So this is what it’s come to in areas of the United States where Muslims are a majority?
via Home | AFLC Asks Federal Court to Enjoin Wayne County Sheriff from Restricting Christians’ Right to Freedom of Speech at 2013 Arab Festival in Dearborn, Michigan | AFLC – American Freedom Law Center.
On February 19, the American Freedom Law Center (AFLC) filed a motion for a preliminary injunction
in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of
Michigan, requesting that the court issue an order preventing the Wayne
County Sheriff and his deputies from restricting a group of Christian
evangelists from displaying banners and signs with Christian messages on
the public sidewalks during the 2013 Arab Festival to be held in
Dearborn, Michigan.
The motion is part of a federal civil
rights lawsuit that AFLC filed against Wayne County, the Wayne County
Sheriff, and two Wayne County Deputy Chiefs on behalf of Bible
Believers, a Christian organization; Ruben Israel, the leader of Bible
Believers; and two other members of the organization. Bible Believers
and its members engage in street preaching and other First Amendment
activities, including displaying signs and banners with Christian
messages, throughout the United States.
In 2012, the Christians attended the Arab
Festival in Dearborn, Michigan. While they were walking along the
public sidewalks expressing their message, they were viciously attacked
by a group of Muslims, who were throwing bottles, rocks, and other
debris at the Christians. The Muslims were also shouting and blowing
horns to harass the Christians. Some of the Muslims spat at the
Christians. Several Christians, including Ruben Israel, were bruised
and bloodied by the assault. The Muslims also shouted profanities at
the Christians and mocked the Christians’ faith. The attack was caught
on video, which has since gone viral on YouTube.
Rather than arrest the Muslims
for engaging in criminal behavior, Wayne County deputies ordered the
Christians to halt their free speech activity and forced them to leave
the Arab Festival under threat of arrest for disorderly conduct.
As AFLC argued in its motion, Wayne
County deputies cannot criminally punish the Christians’ speech as a
matter of law. Moreover, the deputies have a duty not to effectuate
what is known in First Amendment jurisprudence as a “heckler’s veto” by
censoring the Christians’ speech based on a hostile crowd’s adverse
reaction to the content of the Christian’s message. Furthermore, the
deputies have an affirmative duty to insure the Christians’ safety and
security in the free exercise of their constitutional rights.
The Christians are seeking a preliminary
injunction because they want to return to Dearborn during the annual
Arab Festival in June 2013 to engage in their free speech activity.
However, they fear that if they do return without a court order
protecting them, they will again be attacked by Muslims and forced to
halt their speech activity under the threat of arrest for disorderly
conduct.
Robert Muise, Co-Founder and Senior
Counsel of AFLC, commented: “An injunction is certainly warranted and
needed in this case based on the actions of the Wayne County deputies in
2012, which clearly demonstrate that they are intent on suppressing the
Christians’ message by joining the violent Muslim mob rather than
fulfilling their duty to protect the Christians’ safety and security in
the exercise of their constitutional rights. In short, the Wayne County
deputies have chosen to side with Muslim violence rather than protect
the constitutional freedoms of Christians.”
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