Media Run Interference For Michigan City Accused Of Prioritizing Islam Over Other Religions

America’s propaganda media have made an awful lot of noise in recent years fomenting worries about a super scary “Christian nationalist” takeover of America. Yet, for all their professed concerns about religion in the public square, many of these same actors seemingly have no problem with the apparent Islamization of one of Michigan’s most prominent cities. Last week, the American Freedom Law Center filed a lawsuit against the city of Dearborn, Michigan, on behalf of resident and Federalist Senior Legal Correspondent Margot Cleveland. As described in an AFLC press release, the suit alleges that Dearborn officials “spent public funds and used City property to promote and celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan while refusing Cleveland’s repeated requests that the City extend the same recognition to Christian and Jewish holidays — and that Mayor [Abdullah] Hammoud and other City officials retaliated against Cleveland for speaking out about the disparity.” The legal challenge includes numerous allegations of city officials undertaking efforts and using taxpayer dollars to promote Muslim holidays while simultaneously discriminating against Christians and Jews. As The Federalist’s Joy Pullmann reported, AFLC’s complaint also “says federal courts have recognized a pattern of Dearborn preferencing Islam over other religions, in violation of U.S. law.” Since its filing, few corporate media outlets have bothered to cover Cleveland’s lawsuit. But for several of those that did, the coverage predictably reads like a press release for Dearborn officials. The Associated Press ran an article on Friday with the headline, “Michigan city defends itself against accusations of favoring Muslim holidays over other faiths.” The piece’s opening paragraphs parrot Dearborn officials’ rhetoric to frame Cleveland’s legal challenge as an attack on the city’s “diversity.” “The city of Dearborn responded Saturday to a lawsuit accusing it of celebrating Muslim holidays and ignoring religious holidays of other faiths by blaming attacks against it on its diversity and ‘welcoming nature,’” the write-up reads. Corporate media giants PBS News, The Washington Post, and CBS News dutifully re-published the AP article. Meanwhile, searches of The New York Times, CNN, and MS Now’s respective websites turned up no articles about Cleveland’s lawsuit as of publication. Interesting: Both the AP and PBS didn't report news of my lawsuit (that I saw) BUT report the City's response…and inaccurately at that: I specified "nominal damages." https://t.co/f01DDY8nr6— Margot Cleveland (@ProfMJCleveland) September 20, 2026 “I don’t have a problem with people of faith exercising their deeply held beliefs,” Cleveland told Pullmann in an interview last week. “I have a problem with people supporting or excusing terrorism and antisemitism and establishing a religion and discriminating against people of other faiths.” As The Federalist previously reported, Mayor Hammoud garnered nationwide attention last year after he was documented on video telling a constituent, a Christian pastor, “that he was a ‘bigot’ and ‘Islamophobe’ for objecting to Dearborn renaming a street after Osama Siblani, a longtime public supporter of the U.S.-designated Islamist terrorist organizations Hezbollah and Hamas, which have murdered Americans out of religious and nationalist hatred.” “Although you live here, I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here,” Hammoud said at a public meeting. “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.” Hammoud later refused to apologize for his remarks. Readers can find more information about Cleveland’s lawsuit here. Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He is a co-recipient of the 2025 Dao Prize for Excellence in Investigative Journalism. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics and RealClearHealth. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood