Just two days after a violent Jan. 6 defendant marched into Dearborn with a bulletproof vest to taunt Muslims by yelling racial slurs and slapping a Quran with a bag of bacon, a top Trump administration official is now suggesting the U. S. Department of Justice may investigate the people he provoked. Shortly before midnight Thursday, Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, responded to a tweet by Jake Lang, the convicted rioter who assaulted police at the U. S. Capitol and called Muslims in Dearborn the n-word, “chimps,” “pedophiles,” and “invaders.” He’s an avowed racist, and at a Dearborn City Council meeting after the march, Lang told Muslims to “get the fuck out,” saying, “You will never look like us. You will never eat like us. You won’t build buildings like us. You are nothing.” Dhillon, a loyal Trump supporter who has a history of defending far-right provocateurs and peddling conspiracy theories, encouraged Lang in a tweet to “reach out to us please with the information needed to start an investigation.” Dhillon was responding to a nine-minute video that Lang posted of conservative culture-war pundit Matt Walsh selectively highlighting brief moments when counter-protesters reacted to hours of racial slurs, taunting, and harassment. Walsh, a Daily Wire commentator known for targeting LGBTQ+ people, attacking Muslims, and mobilizing his followers against marginalized communities, called Lang a victim of “violent Muslims,” omitting that Lang spent the day calling people the n-word, mocking them with monkey noises, waving bacon in their faces, and threatening to burn the Quran. Lang’s tweet racked up more than 360, 000 views in 16 hours, fueling islamophobic outrage from X users who only saw the carefully clipped moments designed to make Muslims look like out-of-control, intolerant aggressors. By replying, Dhillon poured gas on a manufactured fire and could put Dearborn in the crosshairs of the Trump administration. Her response quickly drew a wide range of reactions, including from Trump supporters who warned she was being duped. “Don’t fall for this. Lang is a provocateur who went looking for trouble. Did you see the video of him yelling the N word at people?” one outspoken MAGA supporter from Detroit wrote. Another user asked, “Defending instigators trying to spark a holy war. Why?” Others cheered Dhillon on and demanded immigration sweeps. “Make ICE set up shop in Dearborn,” one X user wrote. Some responses were openly racist toward Dhillon, with users insisting, “You won’t do crap, you hate White people” and “Not sure if a person named Harmeet is gonna protect the constitution but good luck.” Dhillon said nothing about Lang’s harassment, bigotry, or the multiple instances of ethnic intimidation he engaged in Tuesday as he marched through a diverse city in a bulletproof vest and antagonized residents. She said nothing about the slurs that Lang hurled at teenagers. Nothing about him calling non-white people the n-word. Nothing about him telling Muslims they were “chimping out,” making monkey noises at them, or calling them “violent, disgusting people.” Nor did she say anything about the fact that Lang is a Jan. 6 rioter who repeatedly assaulted police with a bat and riot shield, or that a federal judge found he “remains willing to engage in additional acts of violence.” Instead, the first instinct of Trump’s DOJ was to consider investigating the handful of Muslims and allies who responded physically, including one person who punched Lang and ran and another who pepper-sprayed him. Dhillon’s willingness to take cues from far-right influencers follows the Trump administration’s pattern of targeting Black and brown people while ignoring white supremacists, including those with violent records. On the first day of his second term on Jan. 20, Trump granted blanket clemency to nearly 1, 600 people charged or convicted in the Jan. 6 attack, including Lang, giving most full pardons and commuting the sentences of 14 Oath Keepers and Proud Boys. The group included more than 600 rioters convicted of assaulting or obstructing police and 170 who used deadly weapons. To be clear, Tuesday’s incident in Dearborn was not a spontaneous “clash,” as depicted by some local and national media. It was the culmination of Lang’s years-long attempt to portray Muslim Americans as violent, hateful, and intolerant of other religions. And it worked for many conservatives. His footage was spun by right-wing commentators to claim Dearborn was a “Muslim stronghold” attacking Christians. But as documented on hours of live streams, Lang and a small crew went to a peaceful city to manufacture chaos, terrorize residents, and film their reactions. Now the nation’s top law enforcement agency may be preparing to act on the propaganda. While Dhillon’s statement does not guarantee an investigation, her willingness to entertain Lang’s claims raises the risks that right-wingers will increasingly target and surveil Muslims in Dearborn and neighboring cities. Dearborn’s 106, 000 residents include Christians, Muslims, and non-religious people. About half the city’s residents aren’t Muslim. This isn’t just a political stunt executed by right-wing racists and agitators. If the Trump administration starts investigating communities targeted by white extremists, it sets a dangerous precedent that won’t stop with Dearborn or Muslims. Related Have something to share?.
https://www.metrotimes.com/news/trumps-doj-eyes-dearborns-muslims-not-the-racist-insurrectionist-who-terrorized-them/
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