Imams thank local police, county prosecutor for swift action on threats to Madison Heights mosque

Members of the Imams Council of Michigan gathered at the American Islamic Community Center in Madison Heights, which was the target of threats of death and violence on Sunday when the mosque received two voicemails with graphic and expletive-ridden threats against the Muslim community and the mosque itself. 

A suspect, arrested on Tuesday, was arraigned in Oakland County District Court on Thursday. Christopher Andrew Lord, 35, is charged with one count of false threat of terrorism and using a computer to commit a crime, according to Oakland County prosecutors, CBS reported. 

“We are grateful to the law enforcement for arresting the one who threatened this mosque on Sunday,” said Imam Sayed Al-Hussaini, the imam of the American Islamic Community Center, at a press conference on Thursday afternoon. “It’s not a threat against this mosque, and the building, but a threat to all people of faith, because we believe that all people, whether in the churches, in the synagogue, in the temple, in the mosque, should be safe.”

Imam Dawud Walid, a member of the Imams Council of Michigan and the executive director of Michigan’s chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in the press conference that he hopes Lord receives the maximum sentence that he could face, which he said would be 20 years in prison. 

“That sentencing just does not act as a sense of justice for those who have been threatened, it also acts as a deterrent, and unfortunately, in recent years, we’ve had several of our Islamic centers vandalized, as well as receiving death threats all throughout this area,” he continued.

Imam Steve Mustapha Elturk, co-chair of the Imams Council of Michigan, began the news conference by reading a statement from the council that thanked the Madison Heights Police Department for quickly arresting a suspect in the case, as well as Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, who emphasized during Thursday’s arraignment the importance of ensuring that the Islamic community has the right to worship without fear for their safety. 

Walid expressed his disappointment in Jewish and Christian faith leaders in the community for not immediately making statements in support of Michigan’s Muslim community in the wake of the threats. 

“We do believe also that there is a double standard, and that’s why we’re so thankful for Oakland County Prosecutor of being so diligent in this particular matter, because in other cases that we’ve had against our community, there wasn’t the same diligence and investigation that Madison Heights police, Oakland County prosecutor took in this case, and then again, we don’t see the condemnations from fellow children of Abraham,” he said. “There seems to be a double standard, both from the law enforcement side, but also from many of the religious leaders.”

Many speakers at the event emphasized the importance of solidarity between faith leaders in the case of any attacks on houses of worship or faith communities, such as the attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield in March, which CAIR-MI condemned quickly. 

Walid noted in response to a question that the head of the hate crimes unit in the Michigan Attorney General’s Office had reached out to both the community and the relevant organizations in the wake of the incident. However, he noted that despite meeting last week with Special Agent in Charge Jennifer Runyan of the FBI’s Detroit Field Office, no one from the FBI or U.S. Department of Justice had reached out regarding the threats to the center. 

U.S. Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) also posted on X on Thursday afternoon condemning the incident. 

“These threats against the American Islamic Community Center in Madison Heights are acts of anti-Muslim hate, and they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” she said. “I’m glad law enforcement moved fast here. But as we’ve seen repeatedly in Michigan, these events keep happening, and everyone must call them out when they see it.”