DEARBORN, Mich. — City officials and religious leaders gathered Monday to urge residents not to engage with a self-described anti-Islam activist planning to hold a rally and pig roast in Dearborn on Tuesday.

Jake Lang, a pardoned participant in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, has said he expects confrontations when he appears outside a Dearborn City Council meeting. The pig roast is widely viewed as a deliberate provocation aimed at Muslims, whose religious dietary rules prohibit eating pork.

Dearborn officials said Lang and his supporters are attempting to portray the city as divided along religious and ethnic lines. They encouraged residents to deny the demonstration the attention and confrontation its organizers appear to be seeking.

“An empty audience is the worst outcome for people looking for confrontation on camera,” Dearborn Police Chief Issa Shahin said.

Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said Dearborn’s diversity contradicts the image promoted by people who depict the city as hostile to American values. Dearborn is home to one of the nation’s largest Arab and Muslim populations, but the city also has more than 30 churches and over a dozen mosques.

Hammoud described Dearborn as a longtime entry point for immigrant communities, including Polish, Italian, Irish, Yemeni and Lebanese families.

“So often this is the starting point for so many immigrant communities,” Hammoud said. “All have gotten starting points right here in our city.”

Tuesday’s event will not be Lang’s first appearance in Dearborn. He has visited the city at least twice during the past year, with both appearances producing confrontations.

Earlier this month, Lang protested during a religious procession in the city. Videos posted online appeared to show members of the crowd attacking him before Dearborn police officers rushed him into a patrol car and ordered the gathering to disperse. Three people were arrested following the incident.

Shahin said officers handling Tuesday’s demonstration will respond to people’s conduct rather than the political or religious content of their speech.

Lang also appeared in Dearborn last November at a rally organized by Michigan gubernatorial candidate Anthony Hudson. Hudson claimed Americans needed protection from Islamic Sharia law but later posted an apology video following the event. That rally attracted opposing groups of protesters.

President Donald Trump pardoned Lang and others charged in connection with the Capitol riot on the first day of his second term.

Lang has organized similar demonstrations elsewhere. In March, he led a protest outside Gracie Mansion, the official residence of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, claiming that the city was experiencing an Islamic “takeover” and objecting to public prayer by Muslims.

Dearborn religious leaders joined city officials Monday in condemning Tuesday’s planned event as a publicity stunt rather than a sincere expression of political or religious beliefs.

Pastor Nathan Hayes of Solid Rock Church said the rally and pig roast were designed to attract attention and provoke residents.

“What we are seeing right now is not love or respect for a neighbor,” Hayes said. “It is trying to get attention and trying to prove a point. And there is no point to be proven.”

Hayes urged residents to respond by refusing to participate in the confrontation.

“It is simply this: Love your neighbor like you love yourself,” he said. “I have deep love and respect for my fellow people in this city.”

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