Trump inauguration pastor says Dearborn Christians 'afraid' to speak out in Muslim-majority city

A Detroit pastor who delivered a prayer at President Donald Trump’s inauguration says Christians in Muslim-majority Dearborn, Michigan, have privately told him they are afraid to publicly express their faith, while accusing local officials of giving Muslim residents preferential treatment under a "two-tiered justice system." "Right now, the city officials in Dearborn specifically, they are giving Muslims preferential treatment," Lorenzo Sewell, senior pastor of 180 Church in Detroit, told Fox News Digital in an interview Monday.

"Now, how do I know that?" Sewell asked.

"This is how I know that.

Being a Black man in the city of Detroit, we go to Dearborn.

We know that the police know how to enact justice in Dearborn.

They know how to pull you over.

They know that if they catch you shoplifting, we've had Black women that tried to elude the police and lost their lives in the city of Dearborn." GOP LAWMAKERS URGE SUPREME COURT TO STRENGTHEN FIRST AMENDMENT PROTECTIONS FOR STREET PREACHERS "So, as a Black man that has grown up around Arabs my entire life, I know that the Dearborn police can enact justice," he continued.

"So, when someone is being assaulted and nothing happens, when someone's being assaulted and the police choose to look the other way, you can see clearly a two-tiered justice system." "So, the city council, instead of them renouncing Sharia law , they are actually upholding Sharia law," Sewell added.

Sewell recently went viral following remarks he gave at a Dearborn town hall where he said, "America, we have lost this city.

This is a city that is no longer up under American laws; we are up under Sharia law.

We will not have it anymore." FORT WORTH PRINCIPAL PICK FACES BACKLASH, INVESTIGATION OVER SOCIAL MEDIA POSTS DEFENDING SHARIA LAW CBS News reported last Wednesday that Dearborn police said they made 22 arrests following the "Christian Crusader March," led by conservative activist Jake Lang.

Sewell attended the march, which took place near a regularly scheduled Dearborn City Council meeting where he later delivered his viral remarks.

In a statement , Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin said, "Our officers met a challenging and rapidly evolving situation with the professionalism this community expects, keeping everyone safe, protecting the constitutional rights of those who came to be heard, and allowing the City Council to complete its business.

I could not be prouder of them." DOJ WEIGHS CIVIL RIGHTS PROBE INTO FORT WORTH POLICE OVER ALLEGED FIRST AMENDMENT VIOLATIONS Sewell told Fox News Digital he is concerned about the growing presence of what he called Sharia law practices in the community.