Stone-throwing Muslims bloody Christians in Michigan

A ‘heckler’s veto’ to free speech.

The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit has decided to review a First Amendment complaint brought by Christians who were assaulted by a rock-throwing Muslim mob at an Arab festival in Dearborn, Michigan.

The case arose from the annual Arab International Festival in June 2012 when Wayne County sheriff’s deputies stood by while a Muslim mob threw rocks at Christians, bloodying them.

The officers then threatened the Christians with arrest if they didn’t leave the event.

The Christians brought a lawsuit against Wayne County over its officers’ actions, and a three-judge panel dismissed it.

But a majority of 6th Circuit judges has agreed to re-hear the case.

The case, shepherded by the American Freedom Law Center, isn’t the first time that Muslim mob violence has erupted at the Arab festival. Earlier, a group of Christians was awarded more than $100,000 in damages because of attacks there.

In the latest case, Robert J. Muise, senior counsel for the AFLC, called the decision to re-hear “great news for religious freedom and the freedom of speech.”

“The panel’s [overturned] decision rewards violence over protected speech and thus incorporates into the First Amendment what is known as a ‘heckler’s veto.’ We are confident that the full court will reverse this ‘dangerously wrong’ decision,” he said.

The 6th Circuit’s rules note that granting such a re-hearing is rare.

“A petition for rehearing en banc is an extraordinary procedure intended to bring to the attention of the entire court a precedent-setting error of exceptional public importance.”

The dissent from the panel’s decision that earlier had dismissed the case said: “The majority’s first error is its conclusion that the First Amendment did not protect [the Christians’] speech. This is not only wrong, it is dangerously wrong.”

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