Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud Who Called a Christian a Bigot Now Faces a Federal Lawsuit

Abdullah Hammoud told a Christian resident he wasn't welcome in his own city.

Now that same mayor is being sued in federal court over religious favoritism.

A journalist just filed the paperwork that could force Dearborn to answer for it in front of a judge.

Abdullah Hammoud's History With Dearborn's Christian Residents

This isn't Hammoud's first collision with a Christian resident who pushed back on the city's priorities.

Last September, pastor Ted Barham stood up at a city council meeting to object to a street sign honoring Osama Siblani, a local publisher who has praised Hezbollah and Hamas – both designated terrorist organizations by the United States government.

Hammoud's response wasn't a policy explanation. It was personal.

He told Barham to avert his eyes while driving past the sign, accused him of bigotry and Islamophobia, and then delivered the line that went viral: "You are not welcome here." He added that he'd throw a parade the day Barham left town.

Hammoud never apologized. Weeks later, at the next council meeting, Barham quoted the mayor's own words back to him and said he had no plans to sue.

Someone else did.

Inside the Ramadan Display Lawsuit Against the City of Dearborn

Margot Cleveland, a journalist with The Federalist, filed a civil rights lawsuit Thursday against the city of Dearborn and Democratic Mayor Abdullah Hammoud, working with the American Freedom Law Center.

Her claim is simple. The city spent taxpayer money – $1,500 on Ramadan banners, $5,000 on a crescent-moon display, according to a FOIA request – lighting up Dearborn for Islamic holidays. The Dearborn Police Department even sold Ramadan-themed T-shirts.

Cleveland didn't ask the city to stop celebrating Ramadan. In emails to the city, she said she only wanted Easter and Passover recognized the same way. She says the city met that request with silence, then hostility, then an expanded crescent-and-star light display on municipal streetlights this past February.

Hammoud defended the expansion, saying it reflected the city's identity.

Attorney Robert Muise, who has spent more than two decades litigating religious liberty cases and once defended Christian missionaries arrested for evangelizing at an Arab festival in Dearborn, sees it differently. He argues that spending taxpayer money to light up the city for Ramadan while stonewalling equal requests for Christian and Jewish holidays amounts to a straightforward Establishment Clause violation.

Cleveland says she was never trying to take anything away from her Muslim neighbors – only asking that Christians and Jews get the same treatment. Instead, she says, the city treated her like an outsider for asking.

What the Establishment Clause Actually Says About Religious Displays

Dearborn isn't the first city to learn this lesson the hard way.

The Supreme Court ruled decades ago in County of Allegheny v. ACLU that when government singles out one faith's religious display for a place of honor, the Establishment Clause has something to say about it. The rule is neutrality, not favoritism.

Co-counsel David Yerushalmi argues Dearborn didn't even attempt neutral. Cleveland's lawsuit claims the city expanded its Ramadan displays only after being asked, in writing, for equal treatment – not before.

How the Lawsuit Lands in Michigan's 2026 Senate Race

The timing isn't neutral either. Michigan's open Senate seat is on the ballot this fall, and Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed – who is Muslim – is already fending off criticism over his association with streamer Hasan Piker, who has argued the U.S. has caused more deaths than al-Qaeda and that American strikes killing civilians can amount to terrorism. Republican nominee Mike Rogers is his opponent for the seat.

Religion and double standards are already campaign issues in Michigan. A federal judge is now going to have to decide whether a city government gets to pick favorites among its residents' faiths – with Dearborn, and the mayor who told a Christian he wasn't welcome, at the center of it.

Picture Dearborn's streetlights strung with crescents every spring – and dark every Easter Sunday. That's the image this lawsuit is putting in front of a federal judge, and it's the one Hammoud will have to explain.

Sources:

• Elaine Mallon, "Swing state mayor sued as city's Muslim holiday displays ignite religious-favoritism fight," Fox News, September 18, 2026.
• Corey Walker, "Michigan Mayor Says Resident 'Not Welcome' in City After Objecting to Street Sign Named After Terrorist Supporter," The Algemeiner, September 2025.
• "Dearborn mayor refuses to apologize for telling Christian minister he was 'not welcome here,'" Fox News, September 24, 2025.
• "Dearborn mayor tells resident he's not welcome in city after opposing sign for Arab leader," Detroit Free Press via Yahoo News, September 2025.
• "Robert Muise," Wikipedia, accessed September 2026.