City of Dearborn responds to segment on The O'Reilly Factor

http://www.wxyz.com/news/region/wayne-county/city-of-dearborn-responds-to-segment-on-the-oreilly-factor

DEARBORN, Mich. (WXYZ) - Dearborn residents are chiming in after a report that aired on Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor earlier this week that portrayed the Detroit suburb as a “Mecca” for Muslims, a city where Muslims control the city council and the chief of police is also Muslim. The report spawned a rash of negative comments on social media, including ones that called for Dearborn to be bombed. The segment comes as Anti-Islamic protesters - some of them armed - are scheduled to protest at the Islamic Center of America this weekend. They are being told to bring firearms, if they are legally able to do so.

The satirical segment is not sitting well with Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly.

“People around the country who have no idea who we are and have already gotten some mixed messages to say the least, are just going to have reinforced, this negative and false image of what this community is,” he said.

In the video bit, correspondent Jesse Watters is seen asking people questions like, “Do you like Christmas?” “Do you miss the desert?” “Does the FBI ever come snooping around here?” “What is Sharia Law?”

Dearborn resident Alice Alaouie said the piece was hurtful and offensive.

“I was heartbroken, I was devastated because I knew that our community was misrepresented, a lot of things were taken out of context,” she said.

Mayor O’Reilly sent a letter to host Bill O’Reilly on Tuesday, expressing his dismay at how the segment lacked sensitivity, including factual errors that Muslims control the city that the police chief is Muslim.

Chief Ron Haddad, who happens to be Christian, asks even if he were Muslim, why would that be frowned upon?

“Dearborn is like any other American city, it’s progressive, it’s clean, it’s beautiful, it’s a welcoming place, and it’s safe place and that’s something I take great pride in,” Haddad said.

MAYOR'S LETTER AT LINK