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Dearborn Arabs Call for Peace After Killing Near a Mosque
The Dearborn shooting death of a 23-year-old man near a mosque and Arab center has unnerved many in the city’s Arab-American community, prompting calls Thursday for peace.
Shots rang out near the Islamic Institute of Knowledge, a noted center for Muslims in east Dearborn, at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. At the time, Imam Husham Al-Husainy, head of the Karbalaa Islamic Education Center in Dearborn and a well-known youth leader, happened to be inside speaking.
The theme of his lecture was about youths staying away from violence, near the one-year anniversary of a 19-year-old’s stabbing death in Dearborn.
“And then you heard, ‘Boom, boom, boom,’ ” Al-Husainy told the Free Press on Wednesday, describing shots ringing out.
Al-Husainy said he and the crowd rushed out to see what happened.
“We saw somebody trying to run away, and some chased him,” Al-Husainy said. “I grabbed the guy until the police came.
“My clothes were full of blood.”
Dearborn police said they have a 35-year-old suspect in custody in the shooting of Hassan Mustafa Zeidan, 23, of Dearborn.
The incident caused shock and sadness in Dearborn’s Arab-American communitybecause the shooting took place next to three prominent institutions: the Islamic Institute, Riverside Academy and the main office of Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services.
ACCESS, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Lebanese-American Heritage Club sent out statements Wednesday condemning the slaying.
“It is time that the Dearborn community realizes that there are pertinent issues we must address,” said Suehaila Amen, first vice president of the Lebanese club.
“We can’t afford this great loss,” Al-Husainy said. “This happened near a worshipping place, a school and a social service agency. We need to do a better job.”
Niraj Warikoo
Detroit Free Press