DEARBORN — The City of Dearborn paid a reported $300,000 to the four Christian Missionaries who are part of the group Acts 17 Apologetics, as a result of a lawsuit settlement that recently took place.  

The lawsuit was filed by the American Freedom Law Center in Ann Arbor, on behalf of Dr. Nabeel Qureshi, David Wood and Paul Rezkalla, who are members of the group.  They claimed that their rights were violated when they were arrested by police on June 18, 2010 and charged with “breach of the peace” for their protest at the Arab International Festival. In September 2010, a jury unanimously acquitted the men of any wrongdoing.

According to the settlement, Dearborn also agreed to publicly apologize to the missionaries. Under the terms of the settlement, the City must post an apology on its website for three years. In addition, it must also remove a news release and letter from Dearborn Mayor John O’Reilly that had criticized the group for “their attack on the City of Dearborn for having tolerance for all religions, including believers in the Koran,” according to a source.