A Michigan police department sparked widespread outrage after recently unveiling — and then quickly deleting — a proposed new uniform patch for cops that was written in Arabic.
The Dearborn Heights Police Department ignited a firestorm when it blasted out a mock-up photo of the newly-designed patch on its social media pages last week — spelling out its name in both Arabic and English.
The image, which featured the department’s logo, quickly went viral on social media as furious critics claimed that Sharia law was coming to the Great Lake State.
“They said their goal was to bring Sharia law to America. You should’ve believed them. Pray for Michigan,” Republican Congressman Randy Fine posted on X.
“Muslims have invaded America and now they are taking over. They must be stopped,” right-wing media personality Laura Loomer raged.
“Muslims are now a majority in Michigan’s Dearborn Heights (named after a Revolutionary War general). Now, local police have rolled out the country’s first-ever police badge with Arabic script. When you get conquered, you get a new language,” conservative personality Charlie Kirk chimed in.
The post unveiling the optional patch, which the department initially said was designed by an officer as a way to “celebrate the rich cultures that make our city unique,” was swiftly deleted as the fury mounted.
Mayor Bill Bazzi has since insisted the police department jumped the gun — claiming the photo was just a prototype and should never have been made public in the first place.
“The design mock-up idea showed the words ‘Dearborn Heights Police’ in Arabic and was said to be optional. The patch effort was an internal discussion among some within the police department which was not put forth for consensus or further review,” Bazzi said.
“At this time, this patch addition remains an idea and should NOT have been presented as an official prototype.”
Dearborn Heights, a neighborhood just east of Detroit, has a Middle Eastern or North African population of 39%, the latest Census shows.
In neighboring Dearborn, home to the Islamic Center of America — the largest mosque in the US, the population is roughly 55%.
Dearborn was controversially dubbed the “Jihad Capital” of the United States in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal last year.
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