim community, and our families do not deserve to be subjected to such hate and bigotry."

"Families are told to stay home for their own safety, unable to go back-to-school shopping, get groceries, or even walk outside," she continued. "To all our Dearborn families and residents: I have your back. I wish I could take away this pain, but know that you are not alone."

"To our interfaith community that’s standing in solidarity with their Muslim neighbors: Thank you for speaking out against this hatred. We need more of this love and compassion," she said.

“More leaders, including local elected officials, must speak out, especially against the local instigators participating in the spread of hatred under the guise of faith," Tlaib continued. "Their silence is complacent and normalizes fearmongering and racism. We know that targeting any community doesn’t allow any of us to be safe."

"People of all faiths and of all backgrounds belong," she added, "and deserve to practice their religion and celebrate their cultures freely without fear.”

Christian leaders joined Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and Police Chief Issa Shahin for a press conference earlier to denounce the rally, emphasizing that the Islamophobes' “crusader” rhetoric does not represent Christianity.

"To my residents, keep being you," Hammoud said on social media. "Pray how you’ve always prayed. Keep providing for your families and showing up for your neighbors. We won’t let hate unravel this beautiful tapestry forged throughout generations, with countless hands, in the most noble of American traditions."

Rev. Bob McCabe, pastor of the Church of the Divine Child, said during the press conference that "Dearborn is a place where people can love and draw close to each other and to worship freely. I've experienced that as a Christian, as a Catholic."

Pastor Nathan Hayes of Solid Rock Church told viewers that "I'm asking that our community would come together and say, you know what, ignore the outside voices and just pay attention to the person who lives next to you because they care about you way more than these people who are driving in from other places."

The Dearborn rally comes amid mounting renewed anti-Muslim hostility nationwide. The Associated Press reported last week that anti-Muslim rhetoric has surged alongside the historic US Senate campaign of Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, the first Muslim nominated by a major party for one of the state's upper chamber seats. Trump and other Republican figures have portrayed Muslim public officials as national security threats, while anti-mosque campaigns have intensified in communities across the country.

The consequences are not merely rhetorical.

In May, a pair of teenagers opened fire at an Islamic center in San Diego, killing three people and further traumatizing a Muslim community already facing heightened threats.

In July, federal prosecutors charged Utah man Peter Larsen with a hate crime after alleging that he went to a shopping mall seeking Muslims to attack. Prosecutors say he asked employees whether they were Muslim before stabbing a Muslim man multiple times, including in the neck. The victim required several surgeries.

Lang served four years behind bars awaiting trial for alleged crimes, including attacking police officers with a baseball bat during the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to overturn the 2020 presidential election. He was one of roughly 1,500 January 6 insurrectionists later pardoned by Trump.

He doesn't only hate Muslims; despite being raised Jewish, Lang is rabidly antisemitic and also said that white people "will be replaced, and your children will be Black Muslims if you don't stand up now"—and worse.

Lang was allowed to speak during Tuesday's Dearborn City Council meeting.

"For three years straight, the number one name in the country of England for newborn babies is Muhammad," he said, beginning a nearly four-minute tirade that was equal parts Muslim hate and pure fantasy.

"Tell me that white Christians are not being invaded," he continued. "This is an invasion!"

"These people are trying to destroy us," Lang argued without any evidence. The Muslims have not come here to assimilate. They have come here to steal the wealth of this land, to rape our women."

"The Muslims are being used by the Democrats to instill socialism in America," he asserted. "We know it."

"You're just using the Democrats, these woke liberal idiots, the women in New York, to gain power, and once the Muslims have power in this country, then they will start throwing the homosexuals off the roofs, just like they do in Palestine," he falsely claimed.

"Our founding fathers gave this country to their posterity, white Christians, and they brought along with them their Black friends," Lang said, apparently referring to the Africans they enslaved. "We will not allow these third world mongrels to run roughshod over us without a fight. The body of Christ is one!"

"We have cruise ships, we have planes, we have trains, and we're going to pack them out with all of the Arabs. You have to go home. We don't want you here," Lang continued.

"If you stand against Islam, you are my brother. If you are willing to stand up and take this country back, you are my brother. Join the crusades and extricate this filth from our country," he concluded. "We will have our way! Come blood or sweat, we will have our way! This is a Christian land! Christ is king!"

Lang then began tearing up a Quran before being forcibly removed from the council chamber.

Some Democratic social media users—including many backing former Vice President Kamala Harris, whose complicity in Israel's Gaza genocide is part of why she was badly defeated by Trump in Dearborn in the 2024 presidential election just four years after former President Joe Biden won the city by 20 points—said the city's residents deserve what is happening to them.

However, elected Democrats—who have often been slow to condemn anti-Muslim bigotry—were quick to condemn the rally.

"The people of Dearborn are once again under attack from an out-of-state influencer looking for controversy," US Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.) said on social media. "[Mayor Hammoud], the police chief, and religious leaders of all faiths are again showing leadership and demonstrating that Michigan is united against hate and Islamophobia."

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in a statement that "Dearborn is home to one of the most vibrant communities in America."

"Its residents are our friends and our neighbors," the Democrat continued. "Today, a group of agitators is traveling to Dearborn for the sole purpose of intimidating that community and provoking a reaction. Their plan emboldens and contributes to dangerous behavior, and I am asking every person of goodwill to denounce it. Their hate has no place in Michigan."

“My top priority is keeping Michiganders safe," Whitmer added I’ve been in contact with Mayor Hammoud, and I echo Chief Shahin and local officials: Do not confront or engage with demonstrators. Together, we stand united against hate in all its forms.”