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Muslim Dearborn mayor weighs in on residents’ complaints about mosque’s call to prayer

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Muslim Dearborn mayor weighs in on residents’ complaints about mosque’s call to prayer

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Dearborn, Michigan, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud responded to noise complaints about a mosque’s call to prayer, saying it’s “not an issue.”

Hammoud discussed the concern on the Nov. 3 episode of the “Not From Here” podcast. Local Dearborn citizens have complained in recent months that a nearby mosque has been broadcasting the call to prayer on loudspeakers multiple times a day, beginning as early as 5:30 a.m.

Though residents raised concerns during a September city council meeting, Hammoud insisted that the call to prayer under a certain decibel level is allowed under city ordinances and has been part of Dearborn life for decades.

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Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud dismissed complaints against a local mosque’s call to prayer. (City of Dearborn screenshot)

“I would tell you is, you know, those complaining about the call to prayer, I mean it’s a very, very few, you still want to respect the wishes and, if you have a serious concern, I have to uphold the law across all boards,” Hammoud said. “But we’ve done decibel readings at these mosques, all within threshold, all within legal limit. And so for me, it’s not an issue.”

He continued, “We also have to uphold our constitutional rights to freedom of religion. And I would say this, you know, that’s the thing. I’m saying this as a Muslim. People, of course, are going to say this is a call to prayer, but like, you know, why are these complaints just coming forward now?”

“Yeah, elections are coming up,” host Jaafar Issa remarked.

DEARBORN MAYOR REFUSES TO APOLOGIZE FOR TELLING CHRISTIAN MINISTER HE WAS ‘NOT WELCOME HERE’

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Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said the mosque’s call to prayer did not violate city ordnance on noise levels. (Charly Triballeau/Getty Images)

Hammoud didn’t directly respond to that comment but shrugged and repeated, “Call to prayer has been happening since the 1970s in Dearborn.”

The city ordinance states that noise in residential areas cannot exceed 55 decibels at night (after 10 p.m.) or 60 decibels during the day (7 a.m. to 10 p.m.). Loudspeakers are prohibited between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

Hammoud also said that most mosques in the city do not make a call to prayer at “Fajr” or dawn and compared the sound to church bells.

Fox News Digital reached out to the mayor’s office for comment.

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DEARBORN HEIGHTS POLICE DEPARTMENT TROTS OUT ‘OPTIONAL PATCH’ FEATURING ARABIC AND ENGLISH TEXT

Dearborn, Michigan resident Andrea Unger started a petition to pressure the city council to enforce a noise ordinance after two years of a local mosque broadcasting its calls to prayer over a loudspeaker. (Dearborn City Council via YouTube Screenshot)

Dearborn resident Andrea Unger, who has lived in the city for 40 years, told Fox News Digital last month that she had recorded the call to prayer for 30 consecutive days and found it consistently exceeded 70 decibels. She said she raised concerns with the police department and city council for the past two years, but the problem continued.

She added that some of her neighbors were hesitant to speak out, fearing they would be labeled anti-Muslim.

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“I have heard a lot of people say, ‘I’m glad you said something,’ because people are afraid they’ll get called names like ‘Islamophobic,’ like our mayor [Abdullah H. Hammoud] called [Dearborn resident and Christian minister] Ted Barham, because you disagree,” she said. “We’re not Islamophobic, we’re not anti-Muslim, we are not anti-Jewish. We just want to live in the community that it’s always been [before] something changed two years ago to allow this.”

Fox News’ Kristine Parks contributed to this report.

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Michigan

Over 40,000 without power after storms push through West Michigan

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Over 40,000 without power after storms push through West Michigan


Over 40,000 Consumers Energy customers are currently without power after strong storms pushed through West Michigan on Tuesday.

The outages, according to a map provided by Consumers Energy, are peppered from as far east as the Lake Michigan shoreline and over to Gratiot County.

This comes as storms producing strong winds, along with severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings, push through the area.

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News Channel 3 is tracking these storms and will provide updates.



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Minnesota

Jarren Duran directs obscene gesture toward fan at Minnesota and says fan told him to kill himself

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Jarren Duran directs obscene gesture toward fan at Minnesota and says fan told him to kill himself


MINNEAPOLIS — Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran directed an obscene gesture toward a fan at Target Field as he returned to the dugout after a fifth-inning groundout in Boston’s 6-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

Duran, who has spoken about his past struggles with mental health, said a fan made a personal comment that crossed the line.

“Somebody just told me to kill myself,” Duran said. “I’m used to it at this point, you know? I mean, (expletive) happens. I mean, I’m gonna flip somebody off if they say something to me, but it is what it is. I shouldn’t react like that, but that kind of stuff is still kind of triggering.”

Duran discussed bouts with severe depression and a suicide attempt in a Netflix series that debuted last year.

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“Honestly, it’s my fault for talking about my mental health because I kind of brought in the haters. So I’ve just got to get used to it,” Duran said. “I was just trying to hold it in and not really bring that up to the team. I mean, we’re trying to win a game. I shouldn’t even bring that up to anybody. … It just happens.”

Boston manager Alex Cora said he didn’t witness the incident and hadn’t reviewed video of it.



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Missouri

Missouri immigration enforcement triples; St. Louis families affected

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Missouri immigration enforcement triples; St. Louis families affected


ST. LOUIS – Missouri is experiencing one of the sharpest increases in immigration enforcement in the country, with activity nearly tripling compared to the end of the Biden administration.

More than 3,200 people have been taken into custody across the state since January 2025, according to new data from the Deportation Data Project.

Arrests in Missouri are approximately 2.7 times higher than they were just a year ago, leading local advocates in St. Louis to report that the impact is significantly affecting families.

Hundreds of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainees are held in facilities statewide on any given day.

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Jessica Mayo, co-director and attorney for the M.I.C.A. Project, highlighted the widespread consequences of this intensified enforcement.

“Even though we don’t see ice on the streets, the way they were in Minneapolis or Chicago or LA. That same destruction of families is happening here and it is really impacting our neighbors, the people we go to school with, the people we work with,” Mayo said. “And we all need to stand up and let our government know that we don’t support that and to support the immigrants, uh, in our community to make it a more welcoming place.”

Local advocates in St. Louis are observing this impact directly. The ASHREI Foundation reports receiving nearly 6,000 hotline calls and has provided support for more than 650 families, many of whom are dealing with detained loved ones.

Mayo stated that local police departments are a significant source of these detentions. “More than 80% of the people that we see through the St. Louis rapid response hotline are being turned over to ice by local Police Department,” Mayo said. She added that this occurs even with departments that do not have 287(g) agreements.

She further explained various ways people are encountering ICE. “We see many municipalities cooperating with ice and calling them even when it’s just someone who’s been driving without a license,” Mayo said. She also noted that routine check-ins with immigration officials, which individuals have often attended for years to update their status, are now frequently leading to detention.

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Federal officials with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security maintain that these enforcement efforts are focused on public safety, highlighting recent arrests of violent offenders and expanded operations. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also points to initiatives like its VOICE office, which supports victims of crimes tied to immigration. However, advocates argue and data shows, that about 20% of those arrested in Missouri by ICE have no criminal charges or convictions. More than 60 local agencies are working with ICE statewide.

For individuals or families affected by detention, the St. Louis Rapid Response Hotline is available daily at (314) 370-7080. The hotline helps families locate loved ones and understand their legal options.

All facts in this report were gathered by journalists employed by KTVI. Artificial intelligence tools were used to reformat information into a news article for our website. This report was edited and fact-checked by KTVI staff before being published.



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