Far-Right Protesters Converge On Dearborn
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(Source: MIRS.news, Published 08/18/2026) (DEARBORN) - Nearly 2,000 demonstrators, counter-protesters and spectators descended on a Dearborn City Council meeting Tuesday as an anti-Islamic march organized by far-right activists drew white supremacists and Christian nationalists — and condemnation from Michigan political leaders.
The atmosphere was nearly carnival-like, save for the bigoted and Islamophobic rhetoric being screamed at passersby, and the heated conversations that led to at least four people being led away in handcuffs as far-right agitator Jake Lang returned to Dearborn with Jayden Scott.
“We’re expecting a peaceful demonstration. We have law enforcement resources from our agency, and we partnered with state, local, and federal law enforcement agencies, as well to ensure the safety of everyone here,” said Dearborn Police Department Cpl. Dan Bartok.
Bartok said the city was expecting a large crowd and, because of that, changed the venue of the city council meeting from city hall to the Henry Ford Centennial Library, where the crowd started to gather. By about 4:30 p.m., 150 demonstrators and counter-protesters were milling around outside.
Bartok said the messaging coming from the police and from the city officials about the protest has been consistent and all hitting the same tone.
“A lot of the messaging on social media is misconstrued, and we are encouraging people to see and experience the city of Dearborn for themselves, and how great this city is. We are a diverse community. We have many entertainment venues, restaurants, shops. We are a diverse population, and we’re a typical American city. We’re not what is being portrayed,” he said.
What is being portrayed by the people following Lang is that the Michigan city is under attack from Muslims. Joining Lang in that effort is Lorenzo Sewell, who talked with MIRS before he gave his public comment to the City Council.
Sewell claimed that what was going on in Dearborn was akin to South African apartheid. He made claims that elections are being stolen by people voting illegally, and that the United States is a Christian nation and Muslims should live in an Islamic country.
“This is what happens in the demonic Democratic Party. They’re using poor Black people, and they’re using Arabs to oppress those poor Black people by not allowing our elected officials to do their job. What’s their job? To make sure that resources are regulated rightly, and that’s not happening,” Sewell said.
Sewell said he was working with the Mike Rogers campaign as a matter of faith.
“We pray for Mike. We love Mike. He’s a Republican in the Senate.”
He said they are making sure “they don’t cheat.”
“I wouldn’t be here if we had our own businesses, if we had our gas stations, our grocery stores. I wouldn’t be here if we had those things, but we don’t have that, and that’s the biggest problem,” he said.
He said he has no official role in the Rogers campaign.
“He has been on a faith thing,” he said.
Hundreds gathered in front of the Dearborn Public Library prior to the Dearborn City Council meeting Aug. 18, 2026 (Picture by MIRS News).
Rogers didn’t issue a statement Tuesday regarding the Dearborn protest.
State Rep. Alabas Farhat (D-Dearborn) also attended the city council meeting and talked with MIRS before he gave public comment.
Farhat said it was a shame that Lang was allowed to continue to roam free after breaking the law multiple times. Lang was one of the people pardoned by Donald Trump for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot in Washington D.C.
“This type of behavior is only endangering the lives of my residents, my constituents here, and not only in Dearborn, but across the state. Hate knows no boundaries, and so when he comes here preaching replacement ideology and this us-verses-them rhetoric, it fans the flames against everybody,” Farhat said.
He said they are political agitators and are pushing the Republican agenda.
“They pronounce it proudly because they know that the Republican Party has no pathway to win. They have no solution for affordability. They have no agenda to campaign on. All they can campaign on is hate and bigotry,” he said.
He said he was looking for Rogers, U.S. Rep. John James (R-Shelby Township) and Jim Runestad (R-White Lake) to call out the behavior, but hasn’t seen it.
State Rep. James DeSana (R-Carleton) was one Republican to call out the behavior and held a press conference about two miles from the demonstration site with local business leaders and local politicians who also condemned the hateful rhetoric happening at the city council meeting.
DeSana rejected portrayals of Dearborn's Muslim community as somehow outside the American mainstream, saying the “vast majority of that community are good, upstanding Americans . . .”
He disagreed with the painting of the “good, upstanding Americans” as lawbreakers when the "vast majority of that community are good, upstanding Americans that are here with us and have been with us for over 100 years. To me, nothing has changed today,” he said.
He said he could only speak for himself, but said many of his Republican colleagues felt the same way and none of them believe that Dearborn is an issue that needs a spotlight.
He echoed Bartok in calling Dearborn a great city.
“I’m Catholic. I’m sure that back 100 years ago, people feared Catholics for whatever reason that ‘we were going to take over’ and we didn’t. We came here, we assimilated, and we’re Americans first,” he said.
DeSana said he grew up in Wyandotte and is the closest Republican to Dearborn. He sells lamb meat to people in Dearborn and is friends with many of the people in the community.
When presented with a Ku Klux Klan business card found in the parking lot where the demonstration was taking place, DeSana said, as a Catholic, the Klan didn’t appreciate them either.
“A lot of people out there reject the hatred and rhetoric that a hate group like that would place upon a community when these are law-abiding people who just want to live. They just want to live. Somebody that would come and say we don’t think you have the right to be here. We don’t think you have the right to even live. We have to stand together against them,” DeSana said.
Many other Michigan politicians stood with Farhat and DeSana in opposing the rhetoric thrown around during the Lang march.
Jocelyn Benson said the out-of-state agitators couldn’t change the pride and patriotic nature of Michiganders across the state.
Dearborn police and Michigan State Police bar the entrance to the Dearborn Public Library as the Dearborn City Council meeting was in progress, and the auditorium was at capacity (Picture by MIRS News).
“I call on leaders across our state — regardless of party — to condemn these agitators. Michigan is stronger when we see each other, stand up for each other, and recognize that we are all in this together. Hate will not win in our state. Division will not flourish.”
Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel said there was no place for the extremism and Islamophobia that was put forward by Lang and the far-right agitators. He said the protests would make Michigan and Dearborn stronger by uniting people against the rhetoric.
“Hate and fear are the go-to weapons of the far-right. They have no policies or plans to help people, so they rely on hate and fear to divide us up,” Hertel said.
U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit) echoed many of the politicians in calling Dearborn a beautiful and diverse place. She said more leaders needed to speak out against the instigators, “especially against the local instigators participating in the spread of hatred under the guise of faith.” She said people of all faiths belonged and deserved a place to worship.
“To all our Dearborn families and residents: I have your back. I wish I could take away this pain, but know that you are not alone. To our interfaith community that’s standing in solidarity with their Muslim neighbors: thank you for speaking out against this hatred. We need more of this love and compassion," she said.
U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) said Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud and the Dearborn police were showing leadership by their actions. She said Lang was only there to provoke a reaction.
“The most powerful thing this community can do is not give them an audience. Don't give them the satisfaction,” Slotkin said.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also weighed in and said the sole purpose of the protesters was to intimidate the people in the community into some type of reaction and said she stands united against the hate.
“Their plan emboldens and contributes to dangerous behavior, and I am asking every person of good will to denounce it. Their hate has no place in Michigan,” Whitmer said.
