Loading ...Missionaries Acquitted in Festival Incitement Case
A jury Friday acquitted four Christian missionaries who were accused of inciting a crowd while videotaping themselves proselytizing to Muslims at the Dearborn Arab International Festival in June.
Nabeel Qureshi of Virginia, Negeen Mayel of California, and Paul Rezkalla and David Wood, both of New York, were acquitted of breach of peace, 19th District Court officials in Dearborn said after the verdict. Mayel was found guilty of failure to obey a police officer’s order.
The four are members of a Christian group called Acts 17 Apologetics who, according to the group’s Web site, “refute the arguments of those who oppose the true gospel, most commonly the arguments of Muslims and atheists.” They maintain that Islam is a false religion and inherently violent.
They were charged in July with disorderly conduct after police said they received a complaint from a Christian volunteer working at the festival who said he was harassed by the group.
Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly Jr. said Friday night that he respects the decision but that the missionaries were anti-Muslim bigots pulling a publicity stunt to gain attention on YouTube in order to raise money.
A video the group posted last year about their encounters at the festival has had almost 2 million views. The group solicits money on their website when they travel to Dearborn, claiming the city is a hotbed of Islamic radicalism.
“It’s really about a hatred of Muslims,” O’Reilly said. “That is what the whole heart of this is..… Their idea is that there is no place for Muslims in America. They fail to understand the Constitution.”
O’Reilly said people of diverse religious beliefs get along fine in Dearborn. He said several other Christian groups at the festival this year and in years past have never had problems. Other evangelical Christians have criticized the group for their tactics.
“They engaged in a misrepresentation of what Dearborn really is,” O’Reilly said of the four missionaries arrested.
But Dearborn attorney Majed Moughni, who supported the missionaries and helped represent them earlier, said “these charges should never have been brought.”
Moughni said that “freedom of speech is important. Everyone should be free to come to Dearborn to express themselves.”
Robert Muise, an attorney for the Ann Arbor-based Thomas More Law Center who defended the missionaries, could not be reached for comment. During the trial, he contended his clients’ First Amendment right to free speech was violated and said they did not harass anyone.
Qureshi did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Naomi R. Patton
Niraj Warikoo
Detroit Free Press