DEARBORN — The evangelical Christian group that protested against Muslims at the Arab American Festival in 2012, chanting Muslims “burn in hell” while holding a pig’s head on a pole, won the free speech case on Monday. 

The U.S. Supreme Court stayed quiet, unwilling to hear the case, which means the 6th U.S. Court of Appeals’ ruling still stands in favor of the protestors as it had formerly ruled that the protestors were protected by the Constitution.

“The First Amendment … envelops all manner of speech, even when that speech is loathsome in its intolerance, designed to cause offense and, as a result of such offense, arouses violent retaliation,” The Court of Appeals ruled.

The group sued Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon and two deputies, who evicted some of the members, who were shelled with rocks, eggs and water bottles. The protestors claimed the deputies failed to protect them and wanted to suppress their freedom of speech. 

However, the courts ruled in favor of the sheriff’s deputies twice, deciding they had the right to eject the demonstrators. The determining factor was the heckler’s veto, where the police has the right to silence a crowd and prevent impending violence. 

In August 2014, the court agreed to hear the appeal and used a 2-1 decision by a three-judge panel that concluded deputies didn’t suppress the evangelists’ freedom of speech.

The incident led to the demise of the
festival.