The mayor of Michigan’s town, often referred to as America’s Muslim capital, is reconsidering his stance after controversy arose over a newly introduced Arabic-language police badge.

This past Wednesday, the city, where the latest Census indicates about 39 percent of residents are of Middle Eastern or North African descent, unveiled what was meant to be an ‘optional’ badge featuring Arabic script for police officers.

The decision angered many, including GOP Congressman Randy Fine, who called it an example of ‘Sharia Law’ coming to Michigan. 

Just two days later, Mayor Bill Bazzi—originally from Lebanon and a supporter of Donald Trump for the 2024 election—along with local law enforcement, retracted the badge, stating it was never intended as an official insignia.

According to a Facebook post by the Dearborn Heights Police, on September 3rd, information circulated depicting a digital concept of a DHPD patch with the department’s name in Arabic script.

The concept displayed ‘Dearborn Heights Police’ in Arabic, labeled as optional, and reportedly, it was part of an internal discussion within the police department without wider approval or review.

A statement from Bazzi emphasized that if such initiatives to alter the police uniform were to be officially pursued, they aim to involve numerous police department stakeholders in broader discussions to ensure comprehensive input. Since each officer’s uniform represents the entire DHPD, it deserves thorough consideration and feedback from everyone involved.

The police department continued: ‘At this time, this patch addition remains an idea and should NOT have been presented as an official prototype.’

Dearborn Heights – as well as the neighboring city of Dearborn – have some of the highest populations of Muslims in the United States.

Dearborn was dubbed the U.S. ‘Jihad Capital’ by The Wall Street Journal and made headlines last year when protesters at a pro-Palestine rally chanted ‘death to America.’

Donald Trump won Michigan in the 2024 election after attending a campaign event with Dearborn Heights Mayor Bazzi and local Imam Belal Alzuhairi in October.

‘We, as Muslims, stand with President Trump because he promises peace, not war,’ Alzuhairi told the crowd of a few thousand, who cheered loudly. 

‘The bloodshed has to stop all over the world. And I think this man can make that happen. I personally believe that God saved his life twice for a reason.’ 

Many voters in Dearborn refused to vote in the primaries because residents are fiercely divided over the war in Gaza.

However, some later came to have second thoughts when the war continued into Trump’s first year back in office. 

‘When he came to Dearborn, to the community, he said that he would strive for peace and justice for the whole region,’ said Ibrahima Duhaini, a man who supported Trump.

After the president started discussing his ‘Trump Gaza’ redevelopment plan, Duhaini began to have regrets.  

‘He didn’t say anything like that before,’ he told NPR.   

Trump has promoted a controversial vision for what his ‘Riviera of the Middle East’ plan for the Gaza Strip could look like when the war between Israel and Hamas has ended.

The President laid out an extraordinary plan at a press conference with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this month, stating: ‘The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too.’

Trump’s proposal was met with global criticism by both lawmakers and analysts who fear the plan would forcibly displace Gaza’s population of two million, while US critics wondered if the President’s vision would plunge the nation into the potentially bloody role of occupying power.