A Michigan mayor ordered increased police patrols in the city over the weekend after an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal labeled the city as "America's Jihad Capital," USA Today reports. After the opinion piece was published Friday, Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said police would ramp up their presence "effective immediately" in places of worship and major infrastructure points. Hammoud, the city's first Muslim and Arab American mayor, alerted the community to the opinion piece on X. Hammoud cautioned residents to be vigilant and said the decision was a result of the opinion piece that has "led to an alarming increase in bigoted and Islamophobic rhetoric online targeting" the city.
"This is more than irresponsible journalism. Publishing such inflammatory writing puts Dearborn residents at increased risk for harm," Hammoud said. Hate crimes across the U.S. reached record levels in 2023, according topreliminary data from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University. At least 2,184 hate crimes were reported in major U.S. cities last year, which included the surge of anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim incidents amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.