Community Corner

Report Reveals Dearborn Paid $300,000 in Settlement with Missionaries

The city agreed to issue an apology to Acts 17 Apologetics to settle a lawsuit stemming from a 2010 incident.

The city of Dearborn paid $300,000 to a group of Christian missionaries arrested in 2010 at the Arab International Festival, the Detroit Free Press reports.

According to the Free Press, the settlement is part of an apology the city agreed to honor with four members of a group called Acts 17 Apologetics. The Christian missionaries said their rights were violated when they were arrested at the Arab International Festival.

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 said they were unfairly arrested by police on June 18, 2010, and charged with “breach of the peace” for attending the festival.

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The men were later aquitted of all charges.

Under the terms of the settlement, the city must post an apology on its website for three years.

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According to the posted apology, the city states that it "regrets and apologizes for the decisions to arrest and prosecute" the missionaries.

"The decision to arrest these individuals was based in part on information provided to the Dearborn police by Arab Festival attendees, workers, and volunteers," the city states.

"Through this apology ... the city seeks to build a bridge and to confirm to the community that members of all faiths are welcome in Dearborn to peacefully share their views and to engage in religious discussions," the city wrote.

Officials previously said that because both parties agreed to a nondisclosure clause in the settlement, the amount of money that the missionaries received would not be released to the public.

A Freedom of Information Act request for the settlement amount was granted to the Free Press and the Dearborn Press & Guide this week.

Organizers for the Arab International Festival announced in May that the festival will be cancelled for 2013, with plans to evaluate its future moving forward.


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