U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has arrested and detained an Iraqi immigrant accused by Dearborn police of assaulting right-wing agitator Jake Lang during a religious procession in Dearborn.
An ICE spokesperson told the Detroit Free Press that special agents with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) arrested Abbas Abdoush, 57, "a criminal illegal alien from Iraq" last week on Aug. 5 after "his release from local custody in Dearborn ... on assault charges." He's currently being held at North Lake Correctional Facility in northern Michigan.
Abdoush of Detroit was arrested by police and charged by the city with two misdemeanors, assault and battery and malicious destruction of property, according to court records and police.
Abdoush was seen in videos posted online punching Lang, who often holds anti-Islam protests and was demonstrating against Muslims on Aug. 2 during the annual Arbaeen procession, which is organized by Iraqi American Muslims. Lang was charged in the Jan. 6 protests in Washington, D.C., but later pardoned by President Donald Trump. Police said they arrested two others along with Abdoush in connection with assaults during the Arbaeen procession and charged both of them with assault and battery: both are 25 years old, one from Detroit, the other from Dearborn.
Abdoush has a previous criminal conviction of second-degree murder, according to court records and ICE. After a bench trial, Abdoush was convicted in 1999 of second-degree murder in the 1998 death of a woman he struck with a van and sentenced to 15 to 25 years in prison. Abdoush was in prison from May 1999 to June 2014, when he was paroled, said Michigan Department of Corrections spokesperson Jenni Riehle. His parole ended in June 2016.
In 1992, Abdoush legally entered the U.S. and eventually became a lawful permanent resident, ICE said.
"He later violated the terms of that legal admission following a 1999 conviction for murder," an ICE spokesperson said. He was ordered removed from the U.S. in 2022, but appealed, and his case was pending before the Board of Immigration Appeals.
After he was arrested, "HSI agents transferred him to the custody of ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations," an ICE spokesperson said. "He remains in ICE custody at North Lake Processing Center in Baldwin, Michigan. He will receive full due process."
It's unclear what role Dearborn police may have played in working with ICE on Abdoush's arrest and detainment by federal immigration authorities. Dearborn police spokesman Cpl. Dan Bartok did not return a message seeking comment on whether Dearborn police got a judicial warrant from ICE to detain Abdoush. Some immigrant advocates have raised concerns over local police cooperating with ICE on arrests and detainments. In November, Center Line in Macomb County canceled an agreement with ICE on police cooperation after protests by immigrant advocates. Some cities, such as Taylor, have police agreements with ICE.
Abdoush is set to appear in Dearborn's 19th District Court before Judge Eugene Hunt at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 21 for his arraignment and pre-trial hearing on the assault and battery and malicious destruction of property charges. Local charges filed by the city are usually misdemeanors.
Lang said in November that he filed a lawsuit against the city, claiming police didn't protect him from attacks, CBS News reported. Lang said he's planning another protest against Muslims in Dearborn on Aug. 18 during a city council meeting. In addition to his November protest in Dearborn, Lang protested in the city in May, burning a Quran outside the Islamic Center of America, one of Michigan's largest mosques.
Contact Niraj Warikoo: nwarikoo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: ICE detains immigrant accused of slugging Jake Lang in Dearborn
