Christian protestors taunt Arab-Americans with pig's head on a stake at Detroit festival



Christian missionary groups crashed an Arab-American festival on Friday night armed with a pig's head on a stake and placards making bigoted remarks and promoting the hatred of Islam.

Tensions flared when the protesters, from an organisation called the Bible Believers, attended the annual Arab International Festival in Dearborn, Michigan, waving signs with slogans such as 'Islam is a religion of blood and murder' and 'Muhammad is a liar, false prophet, murderer, child molesting pervert'.

Another offensive placard read: 'Repent, be converted, that your sins may be blotted out' and one missionary shouted 'You're gonna burn in hell' to a group of Arab-American boys, according to Detroit Free Press .

Protest: Christian missionaries waved placards and a pig's head at Arab-Americans

But the pig's head caused the most outrage among festival goers because it is against the Islam faith to eat pork as it is thought to be unclean.

Protest: Christian missionaries waved placards and a pig's head at Arab-Americans (file photo)

The three-day festival, in its 16th year, is the largest of its kind in the U.S.



As many as 300,000 people embark on Dearborn for the event, with some traveling from the Middle East and Canada.

The area of Detroit has the greatest concentration of Arab-Americans in the country, many of whom are Muslim.



The festival is often a magnet for Christian protesters. In 2010, police arrested at least six people when protesters and attendees clashed.



This year, several festival attendees were cited for disorderly conduct but no official arrests were made by police.



Hateful: Protestors waved hateful placards at Muslims attending the Arab International Festival, pictured

Wayne County sheriffs tried to keep the peace with officers on horseback patrolling the area, trying to keep the young Arab-Americans at a distance from the Christian missionaries.



At one point, some kids started throwing water bottles and cans at the missionaries.



Others chanted 'Allah-U-Akbar' or God is the greatest to which one of the Christians shouted in response 'Jesus Akbar', according to Detroit Free Press.



Event: Sumaya Gabbar, 11, pictured, rode her bike through rain at the event where protestors rallied

Protesters were allowed to stand outside the festival in a free speech zone. Barricades were put up to separate the protestors from festival goers.

The Christian protestors didn't return to the festival on Saturday because they were rallying at a gay pride event in Ohio.