Mayor says death threat seemed real

Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib

By Charles Sercombe
Mayor Amer Ghalib says he is no stranger to death threats, but recently he received one that required the attention of the police department.
In a message he posted on his Facebook page, Ghalib said he has not taken past death threats “seriously,” but said a recent one “determined the time and place, and said he will implement his threat at the next session of the municipal council.”
That meeting was on Monday, but no incident happened.
City Manager Max Garbarino said it is believed the threat came from someone in Canada, but had no other details.
Ghalib is the city’s first Arab-American to serve as Hamtramck’s mayor and is also the city’s first Muslim to hold that position.
Local, national and international media outlets have reported on his election, as well as the fact of Hamtramck’s city councilmembers all being Muslim.
For most of Hamtramck’s 100-plus year history, it has been a Polish-American enclave. During the past several years, the city’s population has become majority Muslim, particularly from Bangladesh and Yemen, with a few Bosnians mixed in.
Ghalib said the threats will not deter him, and that he will seek re-election next year.
“I will continue to do my duties as mayor of this city, and to serve its people despite the bats of darkness and advocates of racism,” he said.

“I will run again next year, supported by the efforts and support of the community members in our city, and armed with integrity and loyalty and a vast and busy historical record of achievements and reforms, that have taken place in two years like never before!”

Ghalib and city councilmembers came under criticism last summer for banning the display of pride flags on public property, which drew backlash nationally.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is openly gay, called the city’s decision on pride flags a “national embarrassment.”

Posted Feb. 2, 2024