(RNS) — Just before a crucial vote on a proposed mosque in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, Mayor Debra Wimpee and other city officials were swamped by emails demanding that they reject the proposal, with many writing anti-Muslim comments.
“Every country in Europe, once Muslims reached over 2% of the population, they started acting violently,” claimed one email from a mosque opponent. “We are not discriminating against them as people, we just do not want them setting up shop in our neighborhood.”
“I have the very same concerns,” Wimpee replied.
Wimpee’s response and a similar email from a city council member, both first reported by the Tulsa Flyer, are cited in a lawsuit filed Monday (Aug. 3), alleging that Wimpee and other Broken Arrow leaders illegally rejected a rezoning request by the Islamic Society of Tulsa to build the first mosque in the city.
The complaint, filed on behalf of the Islamic Society of Tulsa in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma, names Wimpee, four members of the Broken Arrow City Council and the city itself in arguing a January vote against the proposed mosque violated federal land use and religious freedom laws.
“The City of Broken Arrow violated IST’s constitutional and statutory rights to use their land for worship and to not be treated differently simply because of their faith,” the complaint reads.
Leaders of the Islamic Society of Tulsa say the new mosque is needed to accommodate Muslim residents of Broken Arrow, who otherwise have to travel to a small mosque in Tulsa, about 15 miles away, for worship. The proposed project would be built on property owned by the Islamic society and currently zoned for agricultural use.
Aslam Syed, who led construction for the Broken Arrow mosque project, said the lawsuit is meant to ensure city decisions are not guided by public pressure.
“None of us wanted to be here announcing a lawsuit,” Syed said at a press conference Monday. “We wanted to build a place of worship for community members who already lived and contributed to the fabric of Broken Arrow.”
Both city staff and the Broken Arrow Zoning Commission had approved the rezoning request for the mosque before the council rejected it. The city council had previously approved zoning changes for a nearby apartment complex and new housing development, as well as two churches.
However, the complaint alleges, city leaders treated the mosque differently, citing traffic and infrastructure concerns in their denial, even though the other approved projects had similar concerns raised.
“The relevant departure was not merely that the council approved other applications but denied IST’s applications — it used unique and more stringent review standards,” according to the complaint.
The complaint argues that city officials violated the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, known as RLUPA, as well as the 1st and 14th Amendments and the Oklahoma Religious Freedom Act.
Meghan Murphy, a staff attorney with CAIR’s Legal Defense Fund, which represents the Islamic Society, said Broken Arrow City Council succumbed to a “wave of bigoted anti-Muslim hysteria.”
“They did not want Muslims here, so they made up a reason, and in doing so, they violated the law,” Murphy said at the press conference.
During the January city council meeting, dozens of residents testified against the mosque’s expansion while making anti-Muslim comments. Others raised concerns about water flow and congestion.
In the days leading up to the vote, a meeting organized by conservative nonprofit Constitutional Grounds used criticism of Islam as a reason to oppose the mosque.
RLUPA bars government officials from treating houses of worship differently in zoning matters than other groups.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice said it was investigating how the City of Broken Arrow’s zoning laws treat religious land uses and the city’s denial of the mosque rezoning request. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond has asked President Donald Trump to stop the DOJ inquiry, according to the Tulsa Flyer.
City officials plan to meet Monday to discuss the DOJ investigation. That meeting will be held in executive session and is not open to the public, according to a statement from the city.
“The city council and administration are fully engaged with the DOJ in its investigation,” city leaders said in a public letter about the investigation.
A spokesman for Broken Arrow said the city does not comment on potential litigation.
Leaders with CAIR and IST said Monday they hope the suit leads to the construction of the mosque.
