A federal lawsuit filed last week against the city of Dearborn, Michigan, accuses local officials of using public money and city property to celebrate Ramadan while refusing repeated requests to extend the same recognition to Christian and Jewish holidays — and of retaliating against the resident who raised the disparity. According to The Federalist, which first reported on the filing, the American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) brought the suit on behalf of Margot Cleveland, a Dearborn resident and the outlet’s senior legal correspondent.
An AFLC press release quoted by The Federalist states that city officials “spent public funds and used City property to promote and celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan” while turning down Cleveland’s requests for comparable treatment of other faiths’ holidays, and that Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and other officials “retaliated against Cleveland for speaking out about the disparity.” The complaint also “says federal courts have recognized a pattern of Dearborn preferencing Islam over other religions, in violation of U.S. law,” The Federalist’s Joy Pullmann reported.
How the press has handled the story
Since the suit was filed, relatively few major outlets have covered it. Among those that did, The Federalist argues the framing has been notably friendly to the city. The Associated Press published an article headlined “Michigan city defends itself against accusations of favoring Muslim holidays over other faiths,” which the outlet says opens by adopting the city’s own framing — describing Dearborn’s response as blaming “attacks against it on its diversity and ‘welcoming nature.'” PBS News, The Washington Post, and CBS News each republished the AP story, while The Federalist reported that searches of The New York Times, CNN, and MS Now’s websites turned up no coverage of the lawsuit as of publication.
Cleveland herself flagged what she described as an inaccuracy in how her claims were characterized. In a post on X, she noted that both the AP and PBS appeared to have skipped news of the lawsuit itself while reporting the city’s response — “and inaccurately at that,” she wrote, adding that she had specified “nominal damages” in the filing.
Cleveland: ‘I have a problem with… establishing a religion’
In an interview with Pullmann, Cleveland drew a distinction between private religious practice and government endorsement. “I don’t have a problem with people of faith exercising their deeply held beliefs,” she said. “I have a problem with people supporting or excusing terrorism and antisemitism and establishing a religion and discriminating against people of other faiths.”
The lawsuit arrives against the backdrop of a broader, years-long argument over the role of religion in American public life — one in which accusations of a looming “Christian nationalist” takeover have become a staple of corporate media commentary. The Federalist’s piece contrasts that posture with what it describes as media indifference toward the alleged promotion of one particular faith by a municipal government.
Prior controversy involving the mayor
Dearborn’s mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, drew national attention last year after he was recorded on video telling a Christian pastor who objected to the city renaming a street after Osama Siblani — described by The Federalist as a longtime public supporter of Hezbollah and Hamas, both U.S.-designated terrorist organizations — that he was a “bigot” and an “Islamophobe.”
“Although you live here, I want you to know as mayor, you are not welcome here,” Hammoud said at a public meeting, according to the outlet’s earlier reporting. “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.” He later declined to apologize for the remarks.
The current lawsuit is the latest flashpoint in a city that has become a focal point in national debates over religion, immigration, and local governance. For now, the case remains in its early stages, with the city defending its practices and the plaintiff pressing claims that, if successful, could reshape how Dearborn handles religious observances going forward.
Source: thefederalist.com — https://thefederalist.com/2026/09/21/media-run-interference-for-michigan-city-accused-of-prioritizing-islam-over-other-religions/