Sunday, December 13, 2015

Speaker at Dearborn anti-Trump rally resigned activist job under sex harrassment scandal cloud

There was a "rally against hate" in Dearborn, Michigan yesterday--but it was really an anti-Donald Trump protest. The suburb southwest of Detroit has a large Muslim population.

From the Detroit News:
Imad Hamad came not to condemn Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but to thank him for "unveiling the mask" that hid the hatred fellow Americans are capable of.

Hamad, executive director of the American Human Rights Council which helped sponsor a "rally against hate" Saturday at the Henry Ford Centennial Library, is dismayed that the more Trump disparages Muslims, the higher his poll numbers rise.

Trump's poll numbers grew after he said that Muslims should be banned from entering the United States, and that American Muslims who leave the country for travel shouldn't be allowed to return.

"Donald Trump is getting the fame when he should be getting the shame," Hamad said. "It should be completely the opposite."
So called "real-journalists" often criticize bloggers for just sitting at home and writing whatever they want without getting into the trenches. While I was not at the rally, I've been to Dearborn. On the other hand, a very quick Google search, which the writer of the Detroit News article, James David Dickson, could have done, reveals that Hamad, the former Michigan director of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, left that post under a cloud two years ago after being accused by at least 15 women of sexual harassment.

The Washington Free Beacon wrote at the time that an "ADC spokesperson has been fired and four female staffers resigned after reportedly criticizing how the organization handled the allegations" against Hamad.

One of the accusers was a future Michigan state representative who worked at the ADC in 2007. In a 2013 open letter she wrote:
Imam's sexual advances were very agressive. He made references to my breasts, played with my my hair when I was on the phone, and made sexual comments throughout the day. That is why I only worked for ADC for five months.
My friends, sometimes it's that easy to blog.

While Hamad professes innocence in regards to those allegations, it is he who deserves shame.

From my entry at Da Tech Guy:

Dearborn anti-terror march at best only a good first step

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