Citizen journalist Cam Higby confronted Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud directly after claiming police repeatedly failed to intervene while he and others were attacked during a chaotic demonstration. Higby told city officials that protesters pepper-sprayed him, damaged his phone, and stole money and recording equipment. He accused Hammoud of bearing responsibility for the police response.
Higby delivered the blistering remarks during a November 18th, 2025, meeting of the Dearborn City Council. He said he’d traveled from Seattle to document events in the Michigan city as a journalist rather than participate as a protester in the demonstrations taking place at the time. The meeting followed clashes between demonstrators and counter-protesters on Michigan Avenue.
“I’m a journalist. I’m not a protester. This is my badge,” Higby began. He said he was pepper-sprayed after asking protesters why they were “harassing and touching” another man who wanted to speak with them. “My phone was smashed. You can see the broken camera right there. They stole $50 out of my pocket, and they stole my microphone receiver,” he told the council.
Higby said he approached an officer identified by badge number 3668 but was told he would need to visit the police station to make a report. As seen in the video, Higby warned the officer that the alleged attacker would disappear before police could identify him. “He’s dressed head to toe in black bloc. I filmed the whole thing, but he had a mask on his face,” Higby recalled.
The journalist said the officer told him, “Sir, I can’t leave my post,” when asked to pursue the alleged assailant. Higby claimed he found that same officer in a parking lot on a personal phone call only five minutes later. He also accused other officers of standing by as multiple confrontations unfolded around them throughout the day, seemingly unwilling or unable to assist in preventing the violence.
Higby described seeing officers arrest someone at the demonstration on the side opposing the black-clad group without explaining the basis for the arrest. “I asked the officers, ‘Habeas corpus, please articulate probable cause for arresting this person.’ They refused to,” he said. Higby added that the officers also refused to provide their names and badge numbers despite his clearly displayed press identification.
Watch Higby confront the mayor here:
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The journalist also described a disturbing experience from the previous day while visiting a Dearborn mosque to hear the Islamic call to prayer. Higby claimed a drone followed him as he moved through the area and waited above the entrance of a gas station while he was inside. He further alleged that vehicles and individuals on foot followed him as he explored Michigan Avenue.
Higby then turned to the treatment of women under Islamic law before describing how he felt while reporting in Dearborn. “I think I shouldn’t feel like a dhimmi in my country,” he said, using a historical term for certain non-Muslim subjects living under Islamic rule. “It doesn’t feel like home. I feel like a dhimmi, a second-class citizen, which is what Christians are in the majority of Muslim countries.”
As his allotted time ran out, Higby aimed his final charge directly at Hammoud. He said the officers standing inside the room appeared prepared to enforce the law and blamed city leadership for what he said happened on the streets. “You’re the one giving the orders, Mr. Mayor. These guys definitely want to do something about them. They’re business. Look at them,” Higby said. “These guys are all business. Your orders. I’m done.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.