A Detroit pastor sharply criticized Dearborn officials during a recent city council meeting, accusing the city of placing Islamic law above U.S. law and warning that “we have lost this city” to Sharia.
“This is a city that is no longer up under American laws; we are up under Sharia law. We will not have it anymore,” Lorenzo Sewell, pastor of 180 Church in Detroit, said last week, according to Fox News. “Enough is enough.”
The Aug. 18 Dearborn City Council meeting was moved to the Henry Ford Centennial Library as hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside, The Detroit News reported. Police arrested 22 people in connection with the unrest, while no injuries were reported.
Sewell’s comments came as demonstrations continued in Dearborn over claims that Sharia law has gained influence in the city. He argued that Muslims represent only a small percentage of the U.S. population and should not determine the nation’s laws. “You are only 1 percent of this nation. We are not a nation of Muslims,” he was quoted as saying.
The pastor has also accused Dearborn leaders of extending preferential treatment to Muslim residents under the banner of religious freedom.
Sewell and other critics have pointed to the treatment of Jake Lang, a Florida Republican U.S. Senate candidate and Jan. 6 Capitol riot defendant who was pardoned by President Donald Trump, as evidence of what they describe as unequal enforcement. Lang, who has said he would seek to “ban Islam” if elected, was assaulted during a protest in Dearborn.
“You are not up under American law. You are up under Sharia law. That is the reason why you have made no arrests,” Sewell said, referring to the incident.
Earlier this month, Lang attended Dearborn’s Arbaeen March, a Shiite Muslim religious observance, to protest the event. Video from the scene showed him being struck from behind while carrying a sign that read “deport 100 million, save America.”
Footage posted by Lang also showed Muslim counterprotesters pursuing him toward his vehicle, while at least one person appeared to throw rocks during the confrontation.
“One individual was arrested by Dearborn Police during the altercation and is currently held without bond as the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office determines charges,” police said in a press release.
Lang and Sewell criticized the police response as inadequate. Before last week’s council meeting, they and other demonstrators announced plans to protest and call on city leaders to take concerns about Muslim influence and Sharia law more seriously, while Dearborn officials rejected allegations that Muslim residents receive preferential treatment.
According to the 2020 U.S. Census, a majority of Dearborn residents identified as having Middle Eastern or North African ancestry, making the city the first in the United States with a majority-Arab population, at roughly 54.5%.
