A recently elected city councilman in the Detroit enclave of Hamtramck shocked the historically Polish community following the election of council members who are majority Muslim, Fox 2 Detroit reports.
“Today, we show the Polish and everyone else,” Ibrahim Algahim, proclaimed in his victory speech. Several people in the room could be seen shaking their heads in disagreement.
Saad Almasmari, the top vote getter of the evening, distanced himself from Algahim, telling Fox 2, “I don’t believe in that.” He added, “and as a candidate, as a city council member, I’m going to work for everybody, represent everybody, because I got elected for everybody.”
“I’m shocked that he said that. I’m a very good friend of his,” former council member Cathie Lisinki-Gordon said.
Hamtramck, located just outside of Detroit, experienced a spike of Muslim immigrants from Yemen and Bangladesh over the past 15 years.
Four of the six council members will be Muslim, three members are of Bangladeshi descent and one is Yemeni, reports Detroit Free Press.