Overview

• Video from a Sept. 9 city council meeting shows Mayor Abdullah Hammoud calling resident Edward “Ted” Barham a bigot and Islamophobe and telling him he is not welcome in the city.
• Barham, later identified as a Christian minister, says he will continue his public ministry without responding in kind and claims he was recently banned from Facebook.
• Council members noted the honorary signs on Warren Avenue were authorized and installed by Wayne County, not the City of Dearborn, though the mayor attended the unveiling.
• Siblani, the longtime publisher of The Arab American News, has a record of statements praised by some and criticized by others as sympathetic to Hezbollah and Hamas; he argues critics misquote him and says many residents support the honor.
• The exchange circulated widely on social media, drawing millions of views and national criticism, while no formal censure or policy change has been reported.