ROYAL OAK —
Community leaders and federal officials discussed the rise of hate crimes
against Muslims at a BRIDGES meeting in Royal Oak on Wednesday.

Building Respect
in Diverse Groups to Enhance Sensitivity (BRIDGES) was established shortly
after 9/11 to address security and civil rights grievances between the
government and the community.

Fatina Abdrabboh,
director of Michigan’s Arab American Anti-discrimination Committee, said
Dearborn residents are “in fear” and “on edge” regarding
their safety.

However, Barbara
McQuade, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, explained that
although many of the threatening posts are concerning, federal statutes require
them to be specific and directed toward a particular group or individual. Only
then is the issuer of the threat charged with a crime.

Some community
representatives also voiced their concerns regarding the double-standard of
labeling the San Bernardino shooting as an act of terrorism, while attacks by
Christians, like Robert Dear Jr. on a Planned Parenthood clinic, are labeled as
hate crimes.

McQuade said the
difference is that the Muslim shooters pledged allegiance to a recognized
terrorist organization, not an ideology.

David Gelios,
special agent in charge of the FBI’s Detroit office, presented updates on what
they know about the San Bernardino shooters and their efforts to reduce the
likelihood of terrorist attacks in the country.

Gelios said
authorities estimate that about 250 individuals have traveled or attempted to
travel from the United States to countries where ISIS is active.

He added that since
2013 the FBI has prosecuted 70 people who have pledged allegiance to ISIS.

He urged the community
to become especially vigilant and have a “heightened sense of their
surroundings” and contact the FBI and local authorities to prevent terrorist
attacks.

Kary Moss,
director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, said she is
concerned about the tone of the national conversation to prevent terrorism.
ACLU Michigan’s concerns include discrimination the Muslim community faces,
government overreach and the “overzealous” intrusion on people’s privacy and
prospective laws passed based on fear that make it more difficult for people to
travel between the United States and other countries.

“I don’t remember
in my lifetime hearing such fear mongering, bias and inflammatory comments,”
Moss said.

Nabih Ayad,
chairman of the Arab Civil Rights League, slammed the ACLU for siding with
anti-Muslim protesters in a controversial lawsuit, where the demonstrators
claim Wayne County violated their freedom of speech by removing them from the
Arab Festival in 2012.

Sheriff’s deputies
say the protesters were asked to leave to preserve public safety.

“We are under
attack,” Ayad said. “We need the ACLU to stand for us, not against
us.”

Mike Jaafar,
deputy chief of the Wayne County Sherriff’s office, who was in charge of
security at the festival, also scolded the ACLU for not accounting for the 300
Christians who enjoyed the event and for discrediting law enforcement’s
competency to protect the festival-goers.

“We did a
phenomenal job,” Jaafar said. “Unfortunately, [the ACLU] looked at one side.”

The festival, a 15-year annual tradition, was
cancelled after the controversy.