DOJ to investigate Muslim-led development targeted by Texas GOP, senator says [View all]
Source: Washington Post
May 10, 2025 at 6:07 p.m. EDT
The Justice Department will investigate whether a planned real estate development around one of North Texas’s largest mosques violates federal law, Sen. John Cornyn (R) said Friday after weeks of calling the project antisemitic and anti-Christian. Attacks over the development outside Dallas have been amplified by Cornyn, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), Gov. Greg Abbott and right-wing bloggers who baselessly claim it would create a Muslim-only community and impose Islamic law on residents.
Leaders for the East Plano Islamic Center, the mosque that is backing the project dubbed EPIC City, have repeatedly denied the accusations and called the attacks on their planned development Islamophobic. If built, EPIC City would span about 400 acres and create housing, day-care facilities, medical clinics and schools, according to marketing material.
“I am grateful to Attorney General Bondi and the Department of Justice for hearing my concerns and opening an investigation,” Cornyn said in a statement. “Religious discrimination and Sharia Law have no place in the Lone Star State. Any violations of federal law must be swiftly prosecuted, and I know under the Trump administration, they will be.”
Dan Cogdell, an attorney for EPIC City, said the development would cooperate with the federal investigation, noting that the Muslim community behind the project had nothing to hide. “From day one, their intention was to comply completely and wholeheartedly with the law,” said Cogdell, who defended Paxton during the Republican firebrand’s 2023 impeachment trial. “And they’ve just been vilified, assailed and attacked.” Cogdell added, “What is crazy to me is how far we haven’t come since 9/11. The words ‘mosque,’ ‘Islam,’ ‘Muslim’ in the year of our Lord 2025 are still such a triggering event.” The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/05/10/texas-mosque-housing-development-investigation/
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