After complaints from Arab-American and Muslim leaders, a Dearborn Heights judge threw out today assault and battery charges that had been filed against four high school football players of Arab descent for on-field activity against an opposing team.
The four high schoolers were charged Dec. 30 by Wayne County prosecutors with criminal misdemeanor charges stemming from an Oct. 21 game between their team, International Star Academy in Dearborn Heights, and Lutheran High School in Westland. According to prosecutors, the four players attacked the quarterback late in the game after both teams and the referee had mutually agreed that the quarterback would kneel the ball to run out the clock.
The quarterback who was tackled was admitted to the hospital with a concussion.
Defense attorney Nabih Ayad said that while he doesn’t condone the players’ actions, it was something that often happens at football games and should not involve criminal charges. The players were temporarily suspended from school, an appropriate punishment, Ayad said. Ayad said it was unprecedented for football players to be criminally charged for a late hit during a football game.
In today’s decision, Judge Mark Plawecki of the 20th District Court reportedly said that the person who charged the boys must have never seen a football game, according to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC).
“We welcome the dismissal of adult criminal charges against the four football players, though we continue to question why these charges were brought forth to begin with,” said Dawud Walid, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. “Though we do not endorse unsportsmanlike conduct, selective prosecution of particular high school athletes with adult charges for activities that are common should be unacceptable to all of us.”
Imad Hamad, regional director of ADC, also said he was pleased with the judge’s decision.
Hamad and others felt that the charges brought against the players were motivated in part because of their ethnicity. International Star’s team is predominantly Arab-American.
But a spokesperson for Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the charges were legitimate.
“The policy of the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office is not to let race or ethnicity influence any of our charging decisions,” said spokeswoman Maria Miller earlier this year. “The facts and the evidence are what informed the decision to charge the four football players with assault and battery.”
Miller said three of the teens charged were “alleged to have assaulted the opposing team’s quarterback after ignoring a referee’s order.” A fourth player also was accused of hitting a coach after the coach went on the field during the scuffle.