1 Arrested In Threat Toward Palestinian Americans In Dearborn: Police

DEARBORN, MI — A Farmington Hills resident was arrested Thursday in connection with a threat toward Palestinian Americans in Dearborn, police said.

Police said on Wednesday officers found a credible threat made on social media proposing acts of violence against Palestinian-American residents in Dearborn.

After receiving a copy of the post from an anonymous tipster, officials immediately began investigating, eventually arresting the suspect at their residence in Farmington Hills on the probable cause of using a computer or electronic device to commit a crime, police said.

No further details on the suspect or the social media post were released by police. Patch reached out to police for more information and will update this story when we hear back.

"As a city and a department, the safety and wellbeing of Dearborn residents, employees, and visitors is our top priority," Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin said. "For this reason, as an added security measure, we increased our police presence at all places of worship and schools in Dearborn earlier this week."

Shahin said police are not aware of any additional credible threats. He also said the department is in constant contact with other law enforcement partners at the federal, state, and local level and continues to monitor social media.

"For over a century, Metro Detroit has been home to a strong interfaith tapestry formed by decades of fellowship among neighbors of Jewish, Islamic, Christian, and other faiths," Dearborn Mayor Abdullah H. Hammoud said. "We will not allow the disheartening actions of one individual to break the bonds of our longstanding relationships with one another."

The arrest comes as tensions in the Middle-East grow after a Saturday attack by Hamas killed more than 1,300 people in Israel, followed by Israeli bombardments that have killed more than 1,530 people in Gaza, according to the Associated Press.

On Tuesday, more than 1,200 Arab Americans packed themselves into a Dearborn auditorium to show support for Palestinians, while a night earlier, roughly 2,500 Jewish people packed a historic synagogue in Southfield to show their support for Israel.