Texas Gov. Greg Abbott fired off a blistering letter threatening to yank state funding if considered one of his cities doesn’t shut down an “Muslim-only” bash hosted by an Islamic group at a taxpayer-funded water park.
The Republican warned Grand Prairie Mayor Ron Jensen Wednesday that the state will pull again $530,000 in public security grants if he doesn’t pull the plug on the upcoming Eid occasion at Epic Indoor Park, initially marketed as “completely reserved for Muslims,” based on a threatening letter obtained by The Put up.
The third-annual DFW Epic Eid additionally requires modest swimwear and was initially closed to the general public.
Abbott blasted the June 1 occasion – held on the city-owned indoor park for the previous two years – as discriminatory and a constitutional violation, and gave Jensen, who’s politically unaffiliated, till Monday to name it off.
“A city-owned water park in Grand Prairie brazenly marketed a “MUSLIMS ONLY” occasion – closed to most people,” Abbott fumed in an X put up Wednesday.
“That’s non secular discrimination. It’s unconstitutional. I signed HB 4211 into regulation – banning Muslim solely no-go zones in Texas. The Metropolis should cancel the occasion and decide to by no means permitting one thing prefer it once more by Might eleventh, or lose $530,000 in state grants,” he continued.
“Let this be a lesson to native officers: Services funded by ALL taxpayers will not be only for a subset of Texans.”
If the state claws again town’s 5 grants, Grand Prairie officers can be pressured to repay the total quantity and be banned from receiving or making use of for extra funding till they adjust to Texas regulation, Abbott stated in his letter.
The town of Grand Prairie didn’t instantly reply to The Put up’s request for remark.
The vacation bash on the 80,000-square-foot waterpark, which opened in 2017 for a whopping $88 million, got here below hearth after critics slammed a flier branding it as a “Muslim solely occasion.”
A brand new flier for the occasion – launched on Monday – eliminated the phrases “Muslim solely” and changed it with “modest gown solely” and added the road “come and have fun Eid with us, all are welcome!”
The web site gives recommendations, together with a whole “what to put on” part of the positioning, full with buy hyperlinks for modestly-approved swimwear for ladies, ladies, boys and toddlers.
Occasion organizer Aminah Knight beforehand informed The Put up she walked again the promoting to clarify that the gathering is a “modest dress-only occasion centered round celebrating Eid.”
Knight stated she didn’t imply to exclude non-Muslims.
“The core intention behind this occasion is to create an area the place people and households who worth modest gown and a modest atmosphere can come collectively and really feel comfy having fun with a leisure area that always doesn’t naturally accommodate these preferences,” she stated.
“Whereas the occasion is rooted in celebrating Eid inside the Muslim neighborhood, the guideline for attendance is the modest gown code. Visitors are anticipated to comply with that guideline; equivalent to burkinis for ladies and swim trunks with shirts for males.”
The waterpark – funded by a 0.25% gross sales tax that residents accredited in 2014 – usually rents out the area for personal occasions, Knight stated.
