Arrests at the Dearborn Arab International Festival a matter of public safety, not First Amendment issues

Due to “You-Tube” videos posted on the internet by members of a group calling themselves Acts 17 Apologetics, the City of Dearborn and the Dearborn Police Department have received inquiry and commentary based solely on the information proliferated by Acts 17 Apologetics, that the City and the police department do not honor First Amendment rights.

The City of Dearborn and the Dearborn Police Department recognize all individual rights to freedom of free speech and expression.  Unique from most cities, the City of Dearborn allows, through City Ordinance, individuals and groups the opportunity to peacefully assemble and safely express their opinions publicly at four (4) venues in the City without requiring advanced notice or permits.

These highly visible venues are very prominent and historical public sites, which include the campus of City Hall, the campus of the police and court building, the area surrounding the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, and the campus of the Henry Ford Centennial Library.  The Reverend Jesse Jackson with the United Auto Workers, the Detroit Coalition Against Police Brutality, Women in Black, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the University of Michigan – Dearborn Student March promoting diversity, and numerous other entities have peacefully rallied and demonstrated, without having to secure a permit.

In the past 12 months, fourteen (14) separate groups have peacefully assembled in these venues and were fully accommodated by the City of Dearborn and the Dearborn Police Department.

Festival Grounds versus Public Streets and Sidewalks

When city streets and sidewalks, which are generally open to the public, are used to facilitate an event or festival via the City of Dearborn permit process, the city streets and sidewalks actually become temporary festival grounds, which will have special rules or considerations allowing for logistical and public safety issues.

The use of public streets as festival grounds and the institution of special rules and regulations is firmly established in the U.S. Supreme Court case “Hefron vs International Society for Krishna Consciousness” http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0452_0640_ZS.html and the U.S. Court of Appeals case “Daubenmire/Spingola vs. City of Columbus” http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-6th-circuit/1467601.html .

The 2010 Dearborn Arab International Festival boundaries established as “Festival Grounds” were supported through Dearborn City Council Resolution 5-296-10.  As part of the rules and regulations, booth vendors are limited to sell and give away goods, commodities, and literature from the confines of the booth and the booth frontage.  This safety rule applies equally to all organizations and individuals regardless of the content of the material being distributed.

This rule was unsuccessfully challenged and was supported in the Federal Court of the Eastern District of Michigan by Judge Paul Borman pursuant to his judgment in Civil Action No. 09-cv-12321 on June 7, 2010.

http://www.cityofdearborn.org/images/stories/PDF/fedcourtopinion.pdf

In the same civil action, it was noted that in an evidentiary hearing held by Federal Judge Nancy Edmunds, she stated the ban on the distribution of handbills in the festival area, “Supports a legitimate government interest for crowd control and safety.” This ban is enforced by the City of Dearborn.

The City of Dearborn provides support services for the Dearborn Arab International Festival, as it does for 80 -100 special events each year, including church festivals; fundraisers for cancer and MS research, food programs and animal welfare; as well as events in support of schools and veterans.  This support includes, but is not limited to, services from the Dearborn Police Department.  Because of the number of large events that occur in the City of Dearborn, the Dearborn Police Department follows best practices in national law enforcement special event protocols.  Members of the police department have received training in Special Events Management to include crowd psychology, freedom of speech zones, and methods and tactics to prevent a riot, from the nationally renowned Center for Police Organizational Studies located in San Diego, California. http://www.cpos.org

The Dearborn Arab International Festival

The Dearborn Arab International Festival is a celebration of cultures, not  religion.  Like many summer street festivals throughout the country, it has a large carnival midway with rides, and offers food, entertainment, contests, and children’s activities, coupled with local and world market shopping.

The Arab Festival is a family-oriented event that draws tens of thousands of visitors to the City, boosting Dearborn businesses while promoting cultural awareness.  It is a three-day annual event and fundraiser for the American Arab Chamber of Commerce and the Arab Center for Economic and Social Services, which organize and operate the festival. http://www.americanarab.com/events-a-programs/business-development.html

 

The organizers of the Dearborn Arab International Festival offer about a 100 booths to businesses and non-profit groups to promote their own interests or to sell goods and food.  All individuals, groups, and institutions that secured a festival booth were provided rules and regulations of the festival.  Some of these groups include Ford Motor Company, General Motors, AT&T, Verizon, McDonald’s, and Comcast.  The FBI and CIA had informational booths and the Dearborn Police Department had a table promoting crime prevention, the Nixle information system, and recruitment.

Five (5) Christian-based organizations and two (2) Muslim-based organizations also secured booths at the festival and were actively proselytizing in ways that conformed to the festival rules and regulations.

In addition, a Christian group called Impact International from Virginia has provided volunteers to work at the festival for multiple years.  They promote the experience to their members as a way to learn about other cultures.  There were no reported issues with any of these other organizations.

The festival also included a specified “First Amendment Zone” located at the East main entrance to the festival where groups were welcome to gather and express opinions and beliefs freely and safely. http://cityofdearborn.org/images/aafphoto1.jpg

The Background of “Acts 17 Apologetics” and the Dearborn Arab International Festival

A group called Acts 17 Apologetics, a Christian organization, became well-known following the 2009 Dearborn Arab International Festival because of videos it posted on “YouTube”.  The videos show, from their point of view, some members’ impassioned discussion with a Muslim group and an incident with festival security guards, as well as other scenes at the festival.

The City of Dearborn believes the 2009 Acts 17 Apologetics videos are a distortion of the group’s experience and a misrepresentation of the Dearborn Arab International Festival.

In response, Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. hosted a meeting with the Dearborn Area Ministerial Association in September of 2009 to talk about the experience of Christian groups at the 2009 Arab Festival.  Following that meeting, some pastors of Dearborn’s evangelical Christian community tried repeatedly to contact members from Acts 17 Apologetics and never received a response.  These Dearborn evangelical pastors later issued a lengthy statement stating they believe in the right to spread the message of Christianity, but criticized the tactics and behavior of members of Acts 17 Apologetics, saying they did not reflect a Christian spirit. http://www.fairlanealliance.org/downloads/letter_concerning_acts_17.pdf

World renowned Christian minister, author, and speaker Josh McDowell, who has spoken to more than 10 million people in 84 countries, attended the 2009 Dearborn Arab International Festival and posted a video on “YouTube” on January 12, 2010 reflecting his experience at the Dearborn event.

At the 2009 festival, Josh McDowell also spent time filming, interviewing, and speaking to event attendees regarding Christianity.  The video posting by Josh McDowell showed quite a contrasting view from the video posting of Acts 17 Apologetics.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIH1F7KGWnY

The Arrest of Four (4) Individuals Representing “Acts 17 Apologetics” at the 2010 Dearborn Arab International Festival

The four (4) individuals representing Acts 17 Apologetics were not arrested for handing out literature, and in fact, were not handing out literature at the time of their arrest.

On Friday June 18, 2010, at approximately 8:30 p.m., officers working the festival were in the preparation stages of conducting a full festival evacuation due to an approaching severe thunderstorm.

The police command center received a complaint, from a Christian volunteer working the festival, regarding members of Acts 17 Apologetics harassing and intimidating patrons of the festival and that a large crowd was gathering.  Officers responded to the area where, in fact, a large agitated crowd had gathered due to the actions of the individuals of Acts 17 Apologetics.

Public safety became an issue for both members of Acts 17 Apologetics and the gathering crowd.  The four (4) members of Acts 17 Apologetics chose to escalate their behavior, which appeared well-orchestrated and deliberate, and chose not to follow the directions being given to them by the responding officers.          The behavior of these individuals drew and incited a large crowd to a point where they were in violation of City of Dearborn Misdemeanor Ordinances of Breach of Peace and Failure to Obey the Lawful Order of a Police Officer. They were arrested.  Upon their arrest, the crowd dispersed without further action being needed.

This issue has nothing to do with First Amendment Rights, it has to do with public safety and the individual choices made by the arrested parties.

The YouTube Video Posting by Acts 17 Apologetics regarding the 2010 Dearborn Arab International Festival

The video Acts 17 Apologetics posted on “YouTube” following the 2010 Dearborn Arab International Festival is an inaccurate depiction of the events.  This video was filmed on Saturday, June 19, 2010 and was edited by Acts 17 Apologetics to appear that the video is showing members of Acts 17 Apologetics being arrested for handing out Christian literature.

The individuals in this video were not arrested that day and their equipment was not taken.  These individuals were investigated and identified, and the festival rules and regulations regarding the distribution of literature were thoroughly explained to them.  These individuals were then directed to the “First Amendment Zone,” where the distribution of literature was permitted.

The “First Amendment Zone” was located approximately 30 feet from where they were standing, near the carnival Ferris wheel, in their video depiction of events.  Ironically, this area, which was occupied by two (2) other Christian-based organizations, was not discussed, or shown in Acts 17 Apologetics videos or commentary.

The video posted on “YouTube” by Acts 17 Apologetics does, however, accurately show their own members ignoring not only the festival rules and regulations, but also the court decisions that upheld the restrictions on the distribution of literature in the outer perimeter.

Letter from Dearborn Mayor O’Reilly

Mayor O’Reilly’s response to communications related to the Arab Fest and received from all over the country can be found by clicking here.

The Police Department’s position

It is unfortunate that members of Acts 17 Apologetics chose to mischaracterize the City of Dearborn and the police department, and misrepresent the spirit of the Dearborn Arab International Festival.

The City of Dearborn is confident that the courts’ adjudication of these matters going forward will show the Dearborn Police Department acted appropriately and that the confrontational tactics used by the members of Acts 17 Apologetics were inappropriately creating a public safety concern and that their actions lead to their arrest on Friday, June 18, 2010.

Other views of the 2010 Dearborn Arab International Festival

Josh McDowell also attended the 2010 Dearborn Arab International Festival and posted a video on “YouTube” on June 28, 2010 documenting the Dearborn event.  At the 2010 festival, Josh McDowell continued to spend time filming, interviewing, and speaking to event attendees regarding Christianity.  This video posting by Josh McDowell also shows a contrasting view from the one posted  by Acts 17 Apologetics.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzh3MYv1L4A

Dearborn Christian Pastor Haytham Abi-Haydar, who has been part of the festival since 1999, stated, “The community has been very good to us. From my perspective, we have never had any incidents.”

He said of David Wood and Acts 17 Apologetics: “Why can’t he go around with no cameras, not intimidating people, ask questions and build relationships with the community and sharing Christ? Why is that difficult?”

Note from Dearborn Chief of Police Ronald Haddad

Chief Haddad stated, “The Dearborn Police Department recognizes all individual rights to freedom of speech and expression.”

Chief Haddad points out that on June 24, 2010, the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan teamed up with individuals attending the Detroit People’s Movement Assembly Actions Convention in Detroit.  This group held a large demonstration at an area venue, without notice, on a major thoroughfare under massive road construction.  The police department reacted and procured a safe area for the demonstrators and ensured the safety of motorists and demonstrators alike.

The chief stated, “Our job is to provide public safety to all who choose to rally or demonstrate in the City of Dearborn and we will provide the same professional service regardless of the cause or views of the parties involved.”

Chief Haddad credits the professionalism of the men and women of the Dearborn Police Department as they did an excellent job in facilitating approximately 300,000 festival attendees, including a reported record number of children who enjoyed the carnival.

Chief Haddad reports that the festival was virtually incident free, but added, the weather did create an issue on Friday night at approximately 9:45 p.m. when a severe thunderstorm moved through the area and the festival was evacuated.  The chief stated the evacuation was orderly and there were no reported problems or damage as a result of the storm.

Chief Haddad acknowledges that federal and local court cases are pending, related to issues involving the festival, and he has full confidence that accurate information will provide the best insight in the judicial process.  Accordingly, there will be no further comment on matters pending before the court.