Margot Cleveland, a senior legal correspondent at The Federalist, filed a lawsuit against Dearborn, Michigan, and its mayor Abdullah Hammoud, alleging religious discrimination. Cleveland claims the city decorated for Ramadan but ignored her requests to include decorations for Passover and Easter. She argues that this makes Dearborn a hostile place for Christians and Jews. In response, city officials denied the accusations, asserting their commitment to serving all residents equitably.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-09,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The model judged this article politically coded and scored it -0.35, but every quote it verified points right, so the score is not published.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score withheld for article 67227: score contradicts its own evidence · logged 2026-10-09
A city in Michigan was accused of only decorating for Ramadan and creating a 'hostile place for Christians and Jews' in a lawsuit.
asserted
city → accuse → lawsuit
Dearborn and its mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, were named in the suit filed by Margot Cleveland, a senior legal correspondent at the Federalist.
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Dearborn → name → Federalist
Cleveland claimed that the city decorated its streets with crescent moons for the Islamic holiday while ignoring her request to showcase Christian or Jewish symbols as well.
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city → claim → symbols
'I was picking up pizza in downtown Dearborn.
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I → pick → Dearborn
When I went down the boulevard, up and down the street were Ramadan Kareem banners, which is the equivalent of a happy or blessed Ramadan,' Cleveland told Fox News Digital.
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Cleveland → go → Digital
We had Easter coming up in two weeks, and Passover was a week away.
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Passover → have → weeks
I was shocked, and then I saw the display all by itself — again, the crescent moon,' she said.
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she → see → itself
Cleveland added that Dearborn is a 'hostile place for Christians and Jews.'
Shortly after her lawsuit was filed, the city denied her accusations, claiming it has a 'longstanding commitment to serving all residents fairly and equitably, regardless of faith or background.'
'Dearborn will continue to uphold the rights and dignity of every resident and remain a city where everyone is treated with fairness, respect, and equal protection under the law,' said officials.
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officials → add → law
The city of Dearborn, Michigan and its mayor, Abdullah Hammoud, were named in a lawsuit after allegedly ignoring requests to display decorations for other holidays besides Ramadan (The mayor pictured speaking during a rally in 2020)
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mayor → name → 2020
Margot Cleveland, a senior legal correspondent at The Federalist, claimed she tried reaching out to city officials several times to have iconography of Christian and Jewish holidays also be shown but was left in the dark (Cleveland is seen speaking during a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights hearing in March)
According to the 2020 US Census, approximately 54.5 percent of Dearborn's population identified as having Middle Eastern or North African ancestry.
uncertain
percent → claim → ancestry
Cleveland said she was repeatedly ignored by the city while inquiring whether other religions would have representation for their respective holidays.
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religions → say → holidays
'I reached out to city council, every individual, both their public email and a secondary one.
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I → reach → council
Received no response,' she told Fox.
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she → receive → Fox
'But on LinkedIn, one of the council members responded and said, "Hey, we were told we can't talk to you."
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we → respond → you
After she was allegedly left in the dark, she decided to go to a city council meeting to suggest in person to officials that part of the budget be spent on holidays other than Ramadan.
uncertain
part → leave → Ramadan
'I have not asked the city not to celebrate Ramadan,' she said.
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she → ask → Ramadan
'What I've asked is that the city treat Christians and Jews equally.'
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city → ask → Christians
And throw in some patriotic symbols to show we are one Dearborn, one country where all faiths are represented equally.
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faiths → throw → symbols
That has not been done,' she added.
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she → do → ?
Cleveland told Fox News that Dearborn is a 'hostile place for Christians and Jews.'
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Dearborn → tell → Christians
Pictured is an Easter display in front of a church in Massachusetts
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display → picture → Massachusetts
According to the 2020 US Census, approximately 54.5 percent of Dearborn's population identified as having Middle Eastern or North African ancestry.
uncertain
percent → accord → ancestry
Cleveland claimed that following her request, the Dearborn officials went bigger and brighter with Ramadan decor, installing lighted displays (Deaborn, Michigan, pictured)
Cleveland claimed that following her request, the city went bigger and brighter with Ramadan decor, installing lighted displays.
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city → claim → displays
She also claimed that after reviewing records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, she discovered that the police department was selling merchandise featuring Islamic iconography.
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department → claim → iconography
'The police department was selling — with the police department's seal — Ramadan T-shirts.
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department → sell → shirts
It had the police department seal and a crescent moon, and I believe it said Ramadan,' Cleveland said.
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Cleveland → have → Ramadan
She told the outlet that the residents of Dearborn all get along well and that she only takes issue with the city and the mayor for not equally representing all religions.
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she → tell → religions
The Daily Mail has reached out to the City of Dearborn and Mayor Abdullah Hammoud for comment.
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Mail → reach → comment
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