An all-Muslim Michigan city council that banned the flying of the “Pride” flag on public property last month voted on Tuesday to nix two city commissioners for violating that rule.

Russ Gordon, the chair of Hamtramck’s Human Relations Commission, and Catrina Stackpoole, a member of the committee, both raised the “Pride” flag on a city flagpole during an LGBT rally on Sunday, according to The Detroit News.

This reportedly upset the city’s mayor, Mohammed Hassan, who proceeded to demand the city “investigate and take legal action against” Gordon and Stackpoole:

Hamtramck’s mayor equates raising a Pride flag in protest of a city ordinance to vandalism and harassment. Likens supporters of LGBTQ people to a “militia” https://t.co/sYHNsZrl04 pic.twitter.com/QbTYzjVdDF

— Russ McNamara (@McNamaraWDET) July 13, 2023

Two days later, the all-Muslim Hamtramck City Council voted unanimously to oust both from their positions, city manager Max Garbarino confirmed to The Detroit News.

“The council passed a resolution on Tuesday night removing them for violating the previous flag resolution. The police department is [investigating] if any criminal laws were actually broken,” he said in a statement emailed Wednesday.

In a separate statement to Fox News, council member Khalil Refai defended the decision.

“This Council believes in fairness, neutrality towards our residents, and the rule of law, amongst other things for this community. We passed a resolution recently to do just that, and two of our sworn commissioners outright defied it, and did what they wanted,” he said.

“We were elected by the people of the community to make these decisions, and they not only violated the resolution but the trust of the whole community by doing this. For this reason, Council felt the appropriate response was to remove them from their public positions of trust,” he added.

Left-wing critics of the council were quick to pounce on the city council and defend Gordon and Stackpoole:

What’s next for Hamtramck, Sharia Law? This city is moving backwards.

— EeDiva (@EeDiva_) July 13, 2023

It’s called “civil disobedience” and it’s an honorable way to protest unjust government actions.

— Maia in Michigan ️‍ (@maiainmi) July 12, 2023

Imagine being this scared of a pride flag. I’m surprised they could even take it down with their hands shaking so badly.

— Cuddle Cryptid (@CuddleCryptid) July 13, 2023

They have now officially violated the constitutional rights of those 2 commissioners.

I hope those religious bigots are sued back to the Stone Age.

— Scott hancock (@Scottha46824743) July 13, 2023

It is unfortunate how the decision to ban the Pride flag among others on city property led to Russ Gordon and Catrina Stackpoole’s dismissal. Hope they can sue while Hamtramck’s primary is next month. Also 2,000 people have signed the @Change petition ️‍: https://t.co/85JFlin47K

— Richard Seeger (@Lion2Ya) July 13, 2023

Incidentally, all this comes roughly a month after the city council triggered massive disgruntlement on the left by banning the flying of the “Pride” flag on public property.

The vote came as a surprise to the left because many leftists had cheered blindly years earlier when Hamtramck’s city council had become all Muslim.

“In 2015, many liberal residents in Hamtramck, Michigan, celebrated as their city attracted international attention for becoming the first in the United States to elect a Muslim-majority city council. They viewed the power shift and diversity as a symbolic but meaningful rebuke of the Islamophobic rhetoric that was a central theme of then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign,” according to The Guardian.

But then the lovey-dovey feelings disappeared overnight when the council voted the ban into effect.

“This week many of those same residents watched in dismay as a now fully Muslim and socially conservative city council passed legislation banning Pride flags from being flown on city property that had – like many others being flown around the country – been intended to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community,” The Guardian reported last month.

“Muslim residents packing city hall erupted in cheers after the council’s unanimous vote, and on Hamtramck’s social media pages, the taunting has been relentless: ‘Fagless City’, read one post, emphasized with emojis of a bicep flexing,” according to the paper.

Leftists feel ‘sense of betrayal’ after majority Muslim MI city bans ‘Pride’ flags https://t.co/ZZG4zpBro7 pic.twitter.com/yWQ7R8wIf7

— BizPac Review (@BIZPACReview) June 22, 2023

The resolution passed last month reads in part, “The City of Hamtramck does not allow any religious, ethnic, racial, political, or sexual orientation group flags to be flown on the City’s public properties, and that only, the American flag, the flag of the State of Michigan, the Hamtramck Flag, the Prisoner of War flag on City property.”

The Detroit News notes that the resolution bans all but five flags from being flown on public property: the American flag, the state of Michigan flag, the Hamtramck flag, the Prisoner of War flag, and one reportedly known as the nations’ flag.

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Vivek Saxena

Senior Staff Writer
Vivek@bizpacreview.com

V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.

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