Mich. mosques warned to tighten security

• Tweet

DETROIT, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Leaders of a national Muslim civil rights group have warned mosques in Michigan to beef up security in light of a Christian prayer summit next week.

Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Michigan,believes a Christian prayer summit, "The Call," at Ford Field Tuesday will promote anti-Muslim sentiments, The Detroit News reported.

"There's a bigger force or movement behind this prayer summit and how they're literally demonizing Muslims," he said.

Metro Detroit pastors involved in the event insist the gathering is meant to help Detroit, not attack Muslims.

"I don't know anything about that," said Bishop Edgar Vann of Second Ebenezer Church. "People are coming here to pray for our city and that's what I'm concerned about. Christians will be praying, but it's open to anyone."

The Call is a 24-hour prayer event aimed toward lifting Detroit out of its "greatest darkness," the event's Web site says. Worshipers will "gather to this city that has become a microcosm of our national crisis -- economic collapse, racial tension, the rising tide of the Islamic movement and the shedding of innocent blood of our children in the streets and our unborn."

Walid is advising local mosques to "maintain security at all entrances and make sure to notify the police immediately if suspicious persons congregate on mosque property."