A Muslim civil rights organization reached a settlement in a federal discrimination lawsuit filed against the city of Detroit following the arrest of three Muslim men in 2020, the group announced Tuesday.
The Michigan chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-MI) filed the lawsuit in 2021, alleging three Muslims were falsely arrested by two officers who were caught on body camera footage making Islamophobic statements
Before the arrest, one of the officers said, “Muslims lie a lot,” and “Muslim men are pedophiles,” according to the suit.
One of the Muslim men had called 911 and reported that a woman was having a mental health crisis and had become violent. But when police arrived, the officers arrested the three men without probable cause and jailed them for three days.
No charges were ever filed against the men.
“CAIR-MI is happy to announce that it has reached a full and satisfactory settlement with the City of Detroit for the wrongful arrest of these Muslim men that includes monetary compensation,” CAIR-MI’s executive director Dawud Walid said in a statement. “With this settlement, we hope that the City of Detroit will take the necessary steps and provide the appropriate training to its officers to ensure that no one is ever again arrested based on stereotypes surrounding their faith.”
Details of the settlement weren’t released.
“When citizens of Detroit are in distress and call 911, they should be able to do so without fear that they will be profiled and wrongfully arrested based on the bigotry of a responding officer who took an oath to protect and serve the whole community regardless of faith,” CAIR-MI staff attorney Amy V. Doukoure said. “Biased policing does not make any community safer, but instead sows the seeds of mistrust between the police and the community that they serve.”
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