McKinney Council Hears Strong Response After Contentious Mosque Meeting

By R.J. Morales | TX3DNews

McKINNEY, Texas — Two weeks after the McKinney City Council sat through hours of heated opposition to a proposed mosque, the same chamber heard a very different message Tuesday night.

Speaker after speaker thanked council members for following the law, defended religious freedom and pushed back against rhetoric surrounding the McKinney Islamic Association project and the recall effort that followed.

“Last session, you heard hours of bigotry. Now you’re going to hear hours of appreciation and respect,” McKinney resident Muhammad Khan told council. “So I hope you guys enjoy that.”

The Aug. 18 meeting came two weeks after a contentious hearing over the mosque site plan that drew opposition over traffic, Islam and Sharia law and appearances by U.S. Rep. Keith Self and state Rep. Keresa Richardson. A recall effort targeting four council members followed.

Religious Freedom at the Center

Religious freedom and equal treatment came up repeatedly throughout the night.

June Jenkins, president of the Collin County NAACP, compared the rhetoric directed at Muslims with discrimination faced by Black Americans decades earlier.

“Fifty to 60 years ago, many of the same fears, tactics and hate we hear being used against Muslims today were used against the Black community,” Jenkins said.

“When it comes to equal protection under the law, let me be clear: We are not going back.”

Theresa Thomas, first vice president and political action chair of the Collin County NAACP, took the issue beyond the mosque and recall.

“This moment is also about who we are as Americans and who gets to define what being American is,” Thomas said. “I don’t need my government to practice my religion. I don’t need my government to show preference to my religion. I need my government to apply the law equally.”

Christian speakers also spoke in defense of religious freedom.

“We cannot use our political power today to deny them theirs,” said Marcus Lloyd, a McKinney resident who spoke about his Christian faith. “We cannot become the very thing we say we are afraid of.”

Collin Packer, an Allen pastor and faith leader who said he is a direct descendant of Collin McKinney, told council he had watched fellow Christians make hateful comments two weeks earlier and decided he could not remain silent.

“It was Dr. King who said, ‘It’s not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends that we remember most,’” Packer said.

He then addressed Muslim residents directly.

“We’re grateful that you’re our neighbors here in Collin County, and I’ll do all I can as a Christian to try to live into that as fellow neighbors, to support one another in these days ahead.”

Political Figures Join Public Comment

Evan Hunt, the Democratic nominee challenging Self in Texas’ 3rd Congressional District, called the recall effort “a wave of hate in our community” and accused Self of helping fuel the division.

“Hate, bigotry and prejudice are not Christian,” Hunt said. “They are not American and they do not represent McKinney.”

“American greatness has never come from pushing people down,” Hunt added. “It has always come from lifting people up.”

Kendall Scudder, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, praised council members for defending civil rights and religious liberty.

“Sometimes when you have a congressional chamber with 435 people in it, you occasionally run across a dud,” Scudder said. “And unfortunately for all of us, that dud is here in Texas.”

Scudder added “We’re watching your bravery. We’re watching your strength.”

Former McKinney Mayor George Fuller warned about the consequences of turning a local dispute into a national political fight.

“When the cameras leave and the agitators move to the next city, the next social media outrage finds its next target,” Fuller said. “They will not be here to live with the consequences. We will.”

Fuller later turned directly to Self, calling his appearance at the previous council meeting “some of the most cowardly political theater” and pointing to an earlier video in which Self spoke to Muslims about constitutional protections.

Criticism of Self and Richardson

Dr. Taha Ansari, a McKinney doctor, also criticized Self and Richardson.

“I want to address a disease that is spreading in McKinney. The disease is called ignorance,” Ansari said.

“And unfortunately, we have two representatives, Keith Self and Keresa Richardson, who have been infected by this disease,” he continued. “They comment about Islam and Sharia as if they understand their religion better than people who actually practice it. That’s just plain ignorance.”

“Sharia is not a secret political conspiracy, and it’s not going to replace the Constitution,” Ansari said. “Muslims are Americans. They are subject to the same Constitution and laws as everyone else.”

Ansari accused politicians of stripping context from religious issues and using them to create fear. “This isn’t leadership, this is pandering,” Ansari said.

The public comments continued for nearly two hours, with speakers overwhelmingly supporting the council and its handling of the mosque site plan, a sharp contrast with the opposition that filled the chamber two weeks earlier.